So I got pulled over...

[olieebur]

For driving without headlights in darkness..

What happened was I was coming from jack in the box and i had a friend in the car with me and i live 2 minutes away from there and i was on my way home. I drove up on the residential street where my house was a turn away and i noticed that my headlights weren't on which i then turned on at the time. Soon after I looked in my rearview mirror and i saw a cop following me but didn't flash his lights on yet. When i made that turn where my house was on he then hit his lights. and i pretty much parked next to my house.

Does anyone know if this is a moving violation? i did searches about it and some say it doesn't add points to my license but is on my record. I just wanna know if this will raise my insurance premium.
I bought the car just 2 weeks ago and already a ticket for something stupid..

i hate south city cops in my area

[honda06si]

im pretty sure it wont affect your insurance. not 100% though

[dextor]

Did you disable your DRLs?

[shawn-o]

Originally Posted by olieebur

i hate south city cops in my area

You hate cops for doing their job?.

You were doing something illegal (driving with no lights on) and got caught. Therefore, its not the officers problem or anything, but your own fault that you did something stupid.

Even when i drive my girlfriend home (3 blocks away) i put on my lights. Id prefer to see where im driving and not look 'sleeperish'

[jayrck81]

take it to court, thats what i have done with every single ticket (speeding, going through stop signs, etc) The worst that has ever happened was I had to pay the fine, usually they just get dropped. I have never recied any points on my license or insurance hikes.

Also, what happened to your Day Time Running Lights?

[olieebur]

my DRL's were on and this was at night time so that's why i didn't really notice i didnt have my headlights on
i gotta court date anyway. so i'll see wassup then

Originally Posted by shawn-o

You hate cops for doing their job?.

well around the bay area. south city cops are the worst. sf, colma, daly city are nicer compared to the ones where i live

[volvo9]

In my state (MA) any ticket counts as a moving violation and adds points towards our insurance, even having no front license plate (***).

If you already have a court date just say that you honestly forgot, your car has daytime running lights and just sa that they're as bright as your old cars headlights and your getting used to it, it was an honest mistake and even before you knew there was a cop behind you, you turned your headlights on.

[CaliGuy]

I'm almost positive this will add points and it is definelty a moving violation.

[mike c]

DRL's are not headlights. That's why they are called DAYTIME running lights The law says you will drive at night with headlights on, not DRL's. You break the law, the cop does his job, and you hate him. Smart move. It's like hating your mailman for delivering your bills. I don't understand people.

And on a side note, if immature teens wouldn't always be driving around with their cheap fog lights on instead of their headlights, trying to "look cool", you might not have received the ticket. Thank the people that do it on purpose for you not getting a warning.

Just my .02

[dextor]

Originally Posted by mike c

DRL's are not headlights. That's why they are called DAYTIME running lights The law says you will drive at night with headlights on, not DRL's. You break the law, the cop does his job, and you hate him. Smart move. It's like hating your mailman for delivering your bills. I don't understand people.

And on a side note, if immature teens wouldn't always be driving around with their cheap fog lights on instead of their headlights, trying to "look cool", you might not have received the ticket. Thank the people that do it on purpose for you not getting a warning.

Just my .02

Give the guy a break, I sometimes forget to turn my headlights on because the DRLs are actually quite bright. Getting pulled over for silly things can be frustrating, like not "completely" coming to a stop at a stop sign. I'm sure there are better things the cops could be doing, like patrolling a bad neighborhood maybe?

I agree with the fog lights, it's really stupid when people turn them on when it's not fogging.

[mrgisriel]

I think if you explain to the judge, its most likely you will get off, kind of stupid in my opinion... Did it myself one time [in a mustang] for a few 100 feet on accident and got pulled by a state trooper, warning.

Derek

[mike c]

I wasn't trying to give the original poster a hard time, I think it's kind of a silly ticket. A good stop, but a bad ticket if there wasn't more to the situation. I was referring to the person that asked if his DRL's were disconnected, as if to say that he shouldn't have gotten pulled over if they were on. No headlighters are 9 times out of 10 a simple honest mistake. But that 1 out of 10 times, it turns out to be a really good stop.

[xxhaimbondxx]

I think it should be pretty automatic by now. It's dark, the hand automatically goes for the light switch. It's one of those things, like the seat belt, I can't turn my engine without buckling up.

[notacop]

The majority of the time people drive without headlights it is because you are drunk, this is why a cop will almost always go out of their way to follow and pull over someone without their headlights on.


I have the dimmer set very low for when the headlights are on, and full brightness for when they are off. If I get in my car at night and get blinded by the dash lights I know that I need to turn on the headlights.

[Kurt]

Originally Posted by notacop

I have the dimmer set very low for when the headlights are on, and full brightness for when they are off. If I get in my car at night and get blinded by the dash lights I know that I need to turn on the headlights.

Same.