CHP New Patrol Vehicles; Marked or Unmarked?

 CHP Marked Patrol Vehicles

So you continue to look for CHP patrol vehicles that are black and white as a means of avoiding a speeding ticket in California. As a preliminary matter, the best way to avoid a speeding ticket is to drive at or below the speed limit and obey all California traffic laws. Then it doesn't matter what color the patrol vehicle may be and you can actually focus on driving instead of looking for police officers. As an attorney, I can only advocate for following the law, but there has been some new developments on this topic.

Officer testimony at Traffic Trial

Once you have completed arraignment and set your matter for trial, the officer is issued a subpoena by the court to appear on the trial date (set at arraignment) and testify as to the circumstances giving rise to the ticket you were issued. If the officer does not appear, or the officer does not have present recollection of the events, your ticket will be dismissed. 

Also in California, the officer must specifically testify to certain facts.  California Vehicle Code Section 40804(b) requires that an officer testify that he/she was wearing a full distinctive uniform using a distinctively colored, marked patrol vehicle at the time of the stop to be a competent witness in a speed violation case or any moving violation; if not, they are considered an incompetent witness. 

You may hear attorneys in traffic court, advise the judge that they have an "1118 motion" after the officer has completed his sworn testimony on your ticket and you can do the same. That is a request for judgement for acquittal. That happens after the officers testimony and before the defendant's testimony and case in chief.  There is no need for a defense case as the officer has already made a fatal error.

New Specially Marked Patrol Vehicles (SMPV)

The California Highway Patrol's new patrol vehicles come in a variety of colors, including silver, gray, black, white, blue, and maroon. These new vehicles are designed to blend in with traffic to help officers better spot reckless driving.  They have the CHP emblem on the door and none on the back. They do not have lights on the top of the car and it takes a keen eye to actually identify these patrol vehicles.

It would seem that these new SMPV's would fly in the face of the California Vehicle Code that required them to be "destinctively" marked.  You will need to zoom in to the pictures in this post to actually see the emblem on the door.  In the past, the SMPV's were all white, with no lights on top and no designation on the back of the vehicle but the emblem on the door was clearly noticeable. Those were referred to as "Polar Bears." The "distinctively" marked description has been described as "sharp contrasting colors." That does not appear to be happening on these new SMPV's.

It would seem at some point attorneys will be challenging these moving violations and they will argue that those officers, as a matter of law, are not competent to testify. Of course, as indicated above the only way to make certain you don't get a ticket is to follow the California Traffic Laws. Also, if you have questions about any traffic ticket you have received in California certainly call our office and we will provide a free consultation.

Law Offices of Kevin C. Boyle

(818) 491-7787