Has the enforcement of traffic violations changed over the years?

[ladder13]

My car dealer is looking after me. I had one of the Batmobiles in the shop and they spotted that the license plate light bulb was burned out and went ahead and replaced it. I thanked them for doing that. Don't give them an excuse to stop you.

My neighbor is a retired Wash DC detective. All three of his cars have very dark gray plastic covers over the plates where you can barely see the numbers and letters from just 10 feet away.
He never gets stopped.
I believe NC, as well as every state, has a law about license plate obstruction in their V&TL.

 

[NYlakesider]

Big complaint, with women especially in this part of our great country, is cops getting up on your rear bumper at night and shutting off their lights, apparently to check the plate is illuminated.

Wow that is a new one for me as I have had lots of cops behind me at night and never had a on light, off light type circumstance!

Had all sorts of other bright flashing lights come on!

 

[CalmerThanYou]

I have always wondered how much a LEO knows about you before they even appraoch the car during a stop. Priors, CC, LEO? Probably varies by jurisdiction, but my hunch is they know more than we think.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I get a sense from many of these posts it's all about revenue generation. I feel like I am taxed to death already and if you take that and multiply times millions of taxpayers that's a lot of money! And yet governments need to raise more revenue through fines. So, where does it all go?

How DARE you ask that question!!!!! You sir do not NEED to know "where does it all go?"
But I know where it goes....

To da man!!!

 

[Golddollar]

I have always wondered how much a LEO knows about you before they even appraoch the car during a stop. Priors, CC, LEO? Probably varies by jurisdiction, but my hunch is they know more than we think.

I live in PA, and one day I was going to a restaurant in Maryland. I came off a freeway type road, and following behind me on the exit ramp was a Maryland State Trooper, so I was watching my step and watching him in my rear view mirror. I saw him repeatedly looking down and to the right. I suspect he was running my plate just for the heck of it, because I remember following the law to the letter with him on my tail and I don't think he had anything close to probable cause for stopping me. After I came to a full, complete dead stop at the traffic light at the top of the ramp, when the light turned green I went straight ahead and he turned right. Was I deemed suspicious for just being an out-of-state driver?

 

[Ματθιας]

I have always wondered how much a LEO knows about you before they even appraoch the car during a stop. Priors, CC, LEO? Probably varies by jurisdiction, but my hunch is they know more than we think.

They only know the info that's attached to the plate.

Say a vehicle being stopped is:

- is registered and insured through an LLC

- is loaner from a dealership

- has temporary tags

- a borrowed car from a relative or friends

- a rental

What do those tags tell about the driver?

Those examples are just off the top of my head.

 

[mike from st pete]

Famous Speed Traps

While the Tampa Bay Times leaves out Kenneth City in Pinellas County they have a bit to say about Waldo and Lawtey
After 20-plus years, Waldo and Lawtey no longer Florida speed traps

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

OP making a California stop today, you better watch it for you
may be a big time crime boss tomorrow.
I went to court on a traffic ticket (unearned) one time and the
officer who had written the ticket was not in court. The judge
ask me if I would just pay the court cost. I said no judge as
I am not guilty and it is just the principle. He said young man,
this was about 25 years ago, people are in hell today standing
on principle. He then directed the clerk to dismiss the charge.

 

[Golddollar]

OP making a California stop today, you better watch it for you
may be a big time crime boss tomorrow.
I went to court on a traffic ticket (unearned) one time and the
officer who had written the ticket was not in court. The judge
ask me if I would just pay the court cost. I said no judge as
I am not guilty and it is just the principle. He said young man,
this was about 25 years ago, people are in hell today standing
on principle. He then directed the clerk to dismiss the charge.

Good for you!

 

[S-W4EVER]

I hate the thought of traffic enforcement being used to generate revenue. FWIW, the LE agency cut for my department went straight into the State general fund (a decision that was made prior to my employment some 40+ years ago).

IMHO, any LEO who focuses on DUI Enforcement is focusing on one of the real traffic problems and they have my blessing. My personal code of conduct is I don't drink in public. I live in a relatively small town in an area I patroled for 27 years. You think I'd be recognized? If I'm gonna have a drink it'll be in my own home.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Hahaha, it doesn't always work. There is an art to it.

Yup. I know several officers who upon seeing somebody dig their license out from behind their badge just automatically start writing the ticket . . .

 

[crazyphil]

Last time I got a ticket was about 10 years ago. I was exiting a parking
lot. Heavy traffic to my left and traffic backed up for a light to my right.

A lady on the left stopped abruptly and gave me the little hand signal
to pull out, which I did, and made a left turn.

A policeman behind the lady made a left turn and came after me with
lights flashing. I stopped. He asked for my driver's license which I
gave him. He wrote the ticket. We both went our ways with almost
nothing said.

