The epitomy of bullshit.
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they would rather spend million's of dallors to stop people from street racing then to stop people from doing drugs. how gay is that.
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I agree, this is total BS. What I'd SERIOUSLY like to see is the ACLU step in and stand up for the people who have done nothing but make their cars look nice (or rice...whichever). IMHO it is an invasion of privacy, a direct contradiction to freedom of expression, an illegal search and seizure and also blatant harassment and abuse of power.
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oh yeah...and cops suck....noone else mentioned that in here...
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California cops like it in the pooper wrote:
San Diego officers come to train other departments how to look out for what they believe to be tell-tale signs of illegal modification such as window tinting, large spoilers, extra gauges or racing stickersthe department's own website has several pages dedicated to Asian involvement in street racing and "vehicle modification."
"We're looking to make a heavy impact on speeding and street racing in this area,"
come on now.. if thats not profiling, i dunno what is. i hate to say it, but it sounds like theyre worse off there than we are here.
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I have 3 mods done to my car that could easily get me waist deep in fines....just reading that truely makes me realize how lucky we are here...
Modifying our vehicles is a major hobby/passion to all of us...and just the thought that somewhere else they are now stooping low enough to stop someone just because they have an HKS or Greddy sticker on their window....its fucking sickening...
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i say we move ther, and get a completely stock car and put a ricer sticker on it and drive around and fuck them over! hahahahahahaha
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Ok, this pissed me off enough to send an email to the California Highway Patrol. Anyone that feels like sounding off on this can email them at [email protected]
My email was sent as follows:
Let me start off by saying I am not a citizen of California, nor have I personally had any problems with the police officers in California. Having said that I am finding it rather disturbing that (according to numerous online/offline sources) you are training your officers to target and profile automobiles that have been modified by telling them to look for stickers/decals, gauges, large spoilers and tint. If they are not breaking any laws, why bother them?
I understand the tint law states that windows BEHIND the drivers head may be tinted...and that a right side mirror is needed if you tint the back window, and have no problems with that law or with your officers pulling over someone who has an ILLEGAL tint job. But what is illegal about stickers/decals? Does the constitution not provide for FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION/SPEECH? What if the sticker was one from RASR (Racers Against Street Racing) or RFC (Racers For Christ)? Do you really think people that are members of those groups street race? If not, then why should the guy with an HKS or Greddy or APS or Turbonetics or Forced Performance or Blitz or AEM decal get pulled over? Just because they like the product? Just because you think they MIGHT have an illegal part on their car.
Please explain also why aftermarket gauges are illegal. Is it a crime to care about your car to the point that you want to be able to monitor all aspects of the engine at a glance? What is more dangerous, someone who is monitoring their oil pressure and seeks service when they notice a drop in pressure or the people who rely on their CEL's (check engine lights) only to have their car stall along side a major freeway/interstate?
Large spoilers (though I'm not a personal fan of them) are also an expression of someones interests and MANY new cars come factory equipped with such wings (Subaru WRX STi, Mitsubishi Evolution VIII, just to name a couple), not as an option, but standard. How can you pull someone over for a factory option which was obviously approved by the DOT in the first place?
Same goes for exhaust noise. I can understand if someone has a blatantly loud and obnoxious exhaust (read every harley-davidson motorcycle in the world....thats a whole nother story though) that they should be subject to a fine IF and ONLY IF it is not a standard (non-damaged/modified) OEM component. Again, OEM's have a ton of red tape to go through before they can even sell a car in this country, I'm pretty sure they got the green light on exhaust noise levels before shipping them public. Worse yet is that it is based "on officers judgement". Isn't that like saying "Geez, I think that guy was going 65 in a 60 mph zone" without a radar gun or other test to determine actual vehicle speed and then actually writing a ticket out for the speed that they might, maybe have been going? It seems like it would be really easy to target the import tuner market since they are the least likely to have expensive lawyers to back them.
Ok, now that I've scolded you, I do think I must applaud your efforts to control street racing. I understand it is a problem, and I do not condone it either. I don't have a good answer on how to get that problem under control, though I don't think your methods are fair or effective.
I'm really glad I live in North Dakota, where law enforcement agents are concerned about real problems like Meth, Cocaine, Marijuana and Alcoholism instead of a state that has nothing better to do apparantly than harass young adults who are (often) of Asian decent because they MIGHT have a part that MIGHT someday maybe not be up to standards for CARB? I feel sorry for the people of your state
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way to tell them off chuck!
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somebody needed to say something and it got said. round of applause to you chuck.
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damn your good!
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very well said chuck.
R.I.P 1QK_PNY:icon_salut:
Current Ride-1983 Mustang GT T-top. 03 GSXR 750.
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Chuck, nicely done. Generate significant revenue my ass. I could see how they want to crack down on street racing, but flat out profiling is pretty scary. WTF ever happened to protect and serve down there? Yeah, I guess in California they don't have murders, drugs, rapes, homeless, underpaid teachers, etc. We better get all over the modified vehicles, because they are obvioulsy ruining the utopia that is California. But I suppose that helping the homeless, getting someone to stop abusing drugs and alcohol, or solving some more of their 2 billion murders a year doesn't turn a nice profit so fuck it huh? (sorry I'd just woken up and was crabby
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Nice letter Chuck.
I feel ashamed now for having been born in San Diego.
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I think we should all copy it and resend it, with chucks permission of course.
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just got this response from the CHP, I plan on responding.
** High Priority **
The laws of the State of California prohibit officers from conducting traffic stops with out probable cause or probable suspicion. I have no idea where you allegedly saw the CHP training telling officers to "target and profile" vehicles. Officers are trained to know what to look for to spot VIOLATIONS. Street racing is a MAJOR problem in this state. People are being KILLED every day because of this epidemic. You may not agree with the attention and crack down and that is unfortunate, but we get hundreds of pleas every day from the families of the deceased who were killed by illegal street racing. Furthermore, illegal street racing is not limited to any one race, color, ethnicity or otherwise. "People" are racing their vehicles and killing people, and it is unacceptable.
Regarding your comment, "real problems like Meth, Cocaine, Marijuana and Alcoholism," the main job duty of the CHP is traffic enforcement. There are many "real problems" that need to be dealt with, this is our job and we intend on doing our best to keep everyone safe, including you.
Community Outreach and Marketing Section
California Highway Patrol
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