So today I was coming back from church and we stopped at Albertson's for some groceries. Well Irvine PD was scoping the lot and apparently they stopped behind my car to run my plates. I didn't realize that this guy targeted my car, just because it had a cover on the plate and no front plate. Guy writes me up for VC 5200 (NO front plate) and 5201("E") "Cover on rear license plate".
He WAITED til I LEFT albertson's and out on public streets. Now I know they can't ticket on private property, but it was pretty much watching me and then pouncing.

Now I'm just venting. Can anyone lookup the exact part of the code that I allegedly violated? I was on the DMV website and the only thing that talks about the cover on a license plate is 5201("F") (not E!). I could probably nail them for writing "e" instead of "f." I'm just pissed!!

Well I found a copy and apparently 5202(E) IS this

(e) The rear license plate on a two-axle livestock trailer may be
mounted 12 inches or more, but not more than 90 inches, from the
ground.

I SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIGHT THIS RIGHT?

Thats actually 5201 e, but yea... you can fight that.

Don't be surprised if they send you a 'Notice of Correction' in the mail, though its a pretty useless piece of paper to issue IMO.

Eh... I think I'm going to take this opportunity to get personal plates, since I'm going to get rid of my old plate anyway. They don't issue duplicate sequential plates right?

If you do not have your front plate the DMV will have to issue new plates and collect the old one. Means a appt and trip to the DMV and a fee to issue the new plates.
I think you can pay a higher fine and leave it alone.
Real efficient cop. has nothing better to do then wait for you to leave the parking lot and then can't get the violation number right.
If they spent as much time on drug prevention as they do traffic violations. Oh I forgot-more income to the city for traffic then drug violations.

If you belong to AAA, go there and AVOID the DMV. They can issue your new plates. One of the perks of membership.

As far as the No Front Plate ticket, it's around $35 if you don't fix it. $10 if you do and it has to be signed off. Any local Police, Sheriff, CHP station can sign off the ticket if you fix it.

If you're interested, I can post some pics of how I installed my front plate. NO holes in the car, and I can remove the plate in 2 minutes if/when I want to. It also meets the CVC requirements.

If you go to the State of California's home page, you can get a look at the entire vehicle code, including that one particular section. I don't remember how you do it, but there are directions and then you just follow the yellow brick road...

That would be much appreciated! OH and does anyone know how long it'll take for personal plates to come in?

And while we're on the vehicle code, does anyone know the LEGAL decibel LIMIT that an exhaust can be ? Because the cop thought my flowmaster had an "EXHAUST LEAK," damn Irvine PD, they need more crime...

The legal limit is, if the cop says "Its too loud", its too loud.

I could go look it up for you, but its something thats near impossible to defend against. Kinda like the loud stereo deal. Besides, ever see a cop break out a decibel meter? Didnt think so.

That's the point, shouldn't they have SOME sort of measuring device, like radar/lidar gun is to speeding as to decibel meter is to noise? What if you have a deaf cop? Or a cop w/ sensitive hearing?

I heard something about a special test at a smog referee station if you get cited for a loud exhaust. They will test your exhaust on a decibel meter and will erase the ticket if you are under 95 decibels. I couldnt find it but you can do a better search at http://www.dmv.ca.gov/ or http://www.smogcheck.ca.gov/