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$37 seatbelt ticket, whats next?

C

CSVT1214

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Nov 1, 2003
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Location
Plainville, CT
So apparently I'm not even allowed to ride down the street in Southington as a passenger in someone else's car now. :shrug:

Last night, I was in my friends car, same street I got stopped on for the cell phone ticket, and a cop was cruising along the left lane while we were in the right lane. Stayed side by side with us looking in the window. It was my friend driving, me in the front passenger and 2 girls in the back seat. Next thing I know, he gets behind him and puts on the lights.

I forgot to put my seatbelt on, even though I ALWAYS wear it. His car is a 2 door coupe, and I kept having to let the girls in and out of the backseat, and after adjusting my seat when they got in, I just sat back and forgot all about putting it on.

So I slipped the seat belt on really carefully while he was stopping us, barely moved my head or arms at all doing it. I guess he saw me doing it and gave me a ticket for no seatbelt.

No one else got a ticket for anything. Questioned us like crazy. Asked my age even though he was holding my license, asked my address, looked all inside the center console with his flashlight. Asked my friend if he was drinking because his eyes were glossy and red.

So what I'm wondering now, is why did we get stopped in the first place? From his view originally, there was no way possible for him to tell I wasn't wearing my seatbelt. If I was wearing the seatbelt, what could he have possibly stopped us for? :shrug:

Can you say "end of the month quota"? :rolleyes: :censored:
 
You are lucky, in MN it is $100 for a ticket.


CSVT1214 said:
So apparently I'm not even allowed to ride down the street in Southington as a passenger in someone else's car now. :shrug:

Last night, I was in my friends car, same street I got stopped on for the cell phone ticket, and a cop was cruising along the left lane while we were in the right lane. Stayed side by side with us looking in the window. It was my friend driving, me in the front passenger and 2 girls in the back seat. Next thing I know, he gets behind him and puts on the lights.

I forgot to put my seatbelt on, even though I ALWAYS wear it. His car is a 2 door coupe, and I kept having to let the girls in and out of the backseat, and after adjusting my seat when they got in, I just sat back and forgot all about putting it on.

So I slipped the seat belt on really carefully while he was stopping us, barely moved my head or arms at all doing it. I guess he saw me doing it and gave me a ticket for no seatbelt.

No one else got a ticket for anything. Questioned us like crazy. Asked my age even though he was holding my license, asked my address, looked all inside the center console with his flashlight. Asked my friend if he was drinking because his eyes were glossy and red.

So what I'm wondering now, is why did we get stopped in the first place? From his view originally, there was no way possible for him to tell I wasn't wearing my seatbelt. If I was wearing the seatbelt, what could he have possibly stopped us for? :shrug:

Can you say "end of the month quota"? :rolleyes: :censored:
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Either way, its all absurd. The government has no place being involved in whether or not you're wearing your belt. As I've long said, if I want to go through the windshield, its my business. Mind you, I wear my belt near every time, though we all forget once in a while.

Patrick Bedard from Car and Driver was right -- he said "Liberty is losing out because there's no money in it." Between traffic cameras, seat belt laws, and whatever else they can throw at us, federal and state governments nationwide often will do what they need to do to make money under the false pretense of safety for all. It erodes liberty, and sets awful precedents. Next, they'll be handing out tickets if you smoke a cigarette in your own home, or if old man Peabody next door spies your half naked girlfriend through the window by accident.
 
frenchblueC2 said:
They're one step away from that. Isn't MA trying to pass a law where you can't smoke in your car if there's a child 5 and under inside the car with you?
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Right you are -- there's a bit of talk about it, indeed. Massachusetts, in the dastardly hands of Governor Mao Tse-Tung (Deval Patrick), believes that the cigarette is more dangerous than the atom bomb. If they had any sense of the principles upon which this country was founded, they would know to leave well enough alone, that liberty is the key to democracy. Alas, this state's government is staffed chock full of self righteous leftists, determined to impress their arbitrarily self-devised rules upon Joe and Jane Everyman in accordance with a recipe that is not far afield from Mussolini's.

Trouble is, the gov't sells all this BS as in the public's best interest. Sure, cigarettes aren't great for 5 year olds, but it remains a parent's choice as to whether or not they will smoke in the presence of their children. Freedom is more important than the perception of safety. Government, in general, and certainly in Massachusetts, is far too myopic to appreciate, or even comprehend, that concept.
 
Click it or ticket!!!:troutslap:




haha, that sucks tony. You guys seriously have some bad luck. How many people have complained about tickets so far? 4.:nonono:

Man, i think i love NH all over again!!:laugh:
 
LauraSVT said:
Trouble is, the gov't sells all this BS as in the public's best interest. Sure, cigarettes aren't great for 5 year olds, but it remains a parent's choice as to whether or not they will smoke in the presence of their children. Freedom is more important than the perception of safety. Government, in general, and certainly in Massachusetts, is far too myopic to appreciate, or even comprehend, that concept.
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What about the kid? Freedom goes only as far as it does not infringe upon the rights of others.
 
Agreed to a degree.

However, aside from capital crimes, I see absolutely no reason why any gov't can tell you what to do on your own property.

There are laws being passed that prohibit smoking in apartment buildings.

The root issue is that people just can't let others be. Someone HAS to be offended by something that someone else is doing, and wants to go to the highest power to make it illegal for them to do it.

That being said, I'm all for seatbelt laws. Why? Think of it as a required safety device on your car. All brake lights functioning, tires that aren't bald, etc. are all safety devices that must be demonstrated as functional. If your brake like is out, you get pulled over and ticketed. Or at least given a warning to get it fixed immediately. Seatbelts fall under the same category, IMO, and the only way to demonstrate their function is to be using them.
 
Sorry to hear, Tony. Sounds like a typical end-of-month desperation move on the officer's part.

LauraSVT said:
Alas, this state's government is staffed chock full of self righteous leftists, determined to impress their arbitrarily self-devised rules upon Joe and Jane Everyman in accordance with a recipe that is not far afield from Mussolini's.
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love-smiley-011.gif


I don't mean to offend those of you who are Mass. natives, but what LauraSVT said above is the Number One Reason why I am moving out of the state at the close of this academic year. The lawmakers aren't the only ones, though; someone has to put them into office. ;) There is a self-righteousness that pervades particularly the eastern portion of this state. A portion of the populace feels that they're just better than their fellow brothers and sisters, and this perversion thus allows them to look down their noses and control someone else's life. Herein lies the abject hypocrisy of Massachusetts "liberalism" -- out of one corner of their mouths, the politicians (and some of their constituents who feed them crazy ideas) avow that they support "the common citizen", "the middle class", "the everyday worker"... and at the same time out of the other corner, they exude a sickening elitism and disrespect -- or shall I say a blatant dismissal -- for the individual as a valuable, contributing member of society.

bishop375 said:
The root issue is that people just can't let others be. Someone HAS to be offended by something that someone else is doing, and wants to go to the highest power to make it illegal for them to do it.
Click to expand...

Amen, brother! These people are the same self-avowed "open-minded" people who proclaim the virtues of diversity but yet use the most dastardly legislative techniques to make everyone else's lifestyle a clone of their own perfect model existence.

<RANT OFF> <uncorks and chugs bottle of brandy>
 
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