Well a while back I got a ticket for a headlight being out. I knew the
headlight was out, in fact I intentionally unplugged that headlight. The
problem I had was that my headlight switch decided to take a crap on me. In
a Ford all the power to the headlights runs straight through the headlights
switch which also functions as a breaker switch. So when the headlight
switch fails typically it will not support as much current and will
overheat, tripping the breaker and killing all your lights, front and back.
When a Ford headlight switch fails like this your lights will cycle on and
off every couple minutes as the switch heats and cools.
Knowing that, and not being able to get a replacement switch that night I
did the thing that seemed the most logical and safe so I could get home. I
unplugged one of the headlights so as to not put as much of a load on the
headlight switch. It worked and my lights stayed on. I had one functional
headlight and two functional tail/brake/turn signals. Much better than my
alternatives which I considered to be: 1. Making the hours drive home in 1-2
minute spurts, waiting for several minutes between spurts with my lights out
for the headlight switch to cool. OR 2. Sleep in the truck.
Now I don’t really mind sleeping in the truck, but I would rather be home.
If I can get home safely then I may as well. I unplugged one of the
headlights and the single halogen sealed beam on this modern pickup put out
more light than the two factory lights on any of my three ’60s Ford cars. I
considered it to be safe as I could see very well and all my
marker/tail/brake lamps were functional so other drivers should have no
trouble seeing me and understanding my intentions.
Anyhow, I got stopped by a cop and written up a ticket for failure to
maintain lamps. Well I think I did quite a prudent job of maintaining my
lamps that night, much better than your typical motorist would do. I tried
telling him what happened and told him if he wanted I could fix the other
headlight right away, it would only take a second. He told me he didn’t care
and left. Alrighty then. It just goes to show that cops truly don’t care
about safety. It’s all about revenue. And sheesh, would it have killed him
to be polite and not blow me off like that? Oh well, cops will be cops I
suppose.
Cory
["Cory Dunkle" <FOADspamm...@hell.biz>]
[excuses deleted]
| If I can get home safely then I may as well.
ah, assumption is the mother of whom?
[more excuses deleted]
| Anyhow, I got stopped by a cop and written up a ticket for failure to
| maintain lamps.
and rightfully so. you not only had one light out, you knew full well
you had one light out, thus there was no real excuse for what you did.
pin a medal on the copper!
| Well I think I did quite a prudent job of maintaining my
| lamps that night [...]
hold on mate. you just said you had deliberately disabled one of your
headlights.
| [...] much better than your typical motorist would do.
your typical motorist has two working headlights. you had one.
meaning the typical motorist is at the very least twice as good as
you.
| I tried telling him what happened and told him if he wanted I could
| fix the other headlight right away, it would only take a second.
just earlier you said that your headlights would malfunction if you
ran both. so you *lied* to the copper as well? shame on you.
| He told me he didn’t care and left.
oo, how insensitive. the nerve!
| Alrighty then. It just goes to show that cops truly don’t care about
| safety.
I’m sorry. I must have dozed off somewhere in the middle of this.
you were driving with only one working headlight after physically
disabling it yourself and now the *copper* is the one….who doesn’t
care about safety.
did he have a broken headlight? did he break your headlight? did he
fail to observe the magic field around your car within which rules do
not apply?
| It’s all about revenue. And sheesh, would it have killed him to be
| polite and not blow me off like that? Oh well, cops will be cops I
| suppose.
I suppose when you get pulled over for speeding you tell the cops "I
knew I was driving faster than the speed limit, but I you and I both
know that if I knew you were watching I could have gone slower".
-Bjørn
In article <m3fypwgp2e….@borud.not>, Bjorn Borud wrote:
> your typical motorist has two working headlights. you had one.
> meaning the typical motorist is at the very least twice as good as
> you.
Except for one thing, those sorts of laws are selectively enforced.
I rutinely see broken, misused, and burnt out lamps on vehicles. It seems
the cops never do anything about it because they aren’t old vehicles
driven by people they are interested in ‘talking to’.
> just earlier you said that your headlights would malfunction if you
> ran both. so you *lied* to the copper as well? shame on you.
No, he said they would malfunction after a period of time. More than long
enough for the cop to be long gone.
BTW, Cory, next time just run the battery direct to the headlamp that the
switch cannot support. And install some relays for a long term fix.
