Well, this is spiff. On my way to work I got pulled over for having a cracked windshield (which I knew about, but just spent $400 on new tires so couldn't bust out the $250 to get the windshield replaced just yet) and because the lights for the license plate were out, which I didn't know about because how often do I look back there. I went for my proof of insurance and lo and behold...where the hell was the current one??? I do have insurance but I guess I never received my current proof of insurance card. I told the officer I could bring it to the courthouse when I paid the ticket because I was sure he was going to write me one. Instead he says that he isn't going to write me a ticket--this time--but if he ever sees me driving this car again he'll arrest me.
WTF????
I don't think that's legal, but now I'm scared. I do have another car that I can drive, but this is my to and from work car. Now I feel like I'd better only drive it during the day when this particular cop won't be on duty. Is it just me or is that a really fucked up threat??
Also, now I don't want to drive the other car out to see my parents. There was a really high wind today and it literally blew away the loose framing around one window. It used to be my mother's car and she'll have a cow when she sees that and accuse me of not taking care of the car. Guess I pissed the wind gods off or something. Some days you just can't win.
7 comments:
That is fucked up.
In Florida, insurance has to cover a broken windshield so long as the damage "obstructs driver vision". This pretty much means any decent size crack. Chips do not count.
Insurance in FL does not have to cover any other window - unless you get a glass breakage waiver.
Check with the insurance company to see if your policy covers windshield repair. If it does - then get it fixed. If not......check the junkyards around your area. Sometimes they have auto glass for sale. You will still need someone to install the new glass. Call some companies and get a quote for labor only (you supply the glass) or a replacement where they supply the glass.
The cop seems to be a dick. I would not arrest someone for that shit. I would simply issue a "fix it ticket". Fix the problem in 30 days and the ticket goes away - no fine no points. Just go to a pig sty (police station) and show a porker the problem was corrected, they issue a document saying "forget about the fix it ticket", and you go home.
I don't think they issue fix it tickets, at least not here in Butthole County or in Denver County. I like that idea though. It encourages the person to get the problem taken care of. They do let you bring your proof of insurance in after the fact most of the time and so long as it indicates that you were insured at the time you got the ticket you're ok.
I think it's weird that the guy was cool about not writing me a ticket but then gave me this threat so now I feel paranoid about driving my car!
Oh my. Maybe you need a bicycle.
Can't believe that someone goes into the hole for a broken windshield. Fix that number-plate-light - that is goodwill. Look for a glass. Even big bad cop man has to acknowledge that one has to use a car to go to work. Hey - how should he sell his tickets without people driving?
Thats odd- here our insurance is right there on the computers. Even if we cant find the paper they already know if we have it or not.
I once went in the hole for forgetting to pay a ticket for four years! Not like there are dangerous criminals around or anything.
Raine--well I always thought that would be a good idea. But I guess then these backasswards cops in this backasswards state would have less opportunity to harass and harangue motorists. And what else is there for them to do?
Actually when I worked at a local restaurant for three years, the owner's husband was a cop. He was really pretty cool. He said he rarely pulled people over but the one time he did, the guy's muffler was hanging down and scraping against the street and his turn signals weren't working, he gave a left hand signal to make a right turn, and he was speeding. And then he was miffed that he got pulled over. This cop's attitude was to write a ticket and say "get it fixed, all right?" Not to threaten to arrest somebody! I guess it makes some of them feel like "the man" to wield their power this way.
I think I should clarify about the ticket. I wasn't in jail for four years--the ticket I went to jail for was four years old. I'd forgotten all about it. I was in jail for a day.
Post a Comment