Modders Beware

The OP haven't disclose what is the conversation with the PO. The OP is angry for pulling over for no speeding violation.
The PO may gave him more than he can deserve if the PO felt like he is insulted.

Once I was on a freeway doing 70 in a 65 zone, a car passed me so fast likely doing 80+. Within seconds a highway patrol came up next to me and waived me over and gave me a ticket. I was so angry why the officer not chasing after the one going so much faster. But I shut up and took the ticket.

 

I retired from the Department of Justice in 2000. I worked in aircraft engineering compliance.

In 2004, I was issued a speeding ticket at a speed trap in South Georgia by a "crooked" Sheriff's deputy who claimed that I did 80 in a 60mph speed zone. The fine was to be $550. The trap was a zone of 70 reduced to 60.

Georgia's small town sheriff's and county courts had such a bad reputation that then Governor Jimmy Carter made all local courts all "State Courts."

I requested a jury trial. For 7 months they refused to give me a date for the trial. When I did appear, the County Solicitor claimed that he lost the case. The case was dismissed.

Two years later and to this date, the speed limit through that county is NOW 70mph with no reduced speed. They must have pissed off some legislator.

 

This is off subject, but damn your Prius is clean.

 

Hey man.
BTDT......when I was in my twenties.

I'm not wild about Nanny-State regulations, but I'm also not wild about kids that make their brake lights too hard to see. My VRSCD (motorcycle) is somewhat modded both for noise and in the case of the rear lights…..however (comma!) the lights are 50-state legal to the best of my knowledge, and while my exhaust is probably illegal in some of those itty-bitty little blue states in the Ne….it’s well within the decibel limits for the 5 states that I normally ride in. I checked.
If it turns out that I'm on the wrong side of right and wrong?
I'll pay my fine, get legal, and go on with my life.
Most equipment tickets are money only. No points.
They sting a little but no waiting three years for a clean record again.
The tint?
Well....most LEO's are actually live and let live kinda folks about little boy racer bolt-ons, but there is a very good reason that most states have clear laws on window tinting....pun almost unintended....and it's not because they wanna be buzz-kills or generate revenue for your state......although NYS could sure as heck use it.
You know where the line is.
You stepped over it, and you did so while driving a conspicuous vehicle.
Sorry man, but you kinda brought that on yourself.
My advice would be to go talk to the judge and see if they'll shave some of the cabbage off of the fine, and then get legal.
I would also advise you to do some ride-alongs if they do those up there in the frozen North. It will give you some perspective on life on LEO's side of the windshield, and let's face it.....
That car sticks out like a turd in a punch-bowl.
You're probably going to want some friends on the police force.

 

So far so good for me.. 3rd car with tint and never got pulled over..

glad I have it today.. been hot over here.. well.. hot for here.. 70-80's all week..

Is your car vinyl wrapped?

 

Ragz,

As a New Yorker who made the smart move and left for SoCal a few years back...I can say NY cops are the biggest ball busters on planet earth. Spent 28 years in Westchester County and Queens and can say I've been pulled over for the stupidest shit. During my teens and early 20's I was pulled over once a month for just about everything. Been in SoCal for 3 years and have been pulled over one time with no ticket. My recommendation to you is pack your bags. Better weather, better attitude, better beaches, fewer douchey cops and many more blondes. The pizza sucks!

- LBCharacter

 

Don't worry man I was going Northbound on i95... A cop going SOUTHBOUND does a u turn in the grass like a bat out of hell and pulled me over for my tint.. I couldn't believe it!!! I was in the right lane.. Going speed limit!! My tint was legal however when he scanned it , it was 1% too dark.. I didn't realize the car came per tinted.. That cop was a jerk

 

Many moons ago the safety Nazis where I worked at Pacific Telephone required techs in my department to bring in an outside speaker to talk on some safety topic. There were very non-specific about the safety topics to be discussed so when my turn came, I got a CHP officer to come give us a talk. We had a great Q&A session. One guy asked the officer about the old belief that cops targeted bright colored cars.

The officer's reply was that he didn't target bright colored cars, but that he only stopped cars that he noticed that were in violation of the vehicle code or doing something stupid and that naturally bright colored cars stuck out like sore thumbs so he was more likely to notice them. Same goes for any other attention grabbing mods.

 

I believe in "stealth" mods.

Years. ago, I dis Customs inspections at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. After seeing so many cars, ID cards, and people, it became so easy to pick out the unusual out of a crowd.

You get that sixth sense that "something that does not belong." It's like the Tsarnaev brothers. The were the only ones calmly walking away from the Boston Marathon bombing.

I recently visited my Toyota dealer and looked at the cars on the lot. Every "used" car was marked with a small "x" on the rear tail light. It's uncanny, after years of aircraft investigations and law enforcement, how the unusual sticks out the proverbial "sore thumb."

 

ragz - it sucks. Most of the time california has stricter regulations than NY. But I never knew that NY had regulations on the rear windows. You were just on the wrong end of the stick, especially with the three tickets. And you did the best thing to not argue about them there and fight them afterwards. And they were subjective since you got them cleared post inspection.

 

now you can you get huper optik. no one can touch their optical clarity to goodness (IR rejection, UV block, etc). basically it looks way lighter than it really is. Also, huper on windshield.

 

huper optik is one of the highest end tint brands. they're just pricey since they developed the nano ceramic tint category ~$400-500+ for all your windows.

 

No it's not, tinted tail lights are a safety issue. I drive to work at 5 am every morning in the dark and at least twice a week I run up on some idiot with tinted tails going 50 in the fast lane, and you can't see them until your right on top of them, and the tinted tails makes them look like they're further away than they are. I've already decided if I ever rear end someone with tinted tails I'm going to sue them back to the stone age for illegally endangering my life. Not sue their insurance company, sue them personally by name so they'll be living in their parents basement till their 60.

 

long island goes after all the tint crap! on my toyota highlander. the rear windows came tinted from the company! and literally 2 weeks of having it, i was driving in Nassau and got pulled over! got a ticket for the rear tint and i was like Wth. i fought the ticket saying i bought the car like that. had pictures of the car when i picked it up. brought the original car sticker which listed that car came with privacy glass. i beat the case. long island cops have nothing better to do then give tint tickets.
on my rav4 i have tint all around 25%. i havent been to long island with it for a long time. but i have yet to be pulled over or ticketed for it.

and to OP, you tint is not even that dark!

 

The OP has Valenti SB, which is smoked inside the housing and has fully exposed rear reflectors (pictured below). Blacking out the housing itself allows it to use a more transparent exterior covering and, as a result, it's just as bright (if not brighter) than stock tails when lit.

You're taking about people who black out their taillights with film or paint, which masks all lights and reflectors thereby cutting down on their visibility.