[tetraethylleadREMOVET...@yahoo.com (Brent P)]
|
| Except for one thing, those sorts of laws are selectively enforced.
so that makes driving with only one headlamp okay then?
| > just earlier you said that your headlights would malfunction if you
| > ran both. so you *lied* to the copper as well? shame on you.
|
| No, he said they would malfunction after a period of time. More than long
| enough for the cop to be long gone.
ah, so if the copper doesn’t see him driving with one (or both)
headlights off it doesn’t matter?
-Bjørn
Why didn’t you just plug the headlamp back in and tell the cop it must have
come loose and all fixed now!
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
Cory Dunkle wrote:
> Well a while back I got a ticket for a headlight being out. I knew the
> headlight was out, in fact I intentionally unplugged that headlight. The
> problem I had was that my headlight switch decided to take a crap on me. In
> a Ford all the power to the headlights runs straight through the headlights
> switch which also functions as a breaker switch. So when the headlight
> switch fails typically it will not support as much current and will
> overheat, tripping the breaker and killing all your lights, front and back.
> When a Ford headlight switch fails like this your lights will cycle on and
> off every couple minutes as the switch heats and cools.
> Knowing that, and not being able to get a replacement switch that night I
> did the thing that seemed the most logical and safe so I could get home. I
> unplugged one of the headlights so as to not put as much of a load on the
> headlight switch. It worked and my lights stayed on. I had one functional
> headlight and two functional tail/brake/turn signals. Much better than my
> alternatives which I considered to be: 1. Making the hours drive home in 1-2
> minute spurts, waiting for several minutes between spurts with my lights out
> for the headlight switch to cool. OR 2. Sleep in the truck.
> Now I don’t really mind sleeping in the truck, but I would rather be home.
> If I can get home safely then I may as well. I unplugged one of the
> headlights and the single halogen sealed beam on this modern pickup put out
> more light than the two factory lights on any of my three ’60s Ford cars. I
> considered it to be safe as I could see very well and all my
> marker/tail/brake lamps were functional so other drivers should have no
> trouble seeing me and understanding my intentions.
> Anyhow, I got stopped by a cop and written up a ticket for failure to
> maintain lamps. Well I think I did quite a prudent job of maintaining my
> lamps that night, much better than your typical motorist would do. I tried
> telling him what happened and told him if he wanted I could fix the other
> headlight right away, it would only take a second. He told me he didn’t care
> and left. Alrighty then. It just goes to show that cops truly don’t care
> about safety. It’s all about revenue. And sheesh, would it have killed him
> to be polite and not blow me off like that? Oh well, cops will be cops I
> suppose.
> Cory
If you fix the problem and get the vehicle inspected at a police
station within 7 days, does not the ticket go away? that’s the way it
works in MD.
nate
Brent P wrote:
[Vehicle equipment laws]
> Except for one thing, those sorts of laws are selectively enforced.
> I rutinely see broken, misused, and burnt out lamps on vehicles. It seems
> the cops never do anything about it because they aren’t old vehicles
> driven by people they are interested in ‘talking to’.
I’ll back that assertion up. I’ve been driving around for the last 3
weeks with a "burnt out" (actually the ballast is shorted) headlamp and
have passed by numerous police officers on patrol (even those who
trigger my detector) without getting pulled over. My best guess is that
I drive an Audi and am in my early 30s.
In article <m3acg4gn5s….@borud.not>, Bjorn Borud wrote:
> [tetraethylleadREMOVET...@yahoo.com (Brent P)]
>|
>| Except for one thing, those sorts of laws are selectively enforced.
> so that makes driving with only one headlamp okay then?
It does create a situation where by people feel picked on.
>| > just earlier you said that your headlights would malfunction if you
>| > ran both. so you *lied* to the copper as well? shame on you.
>|
>| No, he said they would malfunction after a period of time. More than long
>| enough for the cop to be long gone.
> ah, so if the copper doesn’t see him driving with one (or both)
> headlights off it doesn’t matter?
I had cop once decide that I couldn’t use the road on my bicycle. My
choice was risk my life teetering on the edge of pavement between the
white line and the stones until he was gone or spend a day in court.
Thinking back, I should have done the later.
Bjorn Borud was motivated to say this in rec.autos.driving on 17 Nov
2005 00:58:55 +0100:
> | Except for one thing, those sorts of laws are selectively enforced.
