Was driving on a local highway in Massachusetts today and the radar detector picked up a cop sitting on the side of the highway from more than one mile away which was great. Nothing but good things to say about the 9500XI.

However, he still pulled me over for "being too close to a car in front of me" who was slowing down to get off an exit ramp. He then proceeded to give me a ticket for an altered exhaust and a illegal license plate cover.

I tried to get out of the exhaust ticket saying the stock exhaust for this car is relatively just as loud, but he didn't buy that. Is there a decibel limit? Or are all exhausts considered illegal in Mass?

And the license plate cover he stated was an issue because the words "spirit of america" were blocked even though all the necessary information such as the registration sticker and all the numbers were visible.

Looking to see if it is worth trying to even fight this and if anyone else has been ticketed for this. I attached a photo of the rear end to show you the license plate cover. It's an 85$ ticket so I may just end up paying it and not deal with a magistrate.

 

That's just retarded dude, ticketed for a plate cover... sorry to hear that

 

Both of those are equipment violations. Check your state's laws to determine if they can issue such tickets without any moving violations.

The ticket will list the statutes that you allegedly violated. Look them up to get the exact requirements.

Is your exhaust really loud? If so, you might have a hard time getting out of that one. Around here, they don't want any license plate covers, but I think perimeter frames are ok.

Cop probably pissed he couldn't tag you for speeding, so he fished for something else.

 

Well the moving violation I would assume is the "Following too close to another vehicle" 720 CMR 9.06. He didn't actually give me a "assessment" for that. He waived that and assessed the other two equipment violations.

My exhaust is just as loud as everyone else that has an Ark exhaust. I doubt he even really heard it loud, he knew it was aftermarket just from the looks of the mufflers so I think that's all that matters in Mass.

 

Did he see you radar detector? I could see him digging to give you a ticket because you have it.

 

Eyes will never fail you

 

my dads a cop, atleast in florida you can't have a license plate cover that covers any information of the plate, including the bottom which usually either says "sunshine state" or the county the car is registered in. its one of his favorite tickets to write (i know, my dad is an a$$, but thats for another thread/time to discuss). exhaust wise, atleast in florida its the same as loud stereo's, if it can be heard over 25ft away, its too loud.

 

Aren't the stock exhaust on our cars easily heard from 25 ft away?

 

sounds like he was just trying to be a kok to me.

then again, most mass state troopers are....at least all the ones i have met.

 

I think I'm going to attempt to fight the ticket. What's the worst that will happen. I will have to pay the ticket anyways. Let me know if it makes absolutely no sense to fight this or my logic is flawed. haha. It is considered a moving violation so my insurance will go up.

Initial pull-over reason: Following too close can be argued as a subjective call. I did some reading into this and this ticket is normally written when there is an accident where someone stopped abruptly and the person behind could not stop in time. It is hardly ever written for any other reason unless you are literally 3 feet off the back bumper which I was not. The date and time I was pulled over was a Saturday morning at 10 am in bright clear sunny conditions where my response time would have been accurate enough for the person in front of me to slam on her brakes and stop in time. In addition, the point at which the cop must have spotted me "too close" was when the person in front of me pulled into my lane and applied her brakes because he was behind her.

Exhaust: This is going to be the tough one. The law states "No person shall operate a motor vehicle on any way which motor vehicle is equipped (1) with a muffler from which the baffle plates, screens or other original internal parts have been removed and not replaced; or (2) with an exhaust system which has been modified in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the exhaust."

Although the exhaust is aftermarket, it has not been tampered with and is arguably not that much louder than stock. More arguably, at the speed which I was traveling 65 mph, in 5th gear, the rpm would have been under 3k I think which would make it almost not noticeable. My guess is he could see the ARK mufflers below the bumper and made the assumption it was made to be louder.


License Plate : The law states "The said number plates shall be kept clean with the numbers legible and shall not be obscured in any manner by the installation of any device obscuring said numbers, and during the period when the vehicle or trailer is required to display lights the rear register number shall be illuminated so as to be plainly visible at a distance of sixty feet."

I can easily argue that all required credentials (registration and numbers) on my plate were/are visible from over sixty feet away especially in the weather conditions I was pulled over in. I will also state since the ticket, I have removed the plate for good.

Like I said. let me know if any of my logic is flawed. haha

 

Well, if your going to fight it i would schedule the date months down the road. Chances are they will not show up and you won your case. I did that to my last ticket and i got my refund.

 

For the exhaust, unless you can prove it's street legal, you probably won't get out of it. Although you didn't modify the aftermarket exhaust itself, you modified your vehicle's exhaust system by switching to an aftermarket exhaust that amplifies the sound. I got this ticket once, but fortunately, the exhaust (Borla) states it is 50 state street legal on the box and on it's publications. Typically, it will say "for off road use only" or "for show" only if it's not street legal.

 

If the ticket is $85 just pay it. Just went to traffic court to fight a 90.00 ticket my wife got for allegedly making a right turn whn the front of her car was in the turn lane and the rear was in the shoulder???. Anyway got fine reduced to 45.00 plus court costs which ended up being 87.00 plus 2.00 to park and a 1 1/2 wasted time. Its not worth it. I wish we had a dash cam now we both have one.