Ticket= Quota Filled [Archive] - Grand Am Owners Club Forums

ccarr8705

05-29-2004, 10:52 PM

Got a new phone today. On my way to work, I stopped at the stop sign at the end of my street. I always put my seatbelt on b4 I turn onto rt 40. Well I came to a stop and was looking down at my phone trying to get my voicemail set up. Hadnt got my belt on yet because I was getting my phone set. A cop passed me and I didnt notice it. So i put on my seatbelt and turn like nothings wrong. I see the cop sitting in a parking lot on the right. I pass him and he pulls out behind me. Waits for like a mile before he pulls me over. He comes up and says "Sir I noticed your tint is a little too dark." I said "I thought the law changed to 35%. He told me it was still 50%. Well he then said that wasnt the whole reason he pulled me over and said he noticed I didnt have my seatbelt on at that stop sign. I told him I always put it on b4 I pull out of my road. Now since Im 17 with a nice car he probably didnt believe me. So he gave me a ticket and used that little tint checker thing and it still came out to be 30%. So he uses the remark "well look at this, you still would have been illegal!" Well damn officer you didnt even wipe off the window before you checked the tint. Maybe just maybe its going to be a little darker because its not clean.

Well now I have a ticket and have to go to court. Dont know what the fine is going to be.

3 DeeJay

05-29-2004, 11:23 PM

sorry to hear that..

Jordon'sGrandAm

05-30-2004, 12:59 AM

that blows.

TA^Guy

05-30-2004, 07:34 AM

My question is why don't you have your seatbelt on before you put the car into drive?

Riley1123d

05-30-2004, 08:50 AM

I think the whole "click it or ticket" thing is obscene. We own the vehicles, therefore we should be able to decide if we wanna buckle up or not. It would be like making a law saying you can't speak on cordless phones after.. lets say 8pm. And cops randomly walk into your house making sure you're not doing that.

zipnsip

05-30-2004, 09:04 AM

Yah seriously, how can you even take the car out of park without your seat belt on?? Ray the click it or ticket is not a stupid law. It saves lives! I don't even start the car until EVERYONE in the car has their seat belt on. I even have harnesses for my dogs so that they can be buckled up. You never know what is going to happen.

Old Guy

05-30-2004, 09:14 AM

Originally posted by zipnsip
....I even have harnesses for my dogs so that they can be buckled up. You never know what is going to happen.

:lol: And here I thought I was the only one that buckles their dog in!!! Not only does it keep them safe......but have you ever had a dog give you a wet one in the ear while you're driving??? YUCK!!!!!

jayhawk

05-30-2004, 10:23 AM

Entombed GT

05-30-2004, 11:09 AM

Originally posted by Riley1123d
I think the whole "click it or ticket" thing is obscene. We own the vehicles, therefore we should be able to decide if we wanna buckle up or not. It would be like making a law saying you can't speak on cordless phones after.. lets say 8pm. And cops randomly walk into your house making sure you're not doing that.

I agree that you can't legislate stupidity. If someone wants to take their chances without a seatbelt then that's their problem. Have fun getting ejected from and then getting steamrolled by your own car when you wreck.

But, then I look at my girlfriend. She's living proof that seat belts save lives. She flipped six times in my Blazer and the only thing that kept her from slipping through the window and getting crushed was the seat belt she was wearing. She walked away from this wreck with a scraped arm and a contusion on the side of her face...

http://entombedgt.freewebspace.com/images/8.jpg

I think it's a good law so long as they keep it as a secondary offense that you can't be pulled over for. There's too much potential for abuse by some cops out there who are begging for reasons to pull people over ("Well, it didn't look like he had his seat belt on so I pulled him over. He did have it on as it turns out, but why ruin an otherwise perfectly good traffic stop? So, I bullied him into giving me permission to search his car, found a roach in the ashtray, and hauled him off to jail. Go, War on Drugs!").

