187

Whats with the hood thing, is that state specific?

GordonDET

Yup, Some cops in Cali. are trained to notice modifications on engines (probably forced to watch all fast and furious movies over and over) and if they see anything that does not look stock or is lacking an obvious CARB sticker / marking they send you to a special state run inspection station to have it checked out. Or something like that.

I have heard of some 240sx owners doing a pretty quick engine swap from an sr back to a ka.

bigwes

Cali's laws are strict as hell!!

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I get harassed all the time in my SC. It's mainly in the rich area where me and my little sister go to school. Most cops seem curious about the SC and seem to really like it. No tickets yet. Since I sold my Saturn I only drive the SC to my job on the other side of town or to go shopping.

I take my LS430 out that has limo tint, tinted windshield, tinted license plate cover, straight pipe, and flashy wheels and cops don't mess with me. People think I'm a mobster or something and leave me alone.

jjffyy

iTrader: (9)

I was coming back home from a friends place at about 9 pm one night and got pulled over. That night I had my cruise control set at about 69-70 MPH while in a 65 MPH zone, then a cop pulls up behind me and flashes his lights. I pull over and he ask the usual questions about " Do I know how fast I was going?" And I told him I had cruise control set at 70. He says " Nope I clocked you at 80." I was like WTF definitely not. He then tells me that He also pulled me over because my fog lights were yellow and anything besides white is illegal. I'm thinking to myself that a lot of cars had factory yellow fogs so I knew he was just bull****ting. He then took my license and asked if I had any warrants or records. I told him no and he went into his car. He came back out empty handed and told me to have a good night and slow down lol It's so funny when they try to catch you riding dirty but have nothing on you.

mikef

iTrader: (3)

This is normal, cops pull people over because in their minds, 90% of people on the roads are hiding something. im not sure if its true or not.

jayclapp

The only time I ever got pulled over for no legal reason was back in early 1992 when the car was new. I went through Hooker, OK, around 10 pm at legal speed, then turned off that highway to a state highway. The local cop followed me for 200 yards or so and then pulled me over. Seems he had never seen the new SC400 and wanted to look it over. He also background checked and found the price of the car. But, at least it was a friendly pull over!

OKSTANCE

i LOL'd

i just started working at lexus driving around on my lunch break cus im not too familiar with edmond
then a cop pulls me over for not signaling chaning lanes and of course my tag was out of date =|
better believe my slammed satin black LS on 19s car catches attention and guy was a dbag on his bmw bike
thanks for the $420 ticket i didnt need...

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

You will definitely want to stay away from Edmond. It's so bad with all of the shady undercover patrol cars and the cops there just harass you for no reason. Back when my SC was lowered and I had the big dual mufflers I got harassed all the time. It's to the point where I wouldn't be caught dead in the day time driving it.

Your LS will definitely get you into trouble though. Satin black will catch crazy attention. They don't mess with me in my LS surprisingly. People seem to be scared of my car and think I'm with the mafia or something.

How out of date was your tag? That's a lot of money!

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

Some cops in SoCal (and NorCal) are "trained" to inspect for illegal engine swaps. It used to be called "Dragnet" I think. I have never been able to obtain the materials they use but from what I can tell its basis is in finding Hondas, 240's and other really obvious looking cars. I guess it depends on how diligent the CHP wants to be in educating himself and how flashy one's car looks. While living there I was equally concerned with the ARB's roadside smog checkpoints. They are supposedly voluntary but always have CHP's there to wave in the usual suspects. And "Supposedly" the information collected is filed generally and not specifically for your car but you can't really believe such things from that agency.

Swapping an entire USDM engine back after getting reff'd never made sense to me. It's a tremendous amount of time and effort if you have a life and a work schedule to be on. Or, for instance, if you fly a lot for work.

Living there, I only heard about horror stories but my car looks fairly stock as well...



Since coming to Florida I have had one truly stupid instance happen:

I was driving across a local causeway to make a bank deposit. It was nearly midnight. I was waiting for my girlfriend to call who was, at the time, stranded in a nowhere town in the midwest by someone she had agreed to make a moving trip with. That's another long story but we hadn't found a way for her to get home yet at that hour and it was pretty stressful.

So I was driving 45 in a 45 zone. Often (and sadly) you see these beachside police peppered around looking for speeders. They are always around because not much happens in that area. I drive by two cruisers parked so that the officers can talk to each other. I get about 200 feet from them when both pull around and follow me. I have a radar scanner but it didn't light up and there wasn't enough time to hide it without them seeing me doing so. Screw that, then... but I wasn't speeding either.

I get to the stoplight at an intersection with the bank on the other side and now is when he lights me up. I'm not worried so I just pull into the bank parking lot and let him and his partner's massive Tahoe come up behind me. I roll down the driver's side window, cut the engine and put my hands on the steering wheel.

Me: "Good evening officer. How can I help you tonight?"
It was a guy no older than twenty-six. Hate to admit it but I've got him beat by just a few years. He seemed nice enough at first.
Officer: "License and registration."
Me: "Sure."
I hand them to him.
Officer: "Do you know why I pulled you over?"
Me: "No, I don't."
Officer: "Your license plate lights are out."
Me: "They are? Okay, sorry about that. I wasn't aware. I can grab some new bulbs up at Walmart just up the street."
Officer: "So where were you headed so late?"
Me: "Actually I was headed to this bank to make a deposit. I'm buying a last minute plane ticket for my girlfriend so I needed some more cash in my account. I'm waiting for her to call me."
Officer: "This bank? Right here?"
Me: "Yes sir."
He had a weird pause, then...
Officer: "You don't have any guns or bazookas or anything like that in the car, do you?"
Me: (with an honest, friendly chuckle) "No, I don't have anything like that."
And I didn't, of course. I almost laughed AT him when he said the word bazooka but kept that belayed. Really? People carry a bazookas in their cars in a fairly affluent beach community complete with private tennis and golf clubs?
Officer: "Okay, we have to ask. Sit tight and I'll be back."
Me: "Okay, thanks."
Time passes. I am still waiting for my girlfriend to call.
The officer asks me to step out of the car. I do and he shows me some paperwork and says he's letting me off with a warning. I thank him and he shows me my license plate. Indeed, ONE of the two bulbs was out. But one was still illuminated. Annoying but I didn't say anything about that. Everything seems fine and he says I'm free to go. Cool. No sooner had I turned around when, with the worst acting I've ever heard, he says...
Officer: "Hey, one more question: are you SURE you don't have any guns or bazookas or drugs in there?"
I turned around, eyebrows raised at this point in honest disbelief. He had once again actually said the word "bazooka".
Beat.
Me: "No. I don't have any weapons or anything like that."
Officer: "Would you mind if we had a look inside the vehicle, just to be sure?"
Now at this point I have to inform the reader that I was dressed like a Silverlake hippie that evening. Best approximation I can give. At this point I figured he must think I was a stoner or something worse. Great.
Me: "But I told you I don't have anything like that in there. Is that really necessary?"
Officer: "If you don't have anything then it shouldn't matter, right?"
Another pause. What a snot-nosed weasel, I thought. I'm not an older guy but compared to me he really was a kid fresh out of the academy.
Me: "I really am waiting for an important call. Is it necessary?"
Neither officer answered immediately. At this point I make a decision I won't ever repeat again simply because my girl was more important to me than this jerk violating my right to not allow him to search my car. She was in tears last I talked to her.
Me: "Look, if you have to then go ahead. It really is important I don't miss my girl's call."
No sooner had I said this when Officer Two practically LEAPS to my car and starts checking the interior passenger side. He also looks like he was right out of high school.
Me (to Officer #2): "Please be careful. It's an antique."
Officer #2 couldn't have cared less but didn't manhandle anything as he poked around.
Me (to Officer #1): "Do you guys need to see the trunk?"
Officer #1: "No, that's okay."
All that bull and he wasn't worried I'd store my shotguns and bazookas in the most obvious hiding place?
Me: "Okay... (pause)... I really am waiting for my girlfriend to call me. Someone stranded her out in...." and I told the brief version of the story. He nodded, glazed. He didn't care or believe me. Nice.
Officer #2 finished and came back empty handed.
Officer #1: "Okay, looks like everything is fine. Just take care of the license plate lights. Drive safe going home."
Me: "Thanks. I still have to make my deposit first."
Officer #1: "At THIS bank?"
Me: "Yes, that's where I was headed when you pulled me over."
He seemed miffed that I was telling him the truth.
Officer: "Okay... have a good night." (at least I think he wished me a good evening. I can't remember now).

As I pulled right around the corner into the ATM drive through I half expected both of them to follow me there in case I took a big snort of blow or something equally ridiculous :/ Right then, she called me. And I did get her back home within 36 hours.

