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Cone
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Most states have laws against items that obstruct the view of the driver.
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DaveBj
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Not in every jurisdiction. You cannot make blanket statements like this.
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EasterJoy
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With regards to drivers of other cars, I’ll concede that rosary-sized beads probably can’t throw enough light to bother anyone else. I was thinking more of those egg-sized glass crystals that people sometimes hang. So OK, I’ll cop to BS on that.
I would not be so fast when it comes to the rosaries made with real crystal beads (as opposed to plastic) that people also hang because they are so pretty when they catch the light. When those things catch the light, they REALLY catch the light. When the sun is low and strong, the glare from those towards the driver of that car could be an issue, when it comes to seeing in that direction.
Wood beads of a usable size? To cite someone for those would be citing on a technicality, IMHO. Know the law of the state you are driving in, and abide by it, but otherwise I’d have to side with you on the objective safety issue.
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PaulinVA
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pensmama87
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For some reason, when I read this I couldn’t help but think of:
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
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Allegra
Guest
I’m afraid you are wrong. State law is that you can’t have any objects that obstruct your vision. If the object doesn’t obstruct your vision, you can have it. My rosary does not obstruct my vision. My GPS takes up more space that those are allowed. Parking passes are also allowed if they are less than a certain size.
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schaeffer
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I’ve lived in states where it was illegal to have ANYTHING hanging from the rear view mirror or ANYTHING on the windows that could be construed as obstructing vision.
People could and did get pulled over for not properly clearing their windows of snow and ice, and I was informed by an officer (he didn’t ticket me but gave me a warning) that I could be ticketed for the gee gaws on my mirror.
If that is the law in the state you live in, abide by it. There are many other places in a car to keep a rosary handy. Or, do like people do with the handicap parking placards. Hang it when you leave the car, remove it when you get in to drive.
I don’t think it does Mary any honor to try to skirt the law by getting a smaller rosary and hoping it won’t be noticed.
Unless a law is truly unjust or immoral I believe the Church expects us to abide by them.
People could and did get pulled over for not properly clearing their windows of snow and ice, and I was informed by an officer (he didn’t ticket me but gave me a warning) that I could be ticketed for the gee gaws on my mirror.
If that is the law in the state you live in, abide by it. There are many other places in a car to keep a rosary handy. Or, do like people do with the handicap parking placards. Hang it when you leave the car, remove it when you get in to drive.
I don’t think it does Mary any honor to try to skirt the law by getting a smaller rosary and hoping it won’t be noticed.
Unless a law is truly unjust or immoral I believe the Church expects us to abide by them.
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oldgraymare2
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CaliLobo
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As a lawyer, the answer is YES in California, and several other states.
I don’t understand, why do you feel compelled to hang something from your rear view mirror?
It is beneficial to you to have your front view as clear as possible.
There is no Godly wisdom in citing religious practice as a reason for compromising your driving safety.
I don’t understand, why do you feel compelled to hang something from your rear view mirror?
It is beneficial to you to have your front view as clear as possible.
There is no Godly wisdom in citing religious practice as a reason for compromising your driving safety.
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PrincessRenae
Guest
Exactly. We should turn this thread around and start talking about other, safer ways to make our cars more Catholic. There has to be somewhere else to put a rosary in a car that’s safe…
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Hoosier_Daddy
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How about a one way window tint in the back of Our Lady of Guadalupe?
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PrincessRenae
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I was thinking of roping a few around my steering wheel. The beads will provide some extra grip, too!How about a one way window tint in the back of Our Lady of Guadalupe?
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Book_Worm
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I must say I am shocked and offended by your first paragraph. You speak as if it is a common occurrence for police officers to find innocent people on whom they can vent their spleen. Being married to a police officer I count many of them as friends. Far from looking for non-existent offenses because they had an argument with their spouse, they exhibit extraordinary self-control in the face of rudeness, arrogance, and ignorance. They pride themselves on their professional demeanor and maintaining it no matter what the provocation, even a motorist who complains about being stopped for a “nitpicking traffic violation,” AKA breaking a law.
You have a responsibility as a driver to know what the laws are in your state and abide by them. If you don’t like your state’s regulation regarding hanging objects from your rear view mirror, take it up with your state legislature. The police officer’s duty is to enforce the laws, not make them or ignore them because they’re “nitpicky.”
To the OP, the law in CT says not to hang articles from your mirror. Just don’t do it, no matter what the size. If I were the officer who stopped you and didn’t give you a ticket, I would find it very annoying to see you disregarded my warning and kindness in not ticketing you. Not to mention its a sin to knowingly break a law.
And it took me less than two minutes on line to find that you have 60 days to change your registration. I’m surprised they didn’t tell you that when you went to the MVD to change your license.
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EasterJoy
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I am shocked that you are shocked. I learned that attitude from a police officer who taught a criminology course I took in college. He made it very clear that police officers are human beings who in spite of their professional standards have been known to occasionally indulge all the same faults and human foibles as all other human beings, just like everyone else does. He cautioned strongly against treating them as if they’d never do anything out of personal like or dislike for a fellow citizen or just because they were having a bad day. This seemed to me like very sensible advice, and I have heard it from other police officers since. Police officers are people, too–I fail to see what is either shocking or offensive about admitting this.
