Avaricious State Agencies after your car??

[427sharpe]

Has anybody read Bedards article in the current Car and Driver?
He talks about a new 'fund raising' style in California (also AZ). The authorities film cars in gatherings like parking lots, known racer hangouts, etc.
Then they pop the owner (driving or not) with impounds of the cars. PB says tickets can run up to $1500 or more to get 'your' car back! They can also tow you for not carrying your license or current registration. They say they don't bust the gatherings anymore because it leads to 'high speed, unsafe exits' so they came up with the filming.
What a scam.

[wtm442]

The impound must be on one or two of the cars that were filmed, and then they determined that their registration had expired or had outstanding warrants and then the "selective impound" and tickets. Of course, if you were filmed doing a 50 MPH burnout in the parking lot, you might expect to get a ticket and/or impound.

I really doubt they could impound "all" of the cars. There is no law against "gathering" since the Revolutionary War.

The police are just trying to cut down on the street racing. Take a look at the UK. They have cameras everywhere to cut down on crime.

Sounds like a tactic the IRS uses. Find a celebrity and do an audit in the springtime, and make sure the story hits all of the newspapers. Puts some fear in some people and they decide to start paying taxes.

[Ron61]

I am not sure about the racing part as we don't have much of a problem around here, but it is the law that you must have your registration, proof of insurance, and drivers license with you in the vehicle at all times.

Ron

[fsstnotch]

Registration, proof of insurance, and DL are givens. Most states can impound your car for not having one of those items. MOST of the time the officer lets you off with a ticket. then you go to court, show you had insurance, registration, and a DL at the time of the ticket and it gets dropped.

This doesn't sound too bad to me. UNLESS, they start impounding cars that were just there and not caught doing anything other than loitering. This is just a tact to stop the 'organized' street racing. you would be surprised at how close to home it really is. They may not be racing in your town, but they may be meeting there and then going outside the town to race. They are just trying to stop the 'organized' racing.

I was talking to a guy the other day who is from cali. He was here to do an install and he was bragging about his street racing lifestyle. He said people are blowing the street racing out of proportion. He said one of his friends did a study to see how many deaths were linked to street racing in a year. he claimed they could only find 5 which I don't believe at all! Especially when I remember the news last spring in oklahoma city. there were 2 incidents, 1 was a pair of mustangs racing. 1 lost control and rolled several times, the other left the scene while his friend died. The 2nd was 2 civics. One lost control and slammed into a mother and 2 kids head on in their explorer. Everyone in the civic Died (4 kids 16-18 none wearing seatbelts) and the family in the explorer was in critical condition.

Me, organized street racing is totally wrong! I've been to them when I was in high school. Kids standing so close that if a car lost control on the launch.. they die! A quick light to light at 1am when there is no traffic and speeds might get to 60mph.. i don't have much of a problem with that. 100's of people gathering around a lane just wide enough for 2 cars is just retarded!

[427sharpe]

A few quotes from the article:
"The bill authorized the state to impound the vehicle of any owner-no finding of guilt was necessary-for 30 days and impose towing, storage and administrative fees in addition to a fine of up to $1000"
For having your car filmed at a meeting..they don't have to prove you participated. Hope you don't like late night shopping!
An enhancement of the 2002 bill was passed in 2005, making spectators at a meeting subject to a $500 fine ,1st offense, and $750 ,second.
Car confiscation for carrying spray paint with "intent to deface".
It's an interesting article...worth the 2 minutes to read. Pg. 25 of the June 2008 issue.
Somebody in the PD must have urinated in Bedards' Wheaties....the last 2 columns have been slams on the cops.....

[wtm442]

Originally Posted by 427sharpe

The bill authorized the state to impound the vehicle of any owner-no finding of guilt was necessary ......

I would think the ALCU would be all over this bill like flies on a pile of $hit.

[Ron61]

Just what is the number of this bill? I would like to go to our site and read it myself. I don't always believe everything they put in the magazines and we do have a hamburger stand here that people have met at for the past 50 years and they DO NOT film cars there. Now the stand is going out of business in another year, but that is more because of the economy than anything else. The last of our old doughnut shops closed last week after 40 years of being open.

Ron

[wtm442]

Originally Posted by Ron61

The last of our old doughnut shops closed last week after 40 years of being open.

Ron

Watch out Ron when you are driving the '69 Cobra around town. With the death of that donut shop, the police will have a lot more time to hand out tickets.

OK. Its time for any policeman on this site to flame me!

[Cobrabill]

Ron,CHP = AAA with a gun.