California
My problem is....I was stopped by lapd at LAX for stopping on a red curb (to let my husband out of car while picking up my elderly g-mom arriving from the UK.)
The police officer pulled me over. I asked him what I was being stopped for, he said red curb. OK, guilty I thought. He asked for Driver's Licence. I handed him my NY Licence (no points or anything...in good standing). He asked how long I have been living here. I answered 1 year. He informed me that I was required to get a CA Licence w/in 10 days and asked why hadn't I done that. I looked perplexed and answered honestly " I guess I'm lazy?" (I still have my NY cell phone # for heaven's sake!). He asked if owned the car and asked for registration and insurance. Fine, it was all properly registered and insured in CA.
After some time, he returned and asked for my keys. I handed them to him at which time he informed my that my car was being impounded.
"Are you joking?!", I asked.
I signed the ticket, a misdemeanor for driving w/out a drivers licence (12500a) and a warning for stopping on red curb.
So the long and short of it, after a lot of arguing between me and the officer and my husband and the officer and his sergeant, who showed up, my husband (who has his CA Driver's licence) talked the sergeant into letting us take the car. The sergeant only agreed to because of my 85yo g-mom sitting there in her wheel chair waiting.
So we left, not realizing the officer forgot to give us my keys back. He mailed them after we made a phone call to his sergeant. Stupidly, and maybe on purpose, he put my microchipped key and remote in a standard #10 envelope. Of course, all I received was the envelope with a big hole in it and no keys. ($110 for key and $185 for remote to replace).
I called the sergeant to complain, had a heated discussion, with him saying that he should have towed the car and that I could have gone to jail, but nothing about my keys. My husband then informed him that we would be filing a complaint.
My problem is this...would they reallly have been within their rights to tow my car when I didn't have a previous conviction for driving w/out a licence/suspension/revocation, or anything else for that matter and, my husband was there and had a CA licence? Would it have been a usual thing to impound? The law is unclear, in my opinion, after studying 14602.6 (they can, it seems) and 14607.6 (they can't unless I have a previous conviction for licence problems). I am startled that I will have a misdemeanor, but I guess I am guilty of that! But the whole towing/impounding thing seems unreasonable!
I am really upset at the whole treatment I/we received and I want to complain. Was it fair/legal to impound in the first place? Court appearance is mandatory for the misdemeanor...Can I complain to the Judge that towing is unreasonable and they took and lost my keys?
Am I the only one who feels like it is no big deal to not have a CA licence when I have a perfectly valid NY licence? Is this a law intended for people who never get a proper licence in the first place?
Thanks for any help or insight!What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?
My problem is....I was stopped by lapd at LAX for stopping on a red curb (to let my husband out of car while picking up my elderly g-mom arriving from the UK.)
The police officer pulled me over. I asked him what I was being stopped for, he said red curb. OK, guilty I thought. He asked for Driver's Licence. I handed him my NY Licence (no points or anything...in good standing). He asked how long I have been living here. I answered 1 year. He informed me that I was required to get a CA Licence w/in 10 days and asked why hadn't I done that. I looked perplexed and answered honestly " I guess I'm lazy?" (I still have my NY cell phone # for heaven's sake!). He asked if owned the car and asked for registration and insurance. Fine, it was all properly registered and insured in CA.
After some time, he returned and asked for my keys. I handed them to him at which time he informed my that my car was being impounded.
"Are you joking?!", I asked.
I signed the ticket, a misdemeanor for driving w/out a drivers licence (12500a) and a warning for stopping on red curb.
So the long and short of it, after a lot of arguing between me and the officer and my husband and the officer and his sergeant, who showed up, my husband (who has his CA Driver's licence) talked the sergeant into letting us take the car. The sergeant only agreed to because of my 85yo g-mom sitting there in her wheel chair waiting.
So we left, not realizing the officer forgot to give us my keys back. He mailed them after we made a phone call to his sergeant. Stupidly, and maybe on purpose, he put my microchipped key and remote in a standard #10 envelope. Of course, all I received was the envelope with a big hole in it and no keys. ($110 for key and $185 for remote to replace).
I called the sergeant to complain, had a heated discussion, with him saying that he should have towed the car and that I could have gone to jail, but nothing about my keys. My husband then informed him that we would be filing a complaint.
My problem is this...would they reallly have been within their rights to tow my car when I didn't have a previous conviction for driving w/out a licence/suspension/revocation, or anything else for that matter and, my husband was there and had a CA licence? Would it have been a usual thing to impound? The law is unclear, in my opinion, after studying 14602.6 (they can, it seems) and 14607.6 (they can't unless I have a previous conviction for licence problems). I am startled that I will have a misdemeanor, but I guess I am guilty of that! But the whole towing/impounding thing seems unreasonable!
I am really upset at the whole treatment I/we received and I want to complain. Was it fair/legal to impound in the first place? Court appearance is mandatory for the misdemeanor...Can I complain to the Judge that towing is unreasonable and they took and lost my keys?
Am I the only one who feels like it is no big deal to not have a CA licence when I have a perfectly valid NY licence? Is this a law intended for people who never get a proper licence in the first place?
Thanks for any help or insight!What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?