Smoked tail lights illegal?

[dusred]

Pics of my tail lights:





Those are my $250 LED tail lights. . . you know the kind that are about 20x brighter than factory ones. Yeah. Those.

I just got pulled over and ticketed because I had smoked tail lights. I'm assuming the cop was just on drugs. Is it possible that smoked tail light could be illegal? I'm in AZ by the way. He also wrote me up for "visible contamination" because my truck smoked a tiny bit (it's a Diesel, they smoke, right?). Maybe the guy had just stopped smoking so the word smoke pissed him off. IDK.

[Urabus GodofTraction]

As we told NALA, smoked tails are, in fact, illegal in pretty much, if not all, states.

[dusred]

I just asked a local cop about it and he said as long as there is a red reflector in them they're legal. He also pointed out that the cop who gave me the ticket didn't put the code I violated on the ticket. So basically that cop was just on the rag. They're legal.

[Urabus GodofTraction]

Cops, interestingly enough, don't know s*** about laws.

You're going to need to look around AZ Title 28 for the truth. I think you're going to afoul of visibility distance, as well as the aforementioned reflector.

You could put your money where your mouth is and take it to court...You'd win, if you're so sure they're legal.

I also suspect you might be running up against a federal law, as well. There's some law on the books that made, say, the FD taillights look as they do...

Posted, because it's a f***' sexy car:

[ADDirishboy]

Ugh, FD's make my pants tight.

Also, smoked tails on an F250? Really?

[Dattebayo]

The fallback law is that the lights must be as they were when made by the OEM.

Technically, there is no way you will win if you take it to court, really.

[ADDirishboy]

This is taken from the AZ legislature website:

28-925. Tail lamps
A. A motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer and pole trailer and any other vehicle that is being drawn at the end of a train of vehicles shall be equipped with at least one tail lamp mounted on the rear. When lighted as required by this article, the tail lamp shall emit a red light plainly visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear, except that in the case of a train of vehicles, only the tail lamp on the rearmost vehicle need actually be seen from the distance specified.
B. A tail lamp on a vehicle shall be located at a height of not more than seventy-two inches nor less than fifteen inches to be measured as provided in section 28-923, subsection B.
C. Either a tail lamp or a separate lamp shall be constructed and placed in a manner that illuminates with a white light the rear license plate and renders it clearly legible from a distance of fifty feet to the rear. A tail lamp or tail lamps together with any separate lamp for illuminating the rear license plate shall be wired to provide that the tail lamp or lamps are lighted whenever the head lamps or auxiliary driving lamps are lighted.

So yes, it says it has to emit a red light, which yours does. Whether yours is visible for 500 ft, I don't know. But 500ft isn't a very long distance, so I would imagine yours would be visible at distance.

[PEZi]

So yes, it says it has to emit a red light, which yours does. Whether yours is visible for 500 ft, I don't know. But 500ft isn't a very long distance, so I would imagine yours would be visible at distance.

this is basically every state..... so charlieo needs to stop acting like he knows everything

can you see them from 500ft? are they red? if you answered yes to both of these questions.... ignore charlieo and his know it all facade

[Urabus GodofTraction]

So yes, it says it has to emit a red light, which yours does. Whether yours is visible for 500 ft, I don't know. But 500ft isn't a very long distance, so I would imagine yours would be visible at distance.

this is basically every state..... so charlieo needs to stop acting like he knows everything

can you see them from 500ft? are they red? if you answered yes to both of these questions.... ignore charlieo and his know it all facade

So wait... If I alluded to a minimum distance requirement in every state, and you're saying I need to stop acting like I know everything? ACTING? b****, apparently I DO know everything.


Take that b**** to court if you're so sure you're legal.

More know it all gibberish: you can't just walk back 500ft and say "yup, I can see it." There are probably a dozen SAE standards on offset and the like that must be complied with that his s*** truck-rice (trice?) taillights don't.

