FUCKING TICKETS!!1!!!

SO I have been here in VA for one year now. In that time frame I have received the following tickets from my local law enforcement:

Speeding-74mph in a 55mph in my Celica (the officer clocked me at 95mph and accelerating but dropped it down since I had a clean record and looked poor)
Illegal Tint- Three of these plus two warnings
Illegal Muffler- Just got this one tonight on the way back from the gym
Illegal Tail Light Tint- Only a warning for this
No Front License Plate Displayed- One ticket and two warnings
Expired Registration- got this twice, all though No ticket was given since it was my Celica and was registered in Colorado and Virginia can not give fix it tickets for a vehicle registered out of state.

The thing is every single one of these tickets except for the registration ones were on the same road. Route 66. The problem is I have to take this road to get back and forth too school. Starting this next semester I don't think I will be. IF it gets any worse I might have to head up to either PA or down to NC and registered my car there just so they leave me alone.


That's my story from this past year. Lets hear about you guys, or just bitch about getting pulled over in general. Too put it into perspective I have never been pulled over for this minor bull shit like tint or muffler in Colorado, only here in Virginia which pisses me the fuck off. Over all though I have gotten more tickets than any other person on this forum in the same five year period. Most were for speeding and honestly I was, so my fault. The thing is now that I don't speed any more, I am getting hammered left and right for having a car that is different from the rest. This by no means a "fuck the police" type of post or thread, more of a bitch fest about how we all hate getting pulled over.

Slow down Santa! :lol:

wow, that BLOWS.

What's illegal about your exhaust?

Oh also, when they give you these tickets for tint, are they actually using a light meter to MEASURE the tint? An officer's eyes may be actually good enough to judge that sort of thing, but not legally good enough.

Pertinent sections that i see:

Tail lights
"two red lights plainly visible in clear weather from a distance of 500 feet to the rear of such vehicle. "

Brake Lights
"shall be equipped with at least two brake lights of a type approved by the Superintendent. Such brake lights shall automatically exhibit a red or amber light plainly visible in clear weather from a distance of 500 feet to the rear of such vehicle when the brake is applied"

Tinting
"No sun-shading or tinting films may be applied or affixed to the rear side windows or rear window or windows of any motor vehicle operated on the highways of this Commonwealth that reduce the total light transmittance of such window to less than 35 percent;"


While i think your tint is clearly in violation, it's up to them to PROVE that. How does he KNOW it's not 36% Your tail lights are almost certainly ok except for the "type approved by the superintendent"...who knows what that means.

I still want to know what's illegal about your exhaust!

According too the state trooper any type of modified exhaust is illegal in VA. Noise violation as well. Yes every time I get pulled for the tint they give me a ticket if they have the meter and if not then they just give me the warnings. Interesting about the rear tails. I have yet t get a ticket for it even though I get pulled over monthly, so I might be in the clear with that. But yes my window tint is 12% on the side windows and 5% in the rear.

Hah what a load of BS about the exhaust. Clearly they're lying otherwise any muffler shop would not exist in VA. I bet its a noise level, and i also bet they dont have a dB meter in their car.

I'll look for some laws on that for you.

Mufflers
It shall be unlawful to sell or offer for sale any (i) muffler without interior baffle plates or other effective muffling device or (ii) gutted muffler, muffler cutout, or straight exhaust. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate on the highways in the Commonwealth a motor vehicle, moped, or motorized skateboard or scooter equipped with a gutted muffler, muffler cutout, or straight exhaust.


Exhaust Systems
No person shall drive and no owner of a vehicle shall permit or allow the operation of any such vehicle on a highway unless it is equipped with an exhaust system in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual levels of noise; provided however, that for motor vehicles, such exhaust system shall be of a type installed as standard factory equipment, or comparable to that designed for use on the particular vehicle as standard factory equipment. An exhaust system shall not be deemed to prevent excessive or unusual noise if it permits the escape of noise in excess of that permitted by the standard factory equipment exhaust system of private passenger motor vehicles or trucks of standard make.

Im not a lawyer, but either
a) it has to be as quiet as the muffler that came on your car (i do NOT believe that it's saying that)
b) it has to be as quiet as OEM vehicles in general

In that case Harleys are extremely loud. There, off the hook.

Even if it is saying a), the cop would have the burden of proof that your muffler was not in compliance.

