Lauren V The State of Arizona/Salt River Indian Reservation
OK, so here in Arizona we have this thing called 'Photo Radar' which I have explained on my things that suck page. It is basically a white van parked on the side of a road with a radar gun and camera and if its unmanned radar thinks a driver is speeding, it takes a picture of you and your license plate and then sends you a ticket in mail, which they expect you to pay.
Now I'm going to forego the whole discussion on why this is a BAD idea cause unfortunately for me, the state of Arizona doesn't care why I think so. So to get around this 'inconvenience' I've armed myself with various tools. The first tool being a radar detector (which are legal here) but I don't think it has saved me once, so on to my next tool....the license plate cover. What this is, is a clear plastic cover that goes over your plate, that when seen from the behind, looks like this:
So far it's just a normal license plate (the only thing I did was change some of the numbers around cause I didn't feel like posting my license plate number on the internet, but I assure you, I didn't alter the picture besides that).
So what's the point of this clear cover you ask? Well, now look at from the side view (and again, only the numbers were altered).
And there ya go, a nice hologram effect that makes it so that you (or more importantly, a camera) can't make out your plate. Here are two more views, taken without a flash:
"So" you ask, "are the covers legal?" Well, I'll get to that in a second. OK, so now I've been driving around with the cover on my plate (like a large number of other people here) for a while, and wouldn't ya know it, NO TICKETS! And I know I've been 'caught' by the camera because I've seen the flash go off, but obviously the picture was useless, which is the point. So one day I'm driving back to work and I'm at red light. I notice that a cop on a motorcycle is behind me, but I'm not worried because I haven't been speeding. So the light turns green, I go, and about 5 seconds after that the cops lights go on and puzzled, I pull over. Now here's another piece of Arizona info: We have lots of 'Indian Reservations' here and there are quite a few that a person might drive on without even knowing it. This particular street belongs to 'Scottsdale' if you're traveling south but the 'Salt River Indian Reservation' if you are going north....which I was. Now like all reservations here, the Salt River Indians have their own laws, which are independent of the rest of the state.... Yes, that means that every time you go onto their land (knowingly or unknowingly) you are subject to their laws, which are enforced by their police and upheld by their courts. Now I won't go into anymore detail on that because that's a whole other issue.
So a Salt River cop has now pulled me over and I'm wondering what the hell I did until he comes over to my window and informs me that I'm in violation of the law for having a cover on my license plate. Oh, and also, my windows were tinted too dark. So after a bit of a 'debate' he writes me a ticket for having a cover on my plate and my windows tinted too dark. And I'm pissed...because never mind the plate, I knew for a fact that my windows were legal but arguing with him would be pointless.
Now first up I went to the place that tinted my windows and informed them of what happened. They looked puzzled and told me that they would re-tint my windows, but it would be pointless because the current tint was LEGAL. And they were so sure that they were that they gave me a signed statement saying that they HAD re-tinted my windows with a now 'legal' tint. So then on to my next issue, the plate cover. I was cited for being in violation of ' Arizona Revised Statute §28-2354' subsection B Number 3
B. A person shall display all license plates as required by subsection A until their lawful use expires or is canceled or revoked. A person shall maintain each license plate so it is clearly legible. A person shall securely fasten each license plate to the vehicle as follows:
1. To prevent the plate from swinging.
2. At a height of at least twelve inches from the ground to the bottom of the plate.
3. In a position to be clearly visible.
and that's it.....that's all the law says. Now of those three the only ambiguous item is the 3rd one, in other words, either your plate is attached or not (which mine was) either it's 12 inches from the ground or not (which mine was), but 'clearly visible'...? Well this was obviously the item I was cited for but as far as I was concerned, this was open to interpretation, and so I decided to fight it.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I rarely shy away from a debate, especially one that may involve an audience....so I set a court date (which for some reason was at the Mesa Justice of the Peace courts rather than the Salt River courts...I don't know why) and prepared what I thought was a pretty good defense.
