Quote:Originally Posted by Jalopnik

A Maryland judge issued an $85 fine to the owner of a Pontiac G8 GT for illegal tail lights, despite being factory-installed and approved by the US Department of Transportation. She's promised to keep fining him. Judicial activism, FTL!

Forum member "jackalope" at G8Board.com was ticketed by a Maryland officer who claimed he was sporting illegal tail lights. After amassing a healthy amount of evidence proving he hadn't modified his car and it was approved for sale by the Department of Transportation, he went to court confident the ticket would be dismissed, only to find the contrary. We'll let him tell you how it all went down:

Quote:Originally Posted by G8Forum Member
Went to court for my clear tail lights on my car and was found guilty!

The judge actualy told me she didn't care what the manufacturer said, what the federal govt said, what the DOT # stamped onto my taillights said if the officer says my lights aren't legal then they're not legal. I took the G8 sales brochure in along with pics of my car and other G8 GT's and the VIN trace by 3 different dealers saying my lights were factory none of it mattered she found me guilty of failing to display or reflect red light on the rear of the car. Didn't matter the reflecters were in the bumper, didn't matter where the light is has that little red circle, the whole lens isn't red so they're not legal. Also where the back-up and turn signals are should be the reflectors according to the cop so the V6 cars lights aren't legal either.

Judge stupid went on to tell me that maybe I should consider trading in or selling the car since its not legal in MD and that I'm going to continue to get the $60 tickets till I get rid of the car.

So I contacted Pontiac's 1-800 # and I have an apt next friday to have my car looked at by them and see if they can help or at least repay me the $85.50 fine and court costs.

I honestly don't know what else I can do. The cop was ALL smiles afterwards and winked at me! WTF! Now I'm screwed! How do I go to work now? I drive right thru where he works!! So this ass nuget can make up **** randomly for any car he gets a hard on for and nothing can be done to fight it!

This is BS.
The problem centers around the clear lens tail lights and bumper-mounted reflectors of the Pontiac G8 GT model. Because the red area in the lenses is reduced in the G8 GT, there are reflectors mounted in the bumper to reflect additional light and bring the reflective requirements into spec. Th officer and by extension the judge considered them illegal.

Now, we can understand Mr. Jackalope's momentary lack of respect for the legal system above ÔÇö this is B.S., but he's got legitimate cause to be pissed. He bought a car he assumed to fall within the operations laws of all states and which was in reality approved for nationwide sale by the government. According to the Judge, the opinion of an Officer of the Law supersedes what the Federal government approved for sale and the design somehow doesn't jive with what the State of Maryland considers legal.

One of the other forum members has offered up legal service to fight the fine, but it makes us wonder if all the G8 GT drivers in Maryland now have something to worry about. Should motorists who've bought a car approved by the Federal government be worried about being arbitrarily fined by a Judge who seems to side with the opinion of an officer over the law. [G8Board thread]

V1GiLaNtE Wrote:oh don't even start that BS.. kidding or not

Kaan Wrote:ROFL... i promise he hates MD a little more this morning.

Quote:On Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 9:39 AM, Changyi Tan <dumbshit@dumbass.com> wrote:

Rex,

I just want to let you know the cost list.

(1) What I have paid:
(a) Reverse light switch $123 (part and labor)
(b) Inspection $68
© Insurance $386.60 (Geico 6 months, started from July 12)
(2) What I will pay:
(d) tax (6% in MD) $180
(e) two tire replacement $140 (estimated)
(f) registration and plate $128

I know most of the cost has nothing to do with you, but the (a) and (e) are definitely related to you if you farely think about it. And I already started my insurance, but I still can not drive it.

You are a good guy, hope you will do good to me.

Thanks.

A Thoroughly Pissed Off Rex Wrote:Changyi,

You misunderstand. None of those costs are related to me. You bought a 5 year old car with a 112,000 miles on the odometer that was by (not only my estimation) in excellent shape for it's age and mileage. You understood (or should have understood) when you purchased the car that it was as-is, where is, with no warranty expressed or implied. (As I reiterated in a previous email.) Having bought and sold many cars in my life, if $3,263 dollars gets you a reliable fuel efficient automobile, you should be pleased. If you wanted a warranty, there are many reputable car dealers that sell brand new cars with factory warranties. They do not, however, sell them for $3,263 dollars.

1(a): You had ample opportunity to inspect the car before purchase. You even in fact inspected all the lights, as you saw me drive it. I tried to give you room so as not to pressure you, and I think I did an excellent job. If you do not have the expertise to properly inspect a car before sale, you should find someone who does. I would have happily allowed you to take the car to a mechanic for an inspection; you never brought it up, so I assume you elected not to do so.
1(b): This is a sunk cost. In VA, we have to inspect every year, to the tune of 20 dollars. You only have the hassle of inspection once.
1©: Again, this is a sunk cost. Unavoidable. Although it sounds a little on the high side. You may want to shop around.
2(d): Only two things in life are sure: Death and Taxes. 6% actually sounds reasonable, although there's lots of room for discussion on the constitutionality of a second-sale sales tax. Sleep easy knowing I paid ALOT more tax when I purchased the car myself.
2(e): I would like to again refer you to 1(a): You had plenty of time to inspect the automobile, and there is plenty of documentation on how to properly inspect an automobile. Furthermore, you do not HAVE to replace the tires, as your car is inspected in Maryland (See 2(b)) and will not incur another inspection while owned by you in the State of Maryland.
2(f): See 1(b), 1©, 2(d).

So, as you can see, none of these costs are related to me in any way. They are related to your car, which you purchased. The reason you cannot drive it, once again, has nothing to do with me, but has everything to do with your desire to save tax money. If you paid the minimum tax based on book value, you could drive your car today, I suspect. This is your choice, not mine. I do not live in Maryland, and have not lived in Maryland for quite some time, and never bought a car in Maryland. I did not know that a notarized bill of sale would be required by the State of Maryland, and we don't exactly have notaries on every corner here in Virginia. I will try to get a notarized bill of sale as soon as possible, but I am not a college student, and do not have abundant time to try and hunt down a notary.

Changyi, I have tried to do right by you. Many of my friends to whom I have described this situation have said that I should tell you to "pound sand". I'm a nice guy. If I weren't, I could itemize all the time post-sale I've spent dealing with issues that are not my responsibility (see 1a-2f) and my "non professional" billing rates tend towards ~$75 an hour.

This will be our last communication. I will mail you the notarized bill of sale (in the amount of $3000 dollars) but apart of confirmation or receipt of that (which I do not actually require, I will be mailing it with signature confirmation) I do not wish to receive any further communication from you nor will your unsolicited emails or phone calls be responded to. I'm sorry it has to come with this, but you clearly have unrealistic expectations that are in need of adjustment, and any further responses from me will only increase my liability.

Best Regards,

Rex