Pulled over in the T -

Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration
Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2013: Pulled over in the T -
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Brian Mettling on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 09:09 pm:

Hey all,
this is my second post today, sorry. But I was just out in my T and
some university cop pulled me over in the Model T for driving and tried every rule in the book to give me a ticket. I suspect it's probably my age (I'm 28). Conservation went like this:

Why are you driving this thing? "Because it's fun"
No seat belt? no.
No turn signals? no.
You don't have adequate taillights. "they're converted kerosene lamps"
Where is the top? etc etc and it went on.

Anyone have similar troubles? I had normal plates on this btw, not historical. I think this guy was out to impress the lady cop he was with.
Eventually he got frustrated and told me to go park it.

It's pretty irritating!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bud Lung on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 09:13 pm:

Brian Yes and No. I had just gotten my 17 touring and drove it to work (3 miles) and as I pulled into the parking area a deputy sheriff turned on his red's and wanted to talk with me. He asked the same questions as you got but later he confessed that he just wanted to look at the car.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By A. Gustaf Bryngelson on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 09:14 pm:

I would have told him I would park it when I got to my destination:-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan B on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 09:17 pm:

In my opinion, you were asking for it by driving it with normal plates. By doing that, you're automatically obligating yourself to the same laws as modern vehicles.

Put some antique plates on that T and life will be easy.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 09:21 pm:

Brian, I don't know what the law is in Ohio, but in Missouri, a car must meet the legal requirements of the year it was manufactured. I have never had a similar experience, but think I might shortcut the conversation by asking the cop what he was pulling me over for. In 1924, Missouri required one taillight and no brake lights. (No safety glass either, although I now have that.)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Brian Mettling on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 09:36 pm:

yeah, it's strange with this one. it actually got issued a VIN by state of Ohio in 2002 so it could be registered by the previous owner. It was registered as a 2002 "Ford Assembled Car" and therefore the attendants at the license bureau can't transfer or reissue my historical plates because of the year. I tried everything and even getting a new brand new title for 1922. No luck there. I would love to put my old plates back on!

first thing the cop said was..."that's not a 2002 Ford, step on out of the car...". sure thing, let me go around since I don't have a driver door!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ed in California on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 09:40 pm:

I have horseless carriage plates on my current T, never pulled over or hassled. My other T I owned had normal plates and I was pulled over twice.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Henry Petrino in Modesto, CA on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 09:40 pm:

Dick is right. The determining factor is year of manufacture, the type of license plate has nothing to do with it.

I would have been SURE to get his badge number and then filed a complaint. Telling you to "go park it" is completely out of line. If he was able to find any violations he should have cited you. Since he couldn't find any, the vehicle is good to go, whether he likes it or not.

This kind of thing rally gets my goat! His time would be much better spent pinching a few of the many drivers traveling 60 MPH in a 35 MPH zone.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rion Schulze on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 10:10 pm:

Plates do not matter, driving the vehicle with original equipment is perfectly legal with current plates. All the plates state is that you are paying your share to use the road.

Let them pull you over all they want, use it for YOUR entertainment. If you want to go to the next level, find the appropriate laws pertaining to vehicles and copy it, highlight the pertinent rules, and put it in the T.

Don't allow yourself to be harassed.

I can put "original" plates on my T's, but I just have to keep the current issued plates somewhere in the car with registration and insurance papers.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan B on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 10:19 pm:

Maybe in you're state Rion.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan B on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 10:20 pm:

Maybe in your state Rion.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 10:21 pm:

I was once stopped by a highway patrol officer for having a 1968 plate on my 1968 VW. He was on the radio for about twenty minutes while somebody taught him about the law. Since then I carry a copy of the YOM law in the car with the registration. Maybe it would be a good idea to carry a copy of the law covering what features are legal or required on an antique vehicle.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Charlie B actually in Toms River N.J. on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 10:28 pm:

