how to fight a ticket?
 

hey guys,
today, on my way home from school i was stopped by a cop and was given a ticket for two reasons.
1. my exhaust being too loud
2. my music being too loud

i tried to talk the cop to not giving me the ticket, but he was a fucking ass hole and still gave it to me. I tried to tell him that i wasn't dirupting the peace but he was just a bitch.

can anybody give me any advice on how i could refute these tickets? I told him i was going to take him to court:). i hate cops that irrational about shit like this.

I had a buddy who got pulled over for playing music too loud too. Is yours a fix it ticket? A traffic ticket? What kind? And telling him you're taking him to court is always a bad move. Its key to be the guy they don't remember. My buddy did take the guy to court, and just explained what happened, how the music wasn't loud. And unless you have modded your sound, it can't get that loud. Your exhaust again, if modded you might have issues. Good luck though!

your just a little bland in the description of how he gave you the ticket. i have no idea how that wacky state of cali. deals with these things but in CT i would need the answers to these questions. what time was it? what exhaust set up do you have? do you think that they were illegally loud? how did the officer determine that you deserved a ticket? if you can change out your exhaust and change you speaker so they will both be quieter when you show it to court, hopefully you can get the ticket thrown out. but thats all in CT. good luck

Sorry, but in most states if you can hear your radio within 25ft from the car, they can give you a ticket. Even stock radios can do this. The fact that you got an attitude with the cop lessened the chance of you getting off. The only thing I can think of that you can do is to take pics of your exhaust, trunk, stereo, etc. with stock component making sure that a date is stamped on the photo after the incident and hope the judge is merciful.

You are not allowed to have loud music in a school zone, around a hospital, court house ect. The cop was in the right with what he did about the music. I can't say about the exhaust, but it could of been loud enough (are you catless?).

Just pay it if its not to much $ or no points. If you go to court say no contest. You against the cop isn't a good combo. If you made him even a little mad he might show up just to "get you"

hahah thanks for all the responses guys. by the way, i only gave him the attitude after he wrote the ticket. before he wrote it, i was acting all innocent and shit.

here is the description of the ticket. i was waiting on a left turn. when it turned green, i took the left and went straight. right when i got onto the street i turned to, he was there. He said he heard my music from fifty feet. i doubt it. I mean i do have a sound system and an aftermarket exhaust with no cat. so i am going to take out my sound system as well as my exahust when i go to court.

but see, what got me really pist off is it was in the freakn daylight! it was around 11 o'clock in the afternoon. in my opinion, i was not distrubing the peace. basically, he determined how loud my car was from his sole assumption.

but yea, i am going to change my exhaust and sound system before i go to court. anything else i should keep in mind? in case they dont throw out the tickeT?

btw, on the ticket, it doesn't state whether it is a "fix it ticket" or not. would that mean i can fix it and get rid of it?

It's a "Law" that you cant be loud in a school zone no matter what time it is.
Where you still in a school zone.

Did he have any sound level readings to backup his ticket?

You could find a shop somewhere with a sound meter and have them measure the db level of your exhaust and stereo (at the same level you had it playing during the time of the ticket).

However, the very best advice is: get a lawyer.

LOL!

i wasn't on school grounds. it was about a block away from school.

hahah i would get a lawyer, but not sure if its worth the $$$. haha

if he did not have any sound level reading to back up his assumption of how loud my car is, i can argue that right?

You could try, but it's word against word. You did something to get him to notice you and pull you over. Depending on the ticket, you will have to take the stuff off and go to a police station and let them recheck your can and sign off on the ticket.

You're just lucky he didnt take a look under you car and pop you with a 1,500$ ticket for no cat.

[QUOTE=peterisurhero;1965315]

but see, what got me really pist off is it was in the freakn daylight! it was around 11 o'clock in the afternoon. in my opinion, i was not distrubing the peace. basically, he determined how loud my car was from his sole assumption.

QUOTE]

It may have only been 11am, but I know that I get really annoyed when I'm sitting at a stoplight and someone pulls up next to me with their crap blaring. I wish a cop was there to give them a ticket And contrary to what they believe, people don't think they're cool because they have a "loud" stereo. I'm not putting you down, just venting. It's not a good idea anyways because it's just advertising your equipment to would-be thieves.

I agree. I find other people's music annoying. A nice exhaust note is another matter. I tend to roll down the window and listen. :)

hahah damnnnn this is starting to make me think i have no hope.... hahah

i didn't mean to disturb anyone!! i was just enjoying my music. not showing it off:(. hAHAHAH

oh well, ima try to find a way to refute. if it works, i'll let you guys know:)

You're likey to have a problem w/it b/c - like Phayen said - the 1st step to fighting tix is to make sure the ticketing officer has NO REASON to remember you. By telling him you were going to fight it you ensured he went back to his car (bike, metermaid mobile, whatever) and wrote up a deposition on the spot. So now he's already prepared to show up & pork you.

