Ok guys, here is the problem.

I went up to Orlando today for the Florida meet.
It was great. Met a bunch of people.
The drive with everyone was unbelievable.
Jim, great driving and good roads!

But, on my way home, I got pulled over by a cop.
Actually, by the time he came up to me, there were two cars there. He asked me if I knew what I got nailed for, and I kind of said that it could be for doing a few over the limit. (I was doing 78 in a 70, so its not bad)

He said that I am getting a ticket for having illegal lights(HIDs). I showed him the Honda book, and explained that it was a factory part that Honda sells the car with.
His response was that he knew, and that all the "Fancy" lights that Honda, Lexus, and Mercedes put on their cars are illegal because of the blue light they generate.

He told me to get Honda to remove the HIDs and my ticket will only be $9. Otherwise, its like $50.
Oh, and he told me that Honda should pay my ticket for selling a car with illegal lights.
What an idiot!

What the hell do I do. I can fight it in court, but to drive back up there, I will spend more on gas than the ticket is worth.


Not a lot of money, but this sucks.

Advice?

 

i'm not a lawyer, but i think that cop needs to be checked into a hospital for psychiatric eval. DOT should have the final say on what is and what is not legal on the street.

 

Do you have out of state plates?

 

No, he doesn't have out of state plates...

I would call his captain/chief/sheriff/mom and explain that you aren't doing anything wrong by using the stock headlights and that he needs to be given the Darwin award for Idiotic Cops...

Had a great time with you today... I hope that talking to his superiors helps! Where did this happen?????

 

If you were cited, the ticked should have a section of the vtl(vehicle traffic law) that was violated. Do some research to find out what the section/statutory requirement is. It may be as simple as convincing a judge that the lights are more reasonably interpeted as white light. Certainly it is far more white than blue which imho is barely noticable.

I doubt any judge would make you pay this ticked so long as you show proof that this is standard equipment on a 50 state legal car. You may also consider telling your story to honda (customer relations).... they may have something to say or even documentation on the legality of hid's etc.
Sometimes if a company such as honda gets bent on a cause, where they know they are right, they will spend whatever it takes to stop it. ie. infingement of the name "honda" or..to quell bad press or rumor.

 

Pnty Drpr! Dude I can't believe this! What a lousy end to such a great day! The cop's a d#ck! He's out of his mind and totally wrong, so fight it! Write/call his supervisor, do whatever but don't let him get this over on you. Good luck and keep in touch! It was great meeting you and take my advice(and your girl's), go with the Comptech!

 

Wow...that's absurd. You shouldn't really have any problem getting that one fixed though, and I would fight it just to show the cop he was a moron!

 

I do most of my lawyering in infrastructure financing but believe that elviscos advice is right on the mark. From my more extreme riceboy days, I know that the Maryland cops have a nasty habit of issuing tickets for illegal modifications that have little or no basis in law. The CA cops have a similarly nasty propensity in connection with noise emission tickets for aftermarket exhausts that are 50 state legal. Try to confirm what statute you were charged under and review it to see if you can determine what it says. PM me if you need help with the legal research and I'll see what I can do.

 

Wow, what a bummer. There is no way that you should have a problem with this ticket. It should be easy to dismiss, and then you have to decide if you want to complain about the officer.

I really wanted to attend the event, and wonder what would have happened if we were caravaning back to S. Florida together. Do you think he would have issued TWO tickets ?

[Edited by CoralDoc on 01-28-2001 at 08:10 AM]

 

This one should appear in R&T's PEOPLE & PLACES section!!
Send it in.