Weird law suits and tickets occur throughout the nation every day and each can be used as a warning story. One story that recently made the rounds was that of a Colorado man being ticketed for a broken windshield in the parking lot of a repair shop. What can this story (and its aftermath) teach you?
The Story
A man in Adams County had a cracked windshield and was actually at a windshield repair shop to get it fixed. However, a deputy for the county police noticed the crack and gave the driver a ticket. This in spite of the fact that man was literally sitting in the parking lot, waiting to get his windshield fixed. This story caught on the national news and inspired a lot of negative reactions.
People on a wide variety of forums reporting
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He stressed the fact that the department has no quotas and that the ticketing was done to protect the man: broken windshields may crack and the man could have been showered by glass.
In fact, the sheriff pointed out the fact that the man could actually have been ticketed for not possessing his title, a ticket that would have cost $522, instead of the $46 of the ticket cost for a broken windshield. He stated that he believed the officer did the man a favor.
The Legal Concept
The laws defining broken windshields, what constitutes one, and how much a person pays is mostly decided by the state. For example, Florida law states that a windshield needs repair if a dollar bill won't cover the damages, if there are more than three chips, and if the chip is in the line of site of the driver or at the edge of the windshield.
Colorado law, the state in which this story occurred, has no special provisions on windshield and windshield repairs. As a result, the decision to ticket for one is largely at the discretion of the officer. This means the ticket would probably be difficult for the man to dispute.
How The Story Applies To