Cascade Crew

Xophertony

ok for real, i was profiled.
so i am driving, doing the speed limit, in traffic, with a good following distance, in the white v6 car with the t-tops off. it is 6:30PM. i see a washington county sherrif flip his lights on and pull a u-turn behind me, he immediatly flips them off. he gets behind me. as i pull into a parking lot he pulls me over. turns out he pulled me over for hvaing a clear plastic cover on my license plate. Laughing

which he was just going to give me a warning for, but it turns out my plates are showing up for a 1967 (amc, dodge?) Rambler, registered to a guy named wong. Shocked

i announce that i do have regestration for them, and reach SLLLLOOOOWWWLLY under my seat for it. i produce my file folder, with all my paperwork in it, turns out i have been driving my 86 for the last three months with all of the GTAs paperwork in it. Rolling Eyes

and i DO NOT have proof of regestration with me. he writes me up for $97 and sends me on my way. this marks a first, i finnaly got a ticket for somthing that was NOT MY FAULT. i have in my hand the paperwork from the DMV that says my plates are valid FOR MY CAR until 03/30/07.

so needless to say i am fighting this one. and i am going to WIN! cop was a r3eal nice guy, verry respectfull. he seemed reluctant to give me a ticket, like he genuinly did not want too. but come on... he pulled me over for driving a firebird. i see dozens of cars a day driving around with plastic plate covers. i have been pulled over by OSP with them on before and no one has ever said a thing.

aaron_sK · Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 6:54 pm Post subject:

Simple trip downtown should fix that. At least he wasn't a punk about it. Tacoma cops suck. Around here you can get ignored for traffic infractions done right in front of a cop, and other times I've been pulled over just so they can ask "What are you doing out here?" Rolling Eyes

Xophertony · Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 6:58 pm Post subject:

well, i just thought of WHY it was wrong in the computer. when i went to the DMV i had everything all set to go. it should have been 110 for the transfer and regestration of my pacific wonderland plate. but they said it was only 50 because the plate sstill had good registration on it. i looked down at the 2005 sticker on it and argued. they said that it was what the computer said. so i paid my 50 and left. twoo weeks later i get a letter in the mail stating that they made an error and that i owe another 60$..... imagine that. letter says i have 30 days to pay, well..... i just now found my check, in the envalope, not sealed, and not mailed. Mad

looks like i had no stamp. so it was sort of my fault. it has been around 60 days at this point. i'll send the check out on monday.

but this changes nothing. i still have the paperwork that says it is all good. so i am still fighting.

rjmcgee · The Hammer Joined: 08 Jan 2004 Posts: 2328

I'm suprised you didn't get off due to your mob ties. Thumbs up

Dewey316 · Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:52 pm Post subject:

Xophertony · Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:29 pm Post subject:

Dewey316 · Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:30 pm Post subject:

[Tony]you know what would make that story sooooo much better.... [/tony]

Laughing

Xophertony · Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:34 pm Post subject:

Twilightoptics · Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 11:01 pm Post subject:

Having the wrong paperwork in the car wasn't your fault?

Xophertony · Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 11:45 pm Post subject:

i did not recieve a ticket for failure to produce proof of regestration, i recieved a ticket for failure to display a license plate. i was, and it should have been in the computer as such. the DMV made the first error (this is the "not my fault" part) and then i made a second by failing to pay them on time once they had notified me of thier error. however, i am still within the sixty day limit. (after 30 days i recieved another notice that said i had another 30 days to pay, i assumed the 2nd notice had been sent before they recieved the check, until i discovered that i never mailed the check Rolling Eyes

)

so if i had done what i was supposed to do, after the DMV screwed up i would not have recieved a fine (i think), but my main beef is that the cop swung a U turn to pull me over for a plastic plate cover (which is technically against the law, depending on how you interpret the wording of the law, more on that later) there must have been a number of cars he had also passed within minutes that also were displaying plates behind plastic covers. i am still contesting the ticket. i have paid enough for things that i have done that were actualy wrong. i am not paying $100 for a technicality.

