It was a day not unlike any other... I pulled into the drive-in ATM at Wells Fargo a couple of blocks from my workplace, unbuckled my seat belt to get my wallet out of my back pocket, withdrew money out of the cash machine, rolled up the window and began to drive away. The moment my tires touched the pavement I heard a 'bloop' from a cop car that had suddenly appeared behind me in the exit of the Wells Fargo drive-through. I didn't think anything of it but pulled over immediately and had my license and insurance ready for The Man as soon as he reached my window.
He informed me that I was driving without wearing my seat belt. I waited for something else, stunned, but there was nothing else. He pulled me over because I didn't have my seat belt on. He took the usual 10 minutes to run my license and do whatever cops do when they're making you wait for them to write up your ticket. He came back and said "I'm issuing you a citation for failure to wear your safety belt", pointed out that failure to do so is illegal in this state, and then added that I should correct my activity because it was, and I quote, "very dangerous". He handed my my license and ticket.
I thought that was odd, but as he walked away I figured it could be worse than a $35-$50 slap on the wrist- and after all... I did forget to buckle up as I left the ATM. So I shrugged it off and drove the 2 blocks back to work to finish my day.
When I got there I took the time to review the ticket. This was not the $35-50 ticket I expected, no... this was for ONE HUNDRED AND THREE F*CKING DOLLARS! That is no small amount of money to someone like me. $103 is a fair chunk of change even for mighty Ether.
I've never been one to hide my feelings that seat belt tickets are stupid in most cases. I think it's a personal decision and nobody should give a damn whether or not I wear a seat belt but me. After all, it's my face that's supposedly going through the windsheild- right? Furthermore I have never been in a major accident, I do not have tickets for moving violations, and most the time I wear the seat belt out of habit. But this dickwad city cop has been given the right to not only ticket me for failing to wear one, but he can pull me over for that reason alone!
Ok... breathe... I'm getting riled up... breathe...
Even if I look past the ridiculous amount of the fine, and even if I let go of the right to choose whether or not to wear a seat belt, and even if I let go of the fact that this boner pulled me over just because I didn't have it on- I'm still furious about the way in which it was given to me. I mean, the cop is sitting in a Wells Fargo parking lot watching cars leave the ATM because tons of people remove their seat belts to get access to their wallets or, at the very, least, to allow them to lean out the window to operate the machine itself. This guy watches those who don't put the belt back on and immediately pulls them over and makes them $103 poorer. It's bullsh*t. Bullsh*t bullsh*t bullsh*t!!!!!
But what really grinds my gears... is the icing on this cake of sh*t which was the lecture by this dickweed about how supposedly failing to engage the seat belt for my 2 block drive to work was "very dangerous". I can't believe he said that. Pulling me over across two lanes of traffic was more dangerous than that.
Anyway, this story is for those on this message board who knew karma would come back around to bite the mighty and infallible Ether in the butt one fine day. This is your day. And this story is my St. Patrick's Day gift to you. The scourge of north Minneapolis has been taken down by a heroic Minneapolis police officer who was even kind enough to impart a safety lesson.
~€ther~
Ether: The scourge of north Minneapolis has been taken down by a heroic Minneapolis police officer who was even kind enough to impart a safety lesson.
The scourge of north Minneapolis has been taken down by a heroic Minneapolis police officer who was even kind enough to impart a safety lesson.
Tax dollars at work bub. What? You think these stadiums pay for themselves?
Can they do that? Sit in a parking lot and wait for guys to leave the ATM?
That's pretty effed up right there.
We were all Quitnesses.
GG: Can they do that? Sit in a parking lot and wait for guys to leave the ATM? That's pretty effed up right there.
Yeah, but to their defence, Ether is the scourge of Minneapolis.
I'm enjoying my day.
