Yet One More Reason To Boycott Illinois

[mrjarrell]

It's bad enough you have to disarm to go to that s-hole, now you have to take everything off your windscreen. Got a small mirror to watch the kids in back? Maybe a radar detector? Or a GPS? Well, that all the excuse the boys in blue over there need to pull you over, ticket you and begin their fishing expedition in your vehicle.
From Policelink

Ermir Spahiu was pulled over by police for his window-mounted GPS unit. For Tina Ross, it was her handicapped placard. And Mark Hubbard was nailed for an air freshener. All three Illinois drivers were stopped for what they thought were innocent items placed near their windshields.
“It really threw me for a loop,” said Hubbard, recalling his 2008 encounter with Rolling Meadows police over a 2-inch scented medallion that dangled from his rearview mirror.
An increasing number of drivers are being cited for windshield and window obstructions, which can include anything an officer deems to “materially obstruct” a driver’s vision. The only exceptions are government-issued items such as I-PASS boxes and parking stickers.
Since 2004, the number of motorists stopped by state police for breaking the obscure law has jumped 91 percent. In 2004, about 20,000 drivers were warned or cited, most of them receiving warnings. This year, the number is expected to hit about 38,000.
Offenders can expect little sympathy from Master Sgt. Isaiah Vega of the Illinois State Police.
“Driving is a privilege, and drivers should take every precaution,” he said. Hanging anything from the rear-view-mirror “could be a dangerous if not deadly error,” Vega said.

More at the source.

Maybe the officers could be persuaded to remove all those obscuring things from their dashboards, that block a clear view, eh? Bet the dashcams would be the first to go.

 

[rich8483]

i see some irony here b/c illinios requires you to obstruct your view with village stickers. i thought there was more than one. but they require you to have stickers on you windshield and then stop you for obstructions. great.

 

[Fletch]

This smells like revenue-driven enforcement.

 

[bigg cheese]

so if a GPS is mounted to your dashboard near your window, you're OK? All GPS Navigators I've owned come with an adhesive-backed circle to mount to your dashboard to stick the receiver to.

 

[hornadylnl]

This smells like revenue-driven enforcement.

Or a lame excuse for pc to find more crimes.

 

[kludge]

Moving about at one's pleasure in a free society is not "priviege" nor is driving on the streets that I paid for.

Not the way I think anyway.

 

[DCR]

Recently passed or was passed by several ISP with a radar detector on my windshield, plus having out of state plate.

 

[jedi]

This smells like revenue-driven enforcement.

BINGO!!! BINGO!!!! BINGO!!!!
We have the winner right here boys & girls. The state of IL in among the TOP 10 (CA included in that mix) that are close to bankruptcy in terms of their state budget. They owe a lot and do not have a balanced budget and thus one way to bring in much needed $$$$ is for the boys in blue to focus on making $$$$!

The lesson to this story is don't drive in IL if you don't have to!

 

[evansvillethompsongunner]

If there is a hell, I'm pretty sure it's a mirror-image of the State of Illinois.

My friend goes to college in Illinois for his post-doctorate, just moved there this fall.

He hates it.

They took his ID as bond for his speeding ticket - and he was speeding, but who confiscates your ID?

(That blatantly reminds me of what the Schutzstaffel did in confiscation of papers during WWII...)

They arrested him because he still had Indiana plates, and so they added onto his ticket for 'willful' disregard of the law...

He'd been there two days.

 

[kevinj110]

It really is the armpit of America

 

[antsi]

It really is the armpit of America

Actually I do not object to the state as a whole.

The problem is 99% confined to Chicago and the evil little 'burbs around it. The city controls the state, and the city is the Heart of Evil.

 

[wizard]

Maybe stimulus payback? Born and raised in the land of entitlement, corruption and ADC and the biggest jerk of all in the White House. Lincoln would be ashamed. Been in Indiana 15 years a don't miss it at all. The legacy of continues.

 

[lashicoN]

What would happen if the state actually went bankrupt?

 

[BloodEclipse]

This smells like revenue-driven enforcement.

 

[ihateiraq]

i never thought id see a gangsta grillz poster on ingo.

 

[BloodEclipse]

i never thought id see a gangsta grillz poster on ingo.

Every day is filled with surprises.