Ticket for burnt out headlight

[kennedy]

You are lucky that you just got a tickect. You could've got kicked in the face and tasered and then accused for resisting an arrest. Count your lucky stars.I believe if you provide 24 hour proof of buying the light, the courts will excuse the ticket. it happened to me before.

[Paul C]

Now thats the truth.........................................

[airbornedeerhunter]

Fight it, go to court and tell the judge that she was on the way to Canadian Tire to buy a new bulb and you were going to repair it at home. Who's to call you a liar. The Judge will toss it. Another reason to look negatively on the RCMP!!! The guy could have just informed her to get it fixed ASAP, not issue a crap ticket like that!!!

Oh!! I have two spare bulbs for my headlights and two for my taillights in a CT bag under my seat. If I ever get pulled over for a blown bulb, I can just pull out the bag and say lookie here, just bought 'em, on my way home to replace it.!!!

[geo]

Originally Posted by airbornedeerhunter

Fight it, go to court and tell the judge that she was on the way to Canadian Tire to buy a new bulb and you were going to repair it at home. Who's to call you a liar. The Judge will toss it.

No he won't. The lady broke the law, clear as day. Honest mistake, but she's guilty.

And fighting it costs us hundreds in officer OT, judge time, court time, etc. That's an insult to taxpayers IMO. But it is her democratic right I suppose. The letter of the law versus ethics debate.

[mudbug]

A warning would have been adequate especially if it's a vehicle in good condition. Makes me wonder about all the pieces of junk that shouldn't even be on the road that I see driving every day that I keep seeing the same one again and again

[Gus]

Well I would have to say that tickets like that generally only get written when people have a severe attitude problem...

"Oh my officer I didn't know"... Officer: "ok, here's a warning go tell your husband to fix it" or...

"officer your an *****hole for pulling me over, I pay your salary... i'm going to have your badge..." Officer: "here is your ticket".

That's usually the scenario.

[alacringa]

Originally Posted by Gus

Well I would have to say that tickets like that generally only get written when people have a severe attitude problem....

With all due respect, Gus, there is no evidence of this. I don't know the OP at all, nor do I know his wife, but until I see proof to the contrary, I have no reason to believe that they are anything other than polite, upstanding citizens. Perhaps you know them differently, but I'd say that your implied interpretation of the situation is not particularly kind to them (at best).

[mossberg]

I would check the highway traffic act. you probably will find it says that you are required to at least have one working headlight, visible up to about 150 or 300 meters. Any auto mechanic who does inspections would be able to tell you the minium.

[Gus]

Originally Posted by alacringa

With all due respect, Gus, there is no evidence of this. I don't know the OP at all, nor do I know his wife, but until I see proof to the contrary, I have no reason to believe that they are anything other than polite, upstanding citizens. Perhaps you know them differently, but I'd say that your implied interpretation of the situation is not particularly kind to them (at best).

I apologize if i offended anyone as that is not my intention, and I don't know the people so I am not speaking directly of their situation as obviously I wasn't there. My point is that I am assuming that most people have never been written up for that ticket, even if they have been pulled over for having a burnt out headlight (I have). Generally: people will only get those crazy tickets from the police when they are misbehaving.

[Redfrog]

Originally Posted by Gus

Well I would have to say that tickets like that generally only get written when people have a severe attitude problem...

"Oh my officer I didn't know"... Officer: "ok, here's a warning go tell your husband to fix it" or...

"officer your an *****hole for pulling me over, I pay your salary... i'm going to have your badge..." Officer: "here is your ticket".

That's usually the scenario.

sorry Gus. the second scenario would get you drop kicked through the goal posts of life.

[Lonnie]

Originally Posted by mossberg

I would check the highway traffic act. you probably will find it says that you are required to at least have one working headlight, visible up to about 150 or 300 meters. Any auto mechanic who does inspections would be able to tell you the minium.

x2 I would realy check this out as long as you can see properly you shuold be legal to drive even with one head light.one could claim that the reason that they put two or more head lights on a vihickle is in case quits

[deanmc]

Originally Posted by Lonnie

x2 I would realy check this out as long as you can see properly you shuold be legal to drive even with one head light.one could claim that the reason that they put two or more head lights on a vihickle is in case quits

[pickrel pat]

the cop was a holeazz. plain and simple.

[Kim473]

Lately I have seen about one in every 50 cars and tricks on the road with a burnt out headlight. His superieor probly told all officers to crack down on the infractions at the biggining of that shift. The cop was probly just doing what he was told to do. Its still a cheap ticket tho. Should have got a warning and given 24 hrs to get it fixed.

[rhuntley12]

Never had a ticket like that myself, been in the car when someone got pulled over for headlight and just got a "fix it" ticket where they throw it out.

Wish it was more enforced, it's hard to see and judge sometimes at night on country roads when someone has a burnt out light. Whats worse is those who have their brights on, so have one light blinding me.

[thepyrofish]

Originally Posted by mossberg

I would check the highway traffic act. you probably will find it says that you are required to at least have one working headlight, visible up to about 150 or 300 meters. Any auto mechanic who does inspections would be able to tell you the minium.

Originally Posted by Lonnie

x2 I would realy check this out as long as you can see properly you shuold be legal to drive even with one head light.one could claim that the reason that they put two or more head lights on a vihickle is in case quits

It's actually the very first thing listed under "Headlamps" in the Vehicle Equipment Regulation document (a part of the Traffic Safety Act). Added emphasis is mine...

