nzelinsky

iTrader: (1)

So I was cruisin' down the street in my 02, just minding my own business going 5kms over the limit... I noticed the fuzz was on my tail so I slowed to the speed limit.

When I changed lanes to an exit ramp the heat was hot on my tail and flipped on his strobes... So I pull over.

"I pulled you over for the blue lights on your license plate..." He says
"Those are white bulbs" I reply, irritated this fool is wasting my time.

"License, registration, insurance please" the cop mutters
"Here" I say, handing him my paperwork

"You're insurance is expired" uh oh...
"Well I have insurance, I didnt know the paperwork was expired" My hands start to tremble...

"Hold on while I check this on my computer..." the tension builds

I sit there texting my buddy in complete disbelief I got pulled over for those LED's, my friend is laughing his *** off.

"Okay your paperwork checks out, make sure to update your paperwork asap.... When I pulled you over your lights looked blue, but now that Im looking at them I guess they are white... Im going to let you off with a warning."

So I roll up my window and peel out like a bat outta hell... jk
But he did let me go and I cant believe what a waste of time the whole thing was. I hope you enjoyed this story, I put it in a narrative form bc it seems kinda boring otherwise.

If you have had any similar experiences being pulled over for ridiculous reasons feel free to share.

N

Nexus67

iTrader: (23)

I didn't know blue lit license plate lights were illegal. I suppose it depends on the state? Or is it simply most states?

I wonder if he actually would've given you the ticket or was just ball-busting lol

e-subliminal-2

iTrader: (7)

Rofl, "fuzz". "heat was on" hahahahaha. It's like watching that 70's show all over again rofl.
Love the way you write your stories. I'm surprised he didn't mention the tint if he was looking for a bs reason to pull you over. Some cops have nothing better to do than TRY to find anything on you so they can ticket you. I've had so many bust u-turns just because the way my car looks. Tail me, than turn around once they got nothing.

And your car looks pretty stock.. Some cops.

jonnypax09

iTrader: (6)

i dont believe you can have blue anywhere, to much of "a resemblance to a police vehicle" ive heard.

gjaa

dude your car looks awesome i love the lights, as far as being pulled over my ex used to call me the duke of hazards because everywhere we went i would get pulled over, last time i got pulled over it was because i was lost, i was dring like 20 miles an hour trying to figure out which way i had to go right in down town boston the cop put on his lights and ask me what was i planning to do, why was i looking around so much and driving so slow the questions went on for about 20 minutes and then he finally said that my wife hasnt paid her exise taxes and that i could get in trouble for that... f-ing bs huh?

gjaa

i just noticed the op has clear side makers front and rear, isnt that ilegal as well? i mean should the bulbs be amber for the front and red for the rear?

jonnypax09

iTrader: (6)

the clear housings are fine as long as they light up amber and red its legal. his setup is illegal because of the white leds but honestly i dont think the cops could say much like he said. i know my gf's car had white leds in the side markers and i couldn't get it to pass inspection but no biggie just swap them out

nzelinsky

iTrader: (1)

LOL yeah my sidemarkers are way more illegal than my lic plate lights. The cop was eyeing them up but didnt say anything... as for the tint, I dont know I've been pulled over or drove through check stops and they never say anything about it...

I live in canada so laws are a bit different, but my tint and sidemarkers are very illegal here but cops dont pay much attention to the grocery getter when there are far more attention seeking rice rockets around here. LOL

nzelinsky

iTrader: (1)

TY and yeah lots of times cops do the same thing to me, run my plates then leave me alone cuz Im clean

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

vehicle lighting laws are federal not state...and no exterior lights can be blue

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

negative...they must light up AND REFLECT red and amber...even with colored bulbs, clear sidemarkers are illegal

CraigSE

Stock lights FTW... One reason I never do any lighting changes on my cars.

nzelinsky

iTrader: (1)

Its funny that one too, bc there are a lot of ppl around here with blue leds in their headlights, especially pickup trucks. I wonder if they have a switch to turn them off if they see cops.

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

on my black max, i just smoked the side markers...during the day, they blended with the car...but at night, lit and reflected proper color

isnt enforced that much...so people think its ok...then throw a fit when they get pulled over

nalc

iTrader: (11)

There is a range of acceptable values that are defined as "white".

