Quote
White Fargo
I`m not gunna read all that again but I assumed it was lap belts cause you said he couldn`t see them, now I see it is shoulder belts maybe the young dude did see that it was not hanging over your shoulder. I was just surprised how you wanted to attack the kid for doing his job, you are innocent because of the year etc, he wouldn`t have a clue what year it is and you weren`t wearing it so he wasn`t totally wrong with what he did. If it was a 78 you would have had to admit guilt weather you think he couldn`t see you or not,, Just wanted to explain why I was sticking up for the kid. Maybe I am just used to the respect I get from the RCMP, but I truly respect them, maybe they sence that

Okay, some more explanation, but I understand where you're coming from!

In a sense they are visible, but not to the casual glance. As pointed out by Norm earlier, his view is from maybe 24" below me because he's in a little Crown Vic compared to the much higher Town Wagon.

Plus he was doing at least 50 in the opposite direction, on a 4 lane section, with a very wide center divider section, so 5 lanes, and I was going nearly the same speed: as in it equals observing a 100 mph vehicle passing. He was in farthest east bound, I was in farthest west bound, 5 lanes. No way he could see within 2-3 seconds, when the truck's side windows are shaded, there's large truck mirrors on cab doors obstructing his oncoming view, driver window was 1/2 way up, cab interior is gray and seatbelt assemblies are gray.

All he could truthfully see at best was that there was no shoulder belt over my shoulder, maybe, but I was wearing a dark shirt so...? He lied right from the start. He followed that up with lying in court twice in a row, fabricating a story.

As for "...he wouldn`t have a clue what year it is..." that's not correct around here. This was a California Highway Patrol, which is directly connected to DMV. He has a computer onboard tied directly to all DMV records. He can get a readout & some even a printout in seconds, less than a minute, on a license plate number with VIN & make/year/model.

He is a 'trained observer', yes. But the Town Wagon is a 1950's body style, not easily mistaken for a 1978. Most people who see it think it's from the 40's or 50's.

He is supposedly highly trained in the laws he is called to enforce, to be intimately familiar with the Vehicle Code Statutes. He must know the particular statute he's going to cite me for or it's a 'bad' citation, frowned upon by superiors.

He therefore should know the law, run the VIN, get the year and KNOW if I'm exempt or not. He should not lie in order to perform his job. He is an officer of the law, so he should keep the law, including the several relating to perjury.

Fact is he was much younger than my truck and was too dim to know that once upon a time cars & trucks didn't have shoulder restraint belts, or any seat belts at all, but he was supposed to be trained to discover that before he writes tickets for them.

By the way, he broke 3 safety laws in regard to this: traveling about 10-15 mph over the speed limit when he saw me, making a fast U-turn across 5 lanes of traffic [cutting of 3 or 4 cars behind me] and then accelerating to maybe 70 mph in a 40 mph zone in the city to 'catch' me, the desperate criminal. His score if F- on the whole affair. The judge agreed with that finding.