I went to court. Told my story, the same way I told it above. But
added that I think the cop was a bit PO'd because he had to come
to an abrupt stop behind the woman.

Judge asked cop if he had anything to say. He didn't. Case dismissed.

 

[Donn]

When I was in the job, (100 years ago), if you worked traffic, you had a ticket quota. The higher-ups officially denied it, but it existed. You were expected to issue X number of tickets per shift. Make a habit of not meeting said quota and you could wind up a turn key in the jail. Motivation enough. Highly disliked confinement duty.

 

[BigBoy99]

I live in PA, and one day I was going to a restaurant in Maryland. I came off a freeway type road, and following behind me on the exit ramp was a Maryland State Trooper, so I was watching my step and watching him in my rear view mirror. I saw him repeatedly looking down and to the right. I suspect he was running my plate just for the heck of it, because I remember following the law to the letter with him on my tail and I don't think he had anything close to probable cause for stopping me. After I came to a full, complete dead stop at the traffic light at the top of the ramp, when the light turned green I went straight ahead and he turned right. Was I deemed suspicious for just being an out-of-state driver?

The MD trooper may have been looking to see if you had a concealed carry permit. (In NC, your concealed carry permit is linked to your drivers license.) With MD's Draconian gun laws, carry a handgun in your vehicle is against MD law. If you were legal in PA with your concealed carry, as soon as you cross the state line, you are illegal. When MD first passed their gun laws, the NRA put out a warning about traveling into MD with your legal concealed carry handgun from your state. The troopers were targeting out of state vehicles which had pro-gun stickers and stopping them to look for handguns. Maybe you lucked out.

 

[nachogrande]

LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT.

When is America going to become a developed country and stop this hick rubbish about LEOs badging their way out of tickets.

Are you saying SOME cops DON'T let other cops off the hook when they flash the tin? I've been in the speeding vehicle & seen it first hand in NY, & NOT in HICK RURAL AREAS! I can assure you it is not rubbish. Flashing a gold badge works even better.

 

[nachogrande]

WHERE'S WALDO

While the Tampa Bay Times leaves out Kenneth City in Pinellas County they have a bit to say about Waldo and Lawtey
After 20-plus years, Waldo and Lawtey no longer Florida speed traps

When moving to Fl in 2003 I was warned about Waldo before leaving NY. I remember seeing the speed trap billboard & got nailed anyway. Changing the speed limits every few hundred yards (or less) gets hard to keep up with after hours of 75 mph on the highways. Kind of like rte 50 west of Groveland Fl.

 

[keith44spl]

Are you saying SOME cops DON'T let other cops off the hook when they flash the tin? I've been in the speeding vehicle & seen it first hand in NY, & NOT in HICK RURAL AREAS! I can assure you it is not rubbish. Flashing a gold badge works even better.

The jurisdiction I worked in, there was an unwritten code of the west...
We didn't write other cops, nor their wives...Didn't write doctors, nurses and or
firemen, ya never knew when you might need your own life saved.

There was a small collage town, west of where I worked, that the city police was so micro managed,
officers had no discretion on traffic stops. They wrote everyone, for everything.
Well, a rookie patrolman wrote an undercover (state gold badge) for a licence plate violation, once.

We were advised not to back this particular city department on any calls and to write any officer
Of that department up to and including the chief for any and all witnessed violations.

Politics everywhere.


.

 

[italiansport]

I have always wondered how much a LEO knows about you before they even appraoch the car during a stop. Priors, CC, LEO? Probably varies by jurisdiction, but my hunch is they know more than we think.

I was stopped one time in Phoenix for making a U turn. When the Cop came up to the car he asked if I had a firearm. I replied no and inquired as to why he asked. He stated that in Phoenix if you had C C it showed up in your online record. I told him to catch me on the way home as I was on my way to the gun show and would probably have one* at that time.
* I don't carry at shows as you have to get in line get your pistol checked and cable tied.
Jim

 

[curtmini14]

phoenix declared it self a sanctuary city the illegals get a free pass for no ins and a ton of other infractions.were tax payers get there car towed and pay steep fines.welcome to AMERICA.

 

[TX-Dennis]

Traffic enforcement varies by state, by county, by city, and by area within a city. It's not all about revenue for most areas, but sometimes and some places it is about revenue.

There is a small town south of Lubbock on US 87 called Tahoka. Years back it was a well known speed trap used to generate revenue for the town. The town cop would sit at the bottom of an underpass in the median and write tickets all day long - hundreds of them. No leeway. If you were 1mph over you got ticketed. Everyone knew he would be there, but still he wrote hundreds of tickets every week. That is no longer the practice in that town, however.

I am acquainted with several police officers locally. One of them told me that in the "rougher" areas of town traffic enforcement is used as an excuse to get a look inside the vehicle. Up to half the vehicles stopped for traffic citations in those areas contain illegal drugs, stolen property, or both.