legally driving without side mirrors?

Hey Will. Bet most states don't have 10 courtrooms with each one dedicated to 1 police officers month of tickets! lol

 

This ^ is a sure fire way to really get nailed not once but two times being a jack ass. Leave every thing alone and hope the cop doesn't show up that's an excellent ideal. No point to prove, the OP was in violation of state laws he was driving an unsafe vehicle any cop would have pulled him over in case you haven't heard that is what they are paid to do. On any given day there are few bad guys to chase so cops patrol trying to keep the peace and unsafe vehicles off the street it just part of the job. So if you want 3 tickets go to court don't fix any thing and then tell the judge every thing you did was perfectly legal because you have seen others do it.

 

Added: 5-11-09 Wisconsin motor vehicle laws - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Chapter 347 - Equipment of Vehicles
347.40 Mirrors.
(1) No person shall operate any motor vehicle upon a highway unless such vehicle is equipped with a mirror so located as to reflect to the operator a view of the roadway for a distance of 200 feet to the rear of such vehicle.

 

Several years ago, while waiting to get my haircut, I picked up a law enforcement magazine to read because of the lack of any other male gendered reading material.

An interesting fact they pointed out was that 95% of felony arrests that law enforcement make are out of traffic stops. So you can see why petty violations like no mirrors, too wide of tires and tail light bulbs out draw attention. That's their probable cause to stop you.

So don't climb on the bandwagon and torch law enforcement when you get stopped. The guy is just doing his job. That's not to say there aren't some sour apples out there, but if your shit is together then you won't be put in that position.

OP, did you notice if the guy ran you for warrents when he went back to his patrol car to write the citation? I betcha he did! You're lucky because he would've taken pleasure in transporting you to the pokey.

The bottom line is, keep your shit straight and attitude in check.

 

I think you don't understand some of the views and opinions here. I'm over 50 yrs old and my comments are from my experiences. I was a rowdy kid will a lack of respect for police. So to call me holier than though is mute. Can't speak for others but, bet a lot of them also speak from experience. I NEVER had a court date where the officer didn't show up. Maybe you live in Mayberry, but I don't. Safety laws are enforced to save lives. So now in Va. you have to take a course to drive a boat. Guess your thought would be ,don't worry about that,if you get a citation the game warden(VGDIF) won't show to court? Stinkin thinkin in my book. Guess you could just tell the judge you didn't think anyone would show up.haha

 

Yep, trying to prove the point that vehicles have items installed from the factory for the safety of the driver and other drivers around them. And you're right, he had nothing better to do because that is his job, which he is required to do. The OP wasn't pulled over by an off-duty police officer that used his own personal time to enforce the law...
I don't know why people always say on forums that the cops wont show up to court. Showing up to court is just as important as going in to work for a normal shift. It would be like you just not showing up for work.

 

Exactly, because it's part of your job just like showing up for work is part of mine.

 

Original Poster,

How old are you?

 

Some peoples kids!!!

 

tinnman what always amazes me is the story of the guy smuggling dope down highway so and so and he gets pulled over for having a license plate light out or a bad headlamp or tail light. Then there was the story a while back where this pickup truck was doing 80 is a 65 or so and they got pulled over and had a bed full of illegal shine. Or the ding dong with a trunkful or crank who runs a redlight. Are these people really that stupid?

 

Its like the story of the morons that decided they needed to transport their dope so the picked a night to do it and loaded their car. They figured since it was night they should drive with no lights on so they could be camouflaged in the darkness. A police officer noticed a car driving down the road at 2am with no lights on and of course pulled them over.

 

I just wish that people would be a bit more responsible and accountible for the things that they do or the lack thereof! I just don't understand why it's always someone elses fault.

Instead of pointing the finger at someone else, perhaps they should first point it at themselves! If they had, you wouldn't have 2 pages and 34 posts to the thread you started telling you that you screwed up!

 

Really? That is what you think?



Talking about attitude reminds me of the best ticket I never received. I think I mentioned it once a real long time ago here. I had just returned home from a deployment and hadn't seen my wife in a while. She told me that the faster we got home, the sooner I got laid! We were 2 hours from the house so I was flying up I-35 in Texas. I topped a hill and on the side of the road was a state trooper. The second I saw his lights, I slowed down and pulled over. He never even got up to any speed. He sat behind me for a couple of minutes (I am assuming of course he ran my plates) then came up to me and asked me if I knew why he pulled me over. I was direct and said that I am assuming he pulled me over because I was speeding pretty bad. Then he asked if I know how fast I was going. I told him the truth: I have no idea because my speedometer only goes to 85, and the needle was bouncing. He laughed a bit (I was in uniform, so I am sure he knew I was military) and then he asked if I could give him a good enough reason to not haul my ass to jail for doing 105 in a 55. I proceeded to tell him the situation, including the details of what my wife had said. He laughed a real good one there, told me to slow the hell down, because I don't want to get laid in jail! LMFAO. He was a really good sport.

 

So lots of discussion about my attitude. I can promise you guys, I don't think anyone could of been any calmer and more polite than I was during the whole encounter.

Here is what I told the officer. Pretty much I moved back to wisconsin a year ago with this set up, and I checked the laws for side mirrors. I found the statute that says if you can see behind you for 200 feet, you don't need side mirrors. Then I also had a cop pull me over last year for the tires, he measured them and said I was fine. And I never knew about the tail light. Outside of the heater joke, that's it.

That's really all I said to the officer, never raising my voice, I don't really consider that arguing just stating my case.

But anyway, I added a side mirror, fixed the tail light, and I took a picture of proper measurement for the tires (they are not sticking out 2 inches from the places that are supposed to be measures). I'm hoping that I can convince the judge that as soon as I found out the set up was illegal and not legal according to the statues I read, I fixed it. Just as I fixed the tail light as soon as I found out about.

 

I would have a copy of the statue from the State office when I went to see the judge and just ask if for clarification on it. Just say "I didn't have the side mirrors because how I interpretted this, I believed that it wasn't required." Every state is different as is every judge. He may agree with you. You can see better out of a rearview mirror than side mirrors. Just be respectful and say you've already made the changes that the officer cited you for.

 

back in my jeeping days, the doors were off my yj from the first day it hit 60 until October, and i never got a ticket for no side mirrors and was pulled over a few times for speeding. Saying that, it was a jeep and "common" to not have doors, if i was in my taco i would look like some hillrod driving it with no doors on the street and would probably get pulled over around here fairly quickly since its not very common.

 

Good idea. Hopefully this will go quick and easy and the judge will be lenient.

 

While it is obviously not 100% foolproof, I check my external lights every morning when I leave for work, and every evening when I leave to go home. I really think everyone should do that, but I know most people don't.