i went to san luis obisbo thies weekend and the first night i just got off the freeway and into town and was going to my cousins house. and the next thing i know their was a cop behind me. i was almost to my cousins ouse when he turned on the red and blues so i pull over and he ended up writing me a ticket for no mud flaps,tinted windows,and modified exhaust. i asked him hoe he can get me for modified exhaust when he didnt even look at it or test it with a desible meter and he reponce was its loud ok. now this is when i need some expertice i do have some people that can write it off for me but the cop wanted to be an edit and wrote issuing officer must sign off on the ticket and checked the yes for correctible violation then checked the no for no correctible. do yall all think he is just trying to hose me or what oh and by the way i cant even read anything on the ticket terrible penmenship. sorry had to vent.

 

Take it to court. There should be a court date on the ticket, the judge may throw it out. I've been hit for the tint and exaust before, and told the judge that the officer did not use a light meter, or a db meter. He tore up my stuff and let me go.

 

yea but ill have to drive 3 1/2 hrs and about 250 miles to go to the court date and take off work for that matter

 

Might be worth the fuel considering the cost of paying the ticket and having to correct all of your mods.

 

yea i dont know i have a while to figure out what to do and if he can reslly make it to whenre he is the only one that can sign it off. oh the worst part of it all was he wouldnt even shake my hand after i got my ticket he looked at my hand an walked off what an ..........

 

First of all, not everyone can be a good guy like you. Let the PO be himself, and walk away a better man for it. You would get a slightly different attitude if you had negative folks to talk to all day......no worries though mate- you are in the next sandbox now.


My humble advice for your concerns? CONTACT the District Attorney in that area (info from the Court location on the ticket) and ask if he feels comfortable with the PO not using a meter. say it politely, but I don't have to tell you that. You are going to write this as a letter. Get with some friends for comfort and proof reading. PM me if you need anything else asked or answered.

simply, letter to DA regarding zero proof and 350 mile trip plus will get you some answers. do not even worry about it, it is a mosquito compared to really important stuff in your life.

 

A DB meter is not necessary.. Your Signature says that you have a straight pipe.. California law forbids you from modifying your exhaust to make it louder.. It is pretty obvious that if you are straight piped you are louder..

Now as far as the correctable/non correctable.. A correctable ticket is for a mechanical problem like a burned out light etc.. The courts down here say that if it is an intentional modification than it is no correctable. Really depends on the court..

Also if you started asking and questioning the PO about meters etc you may have upset him.. If you did, that may be why he put it down as non correctable.

Basically if you want to correct the problems.. (peel the tint and put a muffler on that is a quiet at stock) then you can go to court and ask the judge to dismiss it .. otherwise it will be just like a moving violation with points against your driving record....

 

Gerry, I think he's talking not about the issue of the whether or not he should have modified his exhaust, but the issue of the PO not approaching the situation in a correct manner.

 

OK I see your point.. But the vehicle code does not specify a DB level.. it simply states that you may not modify the exhaust to make it louder than stock.. So with a straight pipe I really don't think that there is any question that the truck is ALOT louder than stock.

Now I wasn't there but it sounds to me (he checked correctable than rechecked to non correctable) that there is more to their conversation than he is telling..

 

If he was out to get YOU personally, you wouldn't be able to get it waived after the repair was done, you'd be paying the fine too. That's why it pays to keep your composure. He doesn't need a meter, it's against federal law to modify the exhaust at all, and most states are gonna have a law that says you may only enhance a vehicles original safety features or integrety, you may not "take away from". Here, it's not really legal to write window tint as a waivable violoation, there is a specific code for it. The officer has to pencil it in under codeing for an "equipment" violoation to make it waivable. Most courts allow the officers to take the discretion, but if you tick off the magistrate too, you might come out on the down side. Sounds to me like you didn't get off as bad as you thought, only haveing to put a muffler on, at least for a few days.

 

I got hit for no fender flares a while back, all it did was pay some fine ($50) and that was the end of that.

 

Could you please post the exact CVC (CA Vehicle Code) section that he cited for? Was it 27150(a) CVC?
27150. (a) Every motor vehicle subject to registration shall at all
times be equipped with an adequate muffler in constant operation and
properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise, and
no muffler or exhaust system shall be equipped with a cutout, bypass,
or similar device.
Now if you were cited for excessive smoke, defective exhaust, etc. different actions are required than below...

If he cited for 27150(a) CVC, it should be marked NO for correction and on the back/front it should also be marked "State Referee Only."
CA has decided the layman officer does not have the capabilities available to make a lawful/correct measurement in the field. So we cite for the above section and you have to take to a state testing section where it has to meet the requirements of 27151 CVC. You will want to pay attention to section (a) as your truck should weigh over 6K... The CVC does not publish the standards for vehicles over 6K as that is regulated by DOT. Some searching should find the answers.

27151. (a) No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor
vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted
by the motor of the vehicle so that the vehicle is not in compliance
with the provisions of Section 27150 or exceeds the noise limits
established for the type of vehicle in Article 2.5 (commencing with
Section 27200). No person shall operate a motor vehicle with an
exhaust system so modified.
(b) For the purposes of exhaust systems installed on motor
vehicles with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of less
than 6,000 pounds, other than motorcycles, a sound level of 95 dbA or
less, when tested in accordance with Society of Automotive Engineers
Standard J1169 May 1998, complies with this section. Motor vehicle
exhaust systems or parts thereof include, but are not limited to,
nonoriginal exhaust equipment.

PM me if you have other questions.

 

Ah - I see you got to meet one of SLO's finest too eh? That place is a college town; I think I was hassled about every other time I was up there, back when I was driving a 93 Mustang GT. And I wasn't even doing anything wrong - seriously I wasn't.

The 'stang was stock, but I got hassled for tinted windows on the rear hatchback. Funny thing was I actually still had the window sticker in the glovebox, and showed the officer it came from the factory that way, and it was a CA car.

I also got pulled over for having a tail light out - I was incredulous that one of my tail lights was out - he said the brake light wasn't working. So I got out of the car and went back to the back of the car with the officer, and had my friend tap the brakes. Lo and behold the brake lights all worked. I think he was trying to see if I'd been drinking or not. He turned around and walked back to his car without saying another word.

Maybe it's the same officer....

 

SLO is a bad place man, I was coming back from there to SF, I came up through Morro Bay and took highway 41 (IIRC) and some edited by me was going the opposite direction and threw a full can of soup out his window at my 02, it was literally 2wks old at the time. (New hood, and fix/paint the driver quarter panel) It hit just above the headlight and careened into the side of the hood, thank god it didn't hit the windshield. Unfortunately it was a very narrow stretch and I couldn't turn around quick enough to chase them down.

 

i cant even read the section violations i can even make out my own adress