urbanMSP

http://m.startribune.com/minneapolis-po ... 567406922/

I worry this may be well intentioned, but wrong. Drivers are responsible for operating their vehicles safely. That includes keeping their vehicles in safe working order.

What's the problem? MPD will still pull over vehicles with equipment violations, they just won't give them a ticket that potentially adds a financial burden.

This is an attempt to get ahead of efforts to end these stops entirely, on the basis that these stops are more often pretexts by police to detain and investigate someone they find suspicious, often on grounds that would otherwise be impermissible (esp. bias). I don't see those advocates finding this to be a real or workable solution to that problem.

Yeah, my issue with this is that it doesn't stop the practice of using minor equipment infractions as an excuse to pull somebody over and check for major violations.

Several years ago a Park Police officer followed me on the River Parkway all the way from downtown to Lake Street at about 11 pm, and then pulled me over to cite me for a tail light. Really, he was fishing for a drunk driver and was sorely disappointed that I (1) had only had coffee and pie that evening; and (2) had a wife and young daughter in the car with me. So he actually issued the taillight violation, which they erased when I went downtown and showed the receipt for the replaced bulb. But the whole thing had been trumped up by an officer fishing for a drunk.

If he was *actually* concerned about my taillight, he would have flashed his lights right away and simply *told* me that my taillight was out, which I of course didn't know.

We all know they do it, and that they do it disproportionately to people of color - my experience was so memorable to me precisely because it's the only time I've been on the receiving end of it, but POC get it all the time.

So anyway, I think this may actually make it worse - if they don't actually have to issue the citation to justify the stop, they have even *more* leeway to randomly pull people over like this. At the least, it's not addressing the real issue - which is that minor excuses are used as a way of looking for major things, and the brunt of that falls disproportionately on those that the police see as their most likely targets.

Just to be clear they don't actually have to issue the citation to justify the stop. It is at their discretion. Yes, it absolutely is a fishing expedition far too often, but this at least moves things in the right way and takes away a financial burden that is unnecessary. Especially since most people are unaware when they have a light out.

Taillights being out is totally a proxy for profiling drivers. That said, I'm more concerned about the high propensity for drivers to neglect turning their lights on in precipitation or dark these days. Imperfect solution but hopefully this cuts down on "driving while [skin color]" violations.

I'm more concerned about the high propensity for drivers to neglect turning their lights on in precipitation or dark these days.

I feel like I used to see this once or twice per year, but now I see it once or twice per day.

It's because people think DRLs are sufficient for night and/or they think their car turns on nighttime lights automatically.

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If you've ever watched LivePD it's pretty amazing the correlation between "burnt out tag light" and one, some, or all of the following:

Stolen and/or illegally carried gun
Narcotics
Bad or No License'
No Insurance
Bench Warrant

I don't care a whole lot about if they actually write tickets for equipment violations as long as they're continuing to get the bad stuff off the streets. Except apparently taxpayers are now going to pay shop rates for changing a light bulb instead of drivers just being responsible to spend a couple of dollars at Walmart or Target or the auto parts store.

Storytime: My sister's one of those people that know absolutely nothing about cars, she drove around for years with only her DRLs. She'd get into the car and turn the light switch one notch- the dashboard lights would go on and she could see white light in front. (She also has no idea what those numbers are for on her transmission). Then one night I was the driver I clicked the switch and extra notch and she was astounded by how bright it was...

Our laissez-faire driver education system is the pride of libertarian efforts to minimize the nanny state.

Due process is such an inconvenience...

It's because people think DRLs are sufficient for night and/or they think their car turns on nighttime lights automatically.

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IN my case, it's training another driver not to turn off the vehicle from auto setting.

I'm interested in the proposal to ban the parking of commercial trucks overnight on city streets (or is it just residential neighborhoods?)