Citation for stopping to "take pictures"

[Richard M. Coda]

You should report this to Discarted
http://discarted.wordpress.com/

[Eric Woodbury]

True enough. You can't stop on an interstate except for emergency. I learned this the hard way in Sacramento in the 70s, but it was just a warning. I had walked onto the interstate in that case. And they want to be paid now because they are afraid you'll leave their jurisdiction without getting their money. You could charge it. Or you can say you don't have the cash or credit cards, but they might threaten to take you to jail. I doubt they would, but they could.

If it comes up again, better to play it with, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know. What should I do?" Better yet, stick to the 'blue highways'.

[eddie]

This is no different in Illinois. Even if you are an Illinois resident, when you receive a moving violation citation, you must either give the police officer your license, a bond card, or a cash bond. I know from experience, if you can't do this, you are taken to the local police station to wait until someone comes with your license or money to bail you out. This is "per offense" so if you've done multiple things wrong, your license only covers the first offense and you need a bond card or some cash. The ticket is your license until your court date, when they give you back your license. The ticket is not good for bond, so getting a second ticket while driving on one means you better have that bond card or some money.

I know this because I once spent a few hours in the Palos Heights, IL police station waiting for my wife to get home so I could get her on the phone to come bail me out. I had forgotten my wallet, so I had neither license or money on hand. At that time (late 1970's), it had to be cash, not plastic, so my wife, who did not have enough cash, had to wake her mother in the middle of the night to borrow money to bail me out. My mother-in-law (God rest her soul) provided the money, but she did remind me of this from time to time when I was getting too cocky.


--
Rick

interesting read. note to self...bring $$ and CC when traveling through Il. or be vewwy vewwy carewfuuul

[Ivan J. Eberle]

This is about revenue as much as safety. Back in the 1970's a warning was considered sufficient. I used to get read the Riot Act by highway patrolmen while hitch-hiking on Interstate highways throughout the US. This usually took the form of a cop barking "Get off the highway-- if I see you out here again I'll arrest you!" although I never once got arrested, not even cited, never got searched.

[Donald Miller]

This is a law in virtually every state that I can think of. It is also a law in Italy and Switzerland. It seems to be fairly universal.

It sucks because I have had to pass up some very interesting photo opportunities. But it really is unsafe.

[Paul Kierstead]

What are the chances that if just cited with a court date, he would take the time, trouble and expense to return. I'm guessing about zero.

I'm not getting it. If they don't show up, then they are guilty and automatically get fined. I'm sure out-of-state creditors are perfectly capable of collecting their money, so I don't see why the state traffic enforcement would be any different. The idea that if they didn't collect right away they would be incapable of collecting is just silly.

[bobwysiwyg]

I'm not getting it. If they don't show up, then they are guilty and automatically get fined. I'm sure out-of-state creditors are perfectly capable of collecting their money, so I don't see why the state traffic enforcement would be any different. The idea that if they didn't collect right away they would be incapable of collecting is just silly.

But the time, effort and expense to collect would make this route somewhat impractical, wouldn't you think?

[rdenney]

But the time, effort and expense to collect would make this route somewhat impractical, wouldn't you think?

There are other ways to deal with this. One is that states can (gasp!) work together to form reciprocity relationships, as many currently do for driver's license points.

For example, in Texas, if someone doesn't pay the fine or show up to contest the charge, a warrant is issued for their arrest. It's not worth the time to send a cop to make the arrest, so they just put it in the system and wait. When that person gets pulled over again, or when they try to renew their license or registration, up pops the warrant and they either get arrested or they have to deal with it before they can get their license or registration renewed. The arrest warrant could also be used as justification for suspending the license. It is a small extension to make that database reciprocal with other states so that it will pop up if the person is stopped elsewhere. The person can be arrested pending extradition, which could be obviated by paying the original fine plus the fine for "failure to appear" plus court costs, including court costs in both states. Thus, a missed $100 speeding ticket could turn into a couple of thousand bucks, which is a useful deterrent against skipping out on fines by otherwise law-abiding citizens.

If a person doesn't have enough reliable identity to make that work, then they'll probably not have a license that checks out when they are stopped in the first place.

States share a variety of databases now--I don't think including this would present much of a technical challenge.

I also bet it would be easy to find a collections contractor to seek collection for, say, half the fine. The fine in this case would be for the charge of "failure to appear", which will be a prima facie conviction, and greater than the fine for the original citation.

If a person doesn't pay and is never pulled over again, then who cares? How much did that cost to reform a bad driver? Cheap at twice the price.

It hinges on the moral purpose of fines. If their purpose is to act as a deterrent, then they agency shouldn't care if they get any of it as long as the deterrent was effective. If the fine is there to fund the collection of more fines, etc., (and, by extension, to fund the expansion of some local enforcement empire), then they will want to collect it on the spot to make sure they get it. Thus, when I see laws supporting collection on the spot, I immediately suspect the latter motivation.

I can think of situations where collecting the license is justified. I once was observing a street race during my misspent youth. One of the competitors, whose local "crew" included me, broke down, and we waited with his car while he went to fetch a tow-truck. The local sheriff came by, too late to observe the "contest of speed", but early enough to know we were up to no good, and his procedure was to collect the licenses of all present, and then issue the instruction--you guys follow me to the station. There was some questioning, but no arrests were made and no fines were levied--they didn't have the evidence to support that. But I can't think of a reason why the Sheriff's actions were not legitimate. Had he collected cash on the spot--there would have been grounds for serious complaints.

If traffic laws are going to imply the requirement to carry cash or risk incarceration for a single offense, then those laws need to be made with a lot more transparency and oversight. There are too many ambiguous traffic laws, and too many that are enforced for local political reasons than for the original justification. For example, speed limits are there to enforce reasonable and prudent behavior, not to pacify a group of complainers in a local neighborhood, or, worse, a local justice of the peace whose books are looking a little thin.

Rick "who can think of no justification for extorting cash from motorists on the spot for routine traffic offenses" Denney

[Tom Monego]

A friend just got a ticket for pulling over to answer his cell phone. He even had an instate plate. New Hampshire is looking for revenue every where. The funny thing about this is that there is a bill going through the state legislature about not driving with cell phones, don't know if it will allow you to pull over on an interstate to answer them. When i was freelancing I did it all the time.

Tom

[Paul Kierstead]

Sounds like Montreal cops 10 years ago.
Sounds nothing like the Montreal cops of today!

You should try driving into Montreal with Ontario plates. Even 10 years ago. About that time ago, I was driving into montreal in pretty heavy traffic; just a few feet between cars, traffic still moving briskly, all lanes full. A cop wove through the traffic to pull me over, special. In his defense, he let me go with a warning when I pointed out I was likely to get hit and run over if I slowed down (for the uninitiated, montreal drivers can be somewhat aggressive). I'm not sure why he put so much effort into pulling me over but didn't ticket me.