Do I really have to see State Ref? Or can I just pay the ticket?

[dc2133]

Hello all, after the most insane rain San Diego has seen in a long time I decided to pull my 2012 M5 out the garage to stretch her legs on this clear day. Equipped with catless down pipes to an X pipe with no mufflers and a Gintani tune I knew there would come a day that I might have to pay a visit to the state ref. 2 years later and the day finally came, but was much less climatic than I could have imagined. 5 minutes onto the road I made a right hand turn at a green light going about 6 mph with an officer across from me yielding to turn the same way. Immediately he jumps behind me signaling his lights. Says he stopped me for tinted windows and no front license plate. He then adds on, “your car seems kind of loud, what’s up with that?”. I tell him I just started the car up from sitting for a week and it has not had enough time to fully warm up and he tells me he does not understand what I mean by that. Proceeds to give me tinted window ticket , front license plate ticket, and a 27150(a) loud exhaust ticket and tells me I need to go see state ref. No decibel test , no hood pop. All the infractions are correctable. This is my first time being state reffed and I’m wondering is it possible to just pay the fine and go on with my life? Do I really have to go through the state ref process? I really don’t want to touch the car if I don’t have to. I have been meaning to get a valvetronic exhaust I’ve just been slacking because I have not had a problem with my setup until today. If I do have to see state ref do you think throwing a pair of stock mufflers on would get the job done? Or will they know I’m tuned with dp’s. OR should I hire a ticket lawyer to fight the ticket? Considering the cop didn’t seem real knowledgeable and I was just an easy target to meet his quota. Just looking for a little insight so I can get a jump on swapping back to stock if I ABSOULUTELY have to.

Thanks

[M5Rick]

Looks like you attracted a jobsworth cop with nothing better to do.

[Blaxwil]

Wow. I visit San Diego several times a year and I posted a few years back that it was strange not to see many M5’s and AMG’s there. Let alone anything modified. Now I know why. It’s like the motherland for Tesla in San Diego.

[M5_Raz]

Originally Posted by Korygunz

As a cop I’ll explain to you how it works. We are allowed to write those types of modified exhaust or emissions citations based on mere observations. I personally have additional training that I could use to detect, cite and testify for these types of scenarios. In your case, you got cited for not having an adequate muffler or exhaust which amplified excessive noise. If he noted it correctly (not just verbal order) for you to see the state referee, then you must have it inspected prior to it being signed off, this will be part of your correction. This is the method the court uses to validate you corrected your modified exhaust. Just know, when you go to the state referee.. they will check your entire car to see if it’s legal with California emissions laws, so put your car back to completely stock unless you have valid CARB emission stickers on your modified parts. If the cop really wants, he can have your registration suspended until you fix the exhaust. California emission laws are no joke.

Hope that answers your question.

Does this additional training consist of smelling copious amounts of gas?

On a serious note, thanks for this answer, I was wondering as well. I think OP should consult with a traffic lawyer as well before embarking on the journey to make the car legal as that could be a long an expensive process.

At the state ref, do they check/fail cars for window tint, no front license plate, etc? Non-emissions related infractions.

[M5_Raz]

State ref is a doozy for sure

Our cars have the added feature of billowing clouds of burnt oil smoke in an attempt to throw the officer off their game. Not very effiective, but it’s trying.

[Korygunz]

I suppose don’t modify your car to blow excessive smoke then….

[M5_Raz]

Nobody does that. Take that up to BMW.. burning up to a quart per 750miles is considered normal.

[Korygunz]

Originally Posted by M5_Raz

Nobody does that. Take that up to BMW.. burning up to a quart per 750miles is considered normal.

My car is completely stock. No issues like that. Never had issues like that with any of my BMWs I’ve owned. Sorry to hear that

[M5Rick]

^ Yep that's why there's a top up indication when it needs a quart or a litre. M5 F10 PU is completely different to E92 M V8 non turbo which uses a far thicker oil,10/60 I believe.

[Powerwhee]

I’m pretty sure there’s a way to plead not guilty and then pay a fine if you want to avoid inspection but if you do that you will be found to have violated the BS Vehicle Code sections the cop cited.

The State does not have the power to force you to show up to a specific place to have your property inspected for violation of law, if you are willing to pay for the consequences of violating that law by way of paying them the fine. It would be a futile act at that point to force an inspection. So if you want to avoid inspection et cet plead not guilty then pay the fine a day before your court hearing. This has worked for me for BS tint fix it tickets that are similiar to a referee inspection—don’t see why it wouldn’t work here too.

[B58]

Just pay the ticket. I’ve had 5 of those spread out over the last 10 years and I just paid the bail on it including a recent one from a couple of months ago.

[Korygunz]

Originally Posted by Powerwhee

I’m pretty sure there’s a way to plead not guilty and then pay a fine if you want to avoid inspection but if you do that you will be found to have violated the BS Vehicle Code sections the cop cited.

The State does not have the power to force you to show up to a specific place to have your property inspected for violation of law, if you are willing to pay for the consequences of violating that law by way of paying them the fine. It would be a futile act at that point to force an inspection. So if you want to avoid inspection et cet plead not guilty then pay the fine a day before your court hearing. This has worked for me for BS tint fix it tickets that are similiar to a referee inspection—don’t see why it wouldn’t work here too.

Are you a traffic attorney?

[Powerwhee]

Originally Posted by Korygunz

Are you a traffic attorney?

No, so OP should consult an “traffic attorney” to get tailored advice for his specific circumstances (those attorneys are really not attorneys though as the traffic court system in CA is a joke and so they don’t do really legal work).

In any event in general under the Constitution’s substantive due process clause any state action, which would include an order from an executive officer of the State like a cop, requiring a person to have their property inspected to determine whether a law violation occurred when the person is willing to pay for the consequences of the alleged violation would be unconstitutional because there would generally be no rational basis for such state action.

That would be akin to having a code enforcement officer issue a citation for dilapidated building based on his observations from the outside, the landlord paying the fine for the dilapidation, and then being forced by the State to let the officer inspect the inside of the building anyway to determine if it is dilapidated, when the landlord has basically already conceded that fact by paying the fine. It generally makes no logical sense other than to cause the ordinary citizen discomfort, unless the State could argue that the inspection somehow furthers the public wellbeing.

I could see how the State could argue that the inspection is necessary and legitimate so the vehicle could be immediately impounded pending adjudication of the Vehicle Code violations so it can remove a potentially polluting vehicle from its public roads. But, as here, where the cop made no specific written findings to support that interest I would be hard pressed to believe that the State can force a person to do what appears to be a futile act. If the cop wrote on the ticket that he saw a plume of noxious gas coming from the exhaust tips and smelled it, that would change my analysis.