Slashdot Mirror
Can You Buy a License To Speed In California?
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: "Alex Mayyasi reports that in the parking lots of Silicon Valley's venture capital firms, expensive cars gleam in the California sun and a closer look reveals that the cars share a mysterious detail: they nearly all have a custom license plate frame that reads, 'Member. 11-99 Foundation.' Are the Bay Area's wealthy all part of some sort of illuminati group that identifies each other by license plate instead of secret handshakes? The answer is the state highway patrol — the men and women that most people interact with only when getting ticketed for speeding. A number of the frames read 'CHP 11-99 Foundation,' which is the full name of a charitable organization that supports California Highway Patrol officers and their families in times of crisis. Donors receive one license plate as part of a $2,500 'Classic' level donation, or two as part of a bronze, silver, or gold level donation of $5,000, $10,000, or $25,000. Rumor has it, according to Mayyasi, that the license plate frames come with a lucrative return on investment. As one member of a Mercedes-Benz owners community wrote online back in 2002: 'I have the ultimate speeding ticket solution. I paid $1800 for a lifetime membership into the 11-99 foundation. My only goal was to get the infamous 'get out of jail' free license plate frame.'
The 11-99 Foundation has sold license plate frames for most of its 32 year existence, and drivers have been aware of the potential benefits since at least the late 1990s. But attention to the issue in 2006-2008 led the foundation to stop giving out the frames. An article in the LA Times asked 'Can Drivers Buy CHP Leniency?' and began by describing a young man zipping around traffic — including a police cruiser — and telling the Times that he believed his 11-99 frames kept him from receiving a ticket. But the decision was almost irrelevant to another thriving market: the production and sale of fake 11-99 license plate frames. But wait — the CHP 11-99 Foundation also gives out membership cards to big donors. 'Unless you have the I.D. in hand when (not if) I stop you,' says one cop, 'no love will be shown.'"
The 11-99 Foundation has sold license plate frames for most of its 32 year existence, and drivers have been aware of the potential benefits since at least the late 1990s. But attention to the issue in 2006-2008 led the foundation to stop giving out the frames. An article in the LA Times asked 'Can Drivers Buy CHP Leniency?' and began by describing a young man zipping around traffic — including a police cruiser — and telling the Times that he believed his 11-99 frames kept him from receiving a ticket. But the decision was almost irrelevant to another thriving market: the production and sale of fake 11-99 license plate frames. But wait — the CHP 11-99 Foundation also gives out membership cards to big donors. 'Unless you have the I.D. in hand when (not if) I stop you,' says one cop, 'no love will be shown.'"
Heh, in AZ you can buy a specialized, state issued 'honoring fallen officers' license plate-- with similar effects.
I have the very special CHP 11/99 "Gold" plate, gets me off for up to 5 vehicular homicides.
Well... If you can do it with congressmen and senators, then of course you can do it with lower-level stateworkers.
-ubuntu others as you would have others ubuntu you.
'Unless you have the I.D. in hand when (not if) I stop you,' says one cop, 'no love will be shown.'"
So what he is saying is you DO get love (aka get out of jail free) if you show the card.
On most of the east coast, you'd better make sure to hand your PBA card over to the officer when he asks for your registration.
It's the same as handing $20 to the check-in clerk in Vegas with your ID.
It's the cops extorting money. It's not just speeding. This creates the appearance that, if you do not buy the membership, you'll be stopped and shown absolutely no mercy, and may even have charges trumped up against you - or otherwise be punished.
This is tantamount to soliciting bribes.
But here's the thing. If I pull you over and you have one of our public servant honor tags, you're still getting a ticket for whatever I pulled you over for. In fact, I am less likely to let you go, because of the appearance of impropriety created by these tags. I get a lot more "by the book" when someone starts flashing special tags and membership cards at me.
The problem is simple.
Unlike in Sweden or Norway, where your ticket depends on your income, the fine is a small amount to a billionaire.
And that billionaire will make the arresting cop's life miserable and throw lawyers at the "case" like confetti.
It takes a brave police officer to stand up to pressure like that, high risk, low reward, no chance of promotion or contract work ever after you're blacklisted for off-duty security work on all the top tech campus and party locations.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
This is what speed cameras are for.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Look the other way here, please. California is a key source for organ donations.
As the Chinese like to say, "Don't break your brother's rice bowl."
