A police officer drove by me while I was pulling out of a parking lot, and I hadn't put my belt on yet. I saw him looking at me so I turned and went the other way before he had a chance to pull me over. I put my belt on and drove approx 4-5 city blocks before I passed the same police officer again and he pulled me over. He came from a totaly different direction, and was not behind me.

So he pulls me over and says "I saw you back on such and such street, and you had no belt on". I asked him if it was legal for him to ticket me when he had completely lost sight of me, and I was wearing my belt when I was pulled over. He said that because I had an ATV in the back of my truck that he knew it was me for sure, and that it was legal for him to ticket me.

Does this sound right? He was a complete A-hole about the situation, and I felt he was taking advantage of his position.

On another note, this particular officer was a complete disgrace to the uniform, he was at least 350-400lbs minimum and almost ripped the steering wheel off of the cruiser trying to get out of the car. There should be manditory fitness requirements for active members, afterall WE are paying them to protect us from harm...

 

I don't necessarily think seat belt's should be enforced with fines - it should be a personal choice as i believe the only person's safety involved is your own.

That being said, i dunno the rules or likely ness, but i think it's also bush that he can say you weren't wearing a seatbelt. You could just take a picture of yourself in some dark clothing (close to that of your seatbelt) from outside the vehicle a lil ways away and explain why the officer could have mistaken you for not wearing one.

Should be your word against his. Then again he wouldn't pull you over if you were wearing it...but maybe he was mistaken?

That being said, i have no actual experience with any of this - just thought i'd chime in since i have to be up in 3.5h and am a lil too stressed to sleep.

 

You provided him with a reason to pull you over, ticket deserved. Seatbelts are mandatory in all provinces and states and have been for years, you know this for fact. If say you go and hold up a store, because the officer never saw you, does that make it right? Once you have been seen it is no longer necessarily your word against his, chances are that should you choose to fight, you will lose. A ticket can be written after the offense has taken place, perhaps he made a note of your license plate, he could have tracked you down at home next. Instead as your vehicle was highly noticeable to him, he made a educated guess as to your direction of travel and pulled you over to give the ticket. Ticket deserved and lesson learned I would think.


As to his state of ticket writing, perhaps he just came from a roll over mva where a occupant was ejected from the vehicle for not wearing a seatbelt? He is human just like you are. Everyone can have a bad day.

As to his physical abilities, I agree that physical fitness should indeed be a prime requirement of a police officer and a certain level of fitness be maintained. I know for fact that for some people as they get older in life, it is not a easy task. When I ran my PARE exam (Physical Abillities Requirement Evaluation), I was well inside the cut off time for a recruit and was well inside the time for a active member to pass the course. A active RCMP member must take the PARE exam every two years now, do they have to do it in the same time frame as a new recruit does, no, do they have to complete it, yes. Therein lay the problem, the recruit must do it in 4:00 or less to pass, the active member can walk the course taking as much time as is reasonable and never fail. 4:00 if you are not in shape, this is almost impossible, it is not a easy test to pass. Could your police officer have passed it, who knows, but to ridicule him for being the way he is when he will lay his life on the line for yours, you need to cut him some slack. While he may be a rather large person, I would think that his background that he has right now is far going to outweight the noob that is in shape and fresh on the job. After all, he just caught you didn't he?

To the above suggestions, not a good idea to commit a act of fraud to cover up the truths. What if the officer had a dashboard camera the whole time? Not trying to come down hard on you guys at all, just a different perspective than you may have considered.

 

You can fight any ticket, just realize that you might be better off pleading guilty and telling the judge that it slipped your mind because something huge (wife cheating, mother dying, etc) was all you could think about. Then wrap it all up with a huge sorry, it'll always be the first thing you think about when entering a vehicle, and you have a very high chance of the judge dropping or reducing the charge.

