Poll of the Day > They towed my friend's car.

(+) Yeah! (+)

They said he didnt have insurance but he does. He didnt have the paper but attempted to look it up on his phone and the cop didnt care. He said hes responsible for having the paper.

Ive done this a lot and any time Ive been pulled over they easily can see my registration, license, insurance, etc., in their little bat computer.

So now hes pissed and needs me to take him to get his car back. AND he has to show up to court for something or other. Is this new or something that varies by state?

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Keep your insurance card in your car. Simple as that. It's not the cop's responsibility to look up your documents. Just depends on the cop, though. Maybe he'd already done it a few times that day for other people and your buddy caught him at a bad time? Who knows?!

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HornedLion posted...

Ive done this a lot and any time Ive been pulled over...

What's funny is you think this line helps your point but it really just begs the question "Why do you put yourself in so many situations that you have to show your insurance?"

I know on base, they tell us to have our paper copy. But there were times when I was waiting for a new paper copy. So, I would pull it up on my phone and they were nice enough to let me. They also let me call once and I put them on speaker. And the agent told them I had coverage. You have to show insurance anytime you do an RVI... But I don't always have the paper for whatever reason...
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jsb0714 posted...

What's funny is you think this line helps your point but it really just begs the question "Why do you put yourself in so many situations that you have to show your insurance?"

Well...

One time I had a tail light out.

Another I was going 2 miles over in Massachusetts, and those troopers dont play.

Another time the little light that lights up your license plate had gone out.

And thats pretty much it.

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HornedLion posted...

Another I was going 2 miles over in Massachusetts, and those troopers dont play.

Bullshit. I live in Massachusetts and the state troopers here don't even bat an eye at people going 75, even 80, in a 65. Everyone and their grandmother drives 10 miles over the limit here

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Far-Queue posted...

Bullshit. I live in Massachusetts and the state troopers here don't even bat an eye at people going 75, even 80, in a 65. Everyone and their grandmother drives 10 miles over the limit here

Even Icoyar makes his mom drive him 10 miles over on the way to Gamestop.

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Depending on whether or not there's more to the story (doubt it, but maybe), yeah that sounds pretty bs.
If he has insurance (and can easily prove it, like you say) but doesn't have the paper in his car, you'd think the first instance would be a warning or at worst a ticket. Not getting fucking towed.

reason posted...

Keep your insurance card in your car. Simple as that. It's not the cop's responsibility to look up your documents. Just depends on the cop, though. Maybe he'd already done it a few times that day for other people and your buddy caught him at a bad time? Who knows?!

While it's possible that's why, it's not at all an excuse and one would hope the traffic court judge would throw this out once he goes there.

they

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Far-Queue posted...

Bullshit. I live in Massachusetts and the state troopers here don't even bat an eye at people going 75, even 80, in a 65. Everyone and their grandmother drives 10 miles over the limit here

When I say 2 it means 12 because arent we allowed a 10mph buffer? So if I had said 6, it wouldve been 16.

I can tell you it was 3 years ago, and it was down the back roads in the SW tip of the state. Back then I commuted from Albany to Hartford(seriously) for work, and would take the back roads. Was 30min longer than taking the highway but I saved money and it was beautiful.

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Breaking News: Posters on PotD can't keep their stories straight.

Zangulus posted...

I'm suspicious they towed his car over not being able to show a paper copy. That sounds like bullshit to me.

My initial thoughts exactly. But its Connecticut and I googled it. At least I can learn from his mistakes.

Update: I took him to get his car. Cost him $200 from the impound. Now hes treating me to food.

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Zangulus posted...

Where did you find such information? It also doesnt explain why he was pulled over in the first place.

Not having car insurance and not being able to prove that you have it are two different violations. If you have insurance but cannot prove it when you get pulled over or at the scene of an accident, you are guilty of an administrative violation, similar to a seat-belt ticket. Your citation will not be dismissed even if you can provide the court with proof of valid insurance for the date of the citation. Driving without car insurance at all is much more serious, and the penalties are more severe. In addition to the legal consequences, you can also expect your car insurance premium to go up. A single conviction for driving without insurance raises annual premiums by an average of 12%, or $235, in Connecticut.

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I have it on on the app on my phone. I guess I have to print it out, too. Sounds like a dick cop.

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there's no reason for them to have impounded the vehicle

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HornedLion posted...

If you have insurance but cannot prove it when you get pulled over or at the scene of an accident, you are guilty of an administrative violation, similar to a seat-belt ticket. Your citation will not be dismissed even if you can provide the court with proof of valid insurance for the date of the citation.

What the fucking fuck?! That's ludicrous! And that comparison is insulting.
Someone w/o proof of insurance on hand at the moment who does have it...still have coverage for the accident/incident.
Someone not wearing their seat belt at the moment...is a projectile. No matter how much they wear it prior to or after (if there is an after) the accident they weren't.

That's such a fucking idiotic relation to make!

No wonder lightning boy hates that state.

streamofthesky posted...

What the fucking fuck?! That's ludicrous! And that comparison is insulting.
Someone w/o proof of insurance on hand at the moment who does have it...still have coverage for the accident/incident.
Someone not wearing their seat belt at the moment...is a projectile. No matter how much they wear it prior to or after (if there is an after) the accident they weren't.

That's such a fucking idiotic relation to make!

No wonder lightning boy hates that state.

That is pretty standard in states that require car insurance. In NY, even if your insurance is 100% "paperless", they still have to mail you 2 copies of your proof of insurance every 6 months because the state requires it. You can have it on your phone, but technically that is not valid proof according to the state.

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Dikitain posted...

That is pretty standard in states that require car insurance. In NY, even if your insurance is 100% "paperless", they still have to mail you 2 copies of your proof of insurance every 6 months because the state requires it. You can have it on your phone, but technically that is not valid proof according to the state.

The state thing is true. My app even tells me that my insurance can be used electronically in my state. But it may not work for other states. Which is dumb. But whatever... Fuck those states, I guess...
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My insurance said I could just have it on my phone, I didn't believe them, I printed out a hard copy.....glad I didn't.

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Zangulus posted...

So, where does that say towing is a valid response?

It doesnt. Its an administrative citation. They dont tow for administrative citations.

His tags were expired.


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HornedLion posted...

His tags were expired.

Kind of a big fucking difference.

Zangulus posted...

So he wasnt towed for not having his insurance papers.

I was going to say, I never said thats why they towed him. But I reread the original post and I can see how you got that idea.

The expired tags werent the interesting part of the story. Its the insurance thing.

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It's a racket here. Current tags and insurance, my car was towed from in front of its registered address because I didn't move it often enough so it was "abandoned". I redeemed it the next day, otherwise I couldn't have afforded the exorbitant "storage" fees.

The city impound yard isn't marked "impound", it has a big sign "Auto Auction". I understand that the city makes quite a bit of money on predatory "Parking Enforcement" , a favorite hunting ground is the old town area where many people walk to work and leave their cars vulnerable.


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I keep mine in my glove box and the police here can verify by running the plate.

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