First time pulled over in my 1er + why some cops are douche-nozzles

[1speedbike]

As the title suggests, this was my first time getting pulled over in the chariot. It was a long day of working (6-4) and i was very happy to be going home, having just stopped for a few minutes at my girlfriend's house and happily zipping along with my windows and sunroof open.

I was going 80 in a 55 (which was actually very much with the flow of traffic) in the center lane of a 3 lane highway at the head of a pack of cars spreading over all three lanes (those of you North Jerseyers, it was 208 N in Franklin Lakes). Here's the thing, to the left of me was a Jeep going at least 85-90, obviously overtaking me. I hear my radar detector go off with a small strength and I slow down to a calm, cool 70, causing the car behind me to take great offense and tailgate me. The Jeep didn't slow down at all.

So the pack passes and piggy pulls out of the shoulder abruptly. There's two things going on in my head right now, 1) I'm glad I have a radar detector, 2) I'm very glad I abide to the philosophy that I can go fast, but never be the fastest on the road in a given area. So as I cruise along feeling a little sorry for the guy in the Jeep I notice that the piggy just turned his lights on, behind ME, who was going slower to begin with and immediately slowed down at the first sign of "Ka band."

Well, guess what? No front license plates. It's been almost a year with my car and I haven't had a front plate the entire time. Nobody has cared. I've caught a cop standing on the sidewalk admiring my car which was parked with the front facing him, and he didn't even notice or say anything other than "nice car". Piggy ignores a jeep going 15-20 mph faster than me to give me a $54 fine for not having a front plate. One of the worst cases of BMW bias in history, and this is in Franklin Lakes, NJ, where "Real (Absurdly Rich) Housewives of New Jersey" is taped. There are more 5-series than civics..

Anyway, that's my rant. Oh, and piggy was kind enough to point out that my insurance expires soon. Thanks, you're so kind. There goes close to 3 years with not a single ticket.. On the bright side, the delay did allow me to see a Chrysler 300 badged with a Bentley logo which cheered me up pretty quickly.

[1013mm]

well giving you a ticket was more worth it.... speeding + no plate rather than just speeding I guess.

[No234]

Dumbest law ever, I paid a no front plate ticket the other day.

[1speedbike]

He didn't catch me speeding, the ticket is ONLY for unclear plates. I'm fairly certain he just wasn't paying attention to his radar..

BTW anyone know where I can get a snap-on one so I don't have to drill?

[Ender_]

Sucks...they generlly give you a 72hr for that around here. I've told the dealer not to mount the plate, going to try and get a decal made up to replace my plate

[grish]

So he didn't give you the speeding ticket, right? Just the no plate ticket.

If that is the case than no points would go on the license and you should just pay it and forget it.

[subscience]

Just paid one myself too. Got it in Beverly Hills with a nice $60 parking ticket.

The missing plate ticket was $50 and it cost me $25 after correcting it. Saving $25 definitely wasn't worth wasting 2 lunches and having to deal with BHPD and Beverly Hills Parking Violations.

[jeremyc74]

I'm honestly not sure what the problem here is.

You've been driving around for a year knowing full well that you're breaking the law, and now you're pissed because you got ticketed for it? Front plate laws suck, but you're just asking for it driving around without one. There's no way in hell I'd take the chance of getting pulled over for something so trivial.

I guess living in VA for 24 years taught me something afterall. You'd be lucky to get away with no front plate for more than a day or two where I grew up, and 9 times out of 10 once they had you stopped they'd find enought things to make it worth their while.

[nordique14]

You should check and see if no front plate is a primary offense in your state. If it is only a secondary offense they cannot pull you over and give you a ticket for only that.

[amdmaxx]

What are you smoking?
I take 208N to work every day and the traffic there never goes 80... It's 55 speed limit and traffic in right lane usually flows around 45-55 (lots of merges) and left lane is usually 60-65 tops.. Very rarely do I see anyone going 80 there, only when its really early in the morning or on a holiday weekday.
P.S. cop might pulled u because you didnt have front plate.. He probably saw multiple sitations in one shot (more money for them).. No plates - 1, speeding - 2, sports car - probably more for him..
Anyways, use that get out of jail for $500 3 times in 5 years NJ law if you dont want points.. Good Luck

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

As the title suggests, this was my first time getting pulled over in the chariot. It was a long day of working (6-4) and i was very happy to be going home, having just stopped for a few minutes at my girlfriend's house and happily zipping along with my windows and sunroof open.

