Okay, I was driving on no.3, heading towards the Richmond Public Market. I see in the rear-view mirror a police cruiser doing a U-turn with signals and stuff, I knew that he was after me for no front license plate.

I AM FROM ALBERTA, so no problem, I pull over, and ask why they pulled me over...

They tell me I had no front license plate, but now they see that I am from Alberta, so it's fine. They then suddenly tell me my clear corners are illegal...

HERE ARE THE OFFENCES:
UNAUTHORIZED LAMP (FRONT/SIDE MARKER LAMP) $81

NO FRONT OR SIDE AMBER REFLECTOR $109

I have not heard of anyone getting pulled over for having clear corners on their RX-8, especially since I have the stock AMBER bulbs in my RX-8.

Need help, what can I do? How do I dispute it? Since I will be leaving Vancouver next weekend...It seems to me that they just gave me a ticket, because they had pulled me over already...



This is what I found in the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations link posted on Revscene...

Side-marker lamps

4.12 (1) A vehicle may be equipped with

(a) 2 side-marker lamps, mounted on each side of the vehicle near the front, that are capable of displaying only white or AMBER light, and

(b) 2 side-marker lamps, mounted on each side of the vehicle near the rear, that are capable of displaying only amber or red light.


Basically I need to know how do I dispute the ticket (since I find it ridiculous to be fined nearly 200 dollars for having clear corners), if I'm leaving Vancouver soon (Sept 8th)?

 

I'd go to court and fight it. I used to be in law enforcement in VA and when I was off duty cops would f..k with me in my integra. They would back off once I showed them my badge....**** used to **** me off. I always wished they would write me a ticket so I could make them look stupid in court. Cops in Va pull all kinds of $#!+ knowing very well they are just f...king with ppl in hopes they won't show up in court an just pay the fine. Tint is one thing that burns me up. I know several cops who have tint on their own vehicles that is so dark you can't even see into the car on the sunniest day. I always ask how many ppl have they stopped lately. Two things to keep in mind are you're from out of town and it is the end of the month.....they probably haven't met their quota. I would take the info you found and plead your case. I would also take pics to court showing the white/amber bulbs while they were on.

Good luck.........

 

Freak'n cops with nothing better to do...

 

Richmond is notorious for cops being picky about car mods because it's the rice capital of western canada. Good luck with the duspute.

 

If the following is really what applies:

This is what I found in the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations link posted on Revscene...

Side-marker lamps

4.12 (1) A vehicle may be equipped with

(a) 2 side-marker lamps, mounted on each side of the vehicle near the front, that are capable of displaying only white or AMBER light, and

(b) 2 side-marker lamps, mounted on each side of the vehicle near the rear, that are capable of displaying only amber or red light.

Then I think you're okay. I would fight it. Let's be clear....
1.) No where does it say you need amber reflectors.
2.) You said you have amber bulbs in there, so I don't think they have a case.

Is that what you're thinking?

 

You can get off the first charge because as you stated you have amber bulbs but as for the second charge, because you have clear corners there is no front or side amber reflector. All in all this is a bullshit charge, i would go to court definately with this one. They will probably throw both charges out.

 

It's end of the month quota time. Gotta git that ticket count up to show that they are doing something other than visiting the local Timmies.

 

Yes thanks for all the support.
Basically I THINK and BELIEVE they are just trying to screw me, since I am from out of province, Alberta, and this ticket is from British Columbia. They probably think I will not/cannot dispute since the ticket since I will leave soon and return to Alberta (meaning I can't attend a court date). However, I am hearing from locals that it is possible to get the ticket thrown out, without even needing to dispute it.

I am just waiting for someone to contact me and tell me how I can do this. Hopefully, I can get out of this before I leave British Columbia.

 

I totally agree with you on the second charge, they MIGHT have some grounds.
BUT, first of all I do not see anywhere on the BC Motor Vehicle Act Regulations that a car must have a reflector anywhere.

Secondly, the "reflector" is ALWAYS internally lit by the bulb at nighttime...So, how is it a reflector? The ONLY possible time it will act as a reflector, would be during the daytime.

