Seatbelt ticket

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Keep in mind, Monterey County Courts have a long-standing reputation for being corrupt. My last judge there had been the baby sitter for the opposing attorney, besides her being just plain stupid. After spending a few days choosing a jury, she came back in and said we were not eligible for a jury and dismissed them all. Then half-way through the trial she goes on vacation ... I did not stand a chance.
 
dibbons said:
Keep in mind, Monterey County Courts have a long-standing reputation for being corrupt. My last judge there had been the baby sitter for the opposing attorney, besides her being just plain stupid. After spending a few days choosing a jury, she came back in and said we were not eligible for a jury and dismissed them all. Then half-way through the trial she goes on vacation ... I did not stand a chance.
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We hope if he takes it court it will not end up at the 9th circuit on appeal! Otherwise 253 bucks is cheap.
 
You broke the law. Lick your wounds and pay the ticket. It's only money.

If you feel like it, spend the time to fight it, but ask yourself- how much is your time worth? I'd guess that the judge would at least reduce the fine based on the fact that you had the lap belt on.
 
Cuda Al said:
Those shoulder belts are a pain in the arse, with it on you can not move to check blindspots, change the radio, adjust the mirror...

I'm guessing yours was hanging, stow it or remove it, problem solved.


Alan
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They are a pain to move around with the shoulder belt on but I’m actually gonna swap it out with a modern one to where I don’t have to worry about that anymore.
 
dibbons said:
Keep in mind, Monterey County Courts have a long-standing reputation for being corrupt. My last judge there had been the baby sitter for the opposing attorney, besides her being just plain stupid. After spending a few days choosing a jury, she came back in and said we were not eligible for a jury and dismissed them all. Then half-way through the trial she goes on vacation ... I did not stand a chance.
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That sucks you went through that and that’s great to know..
 
On the subject of license plates I gotta put on the front license plate soon on my dart because I have a plate that I got from Brainerd international raceway up in MN that says “Sucking gas and hauling ***” up front and I never changed it when I transferred it to ca. Stingy frkn laws hear
 
I know the officer was doing his job but dam I figure he’d at least give me a warning but no and he was also getting on my door window tint being too dark which I got it in AZ but it wasn’t too dark and I had the guy that installed make sure it was ca legal. **** hell I’ve seen a lot of new cars hear have darker window tint than mine driving everywhere and this guy tells me I have to remove it soon. I think this guy was just out to get anybody that day and ended up getting me and it made my day from happy go lucky to a septic pile of ****. Rant over.
 
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Up here if you plead guilty to a highway traffic act infraction and ask for leniency $$wise they will reduce it by at least 40%. Demerit points arent reduced.
I dont wave at cops, I put my blinders on!
 
SGBARRACUDA said:
Find out the laws and fight him with knowledge. If you can't win, why fight it?
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I will
4spdragtop said:
Up here if you plead guilty to a highway traffic act infraction and ask for leniency $$wise they will reduce it by at least 40%. Demerit points arent reduced.
I dont wave at cops, I put my blinders on!
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I’ve done that before in SLO county hear in ca which I might just do that. Will see
 
Ddaddy said:
By law, you are required to use all of the seat belts the car came with.
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This. My wife had an Escort with the stupid shouler-belt-on-a-track... The motor had broken, so the shoulder belt couldn't be worn properly. She was wearing her lap belt, but still got the ticket. She got out of it only because we junked the car between getting the ticket and her court appearance.
 
diymirage said:
If this is the way you describe a LEO, maybe you left church before you were ready?
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I know right? That cop risks his life everyday to get called an asshole by some church going hypocrite. To the OP, you got caught. What makes you any more entitled to a break than anyone else? You broke the law. The guy was just doing his job. He did nothing wrong.

I don't look at this as rolling over, yall think what you want. I have front lap belts only on both my truck and this little Valiant I just got, but you can bet I wear them as designed and intended. 253 dollars is strong, but it's strong for a reason. So you won't make that mistake again.
 