We should learn what we need to know about issues, before we decide what we need to feel about them.
I'm sure that seemed like a stinging political commentary in your head.
As a middle-class American I don't see either the Democrats or the Republicans doing anything for average American families. Or should I only care about the welfare of the "little people" until I become one myself?
That's a dumb comment for the 2014 US, because it's like money equaling free speech.
You are free to spend up to $10k to be above the law, in the same way that you are free to spend millions to get your favorite congressman elected.
Don't blame the rich for doing something advantageous, blame the idiotic "little people" for not participating too.
Thanks to living in the Land Of The Free, they are allowed to!
there is the Fraternal Brotherhood of Police, which would give out stickers to place in your back window. Rumor was that it would cause police throughout the state to be more... forgiving... in the cases of traffic violations.
Similarly, it's been known for years in San Diego County that a $5000 donation to the Sheriff's election fund will get you a concealed weapon permit, should you want one. The folks that are delusional are those that believe that the United States is less corrupt than any other society. They are all a reflection of humans, who are inherently flawed.
Around here, it's supposedly the FOP badges and/or stickers that help. Or it's the parking lot stickers for the local hospitals. Or it's the toll road transponders. Or it's being the next-to-last person in a cluster. Or it's being in the left lane. Or it's matching speed with the other speeders around you.
It's just like gambling. Everyone has their system that they think works, and nobody's ever done research to actually check if the statistics hold. Somebody sees a pattern and they think it's just so good that it must be right.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
I see you're a traveling man, said the patrolman who pulled my friend and I over in his father's "Mason-marked" truck in Mississippi, You boys go ahead on.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
There is a reason for all the different colors of license plates. You used to be able to say that you could tell the changing seasons by the changing colors ... of the license plates. There are so many out-of-state visitors during the winter that it used to be easy to tell the snowbirds from the residents.
Probably someone decided that the snowbirds were either getting picked on or getting preferential treatment, so lots of colors of AZ plates were made. As a bonus, more money comes in!!
Did you know that AZ has very short winters? Last year it was on a Tuesday.
Great civilizations have lived and died on false theories. Don't mess up mine with a few facts.
Saint Jobs just drove around without a license plate.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
You also might want to donate yearly to PORAC. They have this nice little sticker they send you that has had truly amazing results for me in the past. I think my favorite was when a CHP officer rolls up next to me, gets on his PA and says "The speed laws are for everyone." Not that it always got me out of tickets. Sometimes I would get a ticket for the posted speed limit plus five mph and a plus sign next to it. You just go ahead and pay that by writing in a plea of "Guilty/Traffic School".
Then I would do online traffic school where all you really end up doing is taking the standard written drivers test again. I think they closed that hole. I once did traffic school three times in one year. I laughed because right after that my insurance company wrote me a letter telling me that I was entitled to a "good driver's discount".
I'm not really extremely wealthy or anything, but I think I may just get one of these bronze hookups for my RX8. :)
Never drive like a complete maniac however. Police are not tolerant of reckless no matter how much money you throw at their orgs.
'Unless you have the I.D. in hand when (not if) I stop you,' says one cop, 'no love will be shown.'
It is a shame that they didn't name that cop. This is pretty much confirmation that everything accused is going on. Goes on in other states too, often with metal "Sheriff's Association Donor" badges that are attached to cars. What a shock that there is little respect for law enforcement any more.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Since there's no cash contribution backing it up it don't expect it to get you very far. Remember, always ask "what's in this individual's best interests"? Then make your decision from there.
It pays to invest money and time volunteering for the re-election campaigns of officials who will have a direct impact on your business and private affairs.
Expecting a divorce with a major custody fight? Prepare now by volunteering for CASA. Network with judges and lawyers while creating the impression of what kind of outstanding and caring individual you are.
Expecting major surgery in the coming year? Start ratcheting up on donations to your local non-profit hospital where the surgery will take place. Not just so physicians will work harder to provide quality care, but you'll be less likely to have any BS from the billing department. Out of network services suddenly billed at in-network rates with the swish of a pen.
When regulators come around your business, always mention that you're hiring and ask if they know anyone with such-and-such skills or experience. If they refer you a close friend or relative, hire that person on the spot.
And the number one rule of business: always take decision-makers out to lunch and pay for their meal.