But i'm pretty sure it's saying b) or else instead of saying "of private passenger motor vehicles or trucks of standard make" it would've said "for the particular make and model." Also, unless b) is true, it would still put most muffler repair shops out of order. Im sure most/all repairs to an exhaust make the exhaust louder.

Grinder34 said:

In that case Harleys are extremely loud. There, off the hook.

Even if it is saying a), the cop would have the burden of proof that your muffler was not in compliance.

But i'm pretty sure it's saying b) or else instead of saying "of private passenger motor vehicles or trucks of standard make" it would've said "for the particular make and model." Also, unless b) is true, it would still put most muffler repair shops out of order. Im sure most/all repairs to an exhaust make the exhaust louder.

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Only problem is that has been tried by numerous people before, with always the same results. "Officers of the law can not be every where at once, you are the one in violation today." The only way to get out of one of these tickets is to put on the stock exhaust. What I plan on doing is paying it and considering it my VA state tax for owning my car..... Also repairs do not always make a vehicle louder. That is all a matter of baffling if the system. The less of a straight through design you have the quieter it will be. So as long as a car has the required mufflers and resonators in the system then it will be quiet.

I personally just flat out refuse to change my car in any fucking way besides the way I WANT to change it. Like I said if it gets too bad I will just register my car in a different state. Wont be the first time and wont be the last.

I mean, if you contest it and say "my exhaust is quieter than stock, look at how big the muffler is", what are they gonna do? There was never any proof that the exhaust was actually loud.

In dc you can appeal by mail, not sure about VA. But I've appealed 4 or 5 times and won every time.

Mine were parking ones, and i just said "i was parked for less than the two hours I was allowed" and i won. Probably because there was no proof i wasnt. Just sayin.

Also, registering in a different (non-neighboring state) is probably a good idea. I *believe* a lot of neighbor states have reciprocity laws (DC often issues no-front plate tickets for VA cars, for example), so you'd wanna do something more than one state away.

Here in VA I need to go into the court house to contest it. The problem is local judges here are super pricks about tickets and usually just hammer you if you try and contest them. The one time I went in, not to contest but for a summons, while I was waiting every single person that brought in a lawyer or tried too contest was hammered. Due to this being a rich area the courts assume every one here is loaded.

What I am going to do is pay the ticket and then put the silencer back in so they ignore me.

That is very true about some states having reciprocity laws. Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and DC all share the same system. So if you get a ticket in Maryland and you have a VA license it will still show up on your record. NC and PA on the other hand are not part of this system and nothing will show up if you get any tickets. How do I know this you might be asking? Well I lost my VA license back when I was 18, I had gotten a ticket on my way out to Colorado, in West Virginia. I payed the fine and everything was supposed to be hunky dory. Then a few weeks later I get a letter in the mail saying I have to come back and take a driving class or they will suspend my license. I said fuck you and got a Colorado license and never worried about it again. I have honestly gotten tickets in every single state that I70 passes through and not a single one ever went on my record. Hell I got my Colorado license suspended for a no front plate ticket that I had lost and forgotten to pay in Nebraska. So I went out the day before the suspension took affect and got a VA license again.

The thing is when the officer looks you up in the system they don't look up the name they look up the license number. So long as your number is different from the license you had suspended you can keep on driving in the state you are suspended and they will never hit you for it. Should you do that? No. But you can if you need too.

@Grinder- just because something is illegal doesn't mean it will put a shop out of business. A shop has no legal liability what an owner does to the car as it is only against the law if it is on a public road. In Georgia there are a shit ton of laws for tent, exhaust, lights, etc. There is even a law on how much you can jack up a truck. Typically these laws are only enforced in the metro areas and not in some suburbs and most rural areas. Just depends on the jurisdiction.

Z1107 said:

@Grinder- just because something is illegal doesn't mean it will put a shop out of business. A shop has no legal liability what an owner does to the car as it is only against the law if it is on a public road. In Georgia there are a shit ton of laws for tent, exhaust, lights, etc. There is even a law on how much you can jack up a truck. Typically these laws are only enforced in the metro areas and not in some suburbs and most rural areas. Just depends on the jurisdiction.

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Yeah i know that... "offroad use only" blah blah blah. I'm just saying that i'm pretty sure you're allowed to modify exhaust systems. Its just the cops being dicks. IF i were pulled over AND i were feeling sassy, i'd ask him to cite the specific code of which i was in violation. He'd probably say the noise one. Then I'd invite him to a Harley dealer with me if he thought my exhaust was "too loud."

