yosarian

...I do know this is bulls**t on so many levels.

I live in Fairfax County and have seen things like this time and time again. This is such an abuse of power on the part of the Fairfax County PD. And it pisses me off to no end.

Whoever said it earlier in this thread is right: This is all about money. Either paying their fines or going to court, hiring a lawyer, losing wages, etc. etc. They expect most people to just send in a check and not fight it. F'em. Go and fight.

I'm going to step through the code line by line as applicable for this discussion:

§ 46.2-1049. Exhaust system in good working order:
...such exhaust system shall be of a type installed as standard factory equipment, or comparable to that designed for use on the particular vehicle as standard factory equipment.

What makes the cop think that you have an "aftermarket" exhaust? Does he every car part ever made memorized? Is he a licensed safety inspector? Is he a Commercial Vehicle Enforcement officer? (And even if he was, you aren't driving a commercial vehicle). What makes him think that the exhaust is "aftermarket?" Because it is shiny? Because it has a different tip? How something looks doesn't matter as long as it does the job it is suppose to do.


No person shall drive and no owner of a vehicle shall permit or allow the operation of any such vehicle on a highway unless it is equipped with an exhaust system in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual levels of noise (italics mine)

What about the noise level? Define "loud." How many decibels are allowed? How many was your "aftermarket" exhaust allegidly emitting? Demand to see the noise meter. Demand to see the line in the code that specifies the acceptable db level. Ask why he isn't pulling over that Fairfax County bus, the VDOT dump truck, or the Fairfax County PD Helicopter.

An exhaust system shall not be deemed to prevent excessive or unusual noise if it permits the escape of noise in excess of that permitted by the standard factory equipment exhaust system of private passenger motor vehicles or trucks of standard make.

Ok, tell me what the specification is exactly. Define "standard make." And what was the "alleged" level of my vehicle.

If you were truly going to your mechanics to swap your current exhaust for the stock exhaust and he pulled you over, tell you where you were going and invite him along with you to the mechanics. Point out the exhaust in your trunk. Remind him that you have a grace period from when they stop you for you to get the repairs, etc. done.

When (not if) you fight this, bring along the documentation that you had the work completed and invite the judge to call the shop if they feel it is necessary.
File a complaint against the officer. He may never get discipled, but it goes into his file.

If it's a State Trooper that stops you, demand that they show you the specific law in the Virginia Code. They all carry a it in their trunk and it is as thick as the yellow pages.
Some Fairfax County cops are decent guys, while others are tools. Don't give them any quarter, and don't say more then you have to. No need to say thank you if they give you a ticket. Be courteous but curt. And then bust their a** when you go to court.

If y'all feel very strongly about this, write your state legislator and tell them, politely but firmly, that this is crap. At the very least, they need to get rid of the gray areas and define "noise" in db, how "aftermarket" is not an acceptable replacement for standard, etc. (The car makers will throw a fit since many of they sell "aftermarket" parts for their cars that aren't "standard'). And it doesn't matter if you aren't voting age yet. You pay taxes (county and Commonwealth fees, as well as income, sales, etc. tax) and your are citizens of the state. AND you will eventually be of voting age.

Remember, you have all the time in the world to waste their time.

whiteyonwelfare

Sorry guys but I need to vent!

I'm starting to get really frustrated with my home state. Virginia has to have the worst traffic laws, the fact that we are the only state that doesn't "allow" radar detectors is also crap. I have a mustang Gt with a modded exhaust(who doesn't with a V8 sports car/truck) and a state boy pulled me over in the middle of nowhere at 1am yesturday. I asked If I had done something wrong and this...guy.. tells me in a harsh tone "YES. YES YOU DID" then goes back to his car. He tells me I have an illegal exhaust and I asked him to tell me what's illegal on it so I can fix it. He said it was only "Suspect" and I know what I "done" to it. I told him "No sir, I bought the car like this from a Honda Dealership in Northern Virginia" and he said well I need to take it to a shop and get the factory OEM exhaust put back on.

I then told him, "Sir, is the state going to give me some kind of coupon or something because i'm a college student with a part time job that makes barely enough to just pay for the car...let alone buy a whole new exhaust system that's going to cost me at least a grand, and Sir, I see trucks that are twice as loud as my car go by cops all the time without hassle, Is it just a car thing that makes it illegal?".

He then said,without answering my question, "Well, I'm going to give you a warning....do you mind If I search your Car?" "We've been having some problems with drugs and illegal guns in the area" keep in mind i'm in the middle of no where on a back road in a small county and it's blantanly odvious that he wants to find something to give me a ticket for.

At this point i'm in total WTF mode, So I said sure(So he wouldn't radio his buddies to pull over a mustang with my tag on site). So I get out of my car and as soon as I get out there is another cop that came out of no where and he randomly frisks me to make sure I don't "have any weapons on me" while the other cop is searching my car....at 1am. I don't have any crimal record, and only one BS traffic ticket.

He then comes out and says I'm free to go and to get my exhaust checked out because it's loud and odviously not stock. I then told him It passed inspection, he didn't say a word back. My dad was telling me about how VA cops were actually nice in his day and you had to be piss drunk and crashed into a tree before they would give you a ticket lol.

RyanWithThe99tl

what the heck is up with VA haha

DoC-JoneS

MONEY. plain and simple. i bet you if a CLS 55 blasted by with aftermarket exhaust he'd get by scott free. but us poor import guys always catch it. it espescially sucks because most of our exhausts are at least classy and somewhat quiet. if they pulled over every gutted EG with 2.5" straight back no cat exhaust i wouldn't be so upset, but when most of our cars are fairly stock (meaning we still have cats and mufflers) and we get shat on? WTF. oh well. at least the roads in NOVA are better than down here in the 757. your ticket money was most likely USED for the public good.

death

Well, I had my court hearing today and beat the ticket. The ticket was dismissed and I don't have to pay anything.

Some tips for those of you who may run into this. If you get a ticket which can be "fixed" ie. tint, exhaust, cracked windshield, expired registration, expired drivers license etc.

BRING PROOF THAT YOU HAVE FIXED IT TO YOUR HEARING. This will help your case and probably end with all fines being dismissed. I brought before and after pictures of my car showing that stock exhaust was now on it (dated pictures). The judge didn't even look at my pictures, I simply had to show it to the officer. This brings up another point, you can avoid going to court by mailing proof to the officer that tickets you. So... if you get a "fix it" ticket ask for the officers card and mail him/her proof that you fixed it. You can also mail proof to the court system with the case number attached.