Cerberus88

I've been on the forums for a few months, this is my first thread/post.

I'm going back to school up at UCSC at the end of September with my '02 TL and I was wondering how strict the cops are in Santa Cruz, because when I was up there this past year, I saw cop cars maybe every 2 blocks downtown. Has anyone been in Santa Cruz and had any problems with front side/rear tints and no front license plates? Thanks.

heyitsvu

iTrader: (1)

Santa cruz isnt that bad. cops in San Jose are bitches. I've been pulled over for having an almost stock looking exhaust on my prelude. But hey, ever since ive had my TL, they havent pulled me over, even when im going 55 on a 45 down capital expressway. I bet you all the cops in santa cruz are hippies that will smoke you out anyday just dont give it a try unless they ask.

EOBrien

As far as SJ, I've been living here for 13 years now and none of my cars have had front plates with no issues (knock on wood). I don't drive slow but I also don't weave all over the place trying to win the pole on the way to work.

My typical experience when riding with less courteous, more aggressive friends is that if you do something to attract them to your vehicle, even if they can't identify initially what it was to draw their attention (meaning, they have no way to nail you for speeding/illegal lane change/etc), they will pull you over just to see what's up....and then get you for tint/no front plate to pay for their time.

Disclaimer: I am a white male.

Cerberus88

Hahaha I'm not going to let any of my friends put their weed in my car, alci maybe .


Are they racist like Davis cops? Well as long as my car looks stock except for tints I might get, I'm hoping I don't get a ticket.

EOBrien

I was just being my sarcastic self.... I think most cops do a fine job but like any profession you have to deal with a little bad here and there. The one time I was pulled over was my own damn fault and I was seriously interrogated - out of the car. All I did was give honest answers, didn't do any of that "but I swear officer" BS, and I got what I deserved and took it like an adult. Because I didn't act like a pompous ass, he didn't go after tint/no front plate/etc.

All my friends that got pulled over all thought they could "outsmart" the cop. I just sat there and told them to shut up (like the Chris Rock video). They too got what they deserved and then bitched about it everywhere.

My wife is from Taiwan, and she's been pulled over 3 times. Once, she totally rolled a stop sign and got what she deserved. Once, she was doing 80mph on 101 in the rain. Got pulled over and the officer suggested she should slow down given the conditions. I figure he didn't want to deal with the ticket in the downpour but also showed concern for her safety. The third time though she did stop, even to the point of bobbing the nose of the car and the cop claimed "you stopped but not long enough". She POLITELY asked: "Could you please define long enough." She got a ticket. So, as Meatloaf sang: 2 out of 3 ain't bad.


edited for speeling....

heyitsvu

iTrader: (1)

Haha, sadly to say I'm asian, and i was pulled over by an asian guy in davis, who gave me a front plate ticket (i go to UCD). he pulled me over again a second time a few weeks down the road and realized i was the same guy and let me go.

and as for EObrien, i've been living here all my life, and the cops hate me. They pull me over, even if i'm not speeding. i'm just putting around and they'll pull me over just to try to pop my hood. the cops are complete dicks in san jose if they dont like you. I've had an instance where a cop made me go through a referee just because my coupling on my cold ait intake was not secured. wtf kinda reason is that? i got so pissed, that i started to bitch at the cop in front of his 3 other cop companions. I told him to write me up a ticket, and let's see what happens when i take him to court for more then a measly ticket for a stupid coupling. he eventually got scared, and instead of writing me a ticket, he gave me back my info and told me i'm free to go. bitches.

this is the lesson learned,

they're the public servant. you pay for their salary.

heyitsvu

iTrader: (1)

cops don't always have the right to give you a ticket for dumb shit. if it's something thats not my fault, and i have no other problems in my car, then i would fight that ticket.

Cerberus88

Hahah yeah I heard that there was one asian guy on the Davis police force and he was fired. My sister and her boyfriend both are UCD alumni and they also said Davis cops were racist assholes. My sister's bf said his friend, who happened to be mexican, was pulled over and accused of stealing the car when it was his own and was actually arrested...

01tl4tl

California is cracking down on the front-driver door windows being tinted AT ALL-- with any sort of film. If it has an edge its not OK- was what the cop said as he flicked his finger over the tint--
correct answer from driver on any mods is: really? this stuff was on the car when I bought it.

Warnings for CA drivers!!!
Starting july 1-2008 thats starting midnte today:
Drivers- no cell phone use without a headset or hands free device!!!
No holding the phone up to your ear while driving, so both hands are availble for driving
first time- they can pull you over for it- and will be looking for seatbelts in use by all occupants.
$20 phone use ticket is actually $72 with all the court fees, 2nd time $50 is $150 total
They want to see those easy pickens clearly!

As part of that, and the increased use of red light cameras everywhere, they are starting to say something about the front plates-
santa cruz- lots of profiling...lowered trick car- why does a younger person have this kind of money- in a party town--with lots of out of town guest to the city...
dark windows, and that license plate--cme4xtcy
I wonder what that means

They also spent 4 MILLION dollars last year educating all the officers across the state about illegal mods and what to look for---racing seat belts are pretty big sign to them that you watched tooo many car movies. Many cars with heavy mods are using stolen parts-
so that is their real concern over the SC or whatever is on the engine.
Do they have a stolen car or parts on this stop? - will you lead them to the theft ring!?!?!

