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From: Jim Sovie (no email)
Date: Mon Dec 17 2001 - 11:16:27 EST
A few years ago while driving a truck I got a ticket in Barstow, CA because
my fog lights 'blinded' the oncoming officer.
I went to court, and asked the officer while he was on the stand if my
headlights were OK. He said "Yes, but that wasn't why I cited you". I
asked him if my truck had been loaded (a point of contention at the time he
stopped me) and he said "Yes, in fact if we had been near a scale, I would
have had you go there to see if you were overloaded".
I then had him read from the current DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles
'bible') the section on headlight adjustment, which stated that the
headlights are adjusted under a "FULLY-LOADED" condition. Again, he said
that was not what I was cited for.
I then had him read the section on adjusting fog lights, which reads
"Adjusted under a NO-LOAD condition". At that point, both the officer and,
a few minutes later the jury, decided that I had, in fact, obeyed the laws.
The 6-person jury (which, btw, included the officer's mother) found me not
guilty.
I felt pretty good until the judge decided that "while you may have followed
the letter of the law, you certainly did not follow the spirit. If you knew
the law was wrong, you should not have followed it - I hereby reverse the
decision of the jury, and find you guilty".
It took me six months to get through an appeal, but it was worth it to have
the judge's decision reversed. But it served as a strong lesson to me that
in the eyes of the law, common sense sometimes doesn't stand a chance -
either during the writing or the enforcement.
But then, when I remember that just a couple of years later a vote that
ended with only one more nay than yea prevented the passing of a law in this
state that would have required the use of seatbelts on motorcycles, it
reminds me that the people doing the writing are quite possibly totally
ignorant of the subject of their labor.
BTW - the headlight and foglight adjustment procedures remain unchanged,
still conflicting with each other.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Goodwin" <>
To: "LiveAboard List" <>
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2001 7:10 AM
Subject: Re: lv-ab: Anchor Watch
> There are many laws, some well-meaning but ignorant, and some just plain
> mean-spirited, that if you obey them will lead you to into situations
> that are more dangerous or restrictive than they need to be, with no
> benefit to anyone, and possible harm to you.
>
> I join in spirit and sometimes in deed with those countless individuals
> throughout history who have viewed civil disobedience as a
> responsibility of those who aspire to live in freedom.
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