This officer-instructor also said that if the police really want to find probable cause to pull you over, the chances are that they can find something, because they know the law better than you do. This also makes sense. Sometimes, though, they go a little too far. Anyone who has ever played a sport knows that when you are trying to find an edge against an opponent, this will happen from time to time. Since the opponents of the police are some people who very much need to be defeated according to whatever the rule of law allows, I do not fault them for that. Good for you, I say. Whatever you can do that is within the boundaries of the law is fair game. As long as you are playing fairly and honestly, don’t give an inch.
In the Connecticut case, however, the Supreme Court ruled that the offending beads hanging from the rearview mirror were not “AKA breaking the law,” and threw out all evidence gathered during the stop, even though the officer, in his own honest judgment, thought the law gave him room to do that: (caselaw.findlaw.com/ct-supreme-court/1534475.html) He did his best, and found from the judge that this time he had crossed a line. I don’t hold that against him.
The state legislature had written the law with some room for judgment–that is, it read “No article, device, sticker or ornament shall be attached or affixed to or hung on or in any motor vehicle in such a manner or location as to interfere with the operator’s unobstructed view of the highway or to distract the attention of the operator,” in contrast to the Minnesota law which reads, “[n]o person shall drive or operate any motor vehicle ․ with any objects suspended between the driver and the windshield, other than sun visors and rear vision.” The court found that the officer “stopped the defendant’s car in accordance with his routine practice of stopping cars whenever he observed something attached to their rearview mirrors.” The court noted as significant, however, the following exchange that had occurred on cross-examination of Mattioli, wherein he was asked:* “
Now tell me–was that officer in the habit of pulling people over for what he knew very well was a minor offense that caused no danger to anyone–AKA a “nitpicking traffic violation”? Of course he was. He said as much–that is, if there was something hanging that he knew quite well was not obstructing, he’d use it as an excuse to pull the motorist over. If he were in Minnesota, where the law just says “nothing on the rearview mirror,” he’d have had that guy on drunk driving because the drunk guy broke a nitpicking law that gave the excuse to pull him over and get past the problem that the driver had not made any driving mistakes that were evidence of his condition.
I repeat: It is foolish to give the police any excuses to pull you over. If they are in a “mode” where they are pulling motorists over so that they can go on a fishing expedition for people who really are doing something wrong but haven’t given evidence of it, let them pull someone else over. If there is anything in your state’s laws about items hanging from rearview mirrors being any problem whatsoever, get your rosary off of your rearview mirror, and keep it somewhere else. (I have had one traffic ticket in 34 years of driving. There is a reason for that.)*
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Hoosier_Daddy
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Make sure that you can see beyond the blue line. Much like the military, this noble profession can have it’s trappings.
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Book_Worm
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There is quite a bit of difference between pulling someone over for a minor violation because your profession experience leads you to suspect they are committing a more serious offense and stopping a driver because you just heard your in-laws are coming for an extended stay. Of course, police officers are human and have bad days; that’s why you always speak courteously to them since they have a great deal of discretion in issuing warnings v a summons. And some are hard-nosed; they do drive around looking for minor violations that the next PO would overlook. That’s why it’s to the driver’s advantage, as well as being his responsibility, to know the laws in his state. If the officer in the CT case had testified that the driver was driving in a distracted manner (which would be a completely subjective judgment and one that any experienced PO could easily justify) and that he felt the object hanging from the mirror was to blame for that, rather than admitting he made the stop every time he saw something dangling in front of the driver, the ruling might have been very different.
There’s also a reason I’ve been driving for fifty-two years and have never received a ticket for a moving violation.
There’s also a reason I’ve been driving for fifty-two years and have never received a ticket for a moving violation.
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Sarcelle
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Would anyone know if the state of New York has a similar law?
In case a cop stops me for a rosary hanging from my rear view mirror?
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Buckeyeboy
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To wit, the old adage “One is presumed to know the law” is basically a farce, court’s cant even agree on the same issue, there is so much case law out there.
What about INTERstate travel, one could hardly expect a motorist to be familiar with every law, criminal or vehicular, in every state they travel through. It may be permitted in yours but forbidden in others.
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Allegra
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That is correct. That is exactly what some police officers do. I’m not even talking about “nitpicking” bad driving habits. I’m talking about bullying and threatening people who complain when they try to cut in line ahead of them at Taco Bell. I’m talking about bullying innocent victims of a crime into not pressing charges because the criminal is their friends’ kid. I’m talking about threatening to come up with a reason to cite or arrest anyone who doesn’t smooch their backside whenever they come into their presence. Yes. Some police officers do this. Yes, everyone knows it. Yes, the rest of the “brotherhood” (and their wives) are generally willing to overlook and vehemently defend any action of any police officer no matter how rediculous and evil it is. Proceed to be shocked and offended. Because of their blantant and long-going abuse of power and their unwillingness to admit to the wrongdoings of their people, they are quickly losing any credibility that they ever had.
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Allegra
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Most states have their “Rules of the Road” booklet online now. I would check your .gov site.
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