Down in St. Louis, in the middle of a park, is like a major yard waste drop-off point. I trimmed my mom's tree last time i was there, didn't get done 'til 8pm and was leaving the next day so I had to get it there that night; I unloaded the ENTIRE bed of my PU, and was pulling out when cherries lit up behind me. The Park police said I had dumped illegally, I said "well, thats news to me, this used to be a public yard waste depository. He said yes, it is, during the day, and showed me the 5" x 5" sign 100 yards downhill from the access road. I had to fill up my pickup again, and got a nasty ticket. Apparently, an off-duty cop sits there every night w/ his son waiting for victims, as he makes 50% of each ticket written. Gotta love it! They will get their money, one way or another, but I would certainly contest that ticket in court (as I did, and won :)
It sucks, but that's what happens when you make a seatbelt violation a primary offense. They actually had a sting on an offramp where a cop was dressed up like a homeless person to check for seatbelt violators. I believe the ticket itself is $28, but they tack on another $75 in fees.
Immitation is the best form of flatery.
thats some nanny state nonsense right there!
sorry ether :(
I can't believe you didn't pull the "don't you know who i am..?"
i once was pulled over 3 times on a Sunday for expired tabs which i did not realize i had. the first time was by 2 pig...uh...cops who were of a different race than me and they were giving it to me pretty hard which i thought was kind of funny as a shoe on the other foot thing.
long story short i recieved 3 tickets that day for expired tabs. 2 in mpls and one in st paul.
i was ticketed at 9am in mpls, noon in st paul and 11 pm back in mpls. when i got pulled over the 3rd time i told the cop i already recieved 2 tickets that day and i showed them to him. he didn't care and wrote me another one. seriously?
the next day i renewed my tabs and didn't have to pay any of those tickets. idiots.
i'll buy your album just so i can throw it away
i was pulled over for doing a uturn to get to my house because the cop thought it was suspicious...
meanwhile six blocks over at the same time, a Culver's got robbed at gunpoint.
they seem to care more about making citizens feel like outlaws and less about catchign real outlaws...
I've been issued those lovely $100 tickets TWICE for failure to wear my saftey belt, WHILE buckled up, just because it's "illegal" to wear it any way other than across your neck (I had the habit of putting the top part under my arm because it hurt my neck).
Bastards!!
They totally prey on people to make money with bogus tickets, a LOT. (Don't even get me started about having my tail lights taped at the bar, "crossing the white line", or "unreasonable accelleration"). All Crap!
i think it's funny people are bitching when they are all breaking the rules.
the rules are bunk but come on, it's not like the cops are waking up and selecting your profile to hassle for the day.
'da f**k is dat? SH*T!'
daryllh: i think it's funny people are bitching when they are all breaking the rules. the rules are bunk but come on, it's not like the cops are waking up and selecting your profile to hassle for the day.
I didn't see where people said they were being profiled, I believe they said, just as you did, that the rules are bunk, and they are! The problem I have with this is that it ends up taxing (oh, that was a good pun) a working class by putting more of a burden on their shoulders.
Same thing with dwntwn parking enforcement...they will ticket you 1 second after the meter switches to expired...sure are they in the right...legally...does it make it right? Not in my eyes. Bottom line is that the cities are runing low on funds and can use ALL the help they can get and they are scraping the barrell to get by.
Donny Ride:I didn't see where people said they were being profiled,
not profiled but the example given sorta hinted at 'cops are out to get us' when everything that is being complained about could be avoided.
I'm saying this with not ever getting a ticket for a seatbelt violation and having parking/towing fees that were totally my fault and justified.
daryllh: not profiled but the example given sorta hinted at 'cops are out to get us' when everything that is being complained about could be avoided. I'm saying this with not ever getting a ticket for a seatbelt violation and having parking/towing fees that were totally my fault and justified.
wow. We agree on something!
Sorry, guys. Somebody out there must be an erratic driver... everyone I talk to seems to agree that the roads are full of dumb-arses and maniacs, but I've never spoken to somebody who admitted to being one. The ATM thing is a bit odd, I agree.
Parking meters....I remember those.
Shawn Paul:I can't believe you didn't pull the "don't you know who i am..?"
