new law in San Mateo County

[asinoutcast]

Too fast, too furious? Too busted, police sayLaw enforcers on alert for illegally modified vehicles, street racersBy Christine Morente, STAFF WRITER

Owners of souped-up cars, beware.

For the first time in the county, three teams of officers from San Mateo County law enforcement agencies will be out Friday night, searching for illegal street racers and inspecting cars.

"We just want to make sure people understand it's not OK to have cars illegally modified in San Mateo County," said Timothy Birch, a Daly City police management analyst. "We can impound cars or do whatever it takes to get the message across."

Inspections will be from 6 p.m. to midnight. Birch said he does not anticipate traffic issues during the operation hosted by the Burlingame Police Department.

A California Office of Traffic Safety grant will pay for the inspection operation.

This will be the first such inspection operation in the county.

Birch said a second inspection will occur June 16, because of the movie release of "Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," the third installment in the popular street-racing series.

Birch said he doesn't believe the county is a hotbed for street racing and sideshows, where drivers perform stunts such as donuts. But officers will likely visit parking lots of fast-food places like In-N-Out Burger in Millbrae or Nations Burger in Daly City, he said. There, Birch added, some people meet and set up sideshows, or go following a race.

Friday afternoon, police will learn during a four-hour training session in Burlingame

how to spot illegally modified cars. Birch said police officers will look out for cars that arebrightly colored or have lettering and graphics.

"Obviously, there's nothing illegal about that ... but sometimes, when a car is painted that way, it's tied with illegal modifications," he said. "If a car is too loud, or doesn't meet emissions requirements — because it's a violation — it allows an officer to pull a car over and gives police the right to go underneath the hood to see if anything has been modified."

Officers will also look for stolen parts. Birch said law enforcement agencies aren't in a position to deal with the vendors.

"We're not equipped to do it," he said. "In San Mateo County, there's very few shops that overtly sell stuff that's illegal. We can only deal with what we're seeing after it's installed."

Staff writer Christine Morente covers Burlingame, Millbrae, San Bruno and Hillsborough. She can be reached at (650) 348-4333 or at [email protected]. http://www.insidebayarea.com/s...12869

[jamesblonde82]

is it really illegal to modify your car there? that's BS. or what is the stipulation?

[onosqv]

is it really illegal to modify your car there? that's BS. or what is the stipulation?

All of California. That story is a bunch of b.s. These kinds of checks have been going on for years, mostly in So Cal though. The large ones are randomly, usually during vacation times for students, where they will block off a section of the road and pull cars randomly in for mobile emissions checks - fail, sent to the state ref, simple as that.

They've been starting to crack down on certain areas that tend to have lots of car meets also.

What is the stipulation? It's called profiling.

[jdm_master_X]

its ridiculous how bad the profiling is here in california. but then again, its kind of a bad thing on the part of enthusiasts and police. reason being on our part is some of us take part in illegal activities that aggrovate law enforcement (like those idiots who drift their cars in parking lots at tapioca express and other busy hangouts.)

but its especially ignorant for law enforcement to profile all of us as a whole who just happen to drive around cars that "are seen at street races, racing events, have 'that' paint color, etc."

i think that as enthusiasts we should take the time to campaign against this. i would be happy to do something about it but we need more people to help gain momentum to challenge this "bias".

[jamesblonde82]

so it's only an emmisions problem that is illegal?

[onosqv]

so it's only an emmisions problem that is illegal?

Well, that is the basis of everything. Why is SR20 swap illegal? Doesn't pass emissions for most part (as well as some other weird laws). Why is Turbo swap illegal - doesn't pass emissions and a couple other rules like allowing user to tune their car, bla bla bla. I'm sure it gets slightly more complicated than this, but it's just a means to an end - get potential street racers off the street, get more money for the city by fining these kids, keep the voting population happy since the majority of them do not like these kids and what they "seem" to represent... etc, etc, etc.

i think that as enthusiasts we should take the time to campaign against this. i would be happy to do something about it but we need more people to help gain momentum to challenge this "bias".

It's called SEMA - join SEMA and see what you can do if you are really that adamant about challenging the bias.

[jamesblonde82]

well luckily i live in FL. and we did away with our emmisions checks about 10 years ago. but thats crappy and communistic of them to do that in cali.

[nissanconvert]

Its interesting to see how ignorant and underfunded police departments gather funds. It seems like the city is just looking for attention and riding the movie hype. I bet they' start confiscating "modified" computers if hackers 3 came out.

[donmeca2020]

sucks to live in cali, im glad im in florida, no emissions, no cops watching our cars and what not. **** i work for a police agency and i dont even get crap from my coworkers about my evo's 3 inch exhaust with no cat. their just too strick in cali. brings back to the old saying you cant fight city hall. i wish you guys best of luck trying to rectify this profiling and harassment

[jdm_master_X]

haha yeah i sent in my application to RASR/SEMA back in sophomore year and sent them my proposal to bring some sort of awareness class to the high schools here in the bay area but i never got a reply back.

i even petitioned this at the city hall back in high school, but i didnt have enough leverage in my campaign as well as people willing to help me out.

and since then i guess ive been a celebrity in my town...well to the cops anyway. the cops here know me by name.

