You stole my line! <shakes fist>
Wrong. You can, and are actually expected, to inspect your vehicle for such things. Start it up, put it in neutral, set the parking brake, turn on the lights, and do a walkaround. Then either have a helper check the brake lights while you press the appropriate pedal, or vice-versa.
If he is still in Anderson Indiana, he is in Hell!
Exactly. A cop looking for any reason to get back to the station on a snowy Xmas Eve, or looking to vent because they are working and someone else is not, sounds perfectly normal to me.[/snark]
Oakminster darlingest, when was the last time you did that? Also: you conceded it’s a two-person job, so give me credit for being at least partially right.
Has the thought crossed your mind that perhaps she was being profiled?
When I had an old beat up pick up truck with Grateful Dead stickers, etc , I got pulled over a LOT. Sometimes it resulted in a ticket (sometimes deserved, sometimes not). During the same period, driving in the same area, when I drove my late model car, I wasn’t stopped once.
The truck stood out visually as something someone not considered an upstanding citizen / taxpayer would drive and if they ran my tags prior to the stop, my address wasn’t in a great part of town either. Some cops have a hard on for that demographic, fair or not.
I hope that your cousin shows up to traffic court to fight it. I would think (IANAL) that there would be a good chance to have it dropped to a “fix” citation.
no one can back up to a wall in a parking lot or garage to check whether or not they see the glow? Yes it is difficult, but it is not a two person job. I have actually checked mine by myself before a long drive. (And I had no kids in the vehicle, and the weather was clear)
Doubtful, as it was several years ago.
Maybe he was Jewish? 
It was the one and only thing going through my head, when I wrote my original post–profiled and harassed for being poor. Since reading the responses to this thread, though, I’m now trying to figure out how to fit it into my day to do a complete quality inspection of every feature of my vehicle, every time I start it up.
Bolding mine. Whatever, no one said that this was an everyday driving situation. :rolleyes:
Some people in this thread need to be smacked upside the head with the two by four of perspective. It’s a minor, and deserved, traffic ticket.
The tail light was out, so the cop wrote a ticket. There is no “profilling” involved. If it was a fucking Lexus with a tailight out, the cop would have pulled it over. People are inferring way too much regarding a very minor traffic ticket.
And there is no where in this thread where it was stated that it wasn’t a “fix-it ticket”. Sattua’s aunt could very well have gone to court and said “I fixed it judge”
It’s just a fucking minor traffic ticket, and deserved.
I can’t see how it isn’t. If you are expected ( you are ) to be driving a properly equipped vehicle then when wouldn’t you have to check to make sure that you are? Unfortunately, there are no exceptions and that’s what you’re supposed to do but reality is that people generally don’t and that’s why warnings and fix it tickets are the preferred solution.
I’m betting that is what it was. I’ve never really heard the term fix-it ticket so I don’t know if it has a special meaning but both times I’ve had an equipment ticket this is exactly how I resolved it and never had to pay anything.
What I want to know was why weren’t there any helpful fellow motorists out there flashing their lights to warn this poor woman that there was a cop out there handing out tickets for broken tail lights?
Tan Ciera???
That cracked me the hell up. Thank you, I needed that!
Ha!
The last time I did it was actually last month, but that’s not the point. The driver is responsible for ensuring the vehicle complies with the law. If the vehicle is not in compliance, and a ticket is issued, it is not the cop’s fault. The cop is not a psychopath or an asshole for doing his job.
:smack: