California Impounding Vipers

[gtsviper]

A new law signed by Nazifornia Dictator Gray Davis on Saturday will make it easier for police to impound cars when drivers are caught illegally street racing. The current law permits officers to impound vehicles involved in "speed contests" but as of Jan 1, 2003, the new law allows police to impound vehicles involved in "reckless driving or exhibition of speed".
(See SB 489)

The laws restricting corporate operations in the state are terrible and now they could take our Vipers if some officer decides our driving was reckless.
THIS GUY HAS TO GO.

 

[GTS Dean]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by gtsviper:

THIS GUY HAS TO GO.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry pal. Can't help you there. It probably isn't all Davis' fault - the state legislature drafted the bill and sent it to him.

You Californians are just going to have to run the "D"s off the gangplank and not let them set foot back onshore.

 

[Mike Brunton]

Exhibition of speed? gee, I wonder how that one is defined. So if you take off too quickly for the officers liking, they can impound your car.

This gives the officer WAAAAY too much discretion. There is really no way to prove that you weren't "exhibiting speed", so it gives the police broad power to impound any car they want.

What are the legal ground for impounding the car anyways? Why don't they just tow it back to your home and make you pay the bill?

I hope you Cali guys don't stand for this!

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Exhibition of speed isn't clearly defined anywhere that I've seen.

 

[SmokinV10]

WAR GESTAPO IDIOTIC LIBERAL STUPIDITY!!!!! WAR THE KING IDIOT OF ALL LIBERAL BABOONS (Davis)!!!!!!!! WAR THE @SSHOLE WHO MADE THIS CRIME OF A LAW!!!!!!! WAR WAR WAR WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have experienced first hand unfair police tactics. These uneducated pigs assume you may be doing something wrong and will not listen to reason. The scarier part is that the iditoic public believes that these uneducated police officers are right. So you drive your $150K ferrari and some yahoo believes that you are "accellerating too fast" and you can lose your car forever? WAR IDIOTIC DEMOCRATS!!!!! WAR N@ZI's!!!! WAR ALL LIBERALS!!!

Now all we need is a Gigantic steel box to put all liberals into. AND SINK IT!!!!

 

[SmokinV10]

This is another act of someone taking away our rights to cruel, unusual punishment!!! Pretty soon, we will be moving to communist China for enhanced civil rights.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by SmokinV10:
you can lose your car forever?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think they only impound it and you end up paying the towing and storage cost. I don't think they can steal it from you...yet.

I guess they could plant some drugs in it and steal the car from you that way. Oops, I guess it's not stealing when the government takes something from you.

 

[Mike Brunton]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chuck 98 RT/10:
I think they only impound it and you end up paying the towing and storage cost. I don't think they can steal it from you...yet.

I guess they could plant some drugs in it and steal the car from you that way. Oops, I guess it's not stealing when the government takes something from you.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

In New York your car can be taken and sold at auction for various charged - I believe drinking and driving is one of them.

While I do not agree with D&D, I also don't think it gives them the "right" to *STEAL* your vehicle and sell it and keep the change. Especially when it's yet ANOTHER way they can ding you without giving you due process.

My blood pressure is rising again.

 

[SmokinV10]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mike Brunton:

My blood pressure is rising again.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My blood pressure is now so high, its not called blood presssure, its called boost

 

[Tom86ZT]

Don't know about other states but in IL racing is totally subject to the officers opinion. So yes, if he feels two cars are pulling away from a light and a cop feels they're racing its street racing and thats the final word. Hard to disprove and ***** *** . Cop tried to give me a ticket once for racing a car from a light, we were not racing, honestly i wouldn't have wasted my time with this car, but i did pull away from the light quickly. Other car may have been racing but i didn't know it. However it just so happened my cousin was with me who is a hoffman estates cop and he told the cop (buffalo grove cop) to take a hike. It was great.