Hehe... naw... I've learned better than to mess with Minneapolis city cops.
Besides, my modus operandi is something more like "While I find your attempt to give me a citation for a seat belt violation amusing, I do not require one as I find them to be stupid and pointless ways for a corrupt government to control people and steal more money from them. If you disagree with me you are stupid. So I will not require a citation at this time officer, you are dismissed."
You say that sh*t to a Minneapolis city cop and you get beaten down before you can say 'police brutality'
thor999:He said yes, it is, during the day, and showed me the 5" x 5" sign 100 yards downhill from the access road. I had to fill up my pickup again, and got a nasty ticket.
Did he show you twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one? Did he make you sit on the Group W bench?
Anyway... I don't think I'll contest it. The truth of the matter is I wasn't wearing my seatbelt when I left the ATM and I wasn't attentive enough to notice the police officer sitting right there. I sometimes forget to view police as the enemy and that's when they get ya. ;)
No, but I did have to blow.
daryllh: not profiled but the example given sorta hinted at 'cops are out to get us' when everything that is being complained about could be avoided.
Granted, yet the larger question is who should the cops be "out to get?"
I know most states are flat broke so easy fines certainly have their benefits (cigarettes), and yeah seat belts are good for everyone... yet this story seems more suited to a small town... not a metropolitan area with real crime to deal with.
What's more, he'd only have to have paid $20-$30 more wearing his seat belt had they found his weed. Bad rule or not, something's not matching up.
This is a great example of "Big Brother" trying to make the quota of his department! They waste more time trying to take away our choice, our decision making, that it's amost to the point of abuse!
Ether, I agree that yes, it's obvious that if we dont wear our seatbelt, then our chances go up of being thrown thru a window, or being rolled over upon. But how many of you keep a pocket knife on your belt, or somewhere you can reach from a sitting position, that wont be thrown around if you roll over?
Because that knife is your last ditch effort, if your strapped in to your seat, and your weight is keeping that lock from delatching your seatbelt, and your car beings to be engulfed with flames, I tell you, id rather die hitting the ground, than to die, being burned alive!!! But what do I know, im a stupid American, isn't that what all government employee's think of us!
Slitthroat666: This is a great example of "Big Brother" trying to make the quota of his department! They waste more time trying to take away our choice, our decision making, that it's amost to the point of abuse! Ether, I agree that yes, it's obvious that if we dont wear our seatbelt, then our chances go up of being thrown thru a window, or being rolled over upon. But how many of you keep a pocket knife on your belt, or somewhere you can reach from a sitting position, that wont be thrown around if you roll over? Because that knife is your last ditch effort, if your strapped in to your seat, and your weight is keeping that lock from delatching your seatbelt, and your car beings to be engulfed with flames, I tell you, id rather die hitting the ground, than to die, being burned alive!!! But what do I know, im a stupid American, isn't that what all government employee's think of us!
http://www.auto-acce.com/
Granted, yet the larger question is who should the cops be "out to get?"...this story seems more suited to a small town... not a metropolitan area with real crime to deal with.
Just a quick thought on this, for what it's worth... different cops are given different assignments. I know, I know - - "duh". But I think too many people don't think about this.That cop who gives you a traffic ticket? It's not like that cop is "wasting time" with petty crimes when they really should be dealing with "real crime".That cop was given the specific job of watching for traffic violations; and he or she is very likely not equipped or trained to deal with other crimes, so you getting a ticket doesn't mean that some Crips get away with murder as a direct result of the "wasted time."
Likewise, I guarantee you that you could break the speed-limit while not wearing your seatbelt in plain view of cops with other assignments who are not going to waste their time with your petty crime.
Not directed at anyone in particular. Just randomly rambling.
It is a whole lot safer to pull you over for minor traffic offenses than responding to a domestic, robbery, etc. Police are rewarded for dishing out tickets. Their management sees them as doing their job well because that relates to dollars.
So the system is it pays to do the half assed job.
Oh, for facepalm...