It was near the end of the month as I was returning from a good deed. The deed was to feed and water a cat and some flowers. On my return I was followed by a Pennsylvania State Trooper for several turns and several miles until the lights went on. It took a while an eventually the officer stepped out of his car and approached my drivers side window. The problem was, that it did not work. I cracked the door and advised the officer that this was the case and he went to my passenger side window which was rolled down. He immediately pointed to my late father’s string ties hanging from the rear view mirror and told me to take them off. He asked for my license , registration and insurance card. All of which were current and readily available. The problem was that my registration was not signed! Apparently by signing the card you are acknowledging that you know not to litter and that littering can give you a $300.00 fine.
Well the the two string ties cost me $107.50 and the un signed registration cost me $75.00 in court. I was not told at the time that having a non operating window on the drivers side was illegal. And of course my current license plate sticker was not on. So in theory, I was given a break on two ticket-able
offenses.
Prior to going to court I handed out warning cards, telling people with stuff on their mirrors that it could cost them money if caught by the police.
i also made three triangular signs to warn other drivers south of Towanda on Route 220 and on Route 6 just across from Towanda on the Wysox side of the road.
All four issues are not covered by the driver’s manual of Pennsylvania.
In fact by watching passing cars, it would appear that 20-30 percent of all cars have something ticket-able on their mirrors or windows.
This means that if the police need to make their ticket quota, which they claim they don’t have, all they have to do is stop one out of every 4 – 5 cars.
AAA does not tell you this. The driver’s manual does not tell you this. You are suppose to know.
In fact the law states that ANYTHING on the mirror is illegal and yet the Judge in this case said no. That the item has to percent a danger or obstruct vision.
The Attorney General has refused to give me a ruling on this law. Auto Air Fresheners are still allowed to be sold to hang on mirrors in violation of most
state driving laws. How can this be? Maybe they like the revenue these tickets generate?
I have noticed a dramatic reduction in the local cars that have stuff on their mirrors. This was such an important case that there were 4 State Troopers in the court along with the Chief of Police of Towanda and two of his officers.. Yet the Chief of Police is claiming that he needs another guy. Why? He had to guys
doing nothing at my trial!
There are many things which one can do to frustrate the police and make them stop another car.
1. Have nothing hanging from your rear view mirror.. Nothing.
2 Even handicap tags that hang from your mirror are illegal while driving.
3. Don’t have any unofficial stickers on any window.
4 . don’t have any license plate frames to make your car look cool.
5 . Don’t have any clear covers on your license plate.
6. Don’t have any GPS or radar detectors visible in the mirrors as they can be considered an obstruction too.
7. Be very careful bring any large box back from the store in your station wagon, van, or car if it blocks vision to the side or rear.
8 make sure your break lights and blinkers work. Typically if they blink really quick one bulb may be burned out.
9 make sure both license plate bulbs are working as this will give you a better chance to have at least one working.
10. Having an animal in a car hanging out the window could get you a ticket too.
11. Don’t have more people in the car than it was legally designed to carry. that means only 3 people on a bench seat designed for three people.
12 make sure you know how far you must signal for a turn prior to turning. In some states it goes from 100 to 200 feet once your achieve 35 mph or more.
13 Come to a full stop at stop signs or blinking red lights.
14 Don’t get suckered into making a right hand turn on a no turn on red because someone is honking. That person honking could be a police plant
to make you go.
15 make sure you have the current license plate date sticker on it.
Don’t get me wrong. I admire the police and feel that they have switched from being educational to a money machine by our elected officials.
Had I not had had my registration at all , I would have had 5 days to produce it without fine. Yet having it unsigned was a “SIN”. So think about this.
They take the time to write the ticket for not having a registration and take the time to un-do the ticket when you produce it. Double the labor and no
revenue. The officer could have had me sign the ticket and been better off for the revenue flow than he would have been had I not had the damn thing.
Near the end of the ticketing process, I was informed by the Officer that my voice had been recorded. I was recorded with out my knowledge or
permission! He never told me that he could have given me 4 tickets and was only giving me 2. Had he done that , I might have thought him a good guy.
But he didn’t.
There are complications with my case, because 8 months earlier I was a victim of a hit and run on my mail box and the State Police would not take the
mirror knocked off the offending car. I had to go on the Internet to get the year and model for the state troopers, and I fell that this was pay back time.
maybe I’m wrong. But this whole thing has been a very interesting lesson which I have used to educate other people on Youtube.com and with my three
signs.
If someone else had made the news as I did with my signs, I would not have had anything on my mirrors. Those string ties had been on my mirror for 9 years.
They had gone through state inspection of both NJ and PA. Had I been told, I would not have been stopped.
So as they say.. do unto others as you would have them do unto yourself. So if you have something on your mirror, take it off. If you have a friend or family
member with something on their mirrors or windows warn them. Tell them not to be a sitting duck.
Most of all tell a stranger. Today most of us can not afford such tickets.
Do your good deed!
