Seatbelt Ticket....the Final Chapter

Stephen Westerfield · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:53 am

Anyone ever got a seatbelt ticket and contested it? I got one this morning.....while wearing my seat belt!

So basically his word against mine if I decide to go to court over it...hmmmm, I wonder who will win?

Got to love the Cary cops....hey wait, I thought your job was to protect and serve, not to lie and be a pain in the :moon:

.

A little bitter?....maybe.

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:57 am

I always thought it was better to get a seat belt ticket than a speeding ticket. Was the cop doing you a favor?

Scott

Stephen Westerfield · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:13 am

Not even.....I had just pulled off my street....might have been doing 25 in a 35 when I passed him.

JakeKitchener · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:40 am

So wait he pulled you over JUST because he thought he saw you drive by without a seatbelt on? Then claimed you put it on when he pulled you over?

I'm just gonna sit here and steam for you if thats the case.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 11:34 am

JakeKitchener wrote:

So wait he pulled you over JUST because he thought he saw you drive by without a seatbelt on?

A co-worker got a seatbelt ticket from a State Trooper here in Wilson, at night. He stopped him just for that, not for speeding or anything else.

Personally I'm still waiting to catch up to an officer who isn't wearing his. Don't think I'm not stupid enough to blow the horn and point it out to him.

I don't know if you'll win in a contest of "your word against his" Stephen. Still I'd roll the dice and fight it anyway.
:furious:

Stephen Westerfield · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 11:54 am

My brother brought up a good point to me though. I think without a lawyer (to get a lawyer wouldn't be worth it...it is a $75 fine), all I can do is show up and hope that he doesn't come to court that day, right? The question he brought up though, if I contest it and lose, do I have to pay court costs? I think if I just pay the fine, there are no court costs. But at the same time....I was wearing my seatbelt and to just give in like that kills me.

Vincent Keene wrote:

Personally I'm still waiting to catch up to an officer who isn't wearing his. Don't think I'm not stupid enough to blow the horn and point it out to him.

I don't know if you'll win in a contest of "your word against his" Stephen. Still I'd roll the dice and fight it anyway.
:furious:

And if I go to fight it....I am stupid enough knowing myself to go in there and start bad mouthing that cop as well as cops in general. Don't know if I want to put myself in that situation...could result in more fines.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 12:59 pm

What is going on with the cops in Cary? Stephen's situation is the second trumped up Cary pullover I've heard about in the last few weeks.

Edit: Oops! I'm not sure that "Ahmet" from Cary was actually pulled over in Cary. Plus, reading his posts on Corner Carvers, I'm also not sure his stop was "trumped up".

Michael Westerfield · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 2:09 pm

Stephen Westerfield wrote:

And if I go to fight it....I am stupid enough knowing myself to go in there and start bad mouthing that cop as well as cops in general. Don't know if I want to put myself in that situation...could result in more fines.

Yeah, if the judge charges you 1$ for everytime you end up saying a curse word you might have been able to afford an engine swap. :shock:

David Spratte · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 2:33 pm

Talk to a lawyer. I'm wondering if this is the kind of thing if you make enough noise they'll bag it. See if you can request copies of cop's track record, eye sight, shoe size, etc.

A his word v. your word scenario blows. Sort of chaps the whole innocent until proven guilty deal into oblivion.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 3:05 pm

Stephen Westerfield wrote:

...all I can do is show up and hope that he doesn't come to court that day, right?

I don't think the officers show up for everything by default. I think that what they do if you contest is just say... "ok, we can reschedule for the day that officer X is schedule to be in court."

Is something else going on here? Do you think you were targeted for some other reason? I have no idea what the prep level is of your daily driver, but maybe he didn't like the look of you or your car? Could it have been the radar detector on the dash, custom wheels, R-compound tires, ricer stickers, bumblebee exhaust, neon lights, “honk if your horny” bumper sticker, etc?

Was this a street near your house? Maybe people on that street were complaining about something and you were singled out as the one to get harassed?

I hope you figure out a way to fight this. :twisted:

Stephen Westerfield · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 3:54 pm

Richard Casto wrote:

Is something else going on here? Do you think you were targeted for some other reason? I have no idea what the prep level is of your daily driver, but maybe he didn't like the look of you or your car?

See, I could understand if I was in my autocross car with it's loud exhaust and him just looking for a reason to bust my chops (I wish I was in that car...it has automatic seatbelts, wouldn't he have looked like an ass then), but I was in my daily driver. 98 Maxima SE, bone stock, no radar detector. It was a motorcycle cop sitting in the driveway of a Daycare looking for speeders.

Chris Brown · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 4:55 pm

i say contest it

if you truly weren't wearing your seatbelt then you gotta fight it, no quesitons.

i don't think the "show up and hope the cop doesn't" thing will work cause from what I know about seat belt fines you don't go to court...you just pay the fine.

does your ticket tell you how to contest it?

Stephen Westerfield · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 5:13 pm

I actually just got off the phone with the fine issuing officer's comanding officer. He said that seatbelt tickets are probably the most contested ticket of any moving violation. He also said that depending on the judge, alot of times they will side with the citizen based on the fact that they took thier time to come down there rather then just paying the fine. So that being the case, he thought it was worth the time to go to court and contest it (and it wouldn't cost me anymore money in court costs then the original fine it self which is $75 $25 for the fine, and $50 for court cost). He also assured me that he would talk with his officer and if there was any question in that officer's mind if I was wearing it or not, he would call me to discuss it. I don't see that happening though as he had no interest in discussing it this morning.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 5:20 pm

Stephen Westerfield wrote:

I actually just got off the phone with the fine issuing officer's comanding officer.

Somehow I don't think Cary will ever see $75.00 from the eternally vigilant (and rightfully so) Stephen W. :refuse:

Go get 'em man. :clap:

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Mar 10, 2004 5:54 pm

Stephen Westerfield wrote:

He also assured me that he would talk with his officer and if there was any question in that officer's mind if I was wearing it or not, he would call me to discuss it. I don't see that happening though as he had no interest in discussing it this morning.

How did the whole thing go down once he pulled you over?

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