Check the laws (or just pm jedi since he seems to have some love affair w/legislation) about the noise ordinance. Most of them have some distance (ie 25 feet, 50 feet, etc) written in as guidelines. If they can hear you from that distance away they can give you a ticket - thus killing the "but he had nothing to measure how loud" argument.

Go back to where it happened, take pics, measure distances from the turn to the cop spot and then take that info to a lawyer.

Or take the easy route - pay the ticket b/c it prlly has no impact on insurance. (make sure that's the case 1st, of course.)

If he DID look under your hood for a cat, I'd be a bit concerned... :icon_no2:

Never fear, Jedi is here!

Peter: I talked to earlier but let me look up a few things; CAVC, case law, etc and I'll try and get back to you soon.

you can't see the cat from under the hood... :rofl:

in california, a loud exhaust ticket can come from the officer's judgement, whether he thinks it's too loud or not.

cerritos in the worst place to be in, in terms of loud exhausts, recently. i know of at least 4 incidents of exhaust tickets in cerritos the past 3 months.

Well you have hope, but if the cop shows up to court...you really don't then. especially after what you told him. Just so you know police officers do notate your actions on the back of the ticket that they keep to send in, they do it so if they ever are asked to appear in court they can have notes to try to remember what happend. I know this because I took a cop to court on time becuase I was "driving recklessly". And apparently he wrote on the back of mine that I swung my tail-end around in a dangerous and violent manner when speeding out of a parking lot while turning.

Which is completely untrue. I have a Trans Am at the time with racing slicks on the back, and it had just rained, Modded V8+Wet Road = Bad idea. It was 1am and I made sure no one was on the road when I left because then it would have been dangerous.

So anyway, yeah. He more than likely he wrote down your sour attitude you had with him after he wrote you the ticket so he can remember the situation. Which if he did, you're SOL if you go to court. He'll probably use that against you.

I would just bite the bullet and let the law win this one and pay your fines without another word said...In my state even if you don't win the dispute against the officer you still have to pay court fee's and and you lose the right to do defensive driving, etc etc. So not only do you still have to pay the tickets, and have no way to keep them off your record, you also have to pay the court fee's.

On a sidenote, I can understand why you roll your windows down, I use to do it too. But now I can't imagine doing it, there's no real reason to do it, it doesn't make your car look any better ;)

Not to mention since I live in west texas we have lots of dirt...dirt, dirt, and more dirt. I noticed back when I use to roll my windows down while driving my 8 (The music wasn't loud at all, in the 14-16 range ;)) that I would have to clean the interior twice as soon as I normally would if I just kept my windows up. So scrrrrreeewwww that. I just keep my windows up and make sure the circulation for air stays in the car.

I believe it's 10 feet in Cali. If I can hear your stero from 10 feet away it's too loud.

That's what caught his attention, unless you were reving up the exhaust.

Go ahead and fight it. If you loose you pay court costs. That's like $150

well i went to the library today and did some research with the law books. it states that if the cop is able to hear me from 50 feet, then he can give me a ticket.
The problem is that i dotn think he heard my music. i think it was my exhaust that got his attention and then when i passed him, he heard my music. i dont think he was really able to hear my music from where he was and i was. it wasn't even that loud.
damn, is there any way i can argue that he heard my music after i passed him and not while i was far away from him?
As for the exhaust, i went to the police department and they told me its a fix it ticket. so i guess htat works out fine. but the damn music being too loud ticket is not a fix it.
argh, i think that law is juss bizzare. It doesn't make sense that even stock radios can be louder than the law states. if so, the state should regulate the stock radios to not be as loud to hear over 50 feet.

What !!!!!

How can a music ticket, AKA noise ticket be a moving violation?

You have the penal code. Look it up on line under Calif. Gove. and advise if I'm wrong.

Sorry man but having a cat back with a midpipe would make it REALLY loud, not to mention you are NEVER going to win the "I don't think he heard it" argument if the cop shows up. The court takes into account credibility & 99.99% of the time will side with the cop. If they are not moving violations just pay the fine & be done with it. You go to court & you will surely lose.

The notion that stock radios should not be able to be heard from 50 feet away is a bit asinine. Try closing your windows next time, and that may/will help. I have it at 14 sometimes but I keep the windows closed and I have never had any issues with the cops. That would be like manufacturing cars that ONLY had enough hp to reach 65 mph. It's incumbent on us to control our volume & our speed, not the manufacturer.