ticket due to smoke from tailpipe

[ILOVEMYGSM3]

What is the name of your state? CA
this morning, i went out to my car(which had been parked for 14 hours, and had moisture buildup from sprinklers in tailpipe), and started it up. a partolman was giving another driver a ticket, and when i started my car, he crossed the street and told me to stay put. hell i hadnt even moved, seat belt was on and everything even used the damn blinker. i asked why, and he said excessive smoke...anyways he starts writing the ticket, and i attempted to explain that the car only does this in the AM, after my car has been sitting in my complex or on the street, and since we cannot exactly park AWAY from the sprinkler system, every car in our lot has this issue every morning. he gave me the ticket, told me "its a fix it ticket", or appear in court...when i pulled my car in our gate, i saw about 3 cars doing the same thing mine was....smoking after sitting all night, and using heaters...is this ticket for real? my smog is only 2 months old, and it was doing this when it was smogged, b/c it sat over night before they could get to it, and i was there when they did it, even saw the smoke...how do i attempt to fight this crap?

 

[DRTDEVL]

Smoke and steam are different... You are describing steam. No officer in his right mind would give a ticket for steam.

More info is needed... What kind of car? What year? How many miles?

Some vehicles are known for valve guides going bad, causing OIL smoke at startup... If this is the case, you would have to bring in proof of the repair.

 

[CdwJava]

What was the specific section you were cited for?

- Carl

 

[ILOVEMYGSM3]

i didnt get a "section"

however, the next day we had major drama go down in our comlex, and afterwards, a more senior officer took a look at my car, and he reversed the ticket, saying he didnt see a "damned puff of anything", and reversed my ticket...funny thing was the guy who wrote it was there also, and while the other officer was looking at my car he was laughin and told my fiance i was upset cos he had to cite me...but thanks for the info, and he said i should only have gotten the ticket if i was driving, and emitting black smoke would would indicate oil issues, which would be a real problem, not steam from my car sitting over night...again, thanks