I was pulled this morning for not wearing my seat belt. I don’t agree with this law but that’s a topic for another discussion.
I passed the same officer after lunch and he had another driver pulled over. I know this was a smart allec move but I honked my horn and held my seatbelt out the window so he could see that I was wearing my seatbelt.
Well… a mile down the road, a different officer pulled me and detained me for 20 minutes. Then the other officer shows up after finishing his stop. He takes another 20 minutes to issues me a ticket for improper use of horn to the tune of $243.00.
My question is: is that a legal stop since he lost sight of me?
If it is in fact a legal stop am I wasting my time going to court as I gave this officer some choice words before we departed. He will not be helping me out. Does the judge have the authority to reduce the fine even if the officer doesn’t want to. According to the secretary at town hall, it will not be reduced but I’m not taking her word.
My questions to the court would be: is this a good use of the towns resources, does the fine fit the so called crime, hasn’t everyone improperly used a horn, isn’t the officer being unreasonable?
The state statute reads like this for use of horn:
“section 56-5-4960. Use of horn. The driver of a motor vehicle shall, when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation, give audible warning with his horn but shall not otherwise use such horn when upon a highway.”
It absolutely was a legal stop, the officer that noticed the infraction was the same officer that wrote the ticket. It does not matter if they loose sight of you in this instance.
If you’re being a smart ass might as well finish it that way. Write a check for $486.00 and tell him you owe him a good horn honk.
“Those who have the ability to make a difference have the responsibility to do so.” Thomas Jefferson
Just man up when you face the judge, tell him squarely that you did exactly what you are charged for, and that you trust his judgement in leveraging whatever fine he believes to be fair. It’s quite possible it will be reduced. It’s also quite possible you’ll pay every penny, but this is your best shot at a reduced fine/charge/points.
… The Cross of Christ is the anvil upon which the hammer of evil wore itself out.
I really don’t think you’re going to win the poll of popular opinion, here…
When we were teens, we were pulled for shooting the bird at an officer who followed us all over the island. It did not help our case at all.
Man, you can never outsmartass the man… You would have been better off if you had stopped at Dunkin Donuts, bought him a coffee and a sweet glazed donut and stopped and gave it to him while he was hard at work writing that second ticket. He may have encountered a change of heart… Now he’s a bitter man.
I agree with the poster earlier that said you should show up in court and appear as broken and humble as ever and maybe the judge will have mercy and reduce the fine.
Grace gives us what we do not deserve… Mercy does not give us what we do deserve. -Charles Stanley
Its nice to see the support for the police here today. Yes legal stop. Its your right to go to court and fight the charge so many fight to give you that right please take advantage of it. I would like to say that please think about what you did, that officer is already performing one of the most dangerous parts of his job and when a person out of no where blows a horn, 1, it is scares the pants off of them. 2,It also makes the officer take his eye and mind off the task at hand and it could have been a deadly moment for that officer,It may sound extreme, but you don’t know what that officer was dealing with at that time.
I know officers have a hard job, but lets not make them holier than thou. MOST people without a need to show authority would have brushed off a little toot of a horn and just mentioned to the person he was writing the ticket to, “yeah, I just wrote him a ticket for a seat belt violation” and shrug it off. No, this officer radioed another officer to hold the guy for 20 minutes until he could get there “AND SHOW HIM” not to honk his horn!! COME ON! ASSUMING pescazarro acted like he said and wasn’t a compete @$$ to the officer the first time and all he did was show him he had his seat belt on, this was nothing more than an officer showing the little man who is boss, which he already did with the first ticket. JMO which doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things!
I should add that if I did the same thing and got the second ticket, I would be mad as hell, but I would just suck it up and pay it and move on. Less time and headache that way. I think it is a no-win situation. The only chance you have IMO is if the cop doesn’t show up to the trial.
I know officers have a hard job, but lets not make them holier than thou. MOST people without a need to show authority would have brushed off a little toot of a horn and just mentioned to the person he was writing the ticket to, “yeah, I just wrote him a ticket for a seat belt violation” and shrug it off. No, this officer radioed another officer to hold the guy for 20 minutes until he could get there “AND SHOW HIM” not to honk his horn!! COME ON! ASSUMING pescazarro acted like he said and wasn’t a compete @$$ to the officer the first time and all he did was show him he had his seat belt on, this was nothing more than an officer showing the little man who is boss, which he already did with the first ticket. JMO which doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things!
I agree…That was a “Biotch” move on the officers part!! Probably not much you can do about it. You could probably lawyer up, but that will most likely cost you just as much if not more… You could also ask for a jury trial, would give you a better chance of victory if you end up getting jurors who dislike cops…
A bad day fishing is much better than a good day at work.
All of this headache was caused by you just because you didn’t want to wear a seatbelt. Which by the way is designed to keep you from having a steering wheel buried into your chest or facepainting the windshield in an accident, or to keep you from trying to fly through a window like superman during a rollover.
Believe it or not, there are some good laws out there. This is one of them. Man up and face the repercussions of acting like a jackwad.
Maybe you have gained some wisdom from this event. Maybe.
I think that at some point in life, most people learn that being a rebellious, smart ass out of spite is counter productive. For me it was in high school. There are times when rebelling can be a goo thing, this just doesn’t seem like one to me.
That being said, I’d probably just pay the fine and go on with my life. There may be a chance of a reduced fine but is it worth the money and time you’d have to take off from work? Is it worth inconveniencing your employer and/or clients? Lots of factors in this one but I wouldn’t count on the judge reducing the fine.