I can tell you from my experience of building a Frazier-Nash replica back in the 80's that if you try to register it as a new/replica and (as in my case) the year was 1985, the car would have to meet all the safety & emission requirements for that year. This was in N.Y. Emissions, dual brake system, the works. used the VW chassis/VIN and registered it as the VW it was originally. The guy that bought it didn't mind so it worked out but I never did anything that stupid again. Their in Hemmings now for what I got for mine almost 40 years ago. Plastic don't pay.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Hoshield on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 10:36 pm:

I have a set of '24 plates I could attempt to get re-registered... but I thought 'historical' plates (technically) only allow you to drive your vehicle 50 or so miles a year .. to/from parades, and 'test' drives, etc. I suppose re-tagging old plates would actually be tagged as 'new' plates, as they aren't the plates labeld 'historical plates'??

Brian ... when you got the vehicle titled as a '2002', did it require a safety inspection, as it was an 'assembled' vehicle? If so ... seem like they would have required turn signals, brakes, safety glass, etc etc....


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Daryl W. Becker on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 10:38 pm:

BEING from OHIO I fully understand the complications with the local police, as many truck drivers say loudly, (if possible) AVOID Ohio sad but true, I would definitely agree with the Historical plates,


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mike_black on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 10:56 pm:

Brian,
Years ago in Florida I inquired about registering a T with no title. They told me I had to get notorized bills of sale for the major components, then they would inspect it and title it as a "home made", and the year would be the current year and it would need to meet current rules! I kept it insured and ran antique tags I had bought at swap meets. Never got stopped. My TT quit once and a State Trooper stopped and helped me push it out of the road--no questions. What's the Ohio penalty for driving an unregistered vehicle?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave DeYoung on Friday, August 23, 2013 - 11:56 pm:

Brian: I've only been pulled over once by a newer cop in our town. From the time we stopped moving until the time he walked up to the T, he figured it out that I only need on taillight. He complimented me on the car and we went our separate ways.

As for the plate issue, If you are really wanting to get the correct year on the title, I think you should find someone you really trust in another state that will work with the actual year of the car and sell it to him/her. They title it correctly and sell it back to you with a title stating the correct VIN and year. You take that to your DOT and you should be good to go.

Do your parents live out-of-state? If you use them, you may be able to gift it both ways and avoid any sales tax. It works in Wisconsin.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 12:06 am:

Dennis, those driving restrictions for certain plates depend on the jurisdiction. Some states love to make auto registration a nightmare of Byzantine complexity. So far the Kansas legislature has chosen to aim its craziness in other directions. Ours meets only from January to early May. Yours may have longer sessions and thus have more time to inflict mischief.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Craig Anderson, central Wisconsin on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 12:39 am:

I have "ANTIQUE" plates on both of my T's, (the Model A and Dodge have COLLECTOR plates which allow me to drive them any time, anywhere, except for the month of February).
LEGALLY with the "ANTIQUE" plates I am allowed to drive ONLY to or from an event of some sort or "maintenance".......numerous cops, including a State Patrol car at least one time, have seen me driving in town and on State Highway 66, for one, and never batted an eye.....waved yes....... :-)

If I ever do get stopped I will have just fixed something and am taking it for a shake down run...... ha ha


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Laird Powers on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 12:48 am:


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave DeYoung on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 12:49 am:

Craig:

When did WI change the exception month to February? I was always told it was January. If so, then I don't feel so bad driving it on New Years day if the weather is nice.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Craig Anderson, central Wisconsin on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 01:29 am:

IDK Dave......just thought it was February.
I can't imagine what the difference is between January and February in Wisconsin anyway.......gonna check the DOT website.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Craig Anderson, central Wisconsin on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 01:35 am:

You're right Dave......it's January.......I guess I shouldn't drive them in January? ;)

>>> Collector registration is not valid during the month of January <<<


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By steve miller- mississauga,ontario on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 01:36 am:

Dick Lodge,
same rules applies in Ontario. The car must have equipment as manufactured EXCEPT any windshields which has been replaced that replacement must be safety glass


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bill in Adelaida Calif on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 01:44 am:

I haven't been in a T that was stopped in 40 years! Back then I was riding in a friends 15 T cruising after dark and we got stopped because the kerosene taillight refused to stay lit. We kept cruising til we saw the black and white flip a u turn to pull us over and then we headed for the back streets and alley to sneak quickly home. There is an advantage to drivng a black car with dim headlights and a blown out taillight after dark :-) He couldn't see us!

Bill


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Peter Kable on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 04:52 am:

When I shipped our T to the USA we left it with it's Australian historic club plates. Although we spoke to a lot of Highway Patrol etc never once did any of them ask about our plates or question us on why we did or didn't have attached anything American from any state on the Model T.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave Dufault on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:11 am:

Brian,

Any chance of you posting a picture of your T?

Thanks,

Dave


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Karlsson, southern Sweden on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:37 am:

Dave, here's Brian's other thread with a couple of photos of his T: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/331880/383392.html?1377306615


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave Dufault on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 07:50 am:

Thank you..

Sure looks like a stock T.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Brian Mettling on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 08:06 am:

thanks guys, glad I'm not the only one~

it's not my first time being pulled over, another time a very nice university cop wanted to get a picture with it. this guy just had a bad day and was looking for it.

when he buzzed me I know I wasn't speeding! :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 09:11 am:

Never had that problem in Cincinnati.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By john kuehn on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 09:42 am:

I wonder what would happen to me if I went for a drive in my 1924 Coupe and I was using the original style license plates on it and a cop saw it.
In Texas the 24 plates are about the size of a post card.
I do have the antique vehicle plates on it that are the modern standard size.
Do any Texas T owners use the original 24 small plates on their 24 T?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Coiro on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 12:33 pm:

So far, I've been lucky. When I see a police officer, I give him a wave and a raucous, Klaxon squawk. Usually, I get a grin and a wave right back.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By jeff cordes on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 01:44 pm:

John, in Texas, 1924 plates used the previous years plate with a small plate that attached to the radiator usually. Those small plates were not the complete plate needed for registration. As a result of being attached to the radiator most of those small plates rusted away. Texas used the small type plates for a number of years up till 25 when plates were replaced every year.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Renea Aldrich in Orting,WA on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 02:44 pm:

"Where's the top"?
Good grief, surely, he wanted to check out the car.
I keep the top down, "going topless" is a standard.

This has not been a problem around here.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By john kuehn on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 03:31 pm:

Jeff that's good to know and I never really researched it because the 2 small 24 original plates are in really bad shape. They are extreamly brittle.

I could never find any and just put on the current antique plates on it. They are really rare.


However I do have a matched pair of 25 plates I could use.
My car is a very late 24 that probably could be a 25 as its a transition car.
I still might use them.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Willis Jenkins on Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 03:31 pm:

Where's the top? Has the cop never seen a convertible before? What bs!

Willis


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Spaziano, Bellflower, CA. on Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 04:04 am:

Brian,

I once had an Anaheim, CA. cop pull up next to me at a stoplight on Katella Ave. not far from Disneyland and offer to trade cars with me. My wife and kids were with me in our '26 Touring.

When I smiled and declined his generous offer, He replied "But my car has neat lights and a cool siren, are you sure"? I said "No, thanks anyway". He then smiled, waved, and turned left.

Hopefully, someday, your young "University Cop" will grow up and learn to not sweat the small stuff.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Davis-SE Georgia on Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 07:27 am:

I've been pulled over twice for light related items. First time was for no brake lights. Had to explain I didn't have to have them and also the YOM law. Second time was at night for no tail light. I had the oil lamp lit, but it is pretty dim. However, I had my son following in a modern vehicle (got caught out after dark). No ticket either time. I was technically legal.

I have since added LEDs across the top of my license plate for a brake light. However, since I usually slow to a crawl by engine braking before stepping on the brake, it probably does little good.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gilbert V. I. Fitzhugh on Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 10:13 am:

Last year my wife and I treated family members (kids, spouses, and grandkids) to a week at a dude ranch in southern Colorado. It's way back in the mountains on an unpaved forest service road, about 9,000 feet up. The prior week we had been at the HCCA national convention in Colorado Springs, so we had the T with us in the trailer.

