Quote:
Originally Posted by hancoveguy
Worst case- someone is unlawfully (but not maliciously) given a non criminal traffic fine
Best case- complete motoring anarchy is prevented (slight hyperbole)
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HCG, the issue with how you losely throw around a traffic citation is you discount the days of background checks and the internet.
Get a secret/top secret security clearance for the Fed Gov and EVERY ticket and hangnail you ever had needs to be revealed. Those tickets also have an impact on your insurance rates.
I was run over by an SUV while riding my bike. During the disposition my driving record, the # of hairs on my head, you name it was put on the table for the drivers insurance company to see.
Speeding ticket fines are nothing. That's why people speed. Make the punishment or fine harsh/high enough and it would be nearly eradicated. But, just like DUI, it's an industry that generates money.
Also, giving cops a loose leash to stop for any reason isn't reasonale either. When I was in the Navy and 19 yo my best friend and I spent 2 weeks in Florida. While driving home as we passed into GA, I was doing exactly the speed limit. Getting a ticket while in the Navy nuclear power program with a submarine designation could get you adminstratively dropped from the program on personal conduct grounds. I was driving a Ford Taurus and it was 2 or 3 AM. Out of nowhere a state trooper pulled us over . Apparently 2 white males in a basic 4-door sedan doing the speed limit in the middle of the night on I-95 fit the drug running profile. When he stopped us, he asked where we were going. I told him VA. He then asked us to step out of the car and had us put our hands on the hood while he was radioing in my license. I also handed him my military ID which didn't seem to impress him. During that time he asked if he could search my car and I made the mistake of asking "why" instead of "go ahead". My friend then had the wits to ask why he stopped us. He said my license plate light was out. We go to the back of the car and it was on
About 45 minutes on the side of the road and having a drug dog search the car we were let go.
I have a jaded view of how police conduct business so I'm not cutting you even 0.0000001% slack. My rights and the constitution mean something to me and your post above seems like you're willing to bend them. Of course being a cop, I'm not surprised.