CA Car Destroyed for Mods
06-02-2009, 05:34 PM
#1
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: CA
Posts: 434
CA Car Destroyed for Mods
I have been hearing this for awhile, but it was confirmed to me the other day by a shop I was visiting, and asking about engine swaps. He refused to get near it. He says hes seen cars get smashed for that. Basically from what I understand if you get pulled over and office suspects your engine is not stock, or something along those lines, they impound your car, smog test it or something if you don't pass they smash your car.
He told me how he had a customer with a TT 350z have his car destroyed over it, and after that he won't mess with performance stuff.
I was wondering about what you guys in CA have heard about this. I'm sure someone else here has a better understanding of the law than me.
Here is a story I just found from January
"California: Police Raid Car Enthusiast Gathering, Generate Revenue
Police raid Riverside, California parking lot to issue modified car tickets at local car enthusiast gathering.
Nine police agencies in Riverside, California sent more than one hundred police officers to surround a gathering of automotive enthusiasts. Owners of imported sport compact cars had gathered at the Canyon Crossing shopping center on Friday night to swap stories, talk about their passion for cars and show off the latest enhancements to their rides. At around 11pm police surprised participants by blocking all exits with fifty police cruisers. Officers then began a warrantless search and interrogation operation of the 150 vehicles that were present.
"If you're not into street racing, why would you need that?" Riverside Police Traffic Sergeant Skip Showalter asked an enthusiast during a similar crackdown last year. "Why would you want more power going to your car?"
Police issued a total of forty-eight tickets for "engine modifications" with police accusing the owners of the parked vehicles of being street racers. Another fifty tickets were issued for paperwork violations, dark window tinting and lack of a front license plate. The most revenue, however, will be generated from the fees imposed on twenty vehicles that were confiscated. Despite labeling the parking lot raid as taking place at a "street racing venue," Riverside Police offered no evidence that any street racing actually took place.
Across the state, gas tax funds are regularly used to fund similar crackdowns that generate big revenue. In 2004, the California Highway Patrol issued a total of 101,553 "modified car" citations worth $10.5 million according to CHP data obtained by TheNewspaper.
In 2005, the California Office of Traffic Safety handed Riverside Police $400,000 in state and federal gas tax revenue for the "establishment of a regional task force to conduct enforcement operations targeting street racing, modified vehicles and speed contests," according to the Riverside Police Department's June 2007 Chief's Report. The department received another $503,268 grant for selective enforcement efforts in 2008. The other agencies that participated in the raid include the California Highway Patrol, Riverside County Sheriff's Department, and police from Baldwin Park, Fontana, Irwindale, Moreno Valley, Ontario and Mount San Jacinto Community College."
He told me how he had a customer with a TT 350z have his car destroyed over it, and after that he won't mess with performance stuff.
I was wondering about what you guys in CA have heard about this. I'm sure someone else here has a better understanding of the law than me.
Here is a story I just found from January
"California: Police Raid Car Enthusiast Gathering, Generate Revenue
Police raid Riverside, California parking lot to issue modified car tickets at local car enthusiast gathering.
Nine police agencies in Riverside, California sent more than one hundred police officers to surround a gathering of automotive enthusiasts. Owners of imported sport compact cars had gathered at the Canyon Crossing shopping center on Friday night to swap stories, talk about their passion for cars and show off the latest enhancements to their rides. At around 11pm police surprised participants by blocking all exits with fifty police cruisers. Officers then began a warrantless search and interrogation operation of the 150 vehicles that were present.
"If you're not into street racing, why would you need that?" Riverside Police Traffic Sergeant Skip Showalter asked an enthusiast during a similar crackdown last year. "Why would you want more power going to your car?"
Police issued a total of forty-eight tickets for "engine modifications" with police accusing the owners of the parked vehicles of being street racers. Another fifty tickets were issued for paperwork violations, dark window tinting and lack of a front license plate. The most revenue, however, will be generated from the fees imposed on twenty vehicles that were confiscated. Despite labeling the parking lot raid as taking place at a "street racing venue," Riverside Police offered no evidence that any street racing actually took place.
