Taillight tint illegal?

[Camzilla86]

I was pulled over last week for my taillights being too dark. The officer said they had to be visible from 1000ft away. I took a video at night and you could see the lights pretty easy from that distance. So the next day i went to the court house, plead not guilty, and was waiting for the court date. Today the same trooper pulled me over, and wrote the same ticket for the lights. I told the officer i plead not guilty for the offense and i wasnt pulling the tint off until the judge decided on the case.

Just wanted to know if anyone else has had any problems like this and could give me some advice. Thanks

[SILVERHAWK]

Don't know about your motor vehicle code in TX, but just a bit of advice in case you lose-- Take off the tint til you find out for sure cause now if you lose you have 2 fines to pay or more by then. Just a thought. Don't know if you have to go to DMV for an inspection when you do your tags like we do every other year, but you could go to DMV and ask an inspector if they are legal or not.???

[Camzilla86]

I know the District Attorney real good. I plan on talking to him tomarrow but thanks for the advice.

[derklug]

All factory lights are designed to meet DOT specs, which is what state laws are based on. Altering the lights makes them no longer meet DOT spec, and will get you a ticket. The part they get you on is the 500' reflective range, not the 1000' brake light visibility spec.

[TRC-SS]

Im a police officer in mass and the law here is no tinting headlights or taillights.

On the back you must have red reflective lights visable at all times. so the only way around it is to put a red reflector lense in the place of the reverse light or something along that line.

But the reasoning around this is being able to see your brake lights come on in the day time. with tinted tails and the sun it makes it hard to view.

I like the way tinted tails look, i say fight it brother and let the judge determine it. but just an fyi just because you get found not guilty doesnt mean that police can stop writing you...they can write you over and over again So its going to come down to whether you want to keep meeting the locals in that way or just put them back to stock. My .02 cents

[SILVERHAWK]

Originally Posted by Camzilla86

I know the District Attorney real good. I plan on talking to him tomarrow but thanks for the advice.

SIR, LOOK, IF YOU KNOW THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY IN YOUR JURISDICTION SO WELL WHY IN THE HELL ARE YOU ASKING FOR ADVICE FROM PEOPLE IN A CAMARO FORUM???????????????? THERE IS YOUR PERFECT SOURCE OF ADVICE . I sincerely hope it wasn't to see if you could rake up some good ole' fashion "cop bashin' " cause thats not right.
Just going to add another 2 cents if your taillights are illegal and your friend in the DA's office makes it "go away". Just remember if you don't remove it and this Trooper keeps seeing you (I'm guessing you frequent his patrol area) in direct violation he will more than likely check into what happened to his past citations. He can find out the disposition and in turn make trouble for your friend if he choses by filing a complaint with his Admin in reference to improper conduct if thats what you have in mind. I know cause it happened here. If I was the one who caught you twice here in my State. I would have written you a warning the first time, then a ticket on the 2nd one, along with a re-inspection notice making you appear at DMV with the issue corrected. If you don't appear at DMV your license and registration are suspended until you go

[Ironheadspearo]

that is why I bought GTS tail light covers. if I get pulled over i will immediately remove them and hopefully avoid the ticket. with the tint you cannot do this

[GreenMonster]

just got a ticket over the weekend for the tinted tailights, they told me 50-100ft .... regardless the light can be seen from that distance so0o0 Now I have to go to court SUCKS!

[Desertdawg]

Question, what is wrong with red taillights?

They add nice contrast and detail. But more importantly, add safety. Every little bit of added illumination to prevent being rear ended is a plus in my book.

[justa25thTA]

Originally Posted by Camzilla86

I know the District Attorney real good. I plan on talking to him tomarrow but thanks for the advice.

won't do you any good in any other county. remove the tint.

[mikeSS]

a friend of mine got a tint for tinted windows and tinted tail lights. here in MI thats like a 300-400 ticket together

[SSLarry]

The factory lights are DOT approved. In fact, 'DOT' should be molded right on the lens somewhere. If you mess with those lenses, you are violating DOT regulation. It's pretty cut and dry.

Most cops don't notice, but if you are too obvious, they are justified in pulling you over. Also, if someone rear-ends you, their keen lawyer may use that to put the blame on you.

[sad54189]

I spent some time as an LEO and I never messed with little petty stuff like that. But as others are saying the LEO is going to keep giving you problems until you do remove the tint, so it is probably best to remove it unless you like seeing the LEO and Judge on a daily basis.

[canadian ss]

We are not to permit tinted lights on the exterior of any car during a safety inspection. Read your DOT safety guide lines for your state before they school you. At least you can get a heads up on what is legal and not. Also, tinting your lights poses a hazzard to you as well. There will always be some idiot out there that will not see your lights when stopping or turning. You are putting yourself at danger. The idiot will sue you too.
If it were me, I would use it at shows and not on the street with them comon folk!