If you were a minority you’d be pulled over every day, probably each way to and from work with that as the reason. Given expensive fix-it tickets each time. And most likely had your vehicle searched or impounded for multiple failures to comply. Not being hyperbolic, this has happened often. One guy it was 1 day, 3 tickets and then impound because he failed to fix the issue in a day.
When the rules are applied on a whim by whatever person with authority feels like, you live in tyranny. That isn’t an orderly system. It is a failed nation.
Fix it tickets everywhere I live give you three days to a week from when it was written to get it fixed, you just show the next cop that pulls you over your dated ticket and tell them you ordered the part or have an appointment with a mechanic or whatever. I believe the first half of your comment but the second feels a lot like one bell end to the whole “three sides to every story” saying.
“Fix it tickets” are not a national thing. Some places do it, some places don’t. It’s just easier to say with a general meaning like Kleenex versus tissue paper.
Many places just issue you a ticket. End of story. Once the ticket is issued you are on notice that your vehicle is not considered legally roadworthy. You are legally supposed to park it and not drive on public roads until fixed. Tow it to the shop if you have to.
Obviously this is onerous and stupid. But it is the law. If you have a minor issue, 99% of the time the pig will let you go and get it fixed like you said. But they don’t have to. “Officer discretion” is a fancy way of saying applying laws on a whim. Picking and choosing when to enforce laws and against whom.
In some countries it is much more clear cut. If you need to fix something the police escorts you to a staging area, like a big parking lot and that’s where your car sits until it’s fixed. Once fixed the popo there check it before you drive out. People in the lot changing bald tires, burned bulbs, fastening new side mirrors, etc.
I have a few issues with what you’re saying. By getting a drivers license and operating a vehicle on public roadways, you’re agreeing that you’ll keep your vehicle in whatever operational condition the law dictates. A “fix-it” ticket is justified if your car doesn’t meet these requirements. Officers applying this law unfairly is a whole other issue, but the concept is not “onerous and stupid.”
Also, police need some level of “officer discretion.” If you have a friend with a gaping wound in your passenger seat and you’re doing 90mph to the hospital, do you really want a cop to write you a ticket and force you to wait for paramedics to arrive while your friend bleeds out?
