I got pulled over this morning for having a burned out brake light.
The prick cop gave me a ticket for not fixing something that I had absolutely no idea was in a state of disrepair.
How the hell am I supposed to know that my brake light is out anyway? Even if you were to make an honest effort and make a walk around inspection of your vehicle before you hit the road, this malfunction will certainly still go undiscovered. (unless you have very long legs)
Aren’t you supposed to get a warning in instances such as this??
My actual question is what does the law state in this type of predicament?
Do I have better odds than a snowballs chance in hell of beating this irreverent ticket in court?
As does the ways of the world, it just doesn’t seem just.
…and just in case any of you were wondering…. I didn’t give the asshole cop an ounce of attitude until well after I got the ticket!!
How many warnings do you think you ought to get? The police officer has no way to check how many times you’ve been warned previously in other jurisdictions for the lights being out. Writing a warning is solely at his discretion. He is not ever obligated to simply write a warning for an offense. You, on the other hand, are obligated to ensure your vehicle is in a safe operating condition at all times. There are plenty of ways to check your brake lights periodically, even if your vehicle has no bulb out indicator.
If you push on the brake pedal when shifting into gear, and look in your rear view mirror, you can usually see the brake lights reflecting off the wall of your garage. And if you do this regularly, you will easily notice when a brake light is burned out – one side will be obviously darker than the other.
But I’ve never had a cop give anything but a 10-day fix-it ticket on this. Maybe they need tickets like this to increase revenue nowdays, with most states really short of money during this economy.
It’s probably a fix-it ticket. Take a look at the thing (or call the court number on it if you can’t figure it out). Usually, with a fix-it ticket, you have a certain number of days in which to have the problem fixed and then prove to the court that you fixed it. Only time I got a fix-it ticket, I was able to clear it by mail without actually going to court. I was able to mail the ticket back along with the paid bill proving I’d had the work done, and the fine, I suppose, if there was one. I don’t remember paying a fine, so if there was one it was small. The violation didn’t go on my driving record.
If it was a regular driving violation sort of ticket, you should just get the thing fixed anyway and show up on your court date with the proof – take a picture of the brakes working if you fix it yourself and can’t show a paid bill. The judge will surely clear the ticket, again, with or without a small fine.
Either way, calm down. You’re never gonna be an old man if you let every little thing get you so spun up.
It is your responsibility to ensure your vehicle is road-worthy and complies with the laws of the road. Ignorance of the issue is not an excuse. It’s a tough one to take, but it can’t be applied any other way.
I got a fix-it ticket once for a burned out headlamp (it was actually just a loose connection); I just had to bring the car to a police officer to show that I had gotten it repaired, then I mailed in the signed ticket. Never heard about it again. This probably depends upon the municipality, though.
A couple months ago a police officer stopped me for a burned out brake light. He may have not bothered stopping me if it weren’t for the fact that I was also driving 43 miles per hour in a 30 zone (trying to get to the next light before it changed to red). Did the police officer indicate any other reasons for stopping you? He didn’t issue me a ticket for the burned-out light, and I was especially relieved that he didn’t even issue me a citation for the speeding violation. He just told me to drive carefully and get the brake light fixed as soon as possible and then let me go on my merry way to work. The fact I was calm and polite likely helped a great deal, but I know you stated you didn’t give him any attitude until the ticket was issued. Sometimes it must all depend on what kind of mood the cop is in or what his general attitude is when it comes to dealing with people. You win some, you lose some.
(a lot does have to do with attitude – a couple of months ago I got caught allegedly going 90 in a 55 or 65. I was nice, and he told me to slow down and that was it. Ah, so when I really did get a ticket then…
Most of the tickets I’ve seen here in Macomb County part of Michigan were all fix-it tickets, as you all seem to be calling them. It’s just printed on the general civil infraction form. Find an officer to sign off on the repair, mail it in, and there’s not even a fine. I remember when I was in high school back in '89 or '90, I was in my friend’s car and this bozo actually went hunting down a cop in traffic – flashing the lights at him and so on, and successfully pulled the police car over! This was to sign off on a ticket.
It’s not that difficult to keep tabs on your vehicle’s lights. Many businesses have plate glass windows and it’s easy enough to check 'em all out, front and rear, in the reflection on the glass.
So every single day before I head out, I am supposed to pull up to a business with a plate glass window and check my reflection huh???
Do you do that every morning??? Moron!!
Did this asshole cop really think that I would put off fixing something like that? It’s painfully obvious that this is an extremely dangerous situation and I am sure that 98% of the people that discover such a problem do exactly what I did and drive straight to the nearest auto repair shop and fix it. I don’t understand the lesson I am supposed to learn from this experience. I thought that’s what tickets are supposed to do is teach you a lesson. Don’t speed, don’t run red lights, don’t drink and drive, don’t run people over!!!
The only thing I learned from this is that my loathing for cops is justified!!
They really are assholes!!! Well, most of them anyway!!
The funny thing is that I once wanted to become a cop but I decided to finish High School instead!!
I agree.
Your question is “what does the law state in this type of predicament?”, but you have been charged with violating either a state or local statute and you haven’t said which jurisdiction gave you the ticket. As it stands, you have not given enough information for anyone here to give you an accurate answer. If you want your question answered, you need to provide more information or call the D.A… If you want to argue, IMHO, you need to take it elsewhere. You may want to have a moderator move this to the Pit.