It's not the most dramatic story but certainly one of the most annoying police encounters I've had in my SC.

OKSTANCE

haha you should bring it up here so i can see it ^_^
i went out of my way to make my car NOT look like an old guy car so i was "asking for it" lol
it was like 210 for my tag being out of date and 210 for illegal lane change =|
all because i wanted some wendys my first week on the job..ftl

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I don't make it up to Eskridge much in my LS. I'm usually in a black GX470 but I'll bring the LS by since I need to get all of my fluids flushed.

That's what I did with my SC and it got me into a lot of trouble. Black tint, black wheels, giant mufflers and a pink TRD sticker attracts a ton of attention apparently. You almost would have to leave your LS stock so you don't get messed with.

That's a lot of money for such tiny stuff. Those cops out there are so thirsty it's ridiculous!

eknine9

iTrader: (8)

Oh God I get pulled over all the time in this car.
I miss my last car for this.

I used to drive an E39, but it was a silver station wagon so I guess cops ignored it or whatever, I mean the tint was just as dark, and the HID's just as bright, and I had illegally smoked the tails, yet I was never harassed, and sped all the damn time.

Now in the SC I don't speed ever, and I've gotten pulled over more than 10 times over the last year and a half I've owned it. Having no front plate isn't illegal here, yet when I get pulled over I'm given the most bull**** reasons.

"You looked like you might have been going a little fast."
"One of your lights looks brighter than the other, I think one of your headlights is going out."
"Your car's missing a front plate."
"That tint looks a little dark."

Then they're always looking through all of my information, measuring tint, asking to search my car, it's ridiculous. Whenever I have to drive on the interstate I make sure I do it at night as the staties are a lot less likely to pull me over at night. I mean everything is legal in my car, yet I'm constantly harassed by the cops. My last ticket was the worst. I was driving back home from work and I was tired and thirsty and wanted to stop at a gas station to buy a soda. Construction is blocking one entrance so their's only one way into the gas station, I join a line of cars waiting to turn left into the gas station. We all get into the gas station, there's no real fuss, then this cop blows across the street and pulls up and blocks my car into a parking spot and the guy hops out with a hand on his gun while I'm getting out of my car. He screams at me to stay in my car and keep my hands where he can see them. When I asked what was up he told me to shut up and wait till I addressed him. Eventually he asks for all of my information and takes it back to his car then after 15 minutes he comes back to inform me I'm getting a ticket for making an illegal left turn. when I asked him what was illegal about it he said I could've killed somebody and I'm lucky I didn't get charged with wreckless endangerment or some crap like that. (Later I looked up the exact law and myself and the 6 other cars that turned which he ignored were too close to the intersection behind us when we turned)

Keep in mind the entire time I'm there being harassed a number of cars are pulling in making the exact turn that I made along with the other 6 cars that were in line with me. He ignores all of them and treats them like ordinary citizens and drives back across the street where he was parked and continues to watch car after car make the exact same maneuver I get ticketed for (it was over $150), and doesn't pull out or harass any of them. After I bought admittedly ****ty soda which was not worth the expense I actually watched him for 5 minutes while I was outside and pointed at several of the cars turning in while looking at him and he just flashed his lights once and sat there. I don't know what point he was trying to make but it was one of the ****tiest weeks of my life and I still remember his face even though it's been 5 months since then.

Worst part was when I got home I parked on the curb for maybe 40 minutes before I put the car in the garage because my roomate was blocking the driveway. When I came out to move my car the city placed a parking ticket ($40) on my own car, parked in front of my own house because it was facing the wrong way. How the hell is anyone supposed to know that it's illegal to park facing whatever direction that was? Needless to say I got very drunk that night.

187

^ what is an illegal left turn

eknine9

iTrader: (8)

Right after you cross an intersection you can't turn left for a pre-designated number of feet. It's usually demarcated by a double yellow line, but even when it isn't you're still not allowed to turn left.

I watch people do it everyday and it frustrates me now everytime I see it.

There are several other kinds of illegal left turns as well that no one knows about and cops don't pull you over for unless they are being *******s.

For instance if you turn left and then wait in the center lane to merge into traffic, that's illegal. Also if you aren't close enough to the left hand edge of the lane you are turning out of you can be ticketed, even if you are fully within your lane when making the turn. That last one is completely up to the officers judgement.