Go to court. Clean up and dress nice. Explain the situation clearly and succinctly (write down what you want to say). Be polite. Tell them that you were trying to be safe wearing your lap belt and that you didn't know you had to wear both belts to be legal. Tell them how long you have been using just the lap belt without any comment, warning or ticket in the past. Don't even mention the officer. The judge can write it off or reduce the charge and/or fine. If you can't do the above don't bother to go to court.
 
Son-in-law was pulled over, Pickens County SC, couple months ago. 2 adults and 3 teenagers in the car, not one wearing a belt. The 3 that held a drivers license got 25 dollar fine each. Not nearly enough in my opinion.
I agree that your early belt design is a spider web of freakin belts to hook up but... son-in-law, my daughter, and my grandkids in 200? Camry, no excuse... and I told him so.
Same laws apply to all for good reason. Want to drive a classic today, wear your classic belts.
 
I saw fight it. You have absolutely nothing to loose and this idea that "the cop is just doing his job" or "has to enforce the law" is BS. LEOs have discretion, especially when it comes to moving violations. For example, if you're cruising down the highway to 8mph over and a cop clocks you at that, he's under no obligation to pull you over. If you're going 12 over he may pull you over but still doesn't have to issue you a citation. He can give you a verbal warning, a written warning, or write you up for a reduced violation. In PA there's something called "failure to obey a traffic control ordinance". It's cheaper than the lowest speeding ticket and no points. Finally, they could write a speeding ticket for a reduced speed, thereby lowering the fine and points. Again, it's called discretion. The cop was probably having a bad day. Or, maybe he's just a dick.

Bottom line, you were in at least partial compliance by wearing the lap belt. Your intent was to comply with the law, you just didn't realize you were also required to wear the shoulder belt. It's said ignorance is no excuse, but in the end we're all human and judges do realize this, especially if you're an otherwise upstanding and productive member of the community. I'm not saying you'll get off scott free, but based on my experience with traffic court, it's definitely worth the effort.
 
Welll I went to court for it this morning and the judge gave me a break on the ticket and reduced the fine to 120 which was nice and he did explain that if the car’s equipt with it which it took him awhile to look it up then yes it has to be worn so now I know. Cool part The guard officer tho which was a woman was asking about the dart after court and wanted to check it out but I told her I didn’t bring it bcs of fear I would get another ticket in it and she laughed about it, showed her a pic of it and she really liked it! After court I went ahead and bought some retracting shoulder seatbelts to install in the dart to where I don’t have to deal with this problem ever again.
 
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RustyRatRod said:
I know right? That cop risks his life everyday to get called an asshole by some church going hypocrite. To the OP, you got caught. What makes you any more entitled to a break than anyone else? You broke the law. The guy was just doing his job. He did nothing wrong.

I don't look at this as rolling over, yall think what you want. I have front lap belts only on both my truck and this little Valiant I just got, but you can bet I wear them as designed and intended. 253 dollars is strong, but it's strong for a reason. So you won't make that mistake again.
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I respect officers and there line of work and was being as polite and nice as I can, but he was giving me alittle attitude about the belt and the tint and you weren’t there to know how I felt at the time but again maybe he was having a bad day or some **** and I got the crappy end of it and the demons came out idk but yea I won’t make that same mistake twice.
 
Sounds like I should get some retractables for my 70 Dart - it has the same crappy shoulder belts. Where did you find them to fit your 72???
 
I just went to the local picknpull and found the nicest set of seat belts in great shape from this mid 2000 year car which I forgot what brand car I got it from. Looked like it had the same mounting points so will try it out.
 
schwinger said:
I respect officers and there line of work and was being as polite and nice as I can, but he was giving me alittle attitude about the belt and the tint and you weren’t there to know how I felt at the time but again maybe he was having a bad day or some **** and I got the crappy end of it and the demons came out idk but yea I won’t make that same mistake twice.
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How you felt? The demons? LOL
 
What gets me about Florida seat belt laws. Every person in the vehicle must use a seat belt/shoulder harness. But you can ride in the open bed of a pickup with out any restraint at all. Tell me that makes any sense.
 
" I just went to the local picknpull and found the nicest set of seat belts in great shape from this mid 2000 year car which I forgot what brand car I got it from. Looked like it had the same mounting points so will try it out."

Let us know how it works out!
 
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