So the court date comes and I head to Mesa. Initially the cop wasn't there and I
got to thinking that the whole thing was going to be dismissed and this actually annoyed me
considering how much time I'd put into my defense, but of course he showed up and the 'hearing'
began.
The first thing the cop says is,
"Your Honor, if she has taken care of the violations, I'm willing to drop the case completely."
Now anyone else would have jumped at this....anyone except me. For one thing, I never took the license plate cover
off my car...and even though my mother had told me to take her car rather than mine, I of course was doing this all
for the principle of it so my car, violations and all, was sitting in the court parking lot.
So anyway, I say to the judge,
"Your Honor, the window tint has been taking care of, but the plate has not because I feel I haven't violated
any law and am here to present my defense."
I don't think the judge or the cop had expected that response so they both sort of just sat there for a second
until the judge says to me,
"OK, well then, let's go take a look at your windows".
So off we go to the parking lot (now remember, I never changed a thing with my tint...) and when we get out
there the judge asks the cop if it now looks to be in compliance with the law and the cop says,
"Yes your honor, it appears to be fixed."
At this point, I'm standing there biting my tongue because I so badly wanted to tell the cop that he was a dumb
ass and a shmuck because I hadn't changed a thing... but I thought better of it and resisted the urge.
Then the judge takes a look at my license plate and says,
"Yup, that cover is definitely in violation, let's go back to the courtroom."
So back in the courtroom we go and at this point, more people have arrived and are
seated in the audience. And so begins my defense.
The first thing the judge
says is
"I hate those plate covers".
So right there and then I knew I'd lost the case, but I didn't care because like I said, I was there on principle.
So I start by arguing that the statute is vague and I presented pictures both of my license plate and of license plates
of my mother's car (which was an SUV) which because of the design of the car, the plate isn't flush with the bumper
and therefore somewhat hidden when seen from the side. And I show pictures of my plate in which it is 'clearly visible'.
Now there was even more people in the audience so I was enjoying my day in court even more. There came a point,
however, when I could see that there was absolutely nothing that was going to convince the judge that I
was right and so I decided that I would now use this time to vent. So I did. I vented... I talked about how photo
radar was a violation of privacy and how the equipment used was faulty and rigged and how the photo radar was used
by towns to create revenue and not actually slow people down. The court room audience seemed to be enjoying
the show, so I kept going until I actually got tired of talking (I know, I didn't think it was possible either).
The judge says,
"Well, I'm finding that you are in violation and order you to pay the fine."
This was no surprise to me and I had come to court knowing that I would probably end up paying but I had quite a
feeling of satisfaction so I didn't really care.
Then, as we're getting our things together to leave the judge says to me,
"So, I take it you're a law student?"
and I say,
"No your Honor."
so he says,
"Then your friends are law students?"
and again I answer no.
The judge looked a bit perplexed I suppose because I had come in reciting the statutes or something so I said,
"I did what any seemingly intelligent person would have done."
Well, ok, perhaps most intelligent people would have taken the cover off their car and hoped for a dismissal,
but anyway, the judge didn't seem too thrilled with my answer and I didn't care, as far as I was concerned he didn't
even bother to take into account what the actual 'law' said but rather what his opinion on the matter was...
And so my day in court came to an end but not before the judge says to me, "You'd better take that cover off your plate before you leave this parking lot because I'm ordering Officer so-and-so to write you a ticket otherwise." What a prick...but of course I had a screw driver in the back of my car because I had a feeling I was going to need it.
A week passes by and I'm driving from my parents house and *flash* I get nailed by the photo radar. Yes, I knew the stupid thing was there but I'd never had to worry about it before so I didn't think to slow down.... and exactly one week later I got caught again by the same camera (obviously I didn't learn the first time). Well apparently that license plate cover had really worked because about a month later I received 2 tickets in the mail....and so begins my next 'court battle' and this time I won.....to be continued.....