[targa911man]

While sitting in general district court in Fairfax today, I had to wait for a cop with about 30 tickets to get through his docket. He identified himself as a member of something like the "Equipment Compliance Squad". I am not making this up. Apparently, the Ffx. Co. Police have squad of officers who do nothing but drive around listening for loud mufflers--during the day they also look for cars with dark window tint, and at night they look for cars with white headlights and white side marker lights. Every car ticketed by this guy was a ricer, except for a couple of tint violators. Several people he charged had stock equipment. One guy had a stock muffler with a coffee can extension, which is not going to make it louder. He obviously stopped that guy for looking like he had a loud muffler. The victim--I'm sorry, I mean the defendant--explained to the judge that he had taken the extension off, so now his car was completely stock. Guilty. Another guy had a completely stock system that just sounded loud to the officer. He had an affidavit from a dealership mechanic indicating the the system was stock, that it had no leaks and was performing properly. The judge told him "That's not why he stopped you---he stopped you because it was too loud." Guilty, $100. A couple of the people had stock white side markers. One guy stopped had Silverstar headlights, which is what I have on my 911 and as far as I know are perfectly legal. The guy was convicted because the beams were "white". A few people had stock tint that was legal in other states but not VA. The judge, who I won't identify other than to say the Commonwealth Attorney is his brother, convicted every one of these people, varying only the amount of the fine depending on the degree of the violation, whether they had taken remedial measures, and the severity of their prior records. One guy explained he had a stock Nissan white side socket, but the bulb had burned out and he had replaced it with an aftermarket bulb instead of Nissan OEM. He said after being ticketed he bought and installed a Nissan OEM bulb. The judge asked him if the OEM bulb was white, and when he said yes the judge hit him with a $100 fine. None of the defendants had a lawyer. I should point out that none of these people were stopped for a "moving" violation such as speeding or running a redlight. So 30 or so average citizens, not to mention the other people in the courtroom who saw this, now view the police as a$$holes and the court system as a joke. And while this squad is busy writing these tickets, terrorists are free to drive around in vehicles equipped with amber side markers and nice dim headlights. Very cost-effective.

[Jim Richards]

I'm so glad I moved to Loudoun County. Still, I have to pass through the Kingdom of Fairfax most days. I guess from now on we should plan on hiring lawyers for equipment violations.

[914guy]

A friend of mine from Pittsburgh was telling me about getting pulled over, and then getting a ticket for having a radar detector mount on his windshield, it was a ticket for 'blocked visibility' or some BS like that it is just like the stoplight camera's, another revenue stream.

~Eric

[Charlie Stylianos]

Dan or other folks of the law......

Isn't 'too loud' or 'too white' a bit subjective? How can the county find guilt or fine w/o hard proof via decibel meter, lumen meter, etc? One guy had proof via an affidavit from the dealership that he was legal...still fined. How would one prove their innocence w/o a lawyer?

Is something wrong here?......this is irritating


I always thought Fairfax Co. was a joke and this just solidifies my opinion. Sorry if I offended any affiliates.

[914guy]

Do you remember what kind of car it was with the 'too loud' stock exhaust? Charlie makes a good point, I thought that if a car was stock and within DOT specs that it is legal?

~Eric

[Jase007]

Dan:

This type of stuff makes my blood boil. I look forward to getting stopped so I can match my legal wits against the a$$#$ole who pulled me over.

I think I'll be spending some time on Lexis this afternoon and talking to a co-worker in our traffic law unit to get "educated". Unfortunately, there are judges like this all over the country as I am sure you, Marc, myself and others have encountered. Sometimes you have to "know" the system and the game, which is unfortunate for the 30 citizens who just had their rights violated.

BTW Fairfax Co. Commonwealth Attorney's (CA) Office is known for backing this crap up as can be attested to by the three former ACAs in our office with nothing good to say about the place.

Jason

[vove]

unbelievable...does this mean that my diamond white lights are illegal in Fairfax County?

[rs911t]

Cool! I'll interpret my lack of a ticket as evidence my exhaust can be louder! Woo-hoo!!

[targa911man]

It's hard to say whether a lawyer would have helped any of these people, because none of them had one. The cop did have a light meter for the tint cases, but I don't know if he had a calibration affidavit for its accuracy, because none of the defendants asked for it. I aslo don't know if any kind of light meter or sound meter was used, because likewise they did not ask for that. The cop never mentioned using any device in his testimony, except for the light meter on his tint cases. He just said the mufflers were "especially" "very" or "too" loud and the lights were white or "too" white. Even other cops aren't real enthusiastic about this squad. While Officer Compliance was testifying on one of the muffler cases, I asked two cops on the front row if his nickname was "Rabbit Ears". They busted a gut, and the bailiff came over and told us to shut up.

[Jim Richards]

LOL Dan!