Colin

05-30-2004, 11:48 AM

Originally posted by Riley1123d
I think the whole "click it or ticket" thing is obscene. We own the vehicles, therefore we should be able to decide if we wanna buckle up or not. You'd be the first to complain when your insurance rates go up to cover all the injurys and medical bills that will result from it . :roll2:

jeffwojo1

05-30-2004, 01:19 PM

since when was driving a right? last time i checked it was a privlidge. could be just me though. :)

zipnsip

05-30-2004, 03:18 PM

Originally posted by Old Guy
:lol: And here I thought I was the only one that buckles their dog in!!! Not only does it keep them safe......but have you ever had a dog give you a wet one in the ear while you're driving??? YUCK!!!!!

You know Tom, I kinda learned to get them a harness the hard way. They were both puppies and I was just waiting for them to get full grown so that I don't have to buy a new harness every 2 months as they grew. Well one day I took them to PetSmart and when we were on the way home, a car hit mine and Nikki, my black lab, who was about 3 months old at the time went flying to the other side of the car and yelped. I was so worried that she got hurt. Right after we filed the police report I went back to PetSmart and bought the harnesses. Here is a pic of how small Nikki was when we got in the accident. She only weighed about 22 pounds at the time.

http://hometown.aol.com/zipnsip/images/puppies%20011%20small.jpg

Riley1123d

05-30-2004, 03:51 PM

Was she okay? :(

JMILLS

05-30-2004, 05:36 PM

As an EMT and Firefighter, I have seen personally what happens without a seatbelt... and without trying to flame anyone, it is crazy to drive without on. You may be the safest driver in the world, but there are tons of morons on the road.

TA^Guy

05-30-2004, 06:44 PM

Originally posted by Colin
You'd be the first to complain when your insurance rates go up to cover all the injurys and medical bills that will result from it . :roll2:
Originally posted by jeffwojo1
since when was driving a right? last time i checked it was a privlidge. could be just me though. :)
Originally posted by JMILLS
As an EMT and Firefighter, I have seen personally what happens without a seatbelt... and without trying to flame anyone, it is crazy to drive without on. You may be the safest driver in the world, but there are tons of morons on the road.
:agree: x 3

ccarr8705

05-30-2004, 07:02 PM

See the point is I do where my seatbelt all the time. I never go past the stop sign at the end of my street b4 I put it on. And I didnt even notice the cop went by. I put it on and he probably thought that I put it on to trick him or something.

master

05-30-2004, 07:53 PM

Originally posted by ccarr8705
"Sir I noticed your tint is a little too dark." I said "I thought the law changed to 35%. He told me it was still 50%. Well he then said that wasnt the whole reason he pulled me over and said he noticed I didnt have my seatbelt on at that stop sign. I told him I always put it on b4 I pull out of my road. Now since Im 17 with a nice car he probably didnt believe me. So he gave me a ticket and used that little tint checker thing and it still came out to be 30%. So he uses the remark "well look at this, you still would have been illegal!" Well damn officer you didnt even wipe off the window before you checked the tint. Maybe just maybe its going to be a little darker because its not clean.

Well now I have a ticket and have to go to court. Dont know what the fine is going to be.

Is that 30% for every window in the car? Or just the rear ones? I'm wondering because many minvans come with 30% tint from the factory. Does that make all of them illegal?

PontiakGa_Sport

05-30-2004, 08:40 PM

thats some rough luck.... i'm sure you will get pbj in court though if this is your first offense. and the tint is an equipment violation so you will prolly need "proof" that its been removed. good luck

ccarr8705

05-30-2004, 08:45 PM

As for the tint, it said to have it removed but I dont have to take it to the Highway Patrol for inspection. He didnt cite anything for the tint so it is staying. As for the fine it is $70+ with the court costs.

Artic

05-30-2004, 08:55 PM

Originally posted by master
Is that 30% for every window in the car? Or just the rear ones? I'm wondering because many minvans come with 30% tint from the factory. Does that make all of them illegal? Yes that does make it illegal if it comes to a state where the max you can have is 50% they will fail inspection and either go back or be corrected by the dealer.It happens alot around here with our 35% max rule we have.

As far as the click it or ticket thing yes I do wear my belt and in Oh and Wv its the law to wear the belt.So there should not be any issues of ppl not wearing them yes they are annoying but its proven the can save lives so why not wear it.And putting your seatbelt on and the end of your street is a no put it on when you get in the car.You never know you could get slammed backing outta your drive way and get seriously hurt without that belt you put on at a stop sign down the road.