Originally Posted by The Government

Division 1
Headlamps
Location
6(1) A motor vehicle, other than a motor cycle or moped, must
have at least 2 headlamps, one on each side of the front of the
motor vehicle.

[CSIGuy67]

Are we sure it was an RC that wrote the ticket and not one of the provincial Sheriff officers? I have had terrible experiences with them too. They'll write you a ticket just for looking at them... I could easily see one of them writing one of these kinds of tickets without hesitation or using common sense.

[srp71]

Well consider yourself lucky.Had you been in a Kenworth instead of a Kia(or whatever),you as a driver would of gotten the ticket and probably an "out of service"(OOS).(As the owner of the truck,they would of had points against thier carrier profile and after so many points they would of gotten audited.If they never cleaned up their act and got some more they would eventually get shut down).Meanwhile the RC is writing your ticket/warning up and your friendly neighbor hood DOT happens to drive up.
DOT"Well what do we have here?"
RCMP"Burnt out headlight"
DOT"Well I better check out the rest of the truck then"and out comes the creeper and now you are sitting here for a few hours while he does his best to rack up a few more OOS points for you.Sounds like fun don't it.The driver is entitled to do a pre/post check of his unit as well as at intervals through out the day.Very seldom does "oh it was good when I left ever get you very far."
It may have been that way,but you have to remember that the officers hear that many times a day,as well as a few hundred different excuses.

[Ianhntr]

Simply write a quick note to the officer in charge of that detachment explaining your concern. He'll most likely agree behind the scenes but will have to support his officer to you. But request a written response. He'll at leaast have to discuss this with his boy, and he'll know where this guys morals are.

[bridger2010]

Originally Posted by airbornedeerhunter

Fight it, go to court and tell the judge that she was on the way to Canadian Tire to buy a new bulb and you were going to repair it at home. Who's to call you a liar. The Judge will toss it. Another reason to look negatively on the RCMP!!! The guy could have just informed her to get it fixed ASAP, not issue a crap ticket like that!!!

Oh!! I have two spare bulbs for my headlights and two for my taillights in a CT bag under my seat. If I ever get pulled over for a blown bulb, I can just pull out the bag and say lookie here, just bought 'em, on my way home to replace it.!!!

It's nice how you badmouth the RCMP and advise him to commit perjury in one breath

[Off in the Bushes]

Look up the clause in the Taffic Safety Act and make sure it is correct. That is not a typical ticket and it might have the wrong clause.

[Photoplex]

Originally Posted by Jims71duster

you guys ever pullover a bit on a secondary highway to see if you can pass and you see what looks like lights coming but a mile away, lots a time right, until you pull out and see its a car with one light about 400 yards away. Kinda puts a pucker in it doesnt it. I know its a crap ticket put every person who gets pulled over for it will always say it was okay an hour ago, thats how society is. Not sayin that this is the case, just pointing out some facts

X2. I sometimes think they're nutty motorcycle riders, driving in the middle of the road - that always puts the wind up me

[jack88]

Look, this is one of the few rules that should have a 24 hour grace period to get it fixed and show them. This exact thing happend to me at 9 at night last month, minus the ticket or cops. No stores open in that neck of the woods, next day I was at CT to pick up a new bulb, no being lazy and leaving it for a week. Until they tell me that I MUST carry spare bulbs and conform to all their other little cash grab rules, they can cut me some slack.

[Tom Pullings]

Originally Posted by Kim473

Lately I have seen about one in every 50 cars and tricks on the road with a burnt out headlight. His superieor probly told all officers to crack down on the infractions at the biggining of that shift. The cop was probly just doing what he was told to do. Its still a cheap ticket tho. Should have got a warning and given 24 hrs to get it fixed.

Indeed. It is likely that some concerned citizens complained about the amount of vehicles driving around with burnt headlights.

[Photoplex]

Originally Posted by Tom Pullings

Indeed. It is likely that some concerned citizens complained about the amount of vehicles driving around with burnt headlights.

Kind of related... I still feel that if you're caught driving at night, or in bad weather conditions (blizzard etc) without your lights on (so your tail lights show) you should have your license suspended for 30 days.

[wwbirds]

Not sure about Morinville but around here there is an advanced stage for plea bargaining which generally knocks off 50% off speeding tickets. if the light was fixed and presented to the crown at one of these pleadings I would expect it to be at least cut down or possibly canceled all together. while I believe the officer has some discretion on what he writes up the crown prosecutor probably does not want a temporary situation which went unnoticed by the driver to cause hardship. I would attend there with receipt for bulb and vehicle showing it was repaired as soon as "reasonably" possible.
Rob

[TheClash]

Originally Posted by rugatika

It sure doesn't seem reasonable that they can give you a ticket for something that could conceivably happened 2 minutes before. (
The ticket may be legally sound...but it sure doesn't seem right.
.

How long do you have to be speeding for before it becomes illegal and a ticketable offense?...I get what you are saying, sucks that she got a ticket for sure. A warning would have been the way to go imho..however illegal is illegal

[burblecut]

The Fuzz in Morinville are also on a Stop Sign Blitz at the moment.

[FishBrain]

Man, if that cop worked in Calgary, he would make a killing!!!

[camshaft]

Moderators:

This thread has long run its course....please put an end to it already...