[onosqv]

the cops here know me by name.

I take that as a good thing...

Cops know me around my area by car, haha.

[jdm_master_X]

i honestly believe that if enough of us got together to brainstorm a fair proposal for enthusiasts like ourselves as well as law enforcement, we can end this bias.

since im working closely with the smog teacher and state ref, im thinking of we can propose to BAR to actually consider testing the JDM motors to be elligible for smog. i havent been able to compile enough information, but since all of us here on the forums have different backgrounds, together we could write a proposal that follows federal and state laws, while still being fair between us and law enforcement.

what do you think? you are a smart guy. you know this can be done, we just need more people. what do you say?

[JesusLikesKFC]

sounds good, hate driing around scared of police, protect and serve.....nope harras and profile.

[jdm_master_X]

BLAME LAW ENFORCEMENT AND LOCAL OFFICIALS FOR THIS:

yeah i find it really foolish for a lot of states with California Emission Laws (especially here) will let you state ref a CRX with a USDM B16 for smog, and then turn around and slap on a VTEC head as if nothing has changed. Or those lucky people who have pre-75 vehicles. You could run your car on nuclear energy and nobody could give a rats *** (well thats just an exhaggeration).

A lot of law makers argue that other countries cannot comply with the emission standards here in the United States. WHAT EMISSION STANDARD? only so many states out of 50 have adopted or are in the process of adopting California Emission Law. Even a few countries such as Mexico and China want to adopt a emission program.

HOWEVER!

how can California complain of these simple 4 cylinder motors from Japan (or even Europe, etc.) when those countries have emission standards that are up to par or (in Japan's case) 10x more strict. why do you think that motors are replaced every 30K there? safety and economy is the focus of any automobile in any country. it doesnt matter, a car is a car, and it displaces dirty emission when you put the pedal to the metal. sure some of these cars come with the...oh dare i say it....TURBO. but still, ive seen so many front clips and ive seen the same emission devices in SRs as there are on KAs.

another arguement to this is "well there arent so many pre-75 cars around any more, so let them go without smog. there are so many more of these 'rice rockets' running around, therefore we must put a stop to this."

well there arent too many "souped up rice rockets" out there. it costs a lot to build and maintain any hobby car. versus the same cars that share the roads with us, like the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro with a 4-Barrel Carb, the 2001 Cadillac Escalade with 24" rims (which remarkbly, affects emissions), and even the 2005 Ferrari Enzo. why not target those cars? well ONE IS SMOG EXEMPT, the OTHER ISN'T INTENT FOR SPEED/RACING, the LAST ONE can afford to PAY GAS GUZZLER TAX AND MAYBE a LITTLE EXTRA FOR SMOG.

I can give a rat's a** about what car anybody drives. As a technician, I know it displaces its a fair amount of raw unburned fuel and I have to stick a sniffer in the exhaust for smog. the bigger the motor, the type of aspiration (Turbo or Supercharger), the fuel it burns, EVERYTHING BUT THE NON-POWER REAR VIEW MIRROR, has something to do with your emissions. the only things that control this are emission devices like exhaust gas recirculators, positive crankcase ventilation valves, catalytic converters, etc.

If only we can raise awareness about:

-BIAS-POSSIBLE JDM MOTORS FOR SMOG-DEMAND FOR MORE AFTERMARKET COMPANIES TO CARB LEGALIZE THEIR PARTS-ENCOURAGING YOUNG DRIVERS TO RACE ON THE TRACK-MORE GOV'T CONTROL OVER WHAT PARTS CAN BE SOLD OVER THE COUNTER-PUBLIC AWARENESS

it sounds like i said this out of anger (which is true), but if we can really push for this, i think we all can actually get enough momentum for this to happen. whos with me? who wants to help??

[jdm_master_X]

tell me what u think. i thought a lot about this last night.

zerothread?id=181497

[nitefyre1]

In CA, as long as the engine that you swap is a newer year and you take all of the wiring and smog equipment, it is legal. You can put a 92 engine into a 91 car but not a 91 engine into a 92 car.

The important stuff is that you take all of the electronics and smog devices along with the swap. As long as it passes smog and they see those parts, you are legal.

The other stuff, we Californians know already. The car can't be too loud, which is fine by me. I like being able to sneak up on pedestrians. If I could have a way to make my car whisper quiet and still run well, I would. :-)

I have been harrased by cops for less than my car. As long as I am polite and complient, it has never been a problem. No reason to fear being pulled over, as long as you aren't breaking the law.