Ok, so that'd never happen. But I stand by my "burden of proof." Fuck you can say "I use the stock exhaust!" and if the cop didnt take pictures or a dB reading, there would be no way to disprove the claim.

I have been following along and I would love to ask them about the exhaust one. I would say what Grinder said. Lets go to the Harley shop.

I might go and pull my ticket from out of my car and post it up just so y'all can see. Also in all honesty if the cop had wanted to be a dick he could have gotten me for a shit ton more than he did. The rear tails I don't think they will ever be able to, but he could have also given me another tint ticket. Hell he even asked me about the other two and if I had gotten it fixed. I told him no I'm too poor. At the end of the day the guy is just doing his job. He has a quota of tickets he has to meet ever month and if he doesn't he gets written up. When you argue with a cop by the side of the road what ends up happening is they get pissed and start to write you up for anything else they can find. If they get really pissed they will pull you out of the car, cuff you, and drop you off into a cell for 24 hours (police can hold any one for 24 hours with charging them). Welcome to the police state gentlemen. Less than a week ago a friend of mine in Colorado was cuffed and brutalized by 7 cops then released. No lasting damage besides some scraps and cuts but still, the law is on their side and always will be. I learned my lesson when I was a teen. Just be polite, cooperative and white, and you will have no problems at all. Other wise they will just crack your head open and say you attacked them, end of case.

Another reason I am not going to fight out this ticket is I will have to skip class, and drive to the court house in my STI, which is a rolling violation, just to fight out a $35 fine. Just not worth it for me. If it was say a $200 fine or a fix it ticket? Then sure. Other wise no.

Grinder34 said:

Yeah i know that... "offroad use only" blah blah blah. I'm just saying that i'm pretty sure you're allowed to modify exhaust systems. Its just the cops being dicks. IF i were pulled over AND i were feeling sassy, i'd ask him to cite the specific code of which i was in violation. He'd probably say the noise one. Then I'd invite him to a Harley dealer with me if he thought my exhaust was "too loud."

Ok, so that'd never happen. But I stand by my "burden of proof." Fuck you can say "I use the stock exhaust!" and if the cop didnt take pictures or a dB reading, there would be no way to disprove the claim.

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The officers testimony is his burden of proof after he has used a tint meter or decibel meter. An officers testimony is covered under the color of law as always truthful when pertaining to duties performed as a sworn peace officer.

Let clarify that I have altercations with officers all the time for my car being profiled out by the police (which is legal, profiling people isn't). But if I'm in the wrong I'm in the wrong, if the officer violates his oath by violating my rights then I'll have a field day with them in court.

Mark 90% of agencies DON'T have quotas, it's a myth that is perpetuated by the occasional news report of a crooked agency and it's also a violation of federal law. As a former LEO I can say that people don't realize how constrained officers really are, it's the ignorance of the public that let's them believe cops are always coming down on people. For every one person cited that officer has probably let ten slide.

Vermont,

I live in Gainesville, VA. I've an STI with a Nameless axleback muffler delete. I go out of my way to not use Hwy 66, but not because of cops. I avoid 66 because of the traffic, but I've been pulled over before by state troopers in my truck many times. In all of those cases, it was because they thought I was abusing the HOV...had my son in the back seat in my truck and they could never see him. After about the 5th time, they stopped doing it...probably because I began to roll down the rear window so they could see my child in back. Otherwise, they don't screw with me. I've had the STI for about 9 months and while I avoid 66 if at all possible, sometimes I use it when I'm in a rush.

I've never been pulled over with the STI, on any road. I've never been pulled over on my bike either (an SV1000S with a full racing single sided M4 exhaust...yes, it is loud). Other than the exhaust, the STI is basically stock. I'm not lowered, I've no tint on the windows or tail lights. I'm also non-white (I'm black), so I don't think skin color has anything to do with being pulled over in this area.

Now, my car is rather loud and I know not to be in the throttle when cruising by a cop, as I know if they look under the car, they're not going to see mufflers...and that's illegal. If I do get pulled over and get a ticket, I'll just pay the ticket, provided it's not expensive. Whenever I get pulled over, I never argue with the cop and answer his questions to the best of my ability, with no attitude. I got pulled over once (in the truck) and they noted that my inspection sticker had just expired, which was news to me. I stated that I didn't know about it and they let me go, but told me to get a new one as soon as possible. He was nice about it when he said it. I had my son in the car with me, but I think he would've been polite regardless.