TA^Guy

05-30-2004, 09:14 PM

I personally don't find the belt annoying.
If it's restricting you from doing something, then you probally shouldn't be doing whatever it is while you are driving.

And as for tint, thats the chance you take. I tinted our GA knowning full well that there is no tint allowed on drivers or passenger windows in NY. I figured it being 20% it wouldn't be that bad. Wrong. Twice in one week we were stopped for it, that weekend I removed it.

And lets say you are from out of state and drive though NY with tinted windows. They can pull you over and ticket you for it, doesn't matter if its legal in your state or not. When you drive though a state you must obey that states laws. And if you claim "I didn't know this states law" well it's up to the drive of the vehicle to be fimular with the laws before operating a vehicle in said state.

Old Guy

05-30-2004, 09:32 PM

Originally posted by TA^Guy

And lets say you are from out of state and drive though NY with tinted windows. They can pull you over and ticket you for it, doesn't matter if its legal in your state or not. When you drive though a state you must obey that states laws. And if you claim "I didn't know this states law" well it's up to the drive of the vehicle to be fimular with the laws before operating a vehicle in said state.

It varies from state to state. In Ohio it only applies to cars registered in Ohio although some towns will enforce it with out of state vehicles. (even though the law clearly states that it only applies to vehicles registered in Ohio)
Also any tint that is manufacturer installed that complies to federal regulations is allowed in Ohio. ie; SUVs usually have very dark back and rear windows and they are still legal.

Here's a site that lists the laws state by state. You'll see some states allow "out-of-state" cars to have tint as long as it complies with where the vehicle is registered.

http://home.pcisys.net/~bpc/auto_law/tint/

Themeneea

05-30-2004, 11:23 PM

with playing with your phone, puting your seatbelt on, and driving, i would be more worryied about you hitting someone

scottyb

05-30-2004, 11:38 PM

I'm laughing while reading this thread, it seems like to some people seatbelts are a new thing! This is the sort of debate I would have expected to see 20 years ago, but not now. If people are dumb enough not to wear seat belts they should be ticketed, fined, and eventually lose their driving privledges. Just my 2 cents.

HighwayProwlerz

05-31-2004, 02:41 PM

Well the tint part of your story sucks. I think you should be able to tint your windows as much as you want (just not the windshield). But a seatbelt saved my life in a rollover accident where I could have been ejected from the car. I don't even back my car out of the garage without a seatbelt.

TA^Guy

05-31-2004, 02:49 PM

Originally posted by HighwayProwlerz
Well the tint part of your story sucks. I think you should be able to tint your windows as much as you want (just not the windshield). But a seatbelt saved my life in a rollover accident where I could have been ejected from the car. I don't even back my car out of the garage without a seatbelt.
Tint is along the lines of vision obstruction, mainly at night.

And those that say they can see fine at night are full of it. You may be able to see fine at night with tint, but in a dark area you can see far better without tint.

And yes both our car and truck have tinted rear glass.

Loopy

05-31-2004, 02:57 PM

My wife is alive today only because she wore her seat belt when she flipped her car onto the drivers side and slid around in a 180 on the drivers side of the car, then flipped back onto the wheels.

It's true that the person that kills himself because he wasn't wearing his seat belt only has himself to blame, but the law is there to protect the tax payers as well. When people that don't have insurance suffer greater injuries because they weren't wearing their seat belt, the tax payers end up paying their bills...

ladiesmanga

05-31-2004, 06:05 PM

If the seatbelts in the Grand Am weren't the most uncomfortable seat belts in automotive history, I may be more inclined to wear it :P

Really though, i'm off and on. Nowdays with the click it or ticket thing, it's actually WORSE....now, if I realize i'm driving and don't have it on, I slam on my breaks on impulse and put it on.......it's creating a danger that didn't exist before......screw whoever's behind me...i'm not getting a ticket....

Old Guy

05-31-2004, 06:28 PM

Originally posted by scottyb
I'm laughing while reading this thread, it seems like to some people seatbelts are a new thing! This is the sort of debate I would have expected to see 20 years ago, but not now. If people are dumb enough not to wear seat belts they should be ticketed, fined, and eventually lose their driving privledges. Just my 2 cents.

This was a huge debate in the early 70s when shoulder harnesses were first introduced.

