Interesting traffic violation (STUPID)

[McLovin]

So I wanted to ask you guys what you think about todays incident.

Today I got a fix it ticket because of the buell xb12 headlight that I have on my bike. It is the standard headlight and mini fairing that comes with Buell XB's. Stock. Red.

According to the officer who handed me the ticket, the sun light might shine thru the transparent red mini fairing causing people to mistake me for an emergency vehicle. So he said if I paint it or something, basically somehow make it not translucent, it should be okay. He said it would be the same with the blue ones too.

Then I asked him how it is that Buell sells thousands of these bikes as street legal and they all are illegal. And he said different states different laws. ??!! Then he brought up that he also pulls over clear signals and stuff like that.

Of course half hour later I was at the local bike stop, and there was a whole bunch of bikes with all kinds of clear signals, flush mounts.
The officer must have missed all of those! Like 50 of them.

I want to know what you guys thinks about this. I think it is bull****. The fairing barely covers the mid section of the handlebars and there is a speedo, keys and wires stuffed behind it. All those actually illegal aftermarket mods pass by this guy, i cant believe that I got the ticket with my almost completely stock bike.



Any advice, thoughts?

Thanks
Mike

 

[Anarchy]

Heck some cars even come stock with clear signals. I recently talked to an office here in Ohio about some blue LEDs that I have under the seat and front fork. He said as long as they are not spinning or blinking its not a problem being red or blue. He also said its been a huge controversy for a while I guess but they have decided to not ticket the blue and red neons on cars and bikes. I'll have to take a picture sometime but my LEDs under my seat are in clear view to anybody behind me and they are pretty bright considering there are 12 on each side running up the frame.

 

[smokenu]

What part of SOCAL are you in? I have had my run-in's with the CHP a number of different times. from exhaust, turn signals (not having front ones) and tinted windows in my car you name it, even got a ticket for illegal use of my horn:spank:.
I was pulled over by the same CHP 3 time's in one week for tinted windows, he wrote me a ticket for each time. when I told him that I have not even appeared in court for the first one, he said i was breaking the law untill I remove the tint.%*#hole. Anyways after i removed the tint all the tickets were dropped.

The funny thing is the local PD has never stopped me for anything. Just the CHP.

you may be able to have the ticket signed off by another PD. then all you need to do is pay the fine.

good luck:thumbup:

 

[SovietRobot]

Can you fight fix it tickets in court? I would. Bring tons of pictures and information from the buells. That's quite stupid.

 

[Soap]

If it is a manufacturer's standard item like you said (Which I don't doubt) then it is quite obviously legal. Buell cannot make something which does not comply to the law or they would be in the deep of it.

 

[Denver_FZ6]

..the sun light might shine thru the transparent red mini fairing causing people to mistake me for an emergency vehicle.

Any advice, thoughts?

Yes, fight it in court. It is an incredible reach to interpret the translucent fairing as a red light. The fairing is not a light source nor are there light sources behind it. Based on officers logic, light reflected off a red car could also be interpreted as emergency vehicle. Could someone interpret sunlight coming through it as an emergency vehicle? Sure, if they have been living on Mars for previous portion of their life.

This sounds like a reaction to diminished revenue due to current economy and local government is stepping up enforcement to generate some income.

 

[wrightme43]

Its a toss out of court ticket.

Save photos. http://www.buell.com/en_us/bikes/street/XB9SX/colors.asp#
Print photos on photo paper. (both colors)
Print web page.

Go to court. Ask for loss of wages, and a refresher course for the officer on common sense. (you wont get anything just one more person disgusted with the legal system)

 

[lonesoldier84]

FIGHT it just to make him look and feel like an ass.

seriously wtf. who is going to see a red bike coming up in their rear view no matter what lights you have for headlights and SWERVE OFF THE ROAD OMFG ITS AN AMBULANCE NOOO!!!!!!

 

[YamahaMAXdRPMs]

before i went through all that, i would take it to the station and talk to someone higher up, take the pics and talk to him. I doubt he would be able to just make the ticket disappear, but i would do that before i let it get to court.

 

[reiobard]

someone needs to bit-- slap that cop.... yeah... um your OEM equipment is illegal...

 

[LERecords]

yea.. that cop probably doesnt like your bike or doesnt like clear corners... i would just right it.. you can give someone a ticket because you dont like it.. cops arn't fashion police...

 

[Capo79]

This IS for real, right? Immediately I thought this was some kind of joke, but I see now that the whole incident really happened. I can't believe it's even possible to be pulled over and -not to say- getting a ticket for something like that... What an a$$hole that officer must be!

 

[keira]

Sounds like he was trying tog et your for something else and didn't have anything to go on....vendetta against bikes.

Do't know the details about CA, but in NH if you bring documentation about how theya ctually come like that, the ticket will be gone. Fight it.

 

[Got-boost?]

Where I live I would fight that kind of ticket.

 

[LERecords]

hey.. the cops are just trying to make the world a more beautiful place right...

 

[Motogiro]

What part of SOCAL are you in? I have had my run-in's with the CHP a number of different times. from exhaust, turn signals (not having front ones) and tinted windows in my car you name it, even got a ticket for illegal use of my horn:spank:.
I was pulled over by the same CHP 3 time's in one week for tinted windows, he wrote me a ticket for each time. when I told him that I have not even appeared in court for the first one, he said i was breaking the law untill I remove the tint.%*#hole. Anyways after i removed the tint all the tickets were dropped.

The funny thing is the local PD has never stopped me for anything. Just the CHP.

you may be able to have the ticket signed off by another PD. then all you need to do is pay the fine.

good luck:thumbup:

Unfortunately the legal system takes advantage of some for the revenue and has nothing to do with public safety. Probably don't have Fix-It Tickets in most states. That is a cool thing in CA. On some tickets, you can fix-it and the fine is dropped.

 

[RyanK]

I'd try talking to his superior...If that doesn't work then fight it...What a joke!

As for red and or blue LED's and such, flashing blue seems to be against the law in any state, red also in some. Any way about it, if you have blue lights, flashing or not, you're going to be given a hard time by some cops who don't like them or don't know the law. You're just asking for headaches by installing them.

Now a fairing that is not backlit, the topic of this discussion, seriously???

 

[mike1952]

go to court and make a cop look dumb. tell them FYYFF. This bull**** gets me pissed. You may want to call Buell. Hell they may give you an attorney

 

[davidsa1]

Fight it! Thats total B.S.

 

[lattin25]

That is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard of. I would most certainly contest this ticket. IMO this cop was just having a bad day and wanted to make himself feel better by screwing up someones day. I can't stand cops who just seem to want to get back at the world. You should take pictures of your motorcycle, bring pictures of the buell, hell even put your bike out in the sunlight and take pictures. Do everything you can to try and make it look like an "emergency vehicle" in its current condition. Then take everything to the police station and discuss the situation with someone higher up. If they don't cooperate just take it to court. There is absolutely no reason you should have gotten a ticket for that.

About a year ago I got a ticket for "failure to stay on the right side of the road" by some a$$hat cop who had nothing better to do. I turned left down a narrow street with cars lined on each side of the road at night. Common sense told me to make sure I was clear of the possibility of cars backing out or someone walking out by a car so I cut the corner by a few feet. Sure enough there was a cop heading down the street my way. He wrote me up and I contested it. I went up to the intersection and took pictures of numerous cars doing exactly what I did. I took it to the probation officer the next day and he dismissed the ticket.

Even if you do what you can and fight the ticket and don't get it dismissed, at least you tried. Its not very often that a traffic or fix it ticket gets overturned but it does happen. Its worth a try. Good luck.