> so that makes driving with only one headlamp okay then?
No, it doesn’t make it OK, but Brent’s take that this sort of law is
selectively enforced is a valid point.
I see cyclops’ ((cyclopses?) anyways, cars w/ one headlight out) all the
time and they are almost never pulled over. Hell, I even see cop cars w/
a head light out from time to time.
About the only time a car w/ one light (or any other type of lighting
violation) gets pulled over around here, its really a DWB/DWH pretext
stop on I-95.
–
necromancer
[tetraethylleadREMOVET...@yahoo.com (Brent P)]
|
| It does create a situation where by people feel picked on.
so where does that leave me? I feel that people with busted
headlights shouldn’t drive on the road during the night. should I be
angry with the cop for actually doing his job?
| > ah, so if the copper doesn’t see him driving with one (or both)
| > headlights off it doesn’t matter?
|
| I had cop once decide that I couldn’t use the road on my bicycle.
so this is about the job performance of policemen now, rather than if
it is wrong to intentionally and knowingly breaking the law by driving
a vehicle which is not in proper working order?
-Bjørn
[necromancer <necroman...@kretp.tmy>]
|
| I see cyclops’ ((cyclopses?) anyways, cars w/ one headlight out) all the
| time and they are almost never pulled over. Hell, I even see cop cars w/
| a head light out from time to time.
yeah, that *really* makes it okay to drive around with busted
headlights. I see that now. silly me for thinking the original
poster was a jerk for knowingly driving around with busted
headlights when there are…like…OTHER PEOPLE doing it too and even
cops.
-Bjørn
On Wed, 16 Nov 2005 22:35:11 +0000, "Cory Dunkle"
<FOADspamm…@hell.biz> wrote:
>Well a while back I got a ticket for a headlight being out. I knew the
>headlight was out, in fact I intentionally unplugged that headlight. The
>problem I had was that my headlight switch decided to take a crap on me.
First bald tires, now this. So once again you’re driving around in a
vehicle that you clearly cannot afford to maintain in safe operating
condition, but you’re so arrogant you refuse to stop driving it.
At the rate you’re going, the next accident is going to take out more
than your teeth. I just hope no innocent lives are taken in the
process.
"Bjorn Borud" <borud-n…@borud.no> wrote in message
news:m3fypwgp2e.fsf@borud.not…
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
> ["Cory Dunkle" <FOADspamm...@hell.biz>]
> [excuses deleted]
> | If I can get home safely then I may as well.
> ah, assumption is the mother of whom?
> [more excuses deleted]
> | Anyhow, I got stopped by a cop and written up a ticket for failure to
> | maintain lamps.
> and rightfully so. you not only had one light out, you knew full well
> you had one light out, thus there was no real excuse for what you did.
> pin a medal on the copper!
> | Well I think I did quite a prudent job of maintaining my
> | lamps that night [...]
> hold on mate. you just said you had deliberately disabled one of your
> headlights.
> | [...] much better than your typical motorist would do.
> your typical motorist has two working headlights. you had one.
> meaning the typical motorist is at the very least twice as good as
> you.
> | I tried telling him what happened and told him if he wanted I could
> | fix the other headlight right away, it would only take a second.
> just earlier you said that your headlights would malfunction if you
> ran both. so you *lied* to the copper as well? shame on you.
> | He told me he didn’t care and left.
> oo, how insensitive. the nerve!
> | Alrighty then. It just goes to show that cops truly don’t care about
> | safety.
> I’m sorry. I must have dozed off somewhere in the middle of this.
> you were driving with only one working headlight after physically
> disabling it yourself and now the *copper* is the one….who doesn’t
> care about safety.
> did he have a broken headlight? did he break your headlight? did he
> fail to observe the magic field around your car within which rules do
> not apply?
> | It’s all about revenue. And sheesh, would it have killed him to be
> | polite and not blow me off like that? Oh well, cops will be cops I
> | suppose.
> I suppose when you get pulled over for speeding you tell the cops "I
> knew I was driving faster than the speed limit, but I you and I both
> know that if I knew you were watching I could have gone slower".
I think I like Bjorn. That was a pretty good response.
Everyone else who posted had nothing but more excuses. I’m quite sure
that’s why the cop walked off. The law doesn’t say "you only have to have
two working headlights if you can’t come up with a good excuse for why one
is out".
