ticket for tinted tail lights, and a call for help!!

Simple answer... say no... we don't need your opinion. That wasn't asked for.

 

I am helping, helping him come to his senses.

 

Yes, but we all know the OP is the evilest evil person in the world. Because it's been proven that tinted tail lights are a "Gateway Sin" that leads to eternal damnation.

"Dimmeth not your tail lights, but keep them bright, for the lord hateth rear end collisions"- Fauxilesions 3:12

Seriously, I don't hate the OP or anyone modifying their vehicle. I even recognize a debatably gray area (dim gray) with tints.

But what I really don't like, are those that admittedly and clearly recognize that they are breaking the law, taking the risk, but then want to side step the fine, or complain when they get caught.

Sure I don't think this is a big deal, but on one level the OP has committed a violation, and is now asking for help in executing misrepresentation and fraud.

What happens when he get's pulled over 2nd time?

 

The thing is, it may actually be illegal for someone to help him knowingly lie to the police about this. So hypothetically both the 'helper' and the OP could get in trouble.

I don't know if that is necessarily true in this case, but it VERY well may be. I wouldn't touch this with a 10 foot pole even if I was sympathetic to his perspective.

 

Not exactly...or not at all.

" I can go get the ticket signed off? That would save me some $$ since the ticket will only cost me $25 if its signed off."

He wants to misrepresent the reality, so that he can get the fine reduced. That's NOT paying the ticket.

And honestly, "The level of tint he has on his tail lights doesn't obscure anything."?

In the automotive world, tint IS all about obscuring something. It's kind of what tint IS. More tint? Less Light.

I think you can argue that there is an acceptable and safe level of tint. But if you aren't making the laws, then your personal feelings about what should be legal and what is safe, really don't matter when the police man is handing you the violation.

 

The OP did not complain, nor did she/he take the usual self-entitled whiney-a$$ed route of blaming the Government for depriving them of their civil rights. I respected that when I read the original post.
I do NOT respect people making their cars harder to see when I have to share the roads with them.
Yeah.......red cars are a little bit easier to pick out of the rain dark and fog than grey ones are, but we share PUBLIC roads.
There have to be standards because people are morons.
You have a right to be an individual.
I have a right to hope that LEO pulls you over every month until you're legal.
Hey....
We all have rights!

The one cool thing about life in the 21st century is that tickets go into a database.
The next one may not be $25.
Just sayin!
EBAY. $130. Non-"modified" OEMs.
10 minutes to swap them out. (and back out if that's your thing!)
Done.

 

Either way, we are moving on... now can you help?

 

Well I'm behind you! But I couldn't tell we were moving on, because your tail lights are too dim.....

 

That's because I wasn't pressing the brakes and it's daylight... didn't need 'em.

 

Tinted... gee, I must be hyper-aware... these look like I can see them just fine.

In case you were worried about the brake lights...


even brighter...

 

^these are darker tint than the OP...

 

What do they look like when the lights are off?
(More importantly...)
Why do you think it's illegal to tint the rear lights in the first place?
No.
It's not some kind of youth and/or immature driver identification scheme thought out by LEO so that they can pull over younger drivers to harass them.
Light assemblies have to meed DOT regulations for things like reflectivity, and brightness because some people are ignorant, and others are just morons.
Ignorance isn't necessarily BAD, it's just a lack on knowledge and is easily mitigated through education and experience. I have a fundamental right not to be a part of that "experience." Morons are a little different and Darwin is the only thing that can fix MORONS in nature. The bad thing is that the human animal can procreate before they learn how to drive, and Darwinian mechanics usually edits out some good genetic material along with the bad. Some 68.4 percent of all Government regulations serve to thwart the beneficial side effects of Darwin
That's why when you put a zillion humans on the same hunk of asphalt, you have to have something called "standards", which unfortunately can run counter to the human teenage impulse to be "different" by emulating other human teens that are all exactly the same "different".
That's why you will see 104,238 different eBay listings for "Rear Light Tint."
Standards do have their uses though, which keeps MORONS from legally affixing aircraft landing lights to their cars so that their "fog lights" can be REALLY bright, or putting train horrns on their trucks so that they can scare the bejeebers out of pedestrians.
Oh....you can DO it, just not legally.

Believe me.
LEO would rather be busting down doors to meth labs or beating the crap out of pedophiles than harassing some kid with goofy looking lamps, and a "give a crap attitude."....but he or she might have been light on their paper that month and they may have been sniffing for something juicer than an equipment violation, and let's face it.
If you're a scofflaw about equipment?
Maybe you like drinking a beer on the way home.....
.....or maybe some recreational pharmaceuticals.

Me?
I take the good with the bad. I have to deal with young drivers on the road......BUT......
I haven't been pulled over in years, because even though I drive (and ride) faster than I should.......I look EXACTLY like all of the other old farts on the road.
No point in harassing old farts like me when they can light up a car that's obviously already breaking the law!!

...

 

So speeding because everyone else is doing it is ok, but the OP is bad. He knows it's illegal, he's said so. He's also said that he has never gotten pulled over in all of his other cars with the same exact tint... can you help or not?

 

I said I ride faster than I should.....I never said anything about "speeding."

However (comma!) your point is valid.
Everyone is hypocritical about something.
I've received tickets in the past, and like the OP I never copped at attitude about it or asked somebody to help me continue to evade the law.
I did help the OP.
I mentioned eBay and the 130 buck replacements.

 

Your pictures aren't really a fair representation.

At night and dusk, even tinted tail lights are going to be brighter. How about those same pictures during the day?

Tail lights are there to alert drivers behind you, during the day light hours as much as at night. How much harder are they to see at your tint in full daylight?

And really? I think tinted tail lights are inherently more dangerous. That's my personal opinion. They certainly can be illegal...not opinion...fact. But I'm not really even arguing whether they are visible and safe.

Evidently in the OP's case they ARE a violation. That's where it all kind of starts and stops.....if you can see the light.

 

Tail lights aren't on during the daylight hours...

You insinuated it by saying that you hadn't gotten ticketed for driving faster than you should. and you, so far, have given the best help on the thread.

 

Holy crap! What is with all of the regular Prii folks jumping in on this thread. "C" your way out of this thread already, thanks.

 

It is common to turn on your headlights during the day if it is rainy or overcast and doing so turns on the taillights.

It is also true that the level of brightness of an overcast day is way brighter than any nighttime condition no matter the phase of the moon.

Now would you like to reevaluate the brightness of the taillights in daytime?

 

Bright enough to see them... it's a tint, not a black-out and I've never noticed an overcast day, that is overcast enough that I "must" turn the headlights on, ever to have been "brighter"

 

The topic is more universal than just whether or not the tint was on a trial-sized Prius.
This issue was addressed in another part of the forum, specifically when one of the pip drivers got their undies in a bunch about "regular" Prius drivers posting on "their" page.
I believe that the intent of the site is a meet-and-greet for PRIUS owners.
Now....I don't pretend to speak for management, but....
If you want exclusivity, you're probably going to have to start your own forum.

Good Luck!