As far as that pic goes, its obviously staged. Why would a third party take a picture of that from the back seat?

“Hey take the wheel for a sec” is a time honored request while on road trips. Usually this is while on a stretch of mostly straight federally regulated highway, however.

{shrug} dunno. If I had a dollar, however, for every time I saw someone rolling a joint at the wheel (including me), my airplane would be finished, now.

I’d also recommend the view from Coit Tower (at the top of Telegraph Hill). You don’t even need to go up in the tower; there’s a terrific panoramic view from the parking lot.

One used to be able to take a bus (#39 Coit) up the hill – I lived up there, so I got used to the slog on foot. And consider walking down the Filbert Steps (neat little neighborhood) afterwards, which will take you to the Embarcadero.

Also try – assuming it’s still open – Sam’s Grill at 374 Sutter Street. It’s usually very crowded at lunch, so an early dinner might be a better bet. (IIRC, they don’t take reservations.) Very “old school” S.F. place; great food and the prices were fairly reasonable by local standards.

And the Fresno Hotel Saloon on Grant just north of Broadway was a classic “dive” that had above-average blues bands several nights a week.

Have a nice trip.

Fluffy – what state is this the case in?

In Ohio, it clearly states on the ticket something along the lines of “your sig is merely a promise to pay or appear in court” … what state does your signature = your admission of guilt?

As Adolphus says, I want to be forced to sign BECAUSE I don’t trust the cops. It is really a feature for the lawbreaker. As long as the ticket clearly states that signing the ticket implies you are accepting that you were ticketed and does not imply guilt. I’d be curious to see what the form actually looks like. If it doesn’t say the above I probably would be hesitant to sign in some state that I hadn’t been too.

I’m one of the most happy-go-lucky, pleasant people you’d meet as long as I’m spoken to with respect. I was raised to go out of my way to be nice to people, and I have a pretty thick skin, but I have a tendency to snap when I or someone around me is talked like that asshole spoke to me. I’ve mentioned the court ordered anger mgmt classes haven’t I? Eventually someone is going to shoot me, but I’ll have made my point.

I was in a denver fast food joint last winter and some asshole started flipping out on a mexican lady because her kid was crying, before I could say anything one of my hillbillys (I employ a lot of rednecks) slapped the old guy in the back of his head and told him to watch his tone. I was so proud I bought his lunch the rest of the week.

#40 Fluffy

Cops are notorious liars, and are allowed to lie to trick people, so why should the person receiving the ticket be expected to believe the cop?

Truer words were never spoken. Never trust a cop. Part of their job is to lie (even when they’re doing the part of their job where they’re not supposed to lie).

On the other hand, I’d sign the ticket because I’m a spineless pussy.

Being as I am in SoCal, have a great time in NoCal, Omar. SF is a great town. Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, the Haight, SoMa (south of Market). All of that is within a few square miles. Head out to Sonoma if you have time for wine, balloon rides, etc.

It is in fact different in different states. To broaden the problem parking tickets are the same way. Sign and return with payment or sign and return with intent to challenge.

But as you say. Cops are notorious liars. If no signature is required to acknowledge receipt, what’s to stop a cop or two or precinct from writing phantom tickets for cars they see parked on the side of the road and throw the driver’s copy away and then claim the driver is lying when he said he was never pulled over? Requiring a signature can in this case protect the communities drivers from crap like this and you can bet it would happen given pressure on cops to make quotas and raise revenue.

Now that I think on it, I’ll bet that is at the heart of this tasering. A missing signature on a ticket probably means it doesn’t count toward someone quota or some such down the line.

People aren’t refusing to sign tickets because they’re dicks. [Well, I guess some people are; but not everybody.] They’re refusing to sign tickets because they assume that doing so means they admit the infraction.

And I’m sure that the traffic cops try to explain that this isn’t the case, but in the moment people don’t believe them. Cops are notorious liars, and are allowed to lie to trick people, so why should the person receiving the ticket be expected to believe the cop?

Texas should simply change their ticket practices – because the jurisdictions where signing the ticket is the way you confess are actually the ones operating more reasonably in accord with the public’s expectations for how the process should work.

a little threadjacking…

i’m making my first trip out to the bay area tomorrow, and i’ll be there a week. what’s cool to do there aside from visiting the socialist bookstore. i’ve always considered california a flyover state (snark snark), so i figure this will be an experience. :)

Exactly my point. Your signature is ONLY proof that the officer cited you, and you were present to receive the citation. It’s not admission of guilt in ANY state, as far as I am aware.

Similarly, I don’t understand why some drivers wish to debate their rights not to sign it on the roadside. Sign or don’t sign – they were still speeding, still got caught, still have to go through either a fine or court process.

In many states, if you refuse to sign, you are in effect saying “I will not pay the fine nor will i be present in court. Screw you, system.” At this point, the law’s response is to take you in and force you into a courtroom… but AGAIN, your guilt has STILL not been decided until after your hearing.

Mountains and molehills…