It is that kind of thinking right there that pretty much guarantees there will be no F&F nine and ten.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Poor people who can't afford to piss away that kind of cash are the only ones who are going to get snotty about it... they also don't understand how the real world works.
In the real world, if you get a ticket: You hire an attorney for $100 (I work for such an attorney), pay the ticketed fine to the courts and the rest of the ticket goes away. It's turned into a parking violation (no points, no insurance, no nothing). There is a batch processing system @ the courts to specifically deal with people who hire recognized law firms.
In other words, you don't need to pay $5K to get out of your ticket, just hire an attorney pay the $100 + fine (like $300 total in CA) and stop fuckin' whining.
-AC
Get a "Bad Cop/No Donut" bumper sticker, a LOT of cameras, drive the speed limit, and enjoy the eventual civil rights lawsuit.
I have to say that among most of the states in which I've driven, California cops seem to be the most lenient. And by that, I mean; California has some high-limit roads... 70, 75. Actual average speeds are more like 80-85 on these highways. Some other states seem to be stuck at 55 for most roads, and their cops seem to be real assholes about driving more than 5 over. (specifically, Utah, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, where I've either been a driver or passenger in a car getting pulled over).
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
If it can be proven that owners of these plates were given leniency against speeding and moving violations then every person who has ever received a ticket in California during this class period should be able to sue to recover their costs for ticket fines.
....is that I need to start forging the ID cards, too. Cool. I'm on it.
But wait â" the CHP 11-99 Foundation also gives out membership cards to big donors. 'Unless you have the I.D. in hand when (not if) I stop you,' says one cop, 'no love will be shown.'"
On the other hand, if you have a US DoJ ID and the cop says, "No 11-99 ID, no leniency", he goes to Club Fed and the rest of the department goes under investigation for corruption.
I'm amazed anyone from the CHP was stupid enough to make the above statement.
Have gnu, will travel.
If they refer you a close friend or relative, hire that person on the spot.
This can backfire, if their friend or relative turns out to be a terrible employee, and your business incurs the expense of paying them with little benefit and perhaps net harm...
Don't forget your yellow ribbon sticker
Yup. How will people know your fella is coming home from jail if you don't have the yellow ribbon?
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
In Montreal we had the VIP parking sticker fiasco. The roads here are too cracked and broken for anyone to speed on them, so instead, we had special stickers so people could park for free.
Mostly random stuff.
Toronto police union tried this, but got shut down within weeks.
davecb@spamcop.net
I know I've read about other countries that do this, and it makes a lot of sense: assess speeding fines according to the driver's income.
The information is readily available via the federal tax agency. People of lesser means are not fined up to what can be several months of income (in some places) and it actually has an effect on wealthy offenders. Rich buggers with Ferraris and Lambos will pay tens of thousands, creating a similar effect on funding without the corruption (or, at least, less)
But that's waaaay too sensible for North America. No, we like our good 'old boy, corrupted crony system.
Been driving for nearly 30 years now and haven't yet encountered a situation that I sincerely felt warranted driving in excess of the limit. I've accidentally gone over the limit on occasion, of course, but I'll usually be driving exactly on it, unless road conditions are bad enough that driving slower is warranted. I also keep lane changes to a minimum, finding whatever lane that I need to be in at the earliest opportunity for me to safely do so, and staying in it until I need to turn.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Yeah autobahns are cool but am I right in thinking that German car insurance has clauses that it becomes invalid over about 90mph?
When I worked in Bavaria some years ago I was told yes you can drive at 100+mph but if you have an accident it could financially ruin your life as at that speed its out of your pocket.
'Unless you have the I.D. in hand when (not if) I stop you,' says one cop, 'no love will be shown.'"
Seems to me that this cop has just admitted that he does in fact practice selective enforcement.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Ummm ... "middle class" = "little people' ... did you think otherwise?
No Inflation Taxation without Representation
Yes, the little people are idiots for not spending the money they'd otherwise waste on things like food and rent on buying themselves privileged treatment. Because that's totally a choice they are stupidly making and not an economic necessity.
-Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
"I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
originally posted on another forum in 2006, it is now 2014. way to go, Slashdot!
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
So America isn't a real country anymore. Frankly, this sort of behaviour is what Banana republics do. Money = above the law is how Russia works, it's how China works. It's not how real countries work. Lift your game America, light on the hill my ass.
