The tickets were for Improper Muffler and No Horn.
Small story (trying to keep it short, but also am providing details) as to how this happened. On October 6 / 2012 around 2pm, I had just got on the Linc from Garth Street in Hamilton. Heading West towards Brantford. Just after merging onto the highway, maybe did a km or two, and I see flashing lights a little ahead. Of course I cautioned myself, but wasn’t really worried since I wasn’t doing anything wrong. There are three lanes and the side shoulder. I was doing about 100 km (under 3000rpm) in the middle lane. As I am coming closer to passing the cop and the person he had pulled over, I see that he has was just heading back to his cruiser. The car he had pulled over was a white subaru wrx (lowered,exhaust,rims,etc.) and I thought to myself, sucks for him because he was probably singled out for the vehicle he was driving. Seemed like a younger driver 20-25ish. So as I pass where this was going on, I can see in my rear view the cop still walking back to his car. The moment his door closed he was already merging onto the highway. Right then I had a bad feeling. Slowly I see him gaining on me. Eventually he got close but there were still some cars in the way. He threw his lights on and off a few times for cars to move out of the way until he was finally right behind me. The cherries come on and I am pulling over on the side of the road just by the Fiddler’s Green exit in Ancaster.
As he approaches my vehicle, he asks me, " do you know why i pulled you over " , I replied " no i beleive i wasn’t doing anything wrong " he says “your right, i pulled you over because you have a modified vehicle and i wanted to check that everything is in order”. Asks for my paperwork which I provide everything for him. Goes back to his car and checks that everything is in order. He returns and hands me my papers and then he walks around the car a few times and comes back to my window. “can you start your car please” , so i do, he says " the exhaust is a little loud" i replied, “I have a valid emissions for the vehicle with the current exhaust”. He says “its too loud, thats ticket number one”. “you have an aftermarket steering wheel, does your horn work?” i reply " no the horn is not hooked up at the moment but it is being fixed the upcoming week" he says “its a violation so i will have to give you a ticket, thats number two.” Proceeds to check that i have a working parking brake (start car, pull e brake, drop the clutch out let it stall) also checks that my turn signals etc are working. Both items check out fine. Says he can take my plates and have the car towed, but will cut me a break and not do that. Tells me he will need a minute. Goes to his car and when he returns gives me two tickets, one for improper muffler and the other for no horn. We chatted for another minute or so afterward, i was asking what could i do about the tickets, exhaust, etc. says “add a resonator”. says to me “how do you think i feel when me and my wife are trying to sleep and at midnight there are cars like yours driving by my house”, I asked about harley davidsons and what they do about those. He says they give tickets to them as well and that their bikes are modified to be loud and that its not from factory like that. Anyways proceeds to his car and we are both on our way. He ends up following me for about ten minutes afterward, riding my ass and making turns wherever i went(without a signal, i can see from my side mirrors). Eventually he pulls a u-turn and is then gone.
Sorry if this is getting long, I need advice so am trying to provide enough information about the incident. Overall the cop was sort of an ass, wasnt raising his voice or anything, just the way he was approaching the situation. I spoke calmly to him the whole time, didnt want to upset him by being mad or anything. I am not mad about the tickets, more upset that it feels like I was singled out or profiled because I am young and due to the vehicle. As i stated earlier, before i was pulled over he had a “modified” subaru pulled over. Im guessing the driver received similar tickets, but I do not know.
He used the words modified and aftermarket several times, seemed like he was after those kinds of vehicles a lot, easy tickets.
I agree that my exhaust is a little loud, but I wasnt flooring it making it scream or anything, so what justifies “too loud”. I agree that I need a working horn, so that ticket is fine. Just wondering what can I do about these tickets in order to have them dropped. If I fix the issues and meet with the prosecutor will these tickets get dropped? Or do i have to go to court for this? This is the first time something like this has happened so I am unsure as to what I am supposed to do about it.
Thanks to those who went ahead and read all that, any advice would be much appreciated !
---------- Post added at 02:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:56 PM ----------
On a side note, I DO NOT drive my car like an idiot. I enjoy owning/driving a vehicle that I have put time and money into. I can understand that these nissans attract some attention, which is why I OBEY street laws and DO NOT SPEED, DO NOT RUN STOP SIGNS, ETC. I DO NOT hit big parking lots or factories and slide around or ANY of that. I SIGNAL lane changes and all that.
These two minor tickets are the FIRST tickets I have ever received in my nissan. I have been involved with nissans for 6+ years and 3+ years have been daily driving. FIRST time getting ticketed in my nissan. All cars in those times were “slightly modified” as some would say, and i was never really harassed or issued tickets due to exhaust or anything (which all cars had catbacks). Even when cops would be cruising beside/behind me, I was always left alone.