That's why bulbs like Silverstars that have a blue tint are still legal.

I bet they were "cool white" LEDs, which are a white/light blue color. They are usually just barely in the range of being considered "white", but could easily appear blue depending on the ambient lighting and the eyesight of person looking at them. Without photometric testing, the demarcation between "cool white" and "light blue" is subjective, so it could very well depend on the officer as to whether to write a ticket.

For instance, all of these would fall under "white" as specified in FMVSS 108, although it is certainly plausible that some people would consider the one on the right to be blue.


Here's the full FMVSS 108 text, if anyone is interested in further reading
http://fmvss108.tripod.com/fmvss108text.htm

gjaa

see im dying to do my side markers but i want to get as little attention from the cops as i possibly can so im digging around everywhere to fing out how much trouble can i get into by getting clears.

i have been thinking of getting projectors for the headlights but im not really sure they will look good in my car, any of you guys have them?

zero2sixtyZ

iTrader: (30)

It is actually an optical illusion. Cool (not Warm) White LEDs have more of a bluish hue to them from a distance. The same thing happened to my friend while driving on the highway for his WHITE license plate lights. Cop still pulled us over, realized they were white, warning and carried on.

And like sooner said, DOT National Law says no blue or red lighting on the front of the vehicle, no blue on side or rear as to be confused for an "emergency" vehicle. So yes, Blue LEDs, or pretty much 6000k and above HIDs are all noticeably illegal. No state to state argument there.

yevgenievich

i had a bs stop many times, all were either in the Trans Am or Stealth tho. I see blue lights on cars pretty often tho

2000MaximaSE

Wow.. great story.. I was expecting it to be a fresh prince troll

exsjulio

iTrader: (4)

i had a bs stop where the cop ended up giving me a parking violation, while i was still in the caR??

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

now lets not turn this in to a "bashing a cop for doing his job" thread

Nismo215

Nice story hahaha cops are mostly a$$es...agreed with everyone saying they pull you over then pull something out their a$$ to give you a citation for.

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

spoken like someone buttsore because a cop had the nerve to pull you over for breaking the law

PadawanKnight

iTrader: (1)

Actually, I had a L.E.O. tell me himself that most officers are jerks.

ZGadson

I'm sick of cops. Apparently you're not allowed to live in two different states anymore. I had Indiana plates and a Georgia license and the cop gave me a ticket for missmatched information. I was planning to get GA plates because I'm here more, but he said you have to have GA plates within 30 days of moving here. I paid $100 to renew my Indiana plates the week before... then paid an extra $65 for not having GA plates on my car, and $20 for the plate itself.

So, what happens if I decide to stay in Indiana longer than 30 days next time? Its complete BS. (I should also note that the only reason the cop pulled me over was because I was in GA with IN plates. Apparently this is "suspicious activity.")

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

In this case, that would be Province, not State.

Nick, that was a good story, and pretty entertaining writing, too.

Yeah, blue is a no-no. But amber LED's look awesome over the rear plate.

SoonerFan

iTrader: (5)

well then i guess its true
you can be a jerk and still be 100% right in enforcing the law

actually you arent in most states...once you move to a new state, you usually have 30 days to do it...unless you have a military ID

VQP0WER

Come on Jason, you do know the largest gang in America are the police, with the majority of them thinking they are above the law, but lets not go down that road here....eh?

Rydicule

Cops are mostly pretty decent people with families, children, and a sound sense of morality and duty. The problem with people is that a pretty fair amount of the time, you never see the cop that just caught ya doin 70 in a 55. You don't see him because he didn't pull you over. He didn't pull you over because he usually does 70 in that 55. You also aren't going to see the azz that comes down the road a mile behind you doing 85 and passing cars on the right, because that's the guy that's getting pulled over.

Are all cops like this? No. There are definitely some younger ones with a shiny new badge, rolling around in a police cruiser with a 9mm on their hip that love to stand above where people sit, those that are afraid of the uniform, and the ability to always have the final word. There are also those that have bad days and take it out by sharing the wealth of their misery. And there are certainly some towns/places where the bad ones outnumber the respectable. However, on the whole of things, there are definitely a lot more of the guys that are out there FOR you rather than to hassle you.

