Well im starting to get my crap together to fight my tickets off. I was wondering if anyone in california has the rules reguarding the illegal muffler citation. The citing officer told me that they changed the rules in 01, and that it's not a correctable offense anymore, not a fix-it ticket. I think that's total bull but I may be wrong.

Can someone verify this for me?

I'm facing 2 points right now, 1 I can take off with traffic school, and the other one I'm going to try and fight for unsafe speed. What's the policy reguarding guaging how fast someone is going. THe officer was standing there and "estimated" my speed. I remember a while back when someone had that test they could give the officer with a falling object, and it already had numbers, proven. If I recall, doesn't the officer need to be pacing me, say in his car or bike, or have a radar gun to accurately guage how fast i was going?

Is there anything i can get him on for verbal abuse? I have a witness in the car with me if that's any help. Stuff like "I'm a dumb sob, and I can't see"

Thank's in advance guys.

 

this is what i do if they dont have you on radar..just tell him that you were goin wit the speed flow of traffic..and ask him in court wonder why he pull you over not anyone else that was traveling at the same speed?and bs wit the court you'll get away like i did on serverals tickets i had..hope that help..thanks

 

I suppose I could do that because on the ticket he marked Heavy Traffic, but then again, when i went by him it seemed like i was the only car around. I just want something that will test his ablity to judge speed. Thanks for the word of advice.

 

If you don't want the point on your record, your best chance is to get a lawyer. Also if he wrote you for a BS muffler ticket, it will further help to discredit him, if you have a witness stating to you that the officer was extremely rude, and offended you with his language, it puts what type of a mood he was in when he gave you the ticket....hth.
Austin

 

Thanks! I think im going to bring my friend that was in the car with me to court.

 

so whats the deal with exhauts these days? cant replace it for sound? even though its the legal DB level?

 

don't know but the officer gave me this bullshit statement, saying that no muffler other than stock is legal. OHHHHH i wanted to punch the guy in the head.

 

remember law is law and real hard to win.
Only get ticketed if the cop is a dick or a real major ******* and has great hate for imports.(especially when its all fixed up and show quality.)

For the muffler, loud does not mean faster just remember that and bigger is not always better. the cops will see that you and site you for MODIFIED EXHAuST and EXCESSIVE NOISE. 90% of the time its a fix it ticket. which you can take to Torrance CHP off the Torrance Blvd and to get it signed off ofr free and require a $10 charge to the city court.

 

Thanks schanx, i did get a ticket previously for my exhaust and got it cleared. This guy was a total dick and said it was non-fixable in 01, but the previous ticket was in 01. Go figure. Anyways, i got some things sorted out and I have some hope for winning. Oh well, the law sucks.

 

i recently fought an exhaust ticket (here in fremont, california.. bay area for those that don't know) There is a CHP bulletin, i forget the exact # off the top of my head, but you can find it on the sema website. It basically says the officer can give you a ticket if he thinks your exhaust is excessively "harsh"... so basically he can ticket you whenever he wants. The bulletin also states that all exhuasts under 95 db (decibils) are legal. It further states that contrary to popular (cop) opinion modifying the stock exhaust is not illegal as long as your new exhuast stays under 95 db. It must be under 95 db measured 50 ft from the muffler with the engince at 3/4 load (3/4 of max rpms). It is supposed to be measured in a open area, and the bulletin states that this is not possible in an urban enviroment. So basically the bulletin helps, but not really. It's up to you to bring some sort of proof that your exhuast is under 95 db, i have an rsr exhaust so i had documentation proving that my exhaust was under 95 db. It also says that the officer "should" mark the correctable violation (aka fix it ticket) box.

Regardless of the law and my proof, in my case, the judge made me submit to a decibel test since the pd in my city has a decibel meter. The cops measured my exhaust at 2k, 2.5k, and 3k rpm, they measure it at the pipe not 50 ft away, but they only measure it up to 3k.. i suppose this is how the make the test "fair" since it is conducted in an urban area. My exhaust measured 100 db at 3k so i failed, the cop popped my hood and saw my intake and told me if i changed it my car should be quieter. I took this as, "as long as you change your intake I'll pass your car since it's so quiet and barely failed" so i went to the trouble of buying an intake from the junkyard and installing it. A different cop gave me my second test because the initial cop was out of town, i failed by one db.. damn one f@cking db, i was so pissed and begged him to let me pass but he wouldn't. So now after all that crap, time spent in court (twice), time spent with the officers, etc... i'm just giving up and putting a stocker back on. What a crock of **** eh. At least the cop was such a **** monkey that he didn't notice i had a b18c in my hatch.. ahahha... asswipe. So thats the odyssey of my ticket.

In conclusion, if your car can't really pass the test don't try to swing it, just swap the exhaust to stock have your ticket signed off and be done with it. Trying to live within the law and do **** the right way doesn't seem to pay off in this case, just swap it, sign it off, and put it back on.. ahhah..

On a side note if you think your gonna go into court and wow the judge with all your info and your witnesses, your sadly sadly mistaken. I'm assuming your a young guy like me and that definetely doesn't pull a lot of weight in court. Plus you have a cop thats basically gonna tell the judge that your "one of those honda racers" and thats further gonna make you look like an ***. The two judges i that heard my case basically laughed at me, accused me of being a street racer (the second judge was very insistent on this and asked me over 5 times), and told me that they didn't care what kind of proof of 95 db i had. Ok, i think i've babbled enough.. peace.. if you have any more specific questions i will be happy to answer them.

 

I have that bulletin printed out already, 98-100. Im gonna use my witness to prove what kind of state he was in and how he was being very irrational to my requests, like not willing to explaining exactly what the thing he cited me for was. I have had an exhaust ticket before and got it corrected, so i see no reason why it all of a sudden turned illegal. I am all stock now.

Well yeah, I have a feeling that me being so young isn't going to help, but being well prepared will help a bit, I hope. If I can get the exhaust ticket signed off as a fix it, then i'll be glad with that.

Sorry, if for those who are reading this, if this seems too dramatic on my part.