Tom

 

[gtsviper]

The law requires the car to be impounded for 30 days. The bill is 1489 and here is a link to the law.
http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_1451-1500/sb_1489_bill_20020821_enrolled.pdf

DUMP DICTATOR DAVIS

 

[CitySnake]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mike Brunton:
In New York your car can be taken and sold at auction for various charged - I believe drinking and driving is one of them.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Mike's correct (although I believe the permanent seizure, as opposed to impound, is restricted the the City of New York)...but this is exclusively for drunken driving; it seems to have been effective and in MO, deserved! The CA law seems to be designed to essentially take away your car for 30 days. The law also states that exhibition of speed in parking areas counts....no more burnouts in an empty lot. I thought California was "laid back"?

 

[Ulysses]

Davis and his lackeys in the Senate have to go.

Exhibition of speed has a wide interpretation. It can be anything from slightly chirping your tires to accelerating a little too fast for the officers taste (even though you are not over the speed limit.)

I hate this guy.

We live in fear and our rights are being taken away from us. Osama Bin Laden has won.

 

[GTS Dean]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ulysses:
Osama Bin Laden has won.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not until some ******* takes the gun from my dead hand. That ain't gonna happen.

 

[SmokinV10]

Davis is Osama!

 

[silverviper]

I'm curious why your criticism is attributed only to Davis and "liberals." The vote on this bill was unanimous.

There are 14 republicans in the state senate, 13 of which agreed with this proposed law (one was absent.)

The process is documented and defined for anyone who is interested to see.

This isn't a single person or party making up rules, it is YOUR representation. If you don't like the results, GET INVOLVED!

INFLUENCE your representatives in government. Vote. Contribute your time or money to a campaign.

Why do people only whine and blame others about this stuff?

I agree, it is a terrible new law. Instead of just whining about it, I'm going to write a letter and voice my preference to the people who can actually influence such matters.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by silverviper:
I'm curious why your criticism is attributed only to Davis and "liberals."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree. Republicans and Democrats both jump on these horrendous "car" laws. It seems like there is no support for "car people" in government.

What was that website for driver's rights???

 

[RonC]

It is unbelievable that an officer can simply take my property without due process. My guess is that there may be some litigation on this soon, at least as soon as the first lawyer gets stung by this looser law. I just read the law. Typical slippert slope in my opinion. First drug seizures, next exibition of speed etc. What next, illegal parking, parking in a handicap zone, spitting in public? Amazing...

Ron

 

[RoyV101621]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tom86ZT:
Don't know about other states but in IL racing is totally subject to the officers opinion. So yes, if he feels two cars are pulling away from a light and a cop feels they're racing its street racing and thats the final word.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Tom,
Here in Lansing, IL an officer pulled two cars over, I was driving one. I accelerated quickly and let off at the speed limit. The other car pulled away after 45 mph. The office came to my car after interviewing the occupants of the first car. He asked, "You're not going to play stupid like those other guys are you?"
I explained than, I meant no disrespect, I didn't know what he meant by 'playing stupid.' I asked why I had been pulled over.
No ticket, no nothing. You understand, you're not street racing when neither car knows you're racing.

 

[Ulysses]

Hmmmmmm,
I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that California is basically broke?

 

[Toby]

gee...just wait until they make it illegal to title any new fossil fuel burning car and allow only electric cars. That will be next and CA will most likely be the 1st state.

 

[joe117]

I think this is a reaction to the folks who have been taking over roads for semi organized street racing. The general public just doesn't like that. I'm sure some cops will use the new law to hassle people who don't need to be "corrected". All that being said, I think running a Viper up to 1/4 mile speeds shouldn't be done on a street where there are people nearby. If you have a truly deserted stretch of road, well, then I guess there wouldn't be any cops around either.
There is a dragstrip, MIR, only five miles from my home. Would you believe that a few years ago there was a road only half a mile from the strip where semi organized street racing was common, even during times when the track was open? The street racing was shut down after a car ran through a bunch of people, killing two people who were watching the races.
I don't think CA needs to go so far as to interfere with a persons "day in court". If the cops would just do their job, give tickets to the crazys, soon they wouldn't have a license. They don't need to take any action without due process in order to solve the "street racing problem".

