protegesociety

HEY GUYS. WELL I WAS WAITING FOR THIS TIME TO COME. I GOT PULLED OVER BY A CHP. HE STATED MY TAIL LIGHTS, TURN SIGNALS, SIDE MARKERS, SIDE MARKER BULBS, AND WINDOW TINT IS ILLEGAL !!! I GOT 3 DAYS TO FIX IT !!! wtf. DAMB COPS.

MY QUESTION IS DOES ANYONE WANNA TRADE ME THEIR STOCK TAIL LIGHTS FOR MY ALTEZZA LIGHTS?

THEGOLDPRO

i was under the impression that the altezzas were legal. but sorry to hear, and take off your caps lock.

Nigaud5sx

I'm pretty sure Altezza light are legal, unless California some wacked-up law about them. Thet's why they have become such industy busters, compared with clear tail lights - they're legal.

In Oklahoma the tail lights are required to have a red lense somewhere in them where the light is, to differentiate them from the headlights.

KpaBap

Side markers are illegal? Turn signals are illegal? The BULBS are illegal?

Redfyre

Protegesociety, you might want to check that out further. I've heard that depending on the colour of the of the bulbs in your turn signals and side markers it can be "illegal." But generally cops souldn't pick you up on it. It's considers a little grey area of the highway traffic act. And altezza style lights as far as I know are legal. But then again, I'm here in Cananda and you're in California.

Not sure if this helps any, but I hope it does.

What did you do with your old stock taillights? Just curious.

macdaddyslomo

fight them on the Altezza Issue....altezza's are DOT Certified and 50 state legal,your corners are another issue,but shld be fine if the bulb is amber..the sidemarkers shld be ok if the bulb color is,since the 03 protege has sidemarkers as original equipment...change you bulbs and tint and fight the rest

Tom Slick

is it just a $10 fix-it ticket/reinspection?

i see tons of people with ugly..oops (did i say that out loud?)..err.... i mean aftermarket tail lights. as long as they are the proper colors i don't know why they would give you a hassle unless they were bored. now if you have blue bulbs in everything you probably deserve the ticket just for taunting the fuzz. the various colors for each of the indicator lights are that color for safety/visability reasons.

on a different note, was it one of the new "steath" chp cars? those white camaros with the clear led light bars? you can't tell they are cops until they are right up on you.

gcs118

What does chp mean?

titocruzsd

CHP = California Highway Patrol

jstand6

Side-marker lamps, as defined in the California Vehicle Code, are NOT the fender-mounted turn signal indicators found standard on all 2002.5 Protege's and Protege5's. Side-marker lamps are the amber (near-front) or red (near-rear) lamps which indicate the ends of the vehicle from a side view. On all Protege's and Protege5's, the rear side-marker is integrated into the rear taillamp assembly. On sedans, the front side-marker is integrated into the headlight assembly. On Protege5's, the front side-marker is mounted on the side of the front bumper.

A brief breakdown on the issues cited per California Vehicle Code:

Turn signals- Amber or white in front, amber or red in rear. Must be visible to the front and rear. Must be visible to 300ft. California Vehicle Codes 24952 & 24953. I see a lot of modified cars with white, blue, or green rear turn signals or red, blue, or green front turn signals. These are illegal.

Side markers- Amber in front and red in rear. Front amber lamp(s) must be visible to the front and side. Rear red lamp(s) must be visible to the rear and side. Separate or combined lamps may be used as long as all conditions are met. Must be visible between 50 and 500ft. California Vehicle Code 25100. Again, I see a lot of modified cars with white, blue, or green side markers. These are illegal.

Taillamps- At least two, but not more than four, rear-facing red taillamps are required. These taillamps must be visible within 1,000ft. California Vehicle Code 24600. I see some modified cars using white taillamps. The only white lamps allowed in the rear are license plate and reverse lamps.

There are some basic rules to follow to not attract the attention of law enforcement. Red lights should never be visible from the front. Blue lights are reserved for law enforcement vehicles only. Green lights are not allowed at all. All California Vehicle Codes regarding lighting state a minimum height of 15" as measured from the ground to the center of the lamp. Also, all lighting must have a minimum of 85% of the voltage rating for the bulb, and likewise, all bulbs must meet the nominal voltage for the socket. The California Vehicle Codes for lighting were actually quite interesting to read. There was a lot of stuff I didn't know.

Farsyde

hold on. I know that any blue projecting lights are illegal. However, bulbs that are blue while turned off should not be illegal. Is this right? Take Hyper white bulbs which most are blue but project a very bright white. Also, why are green lights illegal?

redrims

Like everyone said its illegal. My friend, who is a State Trooper, gave me the 771 page Vehicle Law Book to study. ( I may become a State Trooper and pull some of y'all suckers over ) Anywho, I have a friend who wants some Altezza's and he'll trade his stock ones for yours.
The cops in my area really don't give a **** about that stuff. To bad you had to get a bitch for a cop.

BTW, I sent you a PM.

jstand6

California Vehicle Code 25950 states that "All lamps and reflectors visible from the front, sides, or rear of a vehicle, except headlamps, may have any unlighted color, provided the emitted light from all lamps or reflected light from all reflectors complies with the required color." If a police officer really wanted to, he could cite you for the blue tinted bulbs. However, the bulbs are not visible in a Protege and there is just a faint blue reflection in the reflector. However, some bulbs out there emit a blue light rather than white. Using those bulbs is just asking for trouble since it not only breaks the above code, but it probably also does not meet the distance requirements of CVC 24407.

Any color light other than white, amber, yellow, or red is illegal if used for a vehicle's directional, warning, illumination, or signal lights. Signs, emblems, under-chassis neons, washer nozzle LEDs, TireFlys, etc. are all legal as long as they don't exceed a certain brightness. Can you imagine someone using green for brake lights. A driver not paying a whole lot of attention could easily mistake it for a green traffic light when the light is really red. Or someone using white brake lights (and I see this all the time... idiots!)... come around a dark corner and see two white lights immediately ahead of you in your lane... what would a driver think? Most drivers would slam on their brakes and swerve because they think a car is coming at them. In the U.S., we use a standard set of colors for safety reasons. Red is used to signify the rear of a vehicle. White is used to signify the front of a vehicle, or more specifically, the motion of a vehicle (such as back-up lights). Amber is used for signalling and warning. Start changing colors around and you are asking for a dangerous, and possibly fatal, situation.

EZ as 123

I need some pics to judge if the rice police had a good reason to give a citation

Farsyde

thanks jstand, looks like i can keep my neons!