The inconsistency is called officer discretion. I doubt you pissed him off...some police officers have certain pet peeves whether its the vehicle they're after.. or the person they've stopped. Chances are the positive attitude may have been what saved you from the ticket for the moving violation. You can get pulled over for the same violation by 10 different officers and get 10 different outcomes.

Check the motor vehicle laws for the state you live in.. most bookstores can get you a statute book with all the laws in them, or contact a local police academy, they can usually provide you with a good reference that they use to train their officers, so you're playing with the same rules that they enforce.

 

I think the cop didn't know what he was talkin about. The standard is pretty much mudflaps are only required if over half of the back of the wheel is exposed-so anything over the axel. If your truck isn't lifted, I'd fight it. If you take off your light covers, then you will have the reflective strips that are built into your stock lights. Adding a reflective strip to your truck is just gonna make it look corny. There's no good way to go about it. As far as your license plate goes, it seems that if you would just keep your truck clean, you could have avoided that one....

 

Most states do not consider that adequate. The reflective area has to be an integral part of the light or cover as manufactured.

 

I agree totally with FLEMTP on this one. It's officer discretion. You will never get the same action twice from a cop (of course he will abide by the laws of course).
I remember once I got pulled over for "pulling out too fast" from a stop sign. Apparently the cop thought it was dangerous driving. He couldn't ticket me for anything, but he was a douche about it.

 

They're just doing there jobs, give them a break!


On another note, when did we get all the cool emotion things??lol

 

Don't the boxes for those blackout covers say "For off-road use only." There is a reason for that.

 

In Oregon the only lift law is center of headlight can not be higher than 56"...

Mudflaps are a state by state thing. Rear reflectors are a must everywhere.
I think you got off with a lot less than what you could have, but I also believe that other than the illegal turn, nothing warranted more than a "Hey you!" on the PA. Really, In all honesty your cover is pretty bad, and even though your tags are color coded by year, you can not clearly see when the expire so... shrug. $124 buck will make you pull the plate cover I bet

Washington State Lift Laws

Bumpers: A special motor vehicle shall be equipped with a bumper on both the front and rear of the vehicle with the exception of motor vehicles where the original or predominant body configuration, provided by a recognized manufacturer, did not include such bumper or bumpers in the design of the vehicle. For the relevant model year, bumpers must accommodate recognized manufacturer impact absorption systems per applicable Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Bumper Standards or equivalent standards.

Bumpers are optional equipment on vehicles defined as street rods and kit vehicles by the Washington state patrol vehicle inspectors.

Bumpers, unless specifically exempted above, shall be at least 4.5 inches in vertical height, centered on the vehicle's centerline, and extend no less than the width of the respective wheel track distances. Bumpers shall be attached to the vehicle in a manner equivalent to the original manufacturer's installation. Bumpers shall be horizontal load bearing and attach to the vehicle frame to effectively transfer energy when impacted.

The maximum bumper heights will be determined by weight category of gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) measured from a level surface to the highest point on the bottom of the bumper. For vehicles exempted from the bumper requirement for the reasons stated above, a maximum frame elevation measurement shall be made to the bottom of the frame rail. Maximum heights are as follows:
4,500 lbs. and under GVWR
24 Inches
26 Inches
Adding an additional bumper will not meet the above requirements.


Washington State Fender Laws:

All wheels of a special motor vehicle shall be equipped with fenders designed to cover the entire tire tread width that comes in contact with the road surface. Coverage of the tire tread circumference shall be from at least 15° in front and to at least 75° to the rear of the vertical centerline at each wheel measured from the center of the wheel rotation. At no time shall the tire come in contact with the body, fender, chassis, or suspension of the vehicle. Street rods and kit vehicles which are more than forty years old and are owned and operated primarily as a collector's item need not be equipped with fenders when the vehicle is used and driven during fair weather on well-maintained, hard-surfaced roads.

In WA state, the flaps have to hang down to the middle of the tire at minimum. Also, need flares if they stick out the fenders.

EXCEPTION: WA state has a "fair weather fender" law. If its not raining, you dont need any fenders, flairs, or flaps. The hot-rodders got that law passed so they could drive their rat-rods and t-buckets that dont have any fenders.



And okvortec, once you are sworn in and rolling solo, let me know how writing tickets to people that give you attitude goes. You will only get through about 4 traffic stops a day if thats how you play it.

 

I'm only a year away, I've got a job once the hiring freeze is ended.

 

Oh geez... don't get me started on traffic cops. I actually have personal friends in this line of business, lol.
The tail lights are probable cause to get you pulled over. The mudflap remark is BS.

 

Ok, so I looked up the laws and such, and maybe he did let me off a bit easy.

Anybody have a link to Montana laws regarding these issues? I'm moving there in August. =D