Is Free Speech so important to the USA that you can't relinquish it to a 12"x4" piece of metal on your cars?
US plates have always amused me. In the UK car number plates are highly regulated. They have to use a particular typeface, be a specific size, have a yellow background for the rear plate, white on the front, made from certain reflective materials etc. You can't even adjust the letter spacing to make words. If your car is "M35 EXY" you can't change it to "M3 5EXY". There is a market for custom codes but most of these are historic plates that have been transferred from old vehicles and are
more likely to be interesting than codes in the current scheme (I saw a Rolls Royce with plate "BR 2" - my initials - recently).
You've get several hundred square feet to plaster the rest of your car body with messages, so why so precious about your plates?
The unrestricted parts of the autobahn have a advisory speed limit of 130km/h. If you are involved in an accident while travelling faster than that, it greatly increases your risk of being found at fault, depending on how fast your were going.
Going 200+km/h (125mph) basically guarantees that you will be found 100% at fault.
Eat the rich.
It's a little more free-range here. The cops hate everyone else, even the rich, but if you are in their buddy club, you often get to skate.
They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
Are the Bay Area's wealthy all part of some sort of illuminati group that identifies each other by license plate instead of secret handshakes? The answer is the state highway patrol
How can "the state highway patrol" be the answer to a question that starts with "Are..."?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Please send your German police to the US so they can teach the Americans how to fund police departments without allowing them to engage in highway robbery like they currently do.
I'm not too concerned about getting away with minor speeding. I'm more concerned about impartiality in accident reports, and excusing criminally negligent behavior. Is this happening? If so the solution, unfortunately, is 100% recording of traffic from the police vehicle point of view, and removal of all officer discretion.
that's basically a license for speeding.
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
The major motivation for this to facilitate ANPR for stealthly speed cameras.
MAG 1 C
COM 1 C
Some others http://www.platemaster.com/fac...
Whoosh!
I plead Poe's Law.
-Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
"I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
Plea accepted.
I thought I had gone far enough beyond believability on that one.
It says a lot about the state we're in, when even at that level it can be taken seriously.
At least half of the "middle class" should make more than the median income. But we have a lot of laws that provide special protections and subsidies for those with below median incomes, or for those living near or below the poverty line. I just don't think that consumer protections for all should be given such a low priority over helping families in dire need. Even after Obamacare coming into affect, middle class families can end up losing most of their life savings after just one major medical event. The outlook is worse for any family with a member who is chronically or terminally ill. People with moderate incomes are still forced to file divorce against a spouse that they love because otherwise their spouse would not qualify for nursing care assistance. A family that is already receiving food stamps and subsidized housing isn't hardly affected by a $600, $6,000, or $60,0000 hospital or nursing home bill. Just about anyone with below-median income can file chapter 7 bankruptcy and wipe out debt with a fresh clean start. But if a middle class family just barely exceeds median income for their area then the whole family has to pay 100% of their "disposable" income for either five years or until the debt is paid in full. If they have other expenses, like a car or home repair, and if this causes them to fall behind on their five year payment plan, the case can be dismissed, and they will owe the full debt plus interest. This middle class family would be allowed about $700/month to feed a family of four. If both parents work 60 or 70 uncompensated (ie salary) hours each week, then there isn't much time to prepare cheap meals from scratch.
The attitude in government is to either promote industry or to help the destitute. But there are increasingly more risks today to hard working families that can lose everything they've been working for. We should have more policies that protect the present status of middle class families rather than waiting for them to lose everything first before getting any help. Ending the sense of entitlement that hospital administrators have for the net worth of their patient's families would go a long way.
As our society is very litigious compared to most other countries, families are incurring legal expenses over matters that should be dealt with in ways that would be much less expensive. If my ex-wife is dating a registered sex-offender, it should only take a conversation with local law enforcement to halt visitations until the sex-offender is out of the picture. It should not take $30k in legal fees and a couple trips to court.
I could go on about restrictions that prevent families from starting a business, or saving money by doing certain repairs without paying fee after fee for permits, permissions, licenses, etc. for some of the most mundane activities. The middle class has it good - when they can actually keep most of the wealth they generate. But no one is going to bat for the middle class, so we are slowly losing protections we once had, losing freedoms we once had, and are facing greater risks of losing middle class status.