No Proof of Insurance and more garbage...

I live in Washington (state), and late tonight I needed to pick up some things from the store for in the morning so I went out. After that I stopped for gas, then hit the Wendy's drive through. I was approached by a kid who needed a jump, so I gladly gave him one after I pulled out of the drive through. Across the street sat a cop who watched us the entire time. After I gave him a jump I pulled out of the parking lot and headed up main street. She pulled out and followed me. I was obviously nervous, but I wasn't speeding, my license tabs were good, and I had just replaced by lights so that shouldn't have been a problem. She follows me for another half mile and hits her lights. I pull over and here is the first part of the conversation exactly as it happened.

"Why were you driving with your headlights off?"

"They shouldn't have been off, they're always on. That's how the car is built."

"Well I assumed they were off since your trail lights were off."

At this point I didn't continue to argue as she asked for my license, registration, and proof of insurance. After this point she didn't say a single word until she came back with the citation. Now, first of all, as I told her the headlights are always on. If the car is on, they are on. You cannot shut them off. Second, from the time I left the gas station to the time she pulled me over my dashboard light settings never turned off. Not even when I gave the kid a jump. They stayed on so my tail lights were always on. The reason I received the no proof of insurance citation was because my insurance card was apparently expired. Yet after looking at it it was expired for awhile and I was pulled over recently by a fairly friendly cop who told me my tail light was out, but he checked my information and he never mentioned the expired card. I can admit the expired card was my own fault, but I was clearly pulled over for no reason besides her fishing for the few people that drive through main street during that time of night.

So what should I do? This is my first ticket ever and my first run in with a cop besides the aforementioned incident. The ticket is $550 which is just absurd. When she actually brought the citation to me she said very little besides it can be reduced or dismissed if I bring proof of insurance to court, but aside from that she just tossed the ticket at me and kept my expired insurance card. I have no idea what I'm suppose to do it court, what type of hearing to request, or any of that. I don't want to make it worse, but I'm not getting stuck with a $550 fine for a ridiculous thing. Also, my address is no longer the same as what's on my license and the ticket currently. Should I put my new address as the mailing address on the back of the ticket when I send it in?

Despite all that, you left out one critical piece of information - when you were pulled over, did you, in fact, have valid insurance or not? The answer to that question entirely dictates your next step.

What kind of car to you own that has the headlights on all the time? I have never heard of this feature on any vehicles sold in the US. Or are you confusing daytime running light with headlights? Because DRL will work and the tail lights do not illuminate.

Also, my address is no longer the same as what's on my license and the ticket currently. Should I put my new address as the mailing address on the back of the ticket when I send it in?

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Do you want to be notified of your court dates?

racer72 said:

What kind of car to you own that has the headlights on all the time? I have never heard of this feature on any vehicles sold in the US. Or are you confusing daytime running light with headlights? Because DRL will work and the tail lights do not illuminate.


Do you want to be notified of your court dates?

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My car ('00 Pontiac Bonneville) automatically turns on the lights when it's dark.
HOWEVER, our OP already said that his taillights were out (he had been warned prior), so the headlights don't really matter...

racer72 said:

What kind of car to you own that has the headlights on all the time? I have never heard of this feature on any vehicles sold in the US. Or are you confusing daytime running light with headlights? Because DRL will work and the tail lights do not illuminate.

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Most large rental car vendors will rent cars that have headlights always on. I don't know sure if the tail lights come on as well but I suspect they do. This can be programmed into the headlight switch itself.

davew128 said:

Most large rental car vendors will rent cars that have headlights always on. I don't know sure if the tail lights come on as well but I suspect they do. This can be programmed into the headlight switch itself.

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No - the rental fleets aren't made special to have the lights always on. Some cars have daytime running lights and some of them have darkness sensors.

The lights always stay on, and I generally keep my second light settings on since they automatically turn off after a minute or two once the car is turned off. And my tail lights were replaced before this incident. And my insurance card was expired by only a few days. The point is, she pulled me over for no reason and you'd think if I'm driving a $50,000 car I'd have current insurance. She didn't need to give me a ticket. It was 1AM and not to be rude, but she really just did it to be an ass.

But that's not what I really care about at this point. What do I do with this? What's the procedure and what should I do?

Your card was expired by a few days. But your COVERAGE - was it expired? Have you paid your insuance company and did they reinstate coverage back to when it expired?

If you can show a valid insurance card and proof that you had insurance coverage the day of the incident (even retroactive coverage), then you should be able to get out of paying the ticket.

Show up in court and present your insurance coverage details.

I would really prefer that they gave more people tickets for driving without insurance. about 15% of them drive without it around here and just means that my rates are getting higher.

shane111 said:

The point is, she pulled me over for no reason and you'd think if I'm driving a $50,000 car I'd have current insurance. She didn't need to give me a ticket. It was 1AM and not to be rude, but she really just did it to be an ass.

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She said your tail lights were out, no? What part of that do you not understand?

The reason I received the no proof of insurance citation was because my insurance card was apparently expired. Yet after looking at it it was expired for awhile

and then the OP says....


And my insurance card was expired by only a few days.

COLandlord,

Yea, I noticed that the was also pulled over by a second cop earlier and her insurance was expired back then. But it was never answered if the card was expired or the coverage. I'm guessing no coverage.

Zigner said:

No - the rental fleets aren't made special to have the lights always on. Some cars have daytime running lights and some of them have darkness sensors.

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You missed the point which was that most name rental cars always have headlights on unless you turn the switch and manually turn them off, at which point you will get a dashboard indicator about it. It has nothing to do with a darkness sensor.

davew128 said:

You missed the point which was that most name rental cars always have headlights on unless you turn the switch and manually turn them off...

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YOU missed the point. Your statement is wrong. UNLESS you're talking about Daytime Running Lights...which we've already determined doesn't apply in this case, since it was definitely NOT daytime and our OP already said his interior dash lights were illuminated.

patstew said:

She said your tail lights were out, no? What part of that do you not understand?

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They weren't out though. I had them fixed, and right when I got home I looked at them and they were just fine. She pulled me over for nothing. I wasn't speeding or doing anything wrong whatsoever. I also find it ridiculous how her initial reason for pulling me over was because she "assumed" my headlights weren't on. Assuming someone is intoxicated is one thing, but to pull me over for something you can clearly see is bull****.

COlandlord said:

The reason I received the no proof of insurance citation was because my insurance card was apparently expired. Yet after looking at it it was expired for awhile

and then the OP says....


And my insurance card was expired by only a few days.

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I misspoke, sue me. In both cases it hadn't been expired that long, and the second time i figured it would be fine since the other cop never even bothered to mention it. But the fact of the matter is my coverage never expired, just the card. That's it.

Now instead of bickering I'd really just like to know what I should do. I don't want to make it worse and I don't want to go through some lengthy debacle that ends in me having to pay the $550 ticket or more. I want to know what I should do in court, what I need to bring, and how long does it generally take for my court date from the time I send in the ticket?