I think what bugs me the most in this n.g. is that the people who whine,
bitch, and complain that all cops do is hide in the bushes picking on the
poor speeders get just as menstrual when cops enforce other laws too. I
guess you can’t make everyone happy.
–
—
jaybird
—
I am not the cause of your problems.
My actions are the result of your actions.
Your life is not my fault.
jaybird was motivated to say this in rec.autos.driving on Thu, 17 Nov
2005 16:26:49 GMT:
> Everyone else who posted had nothing but more excuses. I’m quite sure
> that’s why the cop walked off. The law doesn’t say "you only have to have
> two working headlights if you can’t come up with a good excuse for why one
> is out".
Then do you care to explain why I see cop cars with non functioning
headlights. Or is this another of your cases where the cops are above
the laws they enforce?
> I think what bugs me the most in this n.g. is that the people who whine,
> bitch, and complain that all cops do is hide in the bushes picking on the
> poor speeders get just as menstrual when cops enforce other laws too. I
> guess you can’t make everyone happy.
And when I pick up the paper and read about the burgleries, armed
robberies, assults and so on that occur around here while the cops are
out running radar, yes, I do get PO’ed about that. They are supposed to
portect the people who live here, not the city’s (and county’s and
states) coffers.
–
necromancer
If motorcyclists are allowed to drive with one light, why not cars?
"necromancer" <necroman…@kretp.tmy> wrote in message
news:MPG.1de6831597a9a835989692@newsgroups.bellsouth.net…
> jaybird was motivated to say this in rec.autos.driving on Thu, 17 Nov
> 2005 16:26:49 GMT:
>> Everyone else who posted had nothing but more excuses. I’m quite sure
>> that’s why the cop walked off. The law doesn’t say "you only have to
>> have
>> two working headlights if you can’t come up with a good excuse for why
>> one
>> is out".
> Then do you care to explain why I see cop cars with non functioning
> headlights. Or is this another of your cases where the cops are above
> the laws they enforce?
No, cop car lights go out too.
>> I think what bugs me the most in this n.g. is that the people who whine,
>> bitch, and complain that all cops do is hide in the bushes picking on the
>> poor speeders get just as menstrual when cops enforce other laws too. I
>> guess you can’t make everyone happy.
> And when I pick up the paper and read about the burgleries, armed
> robberies, assults and so on that occur around here while the cops are
> out running radar, yes, I do get PO’ed about that. They are supposed to
> portect the people who live here, not the city’s (and county’s and
> states) coffers.
Ahh, so if the cops would hide in front of convenience stores, around
people, and be everywhere all of the time then they could miraculously stop
all of those other crimes too. Great idea.
–
—
jaybird
—
I am not the cause of your problems.
My actions are the result of your actions.
Your life is not my fault.
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> On Wed, 16 Nov 2005 22:35:11 +0000, "Cory Dunkle"
> <FOADspamm…@hell.biz> wrote:
>>Well a while back I got a ticket for a headlight being out. I knew the
>>headlight was out, in fact I intentionally unplugged that headlight. The
>>problem I had was that my headlight switch decided to take a crap on me.
> First bald tires, now this. So once again you’re driving around in a
> vehicle that you clearly cannot afford to maintain in safe operating
> condition, but you’re so arrogant you refuse to stop driving it.
> At the rate you’re going, the next accident is going to take out more
> than your teeth. I just hope no innocent lives are taken in the
> process.
I was thinking the same thing. The guy must have a really reckless
driving style to attract as many cop as he does. Either that or
something else makes him stand out.
I haven’t been pulled over since last summer, yet the tags expired in
April, the tires are all below legal tread depth, and not all lighting
equipment is up to par. And it’s not like a red ’97 Camaro Z28 with DRLs
doesn’t stand out…
Ulf
jaybird was motivated to say this in rec.autos.driving on Thu, 17 Nov
2005 17:47:26 GMT:
> No, cop car lights go out too.
That’s no excuse for them to be continuing with their patrol for
violators when they themselves are in violation.
–
necromancer
"necromancer" <necroman…@kretp.tmy> wrote in message
news:MPG.1de6b09f13b84f5b989693@newsgroups.bellsouth.net…
> jaybird was motivated to say this in rec.autos.driving on Thu, 17 Nov
> 2005 17:47:26 GMT:
>> No, cop car lights go out too.
