VPD - Not all cops are out to get you

[!SG]

my understanding is when conditions are less than ideal (cant think of the proper term), but for fog lights, when there is fog, when there is rain, its ok to have them turned on.

anyhow, got pulled over last night in west van for having my fog lights on. the way lexus has them wired is if the headlight low beams are on, then the fog lights can be on or off (depends if the switch is in the on position or not). but either way, the low beam head lights have to be on. they output yellow light, inside the fog light is a yellow capsule so the regular light bulb outputs yellow light (most toyota/lexus have this type of foglight setup), they were on because they are conveniently on the turn signal/headlight wand/stock. when you turn on the headlights, its easy to turn them on. at the same time it was piss pouring rain at that point. i entered west van, got pulled over to the side. ill admit, i didnt even really notice they were still on, and at this point the rain had just stopped. ground was still wet.

either way, long story short, had a pleasant encounter, which ended me explaining what i did to the paint on my car, and why i didnt take better care of my winter wheels.

through my 19 years of driving, and from all the times ive been pulled over, im sure the reaction you get from the officer is directly proportionate to how you conduct yourself. that, and im pretty sure the quick background check on the car before being pulled over yielded that i was in fact not 16 or young or a punk helped before hand.

anyhow, if you get pulled over, pull to the side, turn on your flashers, get your wallet out, and even turn on the dome lights if its night out. it shows you are ready to cooperate and have nothing to hide.

off topic: anyhow, task achieved, i think i got a slightly bunk thermostat (point of long drive was to get a decent reading of why my temp was nothing going up to "normal")

[Spidey]

^ after contacting ICBC and a rep from the BC Ministry of transportation, it is confirmed that fog lights are not prohibited when they are on with headlights. The only time they are prohibited is if they are on by itself, when conditions are ideal

[kchan]

have a couple of stories myself good and bad

1) 3 years back when I was still N i drove an extra friend that night because it was pouring rain, got pulled over for over passenger. cop saw that i was able to take my class 5 in about 3 months, so after he gave me the ticket he told me to dispute it and hope that I pass my class 5.

I followed his instructions, disputed the ticket and took and passed my class 5

fast forward 1 year after the ticket, i show up at the court and see the cop there. he asks me what im in for, I remind him what he told me to do and told him I passed my class 5. He asked me before going into the court room if I was going to plead guilty, I told him yes because what I did was wrong and thanked him for giving me a chance

we walk inside the court room, and he dropped the case
i was able to walk away free, and he smiled at me as I walk out

sadly though, I couldnt shake his hand or thank him as there was 10 other cases he needed to attend that day



some cops are really nice, and im always honest and try to be helpful in their presence

however, sometimes you get the not so good...

today when I drove out, I stopped at a red light on alderbridge facing no.3 road
i saw a cop drove by on no.3 road passing alderbridge and i see him looking at me

not thinking much of it, i turn right to no.3 road only to see the cop stopped on the right side lane, just waiting

there was traffic jam too, after about 2 minutes or so I end up side by side with the cop and then i see him signal to merge behind me

shortly after he merges behind me and pulls me over.
at this moment im just thinking, what did i do.. i was stuck in traffic, and he only noticed me as I was stopped at a red light

he comes up to me and asks for driver id + insurance (which i had prepared) and told me hes only doing a driver id check

after a while he comes back and starts pointing out at my diffuser stating how its dangerous and can cut people (its round edged and smoothed out)

after that, he continues to try to find something to give me ticket worth
he tried pointing out how my intercooler is blocking my rear view mirror and was hesitant in believing that is where the stock intercooler is coming
about 15 minutes of talking with me outside my car, he lets me go with warning and told me to get my car inspected

i mean its cool he gave me a warning but him camping out for me just had me confused... i commited nothing wrong and he just had to target me for no reason, and tried to find a reason to give me a ticket

i know not all cops are bad/assholes but sometimes when you do get that one or two, it just makes me unhappy