 

I got a ticket years ago for rolling ahead maybe 20 feet in a parking lot before I put my seatbelt on... I put the car in gear and immediately reached for my belt, the cop came out of the Tim Hortons (irony intended) and started yelling at me.

The cop said "Do you think I'm stupid or something, I saw you drive in without a seatbelt on, and then you try to leave without one too?" That was a total lie, I was in the parking lot before he was, and watched him pull in.

Then he grabbed my wallet from me when he asked for my license, and proceeded to interrogate me about the fact that I had about a grand in cash, apparently that's a crime now too.

Long story short, I went to court, while waiting the cop came over and got in my face about disputing the ticket, and told me there was no way I would win and that I should just leave. So, I pled guilty with a reason, and explained the whole situation. The judge was disgusted with the cop, I can still remember what the judge said, "What you did technically is illegal so I can't overturn this ticket as I would like to, but I will reduce it to the minimum I can." I think I paid 20 bucks. Cop was furious.

I'm an LEO, I have great respect for about 90% of police officers, but the 10% or so that are fat, stupid, badge heavy ****** I have absolutely no use for. Being a cop is a job that you have to be good at, and like doing. There shouldn't be any room for incompetent jackasses that just give the good guys a bad reputation.

 

I got an idea dont give them a reason..... but in BC i know for a fact they dont need a reason to pull you over its the only province that they can do that in. but which one your in no idea...

from my personal experice with cops dont ask them questions bad idea. not even asking how there day was. thats my 2 cents.

 

Kind of odd, I've been pulled over probably around 10 times my entire life. This was when I used to have my Camaro, because of course they pull over young kids in sports cars all the time. A few times I probably deserved being pulled over, but half of those times you could tell it was just BS and they wanted to stop me. But, I'd say out of all those times I was pulled over, 3 or 4 of the times I wasn't wearing a seatbelt. And each time, the officer came to my car, asked for my license and didn't say anything about my seatbelt and went back to their car. Then they'd come back and say whatever and send me on my way. I didn't get a ticket any of those times. And I don't know why. Everyone I talk to that I know says cops are such dicks. But, in all those times I barely got so much as a warning, and I know I was doing stuff wrong a few of those times.

 

I agree to a point... this would definately bring our gene pool standards back up if it was by "choice" to wear a seat belt. Only thing that would worry me are the extra costs involved with our public health system to keep all the vegitables alive that decided they were too cool to wear a seat belt...

 

Rob: You need to take your badge off once in a while and view some of these situations as a regular citizen (I mean this with respect). The police officer told me up front he did not get my plate #, and he was just going by the description of my truck. Had this been a serious crime or roberry, I don't think an "educated guess" would hold up whatsoever. I live in Prince George, there are many, and I mean many people with snowmobiles, ATV, dirtbikes in the back of their pick-ups this time of year. What if the officer made the wrong "educated guess", and charged someone else with a crime or violation? Had he pulled me over in the parking lot where he first saw me, I'd have no problem with the ticket.

Everyone on this planet has bad days, if he can't deal with MVA's, rollovers, etc, then he shouldn't be on the job. What if his "bad day" caused him to over react with his firearm in a high tension situation?

As for the fitness part, I think it is complete BS. If that particular officer was required to chase a criminal for any reason, defend a citizen from harm, or provide rescue assistance, it probably wouldn't be pretty. Now if that was your wife, or kids in danger, and he was the first responding officer, wouldn't you want a physicaly fit human being offering assistance? After all that is what WE the tax paying citizens expect to get. Like I said, he barely made it out of his car when he tried flagging me down.

Oh, and my wife works for the RCMP as well, so I do have a lot of respect for Peace officers, just not this individual one.

Kris

 

When I had my red Z28 I got pulled over a lot, and many times for nothing, but that's just how it is. I don't think I have ever received a ticket I didn't fully deserve though. Thus I am always polite to the officer, to the point of thanking them when I leave. It's they're job, and it pretty much sucks most of the time.