I was going 80 in a 55 (which was actually very much with the flow of traffic) in the center lane of a 3 lane highway at the head of a pack of cars spreading over all three lanes (those of you North Jerseyers, it was 208 N in Franklin Lakes). Here's the thing, to the left of me was a Jeep going at least 85-90, obviously overtaking me. I hear my radar detector go off with a small strength and I slow down to a calm, cool 70, causing the car behind me to take great offense and tailgate me. The Jeep didn't slow down at all.

So the pack passes and piggy pulls out of the shoulder abruptly. There's two things going on in my head right now, 1) I'm glad I have a radar detector, 2) I'm very glad I abide to the philosophy that I can go fast, but never be the fastest on the road in a given area. So as I cruise along feeling a little sorry for the guy in the Jeep I notice that the piggy just turned his lights on, behind ME, who was going slower to begin with and immediately slowed down at the first sign of "Ka band."

Well, guess what? No front license plates. It's been almost a year with my car and I haven't had a front plate the entire time. Nobody has cared. I've caught a cop standing on the sidewalk admiring my car which was parked with the front facing him, and he didn't even notice or say anything other than "nice car". Piggy ignores a jeep going 15-20 mph faster than me to give me a $54 fine for not having a front plate. One of the worst cases of BMW bias in history, and this is in Franklin Lakes, NJ, where "Real (Absurdly Rich) Housewives of New Jersey" is taped. There are more 5-series than civics..

Anyway, that's my rant. Oh, and piggy was kind enough to point out that my insurance expires soon. Thanks, you're so kind. There goes close to 3 years with not a single ticket.. On the bright side, the delay did allow me to see a Chrysler 300 badged with a Bentley logo which cheered me up pretty quickly.

[1speedbike]

Originally Posted by grish

So he didn't give you the speeding ticket, right? Just the no plate ticket.

If that is the case than no points would go on the license and you should just pay it and forget it.

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

I'm honestly not sure what the problem here is.

You've been driving around for a year knowing full well that you're breaking the law, and now you're pissed because you got ticketed for it? Front plate laws suck, but you're just asking for it driving around without one. There's no way in hell I'd take the chance of getting pulled over for something so trivial.

I guess living in VA for 24 years taught me something afterall. You'd be lucky to get away with no front plate for more than a day or two where I grew up, and 9 times out of 10 once they had you stopped they'd find enought things to make it worth their while.

I'm honestly grateful that's all he docked me for, but it's more of a "HELLO, the guy right next to me was blatantly speeding and you still pull me over for something nobody else has even noticed" type of thing. I knew this would happen eventually, and i was taking a risk for a while, but the fact that nobody else has cared but he nitpicked just gets to me because this is my first incident of negative "nice car" attention I've gotten other than the occasional tailgating.

Originally Posted by amdmaxx

What are you smoking?
I take 208N to work every day and the traffic there never goes 80... It's 55 speed limit and traffic in right lane usually flows around 45-55 (lots of merges) and left lane is usually 60-65 tops.. Very rarely do I see anyone going 80 there, only when its really early in the morning or on a holiday weekday.
P.S. cop might pulled u because you didnt have front plate.. He probably saw multiple sitations in one shot (more money for them).. No plates - 1, speeding - 2, sports car - probably more for him..
Anyways, use that get out of jail for $500 3 times in 5 years NJ law if you dont want points.. Good Luck

Right near the north end of 208 where it merges into 287 and it splits from 2 lanes to 3, the left lane expands and forms a new left lane. A lot of eager beavers zoom into the left lane and pick up speeds up to about 70-75 usually, whereas the center lane stays more conservative. I guess I was just in a particularly fast pack of cars. This morning, driving south at 5:40ish with fog and rain i was doing 60-ish because I was very tired and was probably among the slowest moving cars at the time, despite the conditions.

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

I'm honestly grateful that's all he docked me for, but it's more of a "HELLO, the guy right next to me was blatantly speeding and you still pull me over for something nobody else has even noticed" type of thing. I knew this would happen eventually, and i was taking a risk for a while, but the fact that nobody else has cared but he nitpicked just gets to me because this is my first incident of negative "nice car" attention I've gotten other than the occasional tailgating.

.

It's entirely possible he had his RADAR pointing the other direction (which would explain why you got a low signal strength hit) and was just turning around from a previous stop when you caught his attention.