EDIT***
not that it pertains to my ticket at all, but i looked it up. oregon plate law:

803.550 Illegal alteration or display of plates; prohibited; described; exceptions; penalty. (1) A person commits the offense of illegal alteration or display of a registration plate if the person knowingly does any of the following:
(a) Illegally alters a registration plate in a manner described in subsection (2) of this section.
(b) Operates any vehicle that is displaying a registration plate that is illegally altered in a manner described in subsection (2) of this section.
(c) Owns and causes or permits a vehicle to display a registration plate that is illegally altered in a manner described in subsection (2) of this section.
(2) A registration plate is illegally altered for purposes of this section if the plate has been altered, modified, covered or obscured including, but not limited to the following:
(a) Any change of the color, configuration, numbers, letters or material of the plate.
(b) Any material or covering, other than a frame or plate holder, placed on, over or in front of the plate that alters the appearance of the plate.
(c) Any frame or plate holder that obscures the numbers, letters or registration stickers, so as to render them unreadable.
(3) This section does not apply to the following:
(a) Any placement of registration stickers described under ORS 803.555.
(b) Any public official who displays or performs any alteration of a registration plate in the course of official duties.
(c) Any special interest registration plate approved under ORS 805.210.
(4) The offense described in this section, illegal alteration or display of a registration plate, is a Class B traffic violation. [1985 c.243 §2]

regarding section 2, subsection b and c:
my "covering" does not render the plate, numbers or stickers unreadable, or alter their appearance in any way. and it does not glare any more then the plate would normally. it is a shiny plate.

regarding section 3, subsection c:
is my plate a "special interest" plate approved under ORS 805.210? "This plate is issued to a vehicle that is maintained as a collector’s item and is at least 25 years old at time of application" hmmm... that means if chris had put this plate on his 1964 ford fairlain (his original plan) he would be leagally allowed to put any sort of cover he wanted on it. Exclamation

interesting.

Quasi-Traction · Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 11:51 am Post subject:

You know....its funny......I see so many cars running around with invalid tags, licence plates hanging sideways by one screw, licence plates removed, European style plates on the front of cars and State plates on the rear, Things with faded paint to the point where they're unreadable unless your two feet away...and I gotta wonder if any of those people have been sited.

Well, there is one other person...but he drives a Blue RS. Wink

Mangus

Xophertony · Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 9:52 pm Post subject:

hmm.. i see your point Mangus, you are correct. i illegally failed to show proof of my regestration, and therefore deserve a fine. if i had been cited for that i would pay the fine, as i would be and am guilty of it. however, i was not cited for failure to produce proof of regestration, i was cited for failure to display a valid license plate. and you are also right on your otherpoint, i thought for sure this was going to end in a tow, in fact, when he handed my my yellow coppy and said i could go i said "i can drive home? you are not impounding me?" i was that surprised.

the sherrifs deputy also told me that if i brought in my proof of regestration that the judge "may take that into consideration" and when it comes down to it, this is about money, atleast for me. if there is a legal way for me to not pay, i am going to attempt to make it happen. i have done stupid things in my cars in the past and been caught, and i have faced the music (after the usual stream of profanity Wink

). but this time it was genuanly the DMVs fault 1st. if they had not screwed up this would not be an issue. on the flipside if i had mailed the check promptly it also would not have been an issue, but it was thier mistake first. i intend to bring that to the courts attention in my quest for leniancy.

Mangus · Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 3:12 pm Post subject:

Sometimes officers give an "over the edge" ticket. You get pulled over for not having a plate or valid reg displayed on the plate, but even if that is illegal, if you show proof of reg you don't get a ticket. Howveer, no reg to prove it was one too many violations, so he just gave you a ticket to the root cause of the stop - no plate reg.

Happens all the time. That's the beauty of officer discretion.

BigDaddyVu · Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 5:33 pm Post subject:

Meth head profiling?

Xophertony · Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 1:29 am Post subject:

the "root cause" of the stop was a clear plastic cover on my license plate.

BigDaddyVu · Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:08 pm Post subject:

actually your not supposed to have anything covering the plates. the plastic covers dims the reflective paint (the same paint used on street signs) of the plate and should be easily seen by head lights 50 ft away with no other light source at "night". I was made to learn that (young and defying the law) when i was ticketed here in spokane and the brought out the USDOT and WDOT rules and regulations. Not word for word though it does states nothing shall obstuct or modify the general purpose of the state issued plate. and every 7 years, signs and licence plates are to be replaced due to the UV rays that dull the refective abilities of them.

rjmcgee · The Hammer Joined: 08 Jan 2004 Posts: 2328

My front plate is staying nice and bright, hanging in the shop on the wall.

I'll switch it with the back one of these days.

chevymad · Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:59 pm Post subject:

The new plates also have a hologram or whatever on them. Hit with a special light they light up to show they're not fake.

Rod, here even though they require front plates, WA is too cheap to make tags for the front plate. They only give us stickers for the rear one. So if you were going to switch plates you better do it when you get new stickers.

Quasi-Traction · Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:51 am Post subject:

The plates tony have are recondtioned plates that were orginally issued in oregon between 1959 and 1964 (Pacific Wonderland). Reguardless of weither or not he has a reflective cover on them the plates themselves technically do not have the USDOT approved reflective style paint on them.