Look! Legal jibberish I just looked up justifying what I already know:

"S5.8.1 Except as provided below, each lamp, reflective device, or item of associated equipment manufactured to replace any lamp, reflective device, or item of associated equipment on any vehicle to which this standard applies, shall be designed to conform to this standard."

Further digging shows that without red reflectors on the side and rear (as mentioned by the local LEO), they're automatically not legal. Smoked taillights, by nature, can't have those. Neato! Ever more digging shows that buy purchasing those lights (as opposed to Nalaing them with a film), you're even more illegal, as they must be DOT certified (and apparently a lot of aftermarket companies are forging certifications).

Goddamn I'm awesome.


TL;DR: You're out $250 and a few braincells. qq more!

[PEZi]

Further digging shows that without red reflectors on the side and rear (as mentioned by the local LEO), they're automatically not legal. Smoked taillights, by nature, can't have those. Neato!

care to explain? i know for a fact some do.... all? no... some? yes

and you don't know everything.... you're a f*** idiot... i hate you.... and i'll leave it at that

[alms24sebring]

wow that sucks. I guess technically ADDirishnoy is right. And to answer your second question, just about every diesel car/truck (especially diesel VW's) that Ive seen puff smoke. I mean as long as you werent painting the white lines black, I would say he was just a d!ck cop.

Fight the power

[ADDirishboy]

Charlieo, I'm not saying you're wrong, and I'm not saying I'm right.

I did just find this also...

28-926. New motor vehicles; reflectors
A. Except as provided in subsection B of this section, a new motor vehicle sold and operated on a highway, other than a truck tractor, shall carry on the rear, either as a part of the tail lamps or separately, either:
1. Two red reflectors that comply with this section.
2. If it is a motorcycle or a motor driven cycle, at least one reflector that complies with this section.
B. A vehicle of the type provided in section 28-929 shall be equipped with reflectors as required in that section.
C. A reflector shall be mounted on the vehicle at a height of not less than twenty inches nor more than sixty inches measured as provided in section 28-923, subsection B and shall be of such size and characteristics and so mounted as to be visible at night from all distances within three hundred feet to fifty feet from the vehicle when directly in front of lawful upper beams of head lamps, except that visibility from a greater distance is required of reflectors on certain types of vehicles.

Right there under number 1 it says, clearly, you must have RED reflectors. Which you don't have.

So yes, the cop gave you a legit ticket. Now make them stock again. Tinted tails on a truck (besides Ant's) are stupid.

[Urabus GodofTraction]

Further digging shows that without red reflectors on the side and rear (as mentioned by the local LEO), they're automatically not legal. Smoked taillights, by nature, can't have those. Neato!

care to explain? i know for a fact some do.... all? no... some? yes

and you don't know everything.... you're a f**king idiot... i hate you.... and i'll leave it at that

Well with statements like that I know you're a completely rational human being capable of comprehending logic and reason!

You "know for a fact" ehh? NOW who's being the know it all? Could it be you, Rational McRationalson?

Oh wait. I looked up federal statute. You cursed and abused ellipses.

[Dattebayo]

Well now that the pissing war started, the loophole is that you can keep them if you mount a reflector on the rear of the truck. It doesn't specify where except on the rear.

[PEZi]

You cursed and abused ellipses.

you seem to think i care about what you say...


i wish i could meet you... to kick you in the d!ck, then offer you a beer... only to pour it on you and then shove the bottle up your a**

[ADDirishboy]

Well now that the pissing war started, the loophole is that you can keep them if you mount TWO reflectors on the rear of the truck. It doesn't specify where except on the rear.

FTFY.

[Urabus GodofTraction]

Well now that the pissing war started, the loophole is that you can keep them if you mount a reflector on the rear of the truck. It doesn't specify where except on the rear.

Fear my golden stream of righteousness!

