On my way to dinner this evening in rush hour traffic I was pulled over by a CA CHP. I knew why I was getting pulled over.......my car is 1 month old and have yet to recieve my plates. I currently have a British Plate on my car till I get my CA plates. I am thinking I have my temp reg in the windsheild so no worries........WRONG. The patrolman come to my passenger side window flashes the temp reg with a light........he then sticks his hand in my car ripping off the registration. After this he tells me that he is pulled me over for not having plates. DUH! Told him the car was new and I haven't received them??? He then states that my temp reg is expired and that my reg and my drivers license dont match??? They are the same address!?!?!? He says he is going to check with DMV if plates have been issued I am getting a ticket........once again thinking "WTF?!?!" I said " you are trying to tell me that if they have been issued and I have not recieved them I am getting a ticket? and he said 'yes' He tells me the DMV sent the plates on 10/21...........SO???? The DMV is a freaking gov agency I know people who haven't got their plates after 6 months. He then proceeds to tell me that my temp is valid for only 90 days..........WRONG! It is valid for up to 6 months!

CA Vehicle Code states : 4456. (c) A vehicle displaying a copy of the report of sale may be operated without license plates or registration card until either of the following, whichever occurs first:
(1) The license plates and registration card are received by the
purchaser.
(2) A six-month period, commencing with the date of sale of the
vehicle, has expired.

Notice it says 'received' not 'issued' It just burns me up when law enforcement perceive the law rather than enforcing it .........so now I have a fix it ticket and have to pay a fee of $10. Its not a matter of the money..........its the principle. Should I fight it? Thoughts??????

 

Sounds like you got unlucky and got a cop that probably had a bad day. You've got the law on your side, but I dont know if its worth it for $10. I suppose it would just depend on what you would have to do to get it overturned.

 

Ouch! Talk about bad timing--I'll bet those plates arrive tomorrow, but it sounds like the CHP ruined a perfectly good today!

Re your question, it depends on how you want to spend your time and energy. If what you want is to let the CHP officer know how you feel and let someone know that you were right and he was wrong, a complaint letter might accomplish the same thing without the hassle of trying to fight a ticket. Send it to the commander at the local district office--or to a state elected official. Fighting it is more trouble than it's worth, IMHO, and would give you lots of opportunities to trip yourself up.

 

It's like most any other profession, there will be those that are anally zealous a$$bites or the rest that are understanding guardian angels.

Guess which you encountered!

 

Two years in a row I did not receive the tags for our Lexus. I go to the DMV to get them and even though I have an appointment I am giving a number in the group that doesn't have appointments. PIA....the government. I am all for Arnold turning those useless agencies over to the private sector..

As for the $10 fix it ticket it probably would take longer to stand in line to contest it but what the heck...make them earn that $10.00!!

 

I will probably fight it by mail..............but its a shame we cannot hold these type of officers accountable for their actions....

 

What freeway did you get pulled over at?

 

I would fight it... you should have his badge number as well on the ticket right? Or name... something. Everyone makes mistakes, there are a billion laws and the officer may have made a honest mistake or may not know the correct law... It would be best to bring that information to correct persons. I say fight it to educate that officer so it does not happen again to another citizen. Good luck... Would love to know the outcome!

 

Amen brother!

 

highway 85 South........In Cupertino......

 

Ah, 85 south...

A corolla S went around me during commute time in the diamond lane and so did a momma driving some GM SUV thing and I was doing around 80..

The CHP likes to ticket on that freeway.

 

My advice would be to pay the $10 just for expediency, then write a letter to the Police Department Chief to complain about the abuse, lack of knowledge and harrasment of a citizen. Properly worded this will result in the offending CHP Officer receiving a reprimand. If you point out the $$ and sense thing about paying the ticket you may also get it squashed.


Doing this will make the problem go away and keep yuou feeling good.

 

it just really sucks when cops take advantage of pepople like that

 

Cops are human too...must have been having a bad day. Oh well...fight fight

 

Ironically I spent less time with the CHP officer when I was rear ended several months ago

 

If you choose to fight it, does he have to appear in court??

It might be interesting to see what he has to say for himself, but its your time and trouble too, if you want to go that route.

 

Good Point!! I would love to hear that! for me, it would be worth the time to see what the officer has to say in court. Then it would be "on the record" that he made a mistake. Hmm.. Something to think about!

 

If you go to court, the officer MUST appear, if he/she doesn't show, you automatically win. You have the right to face your accuser!

 

Note: In California this is true. I've heard it's not true in other states, for traffic cases anyway. This probably won't help in the guy's situation but I thought I would just note for the record that www.ticketassassin.com is a great way to learn about fighting tickets in CA.

-mike

 

Go to court, fight it using the statute you posted, and subpeona officer "un-friendly" to appear and testify as to the State's case against you. Best case scenario: you win and he gets and earfull from the judge (= great personal satisfaction). Worst case scenario: The judge finds for the state, you pay the fine and court costs (but at least officer un-friendly wasn't out ticketing poor souls during his court appearance, so you still win).

 

Fight it! I have a neighbor who is a CHP officer and he is a huge jerk who is constantly overstepping the line. Maybe he was the jerk that pulled you over

 

The bad thing is that CHP officer gets paid to go to court! He wins either way! TURD!

 

Yeah, overtime no less. This is the benefit of going the Trial by Written Declaration route.

-mike

 

Thanks for the feedback I will update on the status after all is said and done. Oh and I am going to keep my British Plate on

 

He probably pulled you voer for the british plate and then saw the temp tag and was PO'd because he couldn't write the big ticket for no plates... Not wanting to just let you go he wrote the BS ticket.

Fight it... Absolutely