Across the state, gas tax funds are regularly used to fund similar crackdowns that generate big revenue. In 2004, the California Highway Patrol issued a total of 101,553 "modified car" citations worth $10.5 million according to CHP data obtained by TheNewspaper.
In 2005, the California Office of Traffic Safety handed Riverside Police $400,000 in state and federal gas tax revenue for the "establishment of a regional task force to conduct enforcement operations targeting street racing, modified vehicles and speed contests," according to the Riverside Police Department's June 2007 Chief's Report. The department received another $503,268 grant for selective enforcement efforts in 2008. The other agencies that participated in the raid include the California Highway Patrol, Riverside County Sheriff's Department, and police from Baldwin Park, Fontana, Irwindale, Moreno Valley, Ontario and Mount San Jacinto Community College."
Last edited by ahddm; 06-02-2009 at 05:40 PM.
06-02-2009, 09:09 PM
#4
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 915
"If you're not into street racing, why would you need that?" Easy answer. Because the more power you have, the better it is for show, and the drag strip.
How is this even fair...WHY CANT YOU MOD YOUR OWN CAR?
How is this even fair...WHY CANT YOU MOD YOUR OWN CAR?
06-03-2009, 12:26 AM
#5
Multi-Tasking Moderator!
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Detroit Rock City!
Posts: 15,618
OK I dont like to swear on the net but......Fu-- the police !!!!! Seriously wrong and all of them could file a class action suit against the 100 cops and the Riverside police. I know there is a lawyer in CA that would love to get a hold of this if the citizens would band together and fight this......JMO.....Fu-- cops!
06-03-2009, 04:03 AM
#7
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: CA
Posts: 434
OK I dont like to swear on the net but......Fu-- the police !!!!! Seriously wrong and all of them could file a class action suit against the 100 cops and the Riverside police. I know there is a lawyer in CA that would love to get a hold of this if the citizens would band together and fight this......JMO.....Fu-- cops!
Now basically everyone knows it's probably a cop in a undercover unit and they just want your money. I now never go on it unless I want some food. Modded car on that street will be tailed no matter what. Cops also admit to being racist to Armenians if you talk to them off duty, since we commit most crimes. Funny thing is we are majority in the city so obviously we commit most crimes. But they also have a point lots of the Armenian guys act hard and earn a bad rep for us but still no excuse.
I don't like cops.
Anyone know how cops are around MIT?
Last edited by ahddm; 06-03-2009 at 04:07 AM.
06-03-2009, 11:22 AM
#8
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 343
How is that even remotely ok? This country is becoming a socialist country more and more every second. Nobody has the right to do anything anymore. If I mod my car, that means I MUST street race? Not cruise to car shows, and go the drag strip on wednesday nights? They have NO right to tell you what you can and can not do, and if they do, its called COMMUNISM. This country needs to get its act together and fast or we are all going to be in some trouble, when the whole country just crumbles.
Cali is a messed up state and needs a lot of work as well.
Cali is a messed up state and needs a lot of work as well.
Last edited by bpark8824; 06-03-2009 at 11:25 AM.
06-04-2009, 12:16 AM
#9
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Oceanside CA
Posts: 499
Yeah I got pulled over about a month ago for tent on my front widows. The cop told me it's not legal in CA. " that's cool but I have NY plates so there for I can have it on my front windows" Then he tried to tell me it didn't matter I live in CA. Now heres the best thing about it I don't have a base sticker there for I don't have to go by CA laws. They want me to smog my car to get one and I'm not going to. I got out of the ticket because a guy I work with brother is a cop and took care of it for me. And yes I have heard of them taking car and destroying them. F- that $hit I will fight tell the day I die for my car.
06-04-2009, 01:13 AM
#10
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: SoCal
Posts: 1,685
well i guess all the cops ive dealt with just wanna give me tint tickets...2 in a months time for tint but they dont even tell me to pop the hood and they dont check under my car for the non existant cats so im pretty happy that all they give me is the tint ticket which i have a good plan to get out of both and just pay the $20 processing fee >:l whatever