Whenever I wasn't on a horse, I was giving Model T lessons and rides. One evening after dinner I was giving my son-in-law a driving lesson, and we got pulled over by a Conejos County deputy sheriff. He started with the third-degree stuff, and then asked: "How does this thing work?" I asked if he wanted a demo, and he said: "Sure!" So my son-in-law got out, I got behind the wheel, the cop got in next to me, and we trundled off, leaving my son-in-law to guard the fuzzmobile with its windows open and the keys (and goodness knows what interesting stuff) inside. After a couple of miles of me showing the cop how the T worked, I asked him if he wanted to try it, and he said: "Sure!" So we switched seats, and for maybe five minutes my 1913 Ford runabout was an official(?) Conejos County, Colorado sheriff's vehicle. Fortunately, we didn't have to chase any speeders!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Dewey, N. California on Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 11:58 am:

Brian,
Surely there is some appeal process you can take to correct your registration. Years ago a similar event happened to my employer (in California). We were reassembling a 1927 Rolls Royce that had been cut apart at the ranch where it was decades ago so the engine could run a welder and the front end was made into a manure trailer--the back half was tossed in a pit, and the rest of the car was either put in a barn, or "repurposed" into a farm implement. He had gathered up all the bits and pieces and we actually put it back together. Unfortunately the body was lost to a barn fire, but the windshield and the side curtains were in another barn, along with all the headlights, etc. He went to the DMV and told the whole story, and ended up with an 'assembled car" title for that year (think this was around 1985). Mind you, all the numbers matched (RR stamped id numbers on almost everything--including the shock absorbers!). I was able to call the Sacramento main office, and found a person who would listen, and we got the title to be a 1927 RR title (first sold new in 1929--but that's another story. T content? This car was owned by the president of the Warford Transmission company!
So, you may have to go to the state main office, but I suspect it will be worth it to get things right.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan Haynes on Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 01:00 pm:

There have been a several times in my life when a Model T was my only car and I drove them everywhere. There was a CHP who lived around the corner who made it his mission in life to stop me every time he saw me in the car while he was on duty. His stated goal was to get me off the road in that car (it belonged in a museum, he said). He was a hateful, rotten human being.

Another guy, a city cop, who lived next door to a fellow T owner with whom the cop feuded and hated, also made it his singular mission to stop me and run me through the grinder for an hour or so, leaving me sitting or standing in the sun while he retreated to sit inside his air conditioned cruiser each time he saw the car in the street;(no top, the windshield can be folded, no turn signals, no brake lights, single tail light (kerosene), no doors, no seat belts, headlights too close together, his list was endlessly long and his harassment went on for years and didn't stop until he was arrested for lewd conduct in a park restroom and fired from the force.

Other cops I have known have been great guys.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave Wells on Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 10:53 pm:

Wow Dan. Sad situation. I've never been stopped in mine. Just tonight, a motorcycle cop passed me and said "looking good". I was a bit surprised.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Karl Gilchrist on Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 11:08 pm:

I was pulled over early on in my T ownership for a roadside random breath alcohol test. When asked if I had been drinking my response was "Hell No - I have enough trouble driving it sober!" The cop laughed and let me drive through without taking the test


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Scott Conger on Monday, August 26, 2013 - 12:07 pm:

As a teenager in St. Pete, FL in 1976, I was restoring a Model A and only had the chassis finished. I bolted some plywood to the frame and nailed a folding aluminum patio chair to the frame and headed out.

A local cop stopped me and asked me where the heck I thought I was going...I replied "to the Gulfport AACA car show."

He said "let me follow you with lights" and he did just that...got a personal escort across town and once I was there, he waved as he drove off.

Times have sure changed.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bill Everett on Monday, August 26, 2013 - 01:24 pm:

Scott;

You drove it from St. Pete all the way to Gulfport?

You STALLION!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Scott Conger on Monday, August 26, 2013 - 02:22 pm:

HAHAHA!