> That’s no excuse for them to be continuing with their patrol for
> violators when they themselves are in violation.
I agree.
–
—
jaybird
—
I am not the cause of your problems.
My actions are the result of your actions.
Your life is not my fault.
Laura Bush murdered her boy friend wrote:
> If motorcyclists are allowed to drive with one light, why not cars?
It’s an issue related to redundancy; if you’re driving down the road
with only one head light, and it goes out, what do you do?
Of course, considering you’re retarded enough to drive around without a
backup to your vehicle’s normal braking system, as well as bald
retreads filled with tar in a can and covered over with sand paper,
it’s to be expected that you don’t understand anything about safely
operating a motor vehicle.
, <TedKennedyMurderedHisPregnantMistress.dwp…@spamgourmet.com> was
motivated to say this in rec.autos.driving on 17 Nov 2005 15:45:25 –
0800:
> Of course, considering you’re retarded enough to drive around without a
> backup to your vehicle’s normal braking system, as well as bald
> retreads filled with tar in a can and covered over with sand paper,
> it’s to be expected that you don’t understand anything about safely
> operating a motor vehicle.
Don’t forget the nonfunctional lighting on its instrument panel.
–
necromancer
"My dash lights burned out years ago. Just keep a cheapie flashlight on
the seat."
–Laura Bush murdered her boyfriend, 12 Nov 2005 18:11:38 -0800
Ref: http://tinyurl.com/akxtu
Message ID: 1131847898.473454.275…@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com
necromancer wrote:
> , <TedKennedyMurderedHisPregnantMistress.dwp…@spamgourmet.com> was
> motivated to say this in rec.autos.driving on 17 Nov 2005 15:45:25 –
> 0800:
> > Of course, considering you’re retarded enough to drive around without a
> > backup to your vehicle’s normal braking system, as well as bald
> > retreads filled with tar in a can and covered over with sand paper,
> > it’s to be expected that you don’t understand anything about safely
> > operating a motor vehicle.
> Don’t forget the nonfunctional lighting on its instrument panel.
Thank you *so* very much for pointing out my oversight! More stupidity
from LBMHBF to add to the wonderful list of retarded quotes!
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
> —
> necromancer
> "My dash lights burned out years ago. Just keep a cheapie flashlight on
> the seat."
> –Laura Bush murdered her boyfriend, 12 Nov 2005 18:11:38 -0800
> Ref: http://tinyurl.com/akxtu
> Message ID: 1131847898.473454.275…@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com
Cory Dunkle wrote:
[stuff]
Long time no post.. thought you had finally met one sloth
too many. Anyhow, I saw a ’68 galaxie at a car show last
month (first time I’ve ever seen one), and I must say, you
have good taste in cars!
> Well a while back I got a ticket for a headlight being out. I knew the
> headlight was out, in fact I intentionally unplugged that headlight.
> Anyhow, I got stopped by a cop and written up a ticket for failure to
> maintain lamps.
Bad name for the ticket, but "failing to have 2 lamps in correct
operating state" or something, is a fair enough thing to get
ticketed for I think. I -really- hate it when an oncoming car at
night has one headlight out and the other going twice as bright —
I can’t see anything else for the glare.
Sometimes, local cops will write a ticket for this, but if you then
fix the problem within 14 days, then you don’t have to pay the
ticket.
On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 18:41:18 GMT, Ulf <a…@asdf.com> wrote:
>I was thinking the same thing. The guy must have a really reckless
>driving style to attract as many cop as he does. Either that or
>something else makes him stand out.
Just as dogs can "smell" fear, many people (especially cops) can
"smell" a punk attitude – and our young friend definitely has one.
Cops can also tell when someone hates their guts. So the guy has *two*
big red targets painted on his forehead. :-/
In article <m3sltvfv3o….@borud.not>,
Bjorn Borud <borud-n…@borud.no> wrote:
>[tetraethylleadREMOVET...@yahoo.com (Brent P)]
>|
>| It does create a situation where by people feel picked on.
>so where does that leave me? I feel that people with busted
>headlights shouldn’t drive on the road during the night. should I be
>angry with the cop for actually doing his job?
Pretty much everyone who drives at night is going to end up driving
with one headlight at some time or another. Should he be punished for
it on every occasion?
—
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can
result in a fully-depreciated one.