You're on the right track, though I don't know if the loophole that let the IS300 have it's lights would work if you just glued some trailer reflectors to the side of a car.

i wish i could meet you... to kick you in the d!ck, then offer you a beer... only to pour it on you and then shove the bottle up your a**

You know in Amsterdam people pay good money for a treat like that.

[Dattebayo]

Thanks dingleberry.

[Dattebayo]

You're on the right track, though I don't know if the loophole that let the IS300 have it's lights would work if you just glued some trailer reflectors to the side of a car.

Why not? It works for the amish.

[ADDirishboy]

Fear my golden stream of righteousness!

You're on the right track, though I don't know if the loophole that let the IS300 have it's lights would work if you just glued some trailer reflectors to the side of a car.

It doesn't say you can't.....

All it says is 2 red reflectors. Who writes these laws? Vague much?

[Urabus GodofTraction]

You're on the right track, though I don't know if the loophole that let the IS300 have it's lights would work if you just glued some trailer reflectors to the side of a car.

Why not? It works for the amish.

I see what you did there!

[Dattebayo]

Well they technically don't have "motorized" vehicles, but at least they have one horsepower.

Can a horse be considered a motor?

[PEZi]

here's the biggest thing i should mention as far as the ticket.... MOST cops won't write you a ticket for tinted tails unless you've done something to deserve a ticket in the first place.... it could be as simple as profiling, and he didn't like you.... but they don't cruise the streets looking for people with tinted tails to ticket

[Urabus GodofTraction]

Well they technically don't have "motorized" vehicles, but at least they have one horsepower.

Can a horse be considered a motor?

I believe MoD schooled me hard on what is and isn't a motor a year or so ago. But let's look it up:
"one that imparts motion"

So yes, I'm going to declare a horse a motor.

[ADDirishboy]

here's the biggest thing i should mention as far as the ticket.... MOST cops won't write you a ticket for tinted tails unless you've done something to deserve a ticket in the first place.... it could be as simple as profiling, and he didn't like you.... but they don't cruise the streets looking for people with tinted tails to ticket

Exactly. While it is technically illegal, most cops won't do anything about it. So, you can leave them and hope you don't run into any cops who had a bad day, or change them back.

I vote for changing them back. Your truck will look better anyway.

[Dattebayo]

They do here. I swear they ticket for stock exhausts and pop hood without so much as cause. It's gotten bad lately, but they leave really old cars alone.

[PEZi]

They do here. I swear they ticket for stock exhausts and pop hood without so much as cause. It's gotten bad lately, but they leave really old cars alone.

i guess that's the plus side of living in one of the most conservative areas in CO

it seems the ONLY thing they pull people over for here is obnoxious exhaust notes

[ADDirishboy]

Really Dave? Huh, that seems like an unnecessary waste of time.

My old Yota was loud as hell. Had the turbo 22re motor and custom exhaust running 3" pipes from the turbo back, with a Flowmaster muffler and, occasionally, a Borla cat. Set off car alarms just idling in parking garages. Never got pulled over for it.

[Dattebayo]

Really Dave? Huh, that seems like an unnecessary waste of time.

This is what being a cop in Montgomery County is like most of the time. Gotta catch those awful dangerous kids cruising around in stop and go traffic for their exhaust.
OH NO HE'S GOT A GUN! No, that's a 7-11 hotdog. OH CARP HE'S MAKING A GETAWAY! No, he was pulling off the road so he wouldn't block traffic.

[Oatmealman]

colorado definatley does have pros to living in,not only is it absolutley beautiful,the cops really don't give a s*** about anything other than speeding more than 10 over,or street racing.I've driven my jeep down the street flinging mud outta the tires from hitting a pit in front of cops and they don't care even though it was raining down mud from 30 ft in the sky.I ran my s-10 with headers only while going to pick up a cat and downshifted to make a light and went through the intersection WOT in front of a cop and still didn't even bother looking.Gotta love living in a mildly hick state.