Pulled over..

[Clipdat]

Do they have a right to ask you to pop your hood like that, or could you have politely declined?

Seems strange that he just demanded you pop the hood. What the hell?

[Indestruct]

Originally Posted by chiefshayan

Damn dude I just dropped 150$ for the raceseng one. Does your tickets say Non-correctable or correctable??

Just stern warnings after they saw how clean my record was, I guess OPD is still cooler than the Berkeley cops...

[Sypher]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Do they have a right to ask you to pop your hood like that, or could you have politely declined?

Seems strange that he just demanded you pop the hood. What the hell?

you can politely decline until they provide probably cause to search but if the cop wants to be a **** he can hold you until he finds a reason to search or just make you sit around and waist your time......

[leicaboss]

Originally Posted by uEih

A lot of people still run without a front plate and upgraded exhaust. In the spotted thread OP was spotted by someone and he said their exhaust was LOUD so it must be pretty loud.

Man, in my FR-S, I ran a BLANK WHITE plate for the longest time (obviously no front). I was tinted, aftermarket cats and exhaust (not that loud though!)... never had any trouble ever. I also never paid toll fines lmao.

[amazingbrz]

damn that really sucks man

I guess the myth about red cars getting more tickets or pulled over is true?

[EAGLE5]

That guy sounds like an ass. Most cops, including CHP, are good people, just like any profession.

The front is an easy fix. Install the plate. Then just swap the exhaust. Get the fixit cleared. Then swap it back. A bit of a pain, but not too bad. If you keep driving past the guy, you may have to consider a quieter exhaust.

[sdlynx]

Originally Posted by chiefshayan

After looking closer at some of the laws and reading the ticket over again, I cannot believe he gave me non-correctable for both infractions. It's basically a fix-it ticket with a fine attached. I'm in disbelief.

I'd suggest you call the court and ask them if they will change the plate violation to correctable for you. Depending on the court, you can also take care of the rest of the citation at that time, if your exhaust was CARB legal and you have the supporting documentation.

[Krispeee]

Originally Posted by uEih

What tint did you have btw? Where did you get pulled over at? Bay area? I always try to lookout for CHP and roll my windows down, police officers seem to not care about that.

This was when I just moved up from SoCal and I still had 20% tints all around. I was going to lunch with my boss on Montague Expressway in San Jose and got rolled up by CHP.

Things might've changed as it happened back in 2010.

[overlookedx]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Do they have a right to ask you to pop your hood like that, or could you have politely declined?

Seems strange that he just demanded you pop the hood. What the hell?

I had this happen to me when I had my previous 02 WRX. Was driving home late at night with the gf and the cops pulled me over because ONE OF MY LICENSE PLATE LIGHTS WAS BURNED OUT. They then asked me to pop my hood and started asking me all these questions.. Where are you going? Where were you coming from? What's this sticker mean? (seriously...)

I was running a bunch of aftermarket parts but they couldn't tell. Let me go without a ticket or anything, but it was total BS. I suppose I could've said no to their request to pop my hood, but I think that would just bring a bigger hassle.

[Pwolf]

Originally Posted by jsimon7777

That guy sounds like an ass. Most cops, including CHP, are good people, just like any profession.

Yea, there's always the bad apples or those who are a bit more uptight. Most of the officers in my station are pretty cool even though they bugged me about my front plates in the past (no tickets though). I'm waiting for one of em to come up to the office for something so I can get their opinion on exhausts.

[uEih]

Originally Posted by Krispeee

This was when I just moved up from SoCal and I still had 20% tints all around. I was going to lunch with my boss on Montague Expressway in San Jose and got rolled up by CHP.

Things might've changed as it happened back in 2010.

20% is quite dark, I like it but I cannot do it because it's difficult to see the driver and they'll notice t fairly fast. I have 35% and I still am paranoid but when I look in I can see a face still depending on the angle. I still roll my windows down to be safe.

I also didn't run a front plate for a while so I was always worried a CHP might see my front but since taking a trip into the city I knew I had to have a front plate there or else it's just trouble and I haven't taken it off the zip ties.

[PMok]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Do they have a right to ask you to pop your hood like that, or could you have politely declined?

Seems strange that he just demanded you pop the hood. What the hell?

See, here's the thing. Having you pop the hood or trunk or open the car up in anyway for them to search typically requires probable cause. You're perfectly within your right to refuse.

In most cases, if it's a routine traffic stop, like he was speeding or ran a red light, they don't have the probable cause to search your car. They are trained to ask anyway, and nine times out of 10 people will consent to a search. Not knowing that they have the right to say no. This is how a lot of drug or weapons busts happen, when the cop initiates a stop on a simple traffic violation and it escalates into a full car search.

Here's where the water gets muddy. If you say no, I don't consent to a search because you don't have probable cause. That sets off a red flag in the police officers mind. He will continue to detain you and keep asking more questions. What are you hiding? Why do you appear nervous? He will start looking more closely at the situation to try and find probable cause. In this particular instance, since the driver was pulled over for a loud exhaust, he could rationalize that the sound of the car was probable cause to believe that the car has other illegal modifications under the hood. Regardless, that refusal simply gives the cops a reason to hassle and inconvenience you even more. And for that reason, a lot of people just go ahead and consent. Especially if you know absolutely that there is nothing to hide or be concerned about, then it may actually make sense to go ahead and consent so that you get this ordeal over with and can go about your business. But if you definitely have something to hide or don't want them to search then don't be stupid, just say no.



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[chiefshayan]

So after sleeping on it, I’ve come up with a few hypothesis of what exactly happened. So a quick backstory, I was pulled over about a month prior to yesterday, it was a cool cop, said he owned an 2011 STI himself and knows how loud these things can get once you open up the exhaust. Didn’t even ask for my license or insurance, just wanted to chat and talk about the car. He also said to be careful because my car was apparently being talked about throughout his department. So apparently my car was a target and some officers were waiting to get me good, they just needed to wait for the right opportunity.

Fast-forward to today, the motorcycle officer that got me was BEHIND me, and he pulled me over for missing a FRONT license plate. He never was in front of me nor saw in front of me. Think was just a long-time coming, I had it coming and he was going to find a way to pull me over one-way or another. The exhaust was just the cherry on top.

About popping the hood, I’ve had plenty of people come up to me and want to see what’s under the hood so I took it as the officer asking me to pop my hood, just his opportunity to checkout a new boxer engine. After thinking closely about it, I believe he just wanted a reason for me to step out of the car, to search my pockets and my shoes, and see if I was carrying marijuana (a lot of individuals in Berkeley smoke, I for one don’t but he wanted to see for himself and get a wiff of my interior as well). I asked why he was searching me and he said it was because I removed myself from a confined space and I could have a weapon (understandable). But when I opened my hood, he wasn’t even paying attention to my car or me and immediately asked me to close it and step back in the car. Basically he just worded me opening my hood to have a reason to search me for narcotics without having “probable cause”.

I’m going to get to the bottom of this. I happen to be in Law school and see this as kind of a project/assignment. Not at ALL threatening to go after the cops, just want do some digging and see what I come up with. I understand police are just doing their jobs and I have a lot of respect for them, but trying to slam me for non-correctional fix-it tickets and treating me with disrespect is where I cross the line. I’ll keep y’all posted!

[EAGLE5]

I didn't realize you are in Berkeley. That's asshole cop central. Having lived in Berkeley for about four years of my life, I suggest you move.