Bill, seems silly now, but at 17 and in a lawn chair, 7 miles might as well have been 70...it was sure an adventure!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Joseph Geisler on Monday, August 26, 2013 - 04:47 pm:

Scott,
I was there in my 1919 roadster. I lived in Apollo Beach. I went to MOST of those shows back then in one of my 5 T's. You're STILL into A's or have you digressed into T's? Ever see Don Lewis much any more? He has a 16 now. He use to bring his 11 white (Dovetone Gray)high door torpedo back then. I drove my late 25 tourer, my 14 roadster, the 15 touring, or my 11 tourabout that was kind of like your A model (unfinished). Those WERE the days!!!! I miss them.
I drove thru that whole area reminising just last week starting from Sand Key all the way to the SkyWay bridge. My youngest son just got married on the 10th in Madera Beach.
Speaking of getting pulled over by the authorities here.
I too have had stories to tell. I drove my T to SMS college (Springfield Mo.)in 1964 during a bad snowstorm. I had to go up College Street hill or Walnut street hill to get there. Both are rather long and steep. I did not want to miss my scheduled class as the instructor said he would grade on attendance too. My '56 Olds 2 dr ht. had a dead battery and would only make solenoid clicking sounds. Snow was about 5" dp. My T touring was in the shed. Mom thought we could get it going. ??? Mom heated two pans of hot water and she poured them over my engine cyl. head. She first had me jack up the rear wheels and supported the differential on wood blocks I had made as my early jack stands. She had helped her father on their farm where she grew up. They did this several times on their early cars and farm machinery she told me. We cranked over the T's hand crank and the car started!!!! It REALLY did. I was shocked to see this in person and I was happy to have this happen! BUT... there was NO interior in my T. No top! It was a touring car. It did have the original windshield glass in it. It was rusty and had half it's original paint somewhat left. I had not done anything to the body but we had been working on the mechanicals during the last 6 months with help from an old mechanic. After she thought the engine was warm enough we unblocked the car and off I went. I started out fine as the car was in out shed that she had help me build near the alley. Springfield has many hills. In route I saw cars in the ditches from spinning downhill or not making it up the hills. Several cars on and over the curbs and in front lawns where they had slid. Now I am approaching College Street hill! A policeman was waving his arms and telling me that the road was closed. I did not want to stop as I was afraid I might get stuck. A City buss was at the top of the hill as I was starting to approach the hill a volkswagon car passed by me going around me and went all the way up the hill. So I prayed a bit silently and just kept it going right on up in high and at a low engine RPM. When I got to the top people were waving and shouting which gave me a really neat feeling of accomplishment. I made it to class. A few days later, when there was no snow, I got pulled over in my Olds by a policeman. He told me that I was very lucky going up that hill and figured that it must have been the light weight of the T is what got me up that hill. He thought about giving me a ticket for not obeying him. I told him I was too scared to stop and late to class at SMS. He asked me if I made it? I said of course! He laughed and told me to get to school. This really happened in 1964.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Walker on Monday, August 26, 2013 - 04:54 pm:

Friday night I took a long ride in my T roadster -- almost all backroads; we're talking about 50 miles of driving that evening. I was within 1/4 mile of the house when I got blue-lighted. Apparently he'd been trying catch me for months. He asked why the car only had on light in the back, if there were seatbelts, asked which safety laws applied to the car and what years they took effect, and I answered with authority :-)

At the end of the conversation he said, "I pulled you over because we have to make so many stops a night [for this or that reason]. I would like to just warn you about the crack in your windshield.

And that was it. He thanked me and we parted ways.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By JIM WILSON, AMORY, MS on Sunday, September 01, 2013 - 11:00 pm:

I was pulled over when I took my newly finished chassis around the block for a test run. The officer explained that I must have plates and a valid inspection sticker. Never mind there was no windshield to put the sticker on, no lights, the gas tank was an open coffee can and I was sitting on a wooden box. He advised me to stay off the streets and followed me home.


Posting is currently disabled in this topic. Contact your discussion moderator for more information.
Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration