Transportation and Vehicle Safety: cvc 22349 B, speed violation, traffic stop

Question
First thing the officer said was he pulled me over for the tinting on my drivers door.  He then said do I know the speed limit of the highway I was traveling on.  I told him 55. He said clocked you at 67 mph. He took all of my info. and went to his car and returned with my ticket. After signing my ticket he told me he was giving me a warning on the tinting and told me to get it corrected. I just looked at my speed prior to him passing me because another SUV officer just passed me less than a quarter of a mile before the cruiser passed me. I know I was doing 60 mph. ? He said he pulled me over for tinting and then gives me a ticket. Is this standard practice? Thanks

Answer
Hello Patrick and welcome to AllExperts!

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner as I have been out of town.

It sounds like the officer intended to stop you for both the tinting and the speed violation, based on your his first conversation with you. It was also most likely your tinting that caught his attention first, which was why he had given that as a reason for the stop before the speed related one.

In so far as protocol goes for traffic related violations, all an officer needs to conduct a traffic stop is having what is known as probable cause to believe that an infraction had been committed in his/her presence (observed) and that you as a driver committed the act.

The officer has the authority to decide if the driver will ultimately be cited or not for any one or more of the observed violations. It is permissible to give warnings on some and citations on others. Also, the principle violation that first caught their attention has no more weight, priority or importance than other violations observed afterwards. This means that they can give a warning on the first violation seen, tinting in your case, and issue a citation for another violations observed afterwards, or speeding in your case.

Often, if an officer chooses to give a citation, it will be on the more serious violation, as was in your case.

I am very sorrow to be the bearer of bad news Patrick, but the traffic stop and subsequent citation issued to you is not only legal, but fully within the protocol of acceptable practices. I would recommend traffic school to have this removed from your record if you qualify for it.

I do wish you good luck Patrick. Try to have a better day!

Terry