 

[Greg D]

It's quite simple really. The cops would ticket people for street racing and when it went to court, they (the cops) couldn't make it stick (for a varity of reasons) and the judges end up dismissing the tickets (Pi$$ing of the cops in the process). This new law takes the judicial power out of the judge's hands and effectively enpowers the police to do the judges job, negating the seperation of enforcement and punishment powers. (Does anyone remember the Stallone movie titled Judge Dredd?)

 

[Tom and Vipers]

The small time crook uses a gun to take your money,
The big-time crook uses Government to take your money.

If you vote Republican or Democrat, you are a *****, imbecile, or an idiot. Your choice.

As the ability to make money and GNP dries up, new and outrageous legal methods will be used to take assets from anyone who has them.

Seizing cars is illegal according to the Constitution of the United States. Basically the 4th Amendment, "unreasonalbe seach and seizures."

Of course who could possibly be unreasonible when it is against someone you hate?

In FL, the Martin County Sheriff's Dept. seized a SUV because it was supposedly illegally trespassing on county land. The judge ruled that this was not true and for the SUV to be returned to the owner. The Sheriff's Dept. refused and told the owner that if they wanted it back, they would have to file suit. They Sheriff's Dept. ALSO SAID, since that would cost more money than the SUV was worth, it would be best to let them keep it.

In FL, Palm Beach County, the Sheriff's Impound Yard will stall and literally not give cars back. You can go to the impound yard with CASH and they will leave the counter and go into the back room and smoke cigarettes and drink coffee until you leave.

Why?

If they take the $5000 you owe them, the money goes to the State. If they keep your car and auction it for $200, they keep the $200.

They are simply looking out for the taxpayers and keeping their operating costs and taxes down.

PLEASE, DON't VOTE Rep or Dem, you are THROWING YOUR VOTE AWAY!!!!!!!

 

[Tom and Vipers]

In FL, Palm Beach County, the first thing a policeman asks you when he pulls you over, "Do you own your car?"

You can see what they are interested in!

 

[GTS Bruce]

I know a family that lost a child in the middle of their front yard due to "street racing".Both drivers charged with manslaughter.Too bad the father didn't have enough time to beat them to death."Racing" belongs on race tracks.The rest is just BS endangering the innocent. Bruce

 

[Y2K5SRT]

EXCELLENT topic, and worthy of much further discussion over in Off Topic (applies to all cars, not just our beloved Vipers). As for my 2¢, I certainly think street racing needs to be more closely monitored, especially when it comes to busy streets and inexperienced drivers. The two guys that go at it on an empty freeway are another matter - although still very much illegal. I think that impounding the car is intended to scare off the more inexperienced drivers (read: Young), as they have much more to worry about if their sole vehicle was taken away. Nor could they afford the attorney's fees to reclaim it. If I were a student with a beefed up Type-R, I would be a LOT more careful in California. And I suspect that is the intent.

Now, do I agree with the law? ABSOLUTELY NOT! As many have pointed out, it is simply too vague to prevent abuse by a few law enforcement officials. Buford T. Pusser is going to have a field day with every exotic car that reminds him he drives a Yugo. It just makes it too easy.

Anyway, I could go on (and probably will), but will respectfully move this over to Off Topic for further discussion.

Chris

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ulysses:
Osama Bin Laden has won.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

In large part I agree. The "fallout" from 9/11 far exceeded his expectations.

 

[Lawrenzo]

It's "reckless" puting on make-up while cruising down the freeway- so let's take their cars!

It's "reckless" talking on the cell phone so they need to get pinched too.

It's "reckless" eating a Carls double cheeseburger so fast food junkies are in need of smack down.

It's "reckless" getting a BJ while driving so all us fornicators are looking for trouble.

It's "reckless" being an idiot- so all those people without an IQ of least 125 should start taking the bus now

I would bet a good number of our legislators would fit into this category!

Maybe we won't need State taxes anymore with all the impound fees being collected? Yeah, right