Click-it-or-ticket NC

[rainyseason73]

Virginia

My wife and I were visiting Greensboro from VA a couple of weeks ago and to make a long story short, got caught in what I felt was a very sleazy line 'em up and knock em down seatbelt sting. We foolishly had neglected to put on our seatbelts because we were going less than a mile away from the restaurant we were leaving to find a parking spot to park the car to get out and walk around. Suddenly an officer walked in front of our car (it was a low speed pedestrian area) and waved us over into a parking lot hidden by trees, where at least fifteen cops were line up to deal with all the traffic they were bringing in. We ended up with two $75 seatbelt tickets and in the twenty or thirty minutes we were waitng there, saw at least a dozen others meet the same fate. Forgive me if this is turning into a bit of a rant, but that seemed more than a little excessive and unfair to me, in TN this offense carries a $10 fine. I realize that there's probably no way out of this and I'm grasping at straws here, but the cop never asked us to sign the acknowledgment on the tickets. Is there any way that this could be possible grounds for dismissal?

 

[Curt581]

My wife and I were visiting Greensboro from VA a couple of weeks ago and to make a long story short, got caught in what I felt was a very sleazy line 'em up and knock em down seatbelt sting.

Of course you feel it was sleazy. Everything the cops do is sleazy.

You know what's really sleazy? When the cops have to pull your corpse out of the hole it made in the windshield...

BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT !

Whew... okay... I feel better now.

We foolishly had neglected to put on our seatbelts because we were going less than a mile away from the restaurant we were leaving to find a parking spot to park the car to get out and walk around. Suddenly an officer walked in front of our car (it was a low speed pedestrian area) and waved us over into a parking lot hidden by trees, where at least fifteen cops were line up to deal with all the traffic they were bringing in. We ended up with two $75 seatbelt tickets and in the twenty or thirty minutes we were waitng there, saw at least a dozen others meet the same fate. Forgive me if this is turning into a bit of a rant, but that seemed more than a little excessive and unfair to me, in TN this offense carries a $10 fine.

Then you should confine your driving without a seatbelt to Tennessee, where it's cheaper.

Since you apologized for your rant... I'll apologize for mine.

I've had to handle a few bodies that would have been alive if they'd have been wearing seatbelts. One was a kid. You'll have to forgive me if I have no sympathy whatsoever for anyone cited for not wearing one.

I realize that there's probably no way out of this and I'm grasping at straws here, but the cop never asked us to sign the acknowledgment on the tickets. Is there any way that this could be possible grounds for dismissal?

Nope.

 

[rainyseason73]

click-it-or-ticket NC

Thanks for your charming blend of righteous indignation, gruesome imagery and cute smileys, Curt. I feel much better now knowing that big brother is watching over my shoulder, ready to slap me with unfair fines I can't afford every time I forget to take a minor precautionary measure that affects noone but myself, because after all it's for MY OWN GOOD. I wasn't arguing that seatbelts are bad, in fact I wear them all the time (well, almost all the time,) but we obviously differ in opinion on whether forgetting or choosing not to wear one should make you a criminal. Now pardon me while I strap on my protective headgear to go out to the curb and check my mail, then put on my steel toe boots and safety goggles and mow the yard.

 

[zippysgoddess]

Wrong!!! It most certainly does affect many more people than just you, why do you think we all have to pay the insurance premiums we do? Because dweebs like you think they can do whatever they want and someone else should have to pay for their mistakes.

If you got in a wreck while not wearing your seatbelt, and someone said oh, too bad, it was your fault and didn't want to cover your medical expenses, you would be in here whining about that.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

a minor precautionary measure that affects noone but myself

My response:

I've always liked that Hillbilly reasoning! You're not the first to use that argument.

First of all, the phrase is "no one". There is no such word as "noone". Learn English, okay?

Second, what about the EMT personnel who have to use a snow shovel to scrape your sorry-ass, trailer trash, body off of the roadway surface after having been made into String Cheese when you got tossed through your windshield? You don't think THAT affects people?

Also, if $150.00 is going to teach you a lesson, then I'm all in favor. The amount is there to "make it hurt, and to make you think." Obviously, your Hillbilly State's $10.00 fine isn't enough to teach you anything.

IAAL

 

[Curt581]

Thanks for your charming blend of righteous indignation, gruesome imagery and cute smileys, Curt.

You're welcome.

I feel much better now knowing that big brother is watching over my shoulder, ready to slap me with unfair fines

I hate to break it to you, but the cops don't set fine amounts. The Legislature does. Don't like it? Take it up with them.

I can't afford every time I forget to take a minor precautionary measure that affects noone but myself, because after all it's for MY OWN GOOD.

If you can't afford a ticket, how are you going to afford to pay the medical bills if you get hurt in an accident?

Oh, yeah... You won't. And the loss the hospital takes from treating you will be passed on to everyone else in the form of ever higher health insurance premiums. So I guess it does affect others, doesn't it?

I wasn't arguing that seatbelts are bad, in fact I wear them all the time (well, almost all the time,) but we obviously differ in opinion on whether forgetting or choosing not to wear one should make you a criminal.

Getting a seatbelt ticket hardly makes you a criminal.

Got any more ridiculous statements?

Now pardon me while I strap on my protective headgear to go out to the curb and check my mail, then put on my steel toe boots and safety goggles and mow the yard.

As mature as you sound, you probably need them. After all, safety rules are usually aimed at the lowest common denominator.

 

[zippysgoddess]

IAAL and Curt, I applaud you both!

 

[skylinedo]

You know, most fatal accidents happen within a mile from home. Why? Because people have a false sense of security that nothing will happen on a route they frequent.

 

[MATHJAK107]

You know, most fatal accidents happen within a mile from home. Why? Because people have a false sense of security that nothing will happen on a route they frequent.
................ wow if this is true i better move!

 

[You Are Guilty]

You know, most fatal accidents happen within a mile from home. Why? Because people have a false sense of security that nothing will happen on a route they frequent.

Actually, it's because the majority of driving that people do is contained within one mile of their home. It has nothing to do with their mindset.