I was VERY guilty of not wearing a seat belt until a few years ago when I saw a movie depicting a true story about a guy who killed his child by not having his seat belt on. The child was strapped in but the dad was not. He was hit from his side and he slammed into his child killing her when his head hit hers.

I've "clicked it" ever since I saw that!!

Gimli

06-01-2004, 07:06 AM

I find it funny when people blame quotas when they get a ticket. It couldn't be because you were not respecting the rules, oh no, it's because of quotas! :roll:

master

06-01-2004, 08:26 AM

Originally posted by ladiesmanga
If the seatbelts in the Grand Am weren't the most uncomfortable seat belts in automotive history, I may be more inclined to wear it :P

Really though, i'm off and on. Nowdays with the click it or ticket thing, it's actually WORSE....now, if I realize i'm driving and don't have it on, I slam on my breaks on impulse and put it on.......it's creating a danger that didn't exist before......screw whoever's behind me...i'm not getting a ticket....

Are you kidding me? The seatbelts in my Alero are so comfortable I don't even know it's on! I can drive all day long without ever complaining. And why would you have to slam your brakes if you realise that you forgot to wear it? Just keep on driving and put it on like a normal person .

Matt95GT

06-01-2004, 11:48 AM

If setting up your voicemail is more important that (a)putting on your seatbelt and (b)driving then you have you priorities completely wrong. Aside from any tint legalities - You deserve the ticket.

I'd rather not get into any of the debate going on here... but I will say that I am positive a selt belt has saved me from serious injury or death on at least 2 occasions.

Themeneea

06-01-2004, 06:15 PM

i dont know about america but i know ontario has no quotas

vdgmcool

06-01-2004, 10:29 PM

WOW! 50% that sucks I have 15% on my car and I haven't had a problem yet.

As for wearing my seatbelt its always been a habit for me my parents always told me to put it on when I was little so I did and I do believe it saves lives.

Psi

06-02-2004, 11:30 AM

Originally posted by HighwayProwlerz
Well the tint part of your story sucks. I think you should be able to tint your windows as much as you want (just not the windshield). Stupid people SHOOT officers for being pulled over.
There's reason to the madness.

30thAnnGAGT

06-02-2004, 04:40 PM

Originally posted by Themeneea
i dont know about america but i know ontario has no quotas

Because whoever came up with "Quotas" ought to be drug out into the street and kicked in the nuts.

There's NO SUCH THING AS A QUOTA. I've talked to literally over a dozen officers from a dozen different departments on this issue.

They have "expectations". If everyone in your department is writing 70 tickets a month, and you're writing 4, logic suggests you're not doing your job properly.

But an officer is not writing more tickets at the end of the month to "meet a quota".

TA^Guy

06-02-2004, 10:25 PM

Originally posted by Themeneea
i dont know about america but i know ontario has no quotas
I can't speak for all, but most places in amercia don't either.

It's just what people want to believe so they don't have a such a guilty consious about getting a ticket.

firecracker

06-03-2004, 08:26 PM

Alright I don't want to get into a debate here but I have a question. Now personally I put my seatbelt on everytime I get into a car.
However, why is it (At least in PA) that it is required by law for drivers to wear seatbelts but people on motorcycles don't have to wear helmets?

NorthEastGT

06-03-2004, 09:23 PM

I don't know about most people, but I don't feel right sitting in a car without my seatbelt. I like the feeling of being held into the car (somewhat like an amusement park ride) especially going around curves. I also agree that you shouldn't be pulled over just for not wearing it, but if a cop sees you not wearing it, chances are he'll find another reason to stop you and then site you for the belt.

Dave C

06-06-2004, 01:03 AM

Ok, I always put my seatbelt on when I backing around in my driveway so I can pull out facing the road... But that stupid chiming always sounds in the time between turning the car on and actually putting on my seatbelt.... And one thing that I've noticed is that there is a wire going into the bottom of the seatbelt holder. I am thinking about cutting it and splicing the two sides together to stop this chiming and I was just wondering if anyone else had done this successfully?

And in case anyone is going to say that the chiming actually makes me remember it, don't start because I have been putting on my seatbelt whenever I have been in a car since I was able to do it myself. (forced habit from the rents, thanks mom and dad!)