You'll just never find yourself on the internet saying "Hey guys! Saw a cop car today. That is all."

ZGadson

So what do the thousands of people do who have vacation houses in other states? Its basically the same thing.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Just get a military ID

Maximus3500

Cops are a mixed bag. Ive had my fair share of encounters with the cops and from what Ive found that with 90% of cops out their as long as your friendly and honest with them you will recieve a lesser punishment, Maybe they wont give you a warning for doing 55 in a 35 but they might just mark 45 in a 35 on the ticket. I hate it when people are rude to cops then complain that they got a harsh punishment. These people are just trying to do their jobs, But for that other 10% of cops who have something to prove or are having a bad day, they are the total ***-holes who will ruin your day.

vball_max

iTrader: (5)

Personally, I cant complain about cops at the moment. I got pulled over for speeding 3 times in the past month doing 41 in a 25, 51 in a 35, and 48 in a 30. I got a written warning the first time, and verbal warnings for the other 2. And all 3 occurred in small towns where you would think cops have nothing better to do than to write you a nice hefty fine on a ticket.

I am knocking on wood hard and loud as I type this

From past experiences with cops, I have found that as long as you are polite and respectful, you will get the same in return.

2damax

I like this thread. To those saying that cops pull people over for stupid stuff... it is called a pre-textual stop. They pull you over for a small thing (which a cop will find if he follows you for a little) with the intent on finding more based on how you act and what he observes. Courts have deemed this legal.

Also to the couple of people saying cops are a$$e$.... cops do their job for you. If you rather have an anarchy...the cops have guns and are trained to do their jobs rather well...you are probably NOT. So you should probably thank them.

Lastly, cops act like jerks for a reason. They need to show you who is in control. They are trained to act that way and it can rub off out of work...The next time a cop pulls you over for speeding or rolling through a stop sign think about a dead body he may have seen a week before because someone did the same thing. I could go on but that is my 2 cents...well thats probably like 10 cents worth.


OH and to the OP, that's a classic story I like it. Keep the lights

EsQueue

iTrader: (2)

That was quite a nice read. I guess the story mode format helped.

Once I saw the topic name I was 100% sure that it was for white leds mistaken for blue. I had white windshield washer sprayers on my Ford Escort Zx2 (no one should be ashamed for their past).

I got pulled over 4 times but never got a ticket after talking to them. I never got pissed because they always let me off and they did have a blue shade as the pic shows above. I eventually got rid of the car with them still installed. LOL

Froggmann

iTrader: (6)

Yep, that's the type that love to pull me over. In fact that sums up the last 3 that have pulled me over.

1 was for registration, it was out by a month or so so yes I deserved the ticket. He tried to write a ticket for my tint, but his trainer told him to just write the ticket for registration. 2nd was a young pipsqueak on a power trip. He ran my plate and saw I was 2 days out of registration, when I asked why I was being pulled over instead of just explaining what the violation was he started nit-picking anything he could find on my truck. That's also when I found out my License was suspended from the previous ticket. apparently that courthouse "forgot" to mark the ticket as paid. But the kicker is the whole stop was illegal since in CA they aren't supposed to pull you over till 30 days have elapsed. Guess which rookie didn't get the memo? In hindsight, it makes sense now that he was pulled aside and talked to by the field supervisor and suddenly became a little nicer.

The last one was another trainee with a trainer out on the freeway. Don't completely understand why but they decided to pull over the oversized guy in the undersized 91 Corolla in the pack instead of the newer Mercedes or Cadillac. At least he wasn't a ***** and try to write me up for anything he could find wrong with the car.

MoncefA33

iTrader: (6)

:metalmax:

2damax

Ha froggmann those are tough ones lol. On my 21st birthday I got pulled over and got a ticket for passing on the right, speeding, and having an expired proof of insurance. So mad at the guy.

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

So far, three times pulled over in my Maxima, three warnings. Twice I was speeding on the interstate, once for a quick lane change when someone without brake lights slowed down quickly in front of me.

00o30

iTrader: (2)

just bought some LED side marker bulbs yestoday.