 

First Offence:
Unauthorized Lamp (front/side marker lamp), MVAR, section 4.02(1)

Here it is quoted from the MVAR...
4.02 (1) A vehicle on a highway must only be equipped with and use lamps, reflectors or other illuminating devices authorized by this Division or authorized in writing by the director.

The officer said my side marker lamps were illegal because the light they were producing were "white", even though it is clearly amber and I had told him so...

Here is the line in MVAR regarding side marker lamps...
Side-marker lamps

4.12 (1) A vehicle may be equipped with

(a) 2 side-marker lamps, mounted on each side of the vehicle near the front, that are capable of displaying only WHITE or AMBER light, and

Basically, even IF my lights really were WHITE and not AMBER, they would still be legal. And BTW, I wasn't on a highway, I was on no.3 rd...near Landsdowne Mall...


Second offence:
No Front Or Side Amber Reflector, MVAR, Section 4.21(3)

Here it is quoted from MVAR...
4.21 (3) Only amber reflectors may be mounted on the front or side of a vehicle.

First of all, the officer is talking about the very same thing from the first offence. That my side marker LAMP housing was clear instead of the factory orange, it was no longer reflecting . SO IF IT IS NO LONGER REFLECTING, how did I mount an illegal reflector on my car?? Nowhere does it say I cannot remove a reflector.

Secondly, this "reflector" is ALWAYS internally lit at night, by the bulb. So how is it a reflector? And even in the first offence he says its a LAMP.

Thirdly, nowhere in the MVAR does it state a car MUST have reflectors on the front or side of a car.

THE ONLY vehicles that MUST have it are this...
4.21 (5) A vehicle with an overall width of 2.05 m or more, or a trailer or semitrailer having a gross weight in excess of 1 400 kg, must be equipped with at least...

 

I got pulled over for speeding by the Toronto cops earlier this month. Instead of giving me speeding ticket he gave me a ticket for not having a front licence plate and another one for for not having my insurance slip with me. It had expired and I'd forgotten to put the new one in my wallet. In Toronto you can no longer plead not guilty by mail instead you have to do it in person. So I went to the court office and met with the prosecutor she asked me to show the insurance slip. I showed her the insurance slip and a cellphone picture of front licence plate properly mounted (the cop was the one who suggested I do this) and she told me that was it, both charges were dropped.
So I suggest you take a picture of your side markers with the lights on so they glow orange and go plead not guilty in person, show it to the prosecutor and hopefully the charges will be dropped on the spot rather than waiting to do it in court.
Incidentally I also have clear corners but the cop didn't mention anything about that.

 

Don't the clear corners still have reflectors in them??

And BTW, you have orange in your front headlamps as well, unless you removed those.

Go to the nearest MV branch and dispute it.

He prolly won't even show up

 

Well, many people have said that they are illegal, and a few have said they are legal.

I see tons of people with clear corners, legit bulbs or not on various different cars in Vancouver/Richmond, I guess I was just unlucky.

And my headlights are stock. So the amber reflectors are in there, but you cannot see them from the side view.

 

The problem with disputing is that I am going back to Calgary, Alberta next weekend. This happened in Richmond, BC.

 

eww I live in Richmond.. haven't attracted any tickets yet... now I'm scared ahaha.

I did ask about the clear corners at the richmond mazda dealer awhile back and the parts/service department dude told me it was perfectly legal to have the clear plastic, so long as you're using an amber bulb.. (which makes sense) so this sounds pretty rediculous to me =/.

 

I've disputed bs tickets before and if the dipute date was more than a few months after the ticket was issued the cop always notified that they wouldn't show up to court. I guess after a while they just forget about the incident and don't want to go throught the hassle. Another thing that I've heard other people do is change the date around a few times so it will mess with the cops schedule therefore they won't show up.

 

Cool, thanks for the heads up. I will try and do that and arrange for a time that I can show up, possibly during my winter break from Uni or something. That's if all else fails and I do have to dispute.

 

I have heard from my friend's that Vancouver Honda dealers also say the same thing about this, and they carry clear corners in their parts department!

 

I don't know about Canada, but I know the US has something where you can request to have the case sent to a local court. I'd suggest looking up that aspect to see what your options are.