Just because a cop is sitting in the medium doesn't mean he's set up to run RADAR. A lot of them drive around with it on, whether they're looking for speeders or not. To get an accurate speed they have to park to minimize the cosign angle, which means they need the beam to be as parrallel to the direction of travel as possible. It sounds like you just presented this guy with an easy ticket, and he took advantage of it.

I don't mean to sound like a dick, but you're asking for it driving around with no front plate.

[1013mm]

point is you were speeding, that's already breaking the law.

[ptack]

Hey I run that same risk every day, but I have the plate in my trunk with a mounting kit so that will be part of my excuse if I get pulled over. It's a calculated risk and since it's not a moving violation I'm not too worried about a ticket. You never know what these guys are thinking so it is frustrating.

One non-permanent mounting option might be double-stick trim tape. We know you can get that off with dental floss and elbow grease.

[scorcherjf]

The area between Wyckoff and where 287 begins is usually a copfest (since I lived around there while growing up), especially at night between Ceder Hill and Russell Ave. I've seen the cops catch many people there, and they've got me once when I was 18 but they just gave me a warning. Not really sure about 80 being with the flow at that area, I usually go 60 at the most but after you get on 287 north heading to NY people open up to 80.

First week I had my 1er I got pulled over on 287 north after BMFeast (I also had no front plate at the time since I was on temp dealer plates) and I think that was the reason they picked me out since I was going with the flow. Needless to say, those angel eyes + no front plate in NJ will attract more attention than any Jeep.

[cagekicker]

dude' what are you ranting about? you didn't get a speeding ticket! you did get a ticket for not having a front plate which you didn't have. as a former resident of new jersey, i abided with the vehicle codes whether i liked 'em or not. be happy you got away with it for a year. now pay up! don't hate the cop, he was doing what they do.

[cagekicker]

Originally Posted by No234

Dumbest law ever, I paid a no front plate ticket the other day.

do what i did- moved to florida!

[Midgad]

Weather you like or dont like a specific law doesnt give you the right to not obey it. If you break a law no matter what it is you are gambling to be stopped.
All you need is one rookie cop, who wants some browning points, and boom you got a ticket.
Also it doesnt matter squat that other people were breaking laws and they picked you. Bottom line, they nailed you.
Was in court, watched a girl state, "I was only doing the speed of traffic" which was 15 over the limit. Why did I get caught? The judges answer..."because YOU got caught".
I also wish I didnt have to have a front plate but hey its the law. There are reasons why they have this law...toll booth cameras, so cops can see a plate in their rear view, etc.
"dont do the crime, if you cant do the time"

[1speedbike]

I have to point out that I really AM grateful that the no front plate ticket is the only one I got instead of speeding too, and that I was expecting to get it for the no plate eventually but not while some crazy person was more blatantly breaking the law right next to me. Yesterday I was also quite sleep deprived so it was making me crankier than normal. The radar pointing in the other direction theory sounds like what probably happened.

also, jzhang, did you buy your 1er to always go speed limit? ;] ;]

[untouchableE82]

this is only the beginning lol
for some reason police dont like to see people in better cars than themselves. ive been pulled over many times for the stupid things. and right now the latest i got was for having nitrous and street racing , when i dont have nitrous and i was the only car in the street doing ten over the speed limit. and because the cop thought he was right the charges im looking at will give me six months jailtime if convicted. they are so stupid they didnt even know the car has 300 hp/tq. how are they able to give traffic tickets if they dont have any knowledge on cars. you should know that a turbo charge car has something known as blow off valve and that noise it makes is not nitrous. lol

[Year1of1]

just a quick note... did you have the plate on between the dash and windshield?

I was pulled over 4 times in NJ b/c I didn't have my plate mounted up front. I placed it between the dash and windshield.

when the troopers questioned me i stated that it is visible from the front of the vehicle which is abiding by state law... the law doesnt make any mention of it having to be on the bumper....

they let me go each time

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by untouchableE82

this is only the beginning lol
for some reason police dont like to see people in better cars than themselves. ive been pulled over many times for the stupid things. and right now the latest i got was for having nitrous and street racing , when i dont have nitrous and i was the only car in the street doing ten over the speed limit. and because the cop thought he was right the charges im looking at will give me six months jailtime if convicted. they are so stupid they didnt even know the car has 300 hp/tq. how are they able to give traffic tickets if they dont have any knowledge on cars. you should know that a turbo charge car has something known as blow off valve and that noise it makes is not nitrous. lol