There are some dick cops out there, I've no doubt, but in this area, there are a lot of snobby (and rich) people. I'm pretty sure LEOs here get nastiness directed at they all the time. That's not an excuse to be nasty to people who don't warrant it, but hey, cops are human.

I don't agree about the VA exhaust statute and how it's enforced. It leaves little wiggle room for the enthusiast (yes, I know that lawmakers don't care for the enthusiast point of view) and the cops tend to only focus on import cars and bikes. You NEVER see straight-piped Harleys and open-exhaust Mustangs being pulled over (and there's a LOT of those types of vehicles out here in the Gainesville/Manassas area...redneck central). Of course, as much as I see people complaining about them being pulled over and them driving imports, I haven't seen any pulled over). I can't stand loud Harleys and they're much louder than most imports I've heard, but I've never heard my Harley friends complaining that they're being targeted by cops. Seems to be quite a bit of bias in that regard, which is BS. IMO, even profiling vehicles are wrong. If you're going to enforce exhaust noise, you need to do it with ALL types of vehicles, not just imports. At a bare minimum, the statute needs to be altered to require decibel measurement to assess compliance. This will stop people from getting pulled over with heavy bias: "your car is too loud...must be illegal"...measure first to determine if it is illegal. If it is, then begin a visual inspection. Until then, they shouldn't be fishing after profiling an import. Just my 2 cents.

Before I purchased my Nameless, I asked on another STI forum if the cops here would give me problems. I got mixed responses, but mainly got a bunch of BS responses stating how they thought the law would be interpreted, which really wasn't what I was looking for. So, I went to look at the VA laws. I was disappointed with what I read, but accepted it. I've kept my stock cans just in case I get a lot of cop attention.

Basically, if you want to mod your car, you should read up on the state and local statutes and be prepared to be targeted. Be ready to adjust your mods or just continue to pay the fines. Bottom line is that if you're going to play with mods and the mods are illegal, be prepared to deal with the results of being pulled over.

A suggestion: use any other road than Hwy 66. Which college are you going to? I work in Ashburn, so I take Hwy 15 to work, or sometimes other roads such as Catharpin to Gum Springs to Hwy 50. This may be why I'm not getting state trooper attention. I-66 is evil anyways...don't use it!

I am going to the NVCC Annandale Campus and Manassas campus, so I am kinda pigeon holed into using 66. Starting this semester I am going to try and find other ways down to Annandale but I don't see much hope if I want to get there on time.

Where in gainesville you live man? I live right next to the Catharpin and Heathcote intersection. I have the red GR hatch with black wheels and windows if you have seen me. Heck you might have heard me before.

Vermont said:

I am going to the NVCC Annandale Campus and Manassas campus, so I am kinda pigeon holed into using 66. Starting this semester I am going to try and find other ways down to Annandale but I don't see much hope if I want to get there on time.

Where in gainesville you live man? I live right next to the Catharpin and Heathcote intersection. I have the red GR hatch with black wheels and windows if you have seen me. Heck you might have heard me before.

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I've heard and seen you driving down Heathcote. I'm at Heathcote and Sheringham. I think you're the only red GR (of 3, including mine) out here.

You're the same Vermont on the iwsti forum, right?

NoVASTi said:

I've heard and seen you driving down Heathcote. I'm at Heathcote and Sheringham. I think you're the only red GR (of 3, including mine) out here.

You're the same Vermont on the iwsti forum, right?

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Yeah I am Also Vermont over there as well.

I have recently seen a grey wrx hatch with orange wheels a couple times around here. Along with a Black hatch (sti or wrx not sure) with a giant body kit and front mount riding around as well. Are you the Blue GR sedan in this area?

Vermont said:

Yeah I am Also Vermont over there as well.

I have recently seen a grey wrx hatch with orange wheels a couple times around here. Along with a Black hatch (sti or wrx not sure) with a giant body kit and front mount riding around as well. Are you the Blue GR sedan in this area?

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No, I'm DGM sedan. The gray hatch is a WRX that lives in the town home area behind the HOA office. I haven't seen the black hatch or the blue GR.