05-15-2007, 11:54 PM
So here's the situation:
I am driving my car earlier today and was heading to my friends house. I had my windows open and was listening to some song on 97.9 at about 1/3 volume in my car. It had a little bass kick. (I have a sub in my car and its all tuned for quality, not car rattling bass.)
So I turn down a street heading to my friends house and go past a cop that has a car pulled over. He pulls from around that car and pulls me over and says I am getting a $75 ticket for having my stereo too loud as they have had too many high-schoolers with their stereos cranked near the school.
I politely tell the officer that I am not some show-off high schooler with a car rattling system in my car, that I have a system tuned for sound quality and was listening to it at a reasonable level. He said that the law states if he can hear it at 75 feet it is too loud. (He was around the corner by a building and has no idea how far away I was.) I told him that a factory stock stereo could easily be heard at that distance.
He then told me I should have been smart enough to turn it down when I went by a marked squad. To which I replied that I had no reason to turn it down as I did not think I was breaking any law. (Had I happened to turn it down it would have looked as though I was admitting guilt anyway.)
So....... This goes down as an equipment violation and I could still lose my license if I get another ticket in 3 months. I plan on fighting it because it is a BS ticket that is entirely qualitative, not quantitative (ex. set decibel number at set distance). I have a good attorney that we are pretty good friends with if it goes that far. What should my plan of attack be??
I am driving my car earlier today and was heading to my friends house. I had my windows open and was listening to some song on 97.9 at about 1/3 volume in my car. It had a little bass kick. (I have a sub in my car and its all tuned for quality, not car rattling bass.)
So I turn down a street heading to my friends house and go past a cop that has a car pulled over. He pulls from around that car and pulls me over and says I am getting a $75 ticket for having my stereo too loud as they have had too many high-schoolers with their stereos cranked near the school.
I politely tell the officer that I am not some show-off high schooler with a car rattling system in my car, that I have a system tuned for sound quality and was listening to it at a reasonable level. He said that the law states if he can hear it at 75 feet it is too loud. (He was around the corner by a building and has no idea how far away I was.) I told him that a factory stock stereo could easily be heard at that distance.
He then told me I should have been smart enough to turn it down when I went by a marked squad. To which I replied that I had no reason to turn it down as I did not think I was breaking any law. (Had I happened to turn it down it would have looked as though I was admitting guilt anyway.)
So....... This goes down as an equipment violation and I could still lose my license if I get another ticket in 3 months. I plan on fighting it because it is a BS ticket that is entirely qualitative, not quantitative (ex. set decibel number at set distance). I have a good attorney that we are pretty good friends with if it goes that far. What should my plan of attack be??