From one aspect- the windows are a safety issue when they pull over a car- if they cant see you and your hands- they have to expect the tinted windows (we are talking DARK tinted fronts) are concealing
A: Weapons pointed at them.
B: Drugs, maybe crazy drugs like you see on Cops!
C: Guns
So they want to be able to see the number-race- sex of each occupant, and what are the hands doing???!
Sure, you-- are doing nothing wrong- but the next guy... may be the one who is on meth or pcp and has an uzi and a fight with the girlfriend!
Isnt it fun to know we share the roads with everyone!!!

When my wife got stopped for speeding 52/35- they gave her that, plus window tints - it was just remove the stuff and have ticket signed off for free on the tints.
The speeding ticket was nearly $200

My opinion- for where you live and the types of things that happen- put on the front plate, take off the driver/passenger tint- keep the car washed- and you wont get any hassles

chiarlei

I have a 2002 TLS with no front plate and pretty dark tints, I lived in Santa Cruz my whole life untill recently. The Police station is downtown so thats probably why you saw all the cop cars down there, also when the Cold Water Classic, Jose Cuervo or many of the other big tourist events come into town there will be a lot of cops on duty, mostly looking for drunks. Might wanna avoid the Boardwalk on Saturday night. As with many beach towns its much mellower during the winter months. I grew up skating the streets along West Cliff Drive and surfing the beaches of Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz, Capitola, Soquel and Aptos are all awesome places to live! I'm sure you'll be just fine with your car. Now you got me homesick! Oh, there are a few places in San Jose, and along El Camino Real where "Cruising" is banned. As with any big city there are some areas you are more likely to get stopped for minor infractions,

EOBrien

Captain Obvious to the rescue Mr. heyitsvu. Of course if you don't feel something is justified you should fight it, and in some cases you win. Been there, done that. Other cases, you lose and then what? You hold a chip on your shoulder and just call the cop racist? Perhaps you are doing more than you alluding to.

Of all of the times I've been pulled over, either as driver (x1) or passenger (>10), only once was it as you so eloquently put it: "dumb sh$t". In most cases we got what we deserved. In my friend's cases, they were all violating the law. Then, they tried to convince the cop that 45 really was 25 (my comment re: trying to outsmart the cop). In my wife's case where it wasn't justified, we did fight it and win.

Sounds like Davis must be a completely different animal than what I've seen in either L.A. or SJ.

01tl4tl

Its also a matter of the Chief of Police or the LT or whatever management chooses which of the over 11,000 vehicle codes they are going to heavily enforce on any given shift or week--

Maybe they are looking for over 45 in a 35 near the constuction- 46 will get you stopped
or they have a place where its popular to uturn but not legal---

If they have been instructed to specifically look for compliance features- you may get a fix it on the front plate-
The correct answer to `where is the plate`-
I have it Sir, the mounting bracket got bent at the car wash so I had to order a new one

Their concern is someone has STOLEN your front plate, and stuck it on the back of another car- to do a crime--
then they knock at your door some 3am when the plate number leads then to your house!
Happened to my neighbor! Who happened to own a similar type vehicle as the ones they put his plate on!!!!

chiarlei

I had no clue that ANY amount of tint was illegal, maybe I've just been lucky the last time I got stopped the officer really liked my car. I'm quite a bit older than you guys and a female so maybe I don't fit the "profile"

jumbosizeme79

puahahahahaha

Soseductivesf

Yeah, I've had my share of "unfair cops in both San Jose and Davis(I went to UCD).. I had a 65 chevelle with glass packs and was working on a newspaper project on campus. My car was in good shape, but being a college student, I didn't have the money to replace the battery and the starter. I was parked near campus and my car wouldn't start. I needed a jump and had cables but no one wanted to give me one, so I asked this cop who was parked on the sidewalk. He told me he didn't want to mess up the computer(whatever). So 30 minutes later I finally got a jump!! I'm on my way home(I lived off campus) when the cop whom I asked for a jump pulled me over.. I let the car idle but he demanded I turn it off. The fucked up thing was he had no reason to pull me over. He told me my tags were about to expire, then took off leaving me stranded..

Cerberus88

Thanks for all the useful info guys xD I guess I'm gonna not tint for a while and see, but with anthracite metallic paint, non-tinted windows look weak :/

Damn... what a dick.

Soseductivesf

That was a while ago.. a more recent time was I was on 101 San Jose near Capitol Expressway and they had some roadwork being done.. Some of the lines were missing so I had a hard time staying in the same lane. I get pulled over by the CHP and the driver(there were 2 of them) swore I was drunk.. I took a bunch of test and passed them all. The passenger cop tells me to have a nice night but the driver cop tells me to pop my hood (this was in my 97 c.l stock).. he finds nothing wrong so tells me to brake and signal to make sure all my lights were working. Nothing wrong again then checks my front windows ( I had the lightest tint on my front windows).. and gives me a ticket for it !( to give you an idea of how unnoticable they were, I had it signed off at night court by leaving the interior light on) The worst thing was, this cop made my ticket a mandatory court apperance, not the typical fix it ticket..

01tl4tl

at least we got 3 years with the front doors tinted before getting a ticket- and it was only because she was already busted on the speed- they were looking for tints that week.
Looked right past the missing front plate- go figure`

Lawaia

O/T post in Ramblings