Street legal??

[EvilinaDM101]

Just was wondering where can you go online to find out what Mods are street legal. For example, are my rear clear corners legal? Can I make them another color? Are colored headlights legal? Thanks in advance!!

~Shonnel

[gilligan]

Its all legal until you get caught!!

[FineExampl]

Shonnel, think of it this way. If you can make them no different than stock, they are legal without worry. For my rear clears to make certain they are legal was to just use red bulbs. That way they only appear clear. At night they are red (or blue if i swap em fer my LEDs). Same with my fronts; i installed silverstars and they glow amber.

Also, anything with a DOT stamp is usually allowed. Even if it's faked, how would you the consumer know the difference?

As for a place to go to find out, good luck. If there is one, i dont know where it would be.

[hestersu]

The Nevada state DMV should have a website that tells you the things that are legal and not legal.

For instance, there are no DOT approved red bulbs that are legal. At least not as a year ago. I don't think that has changed.

You might be in one county or community in your state and nobody cares. In another, they may throw the book at you. Ignorance is not a defence so don't try to use the "I didn't know it was illegal" idea. Sorry. Judge won't buy it.

I got pulled over 2 years ago for running red bulbs (again - not DOT approved) and the Texas Department of Public Service (DPS for short) pulled me over. They know what's legal and what isn't. I was 2 miles from home. The officer let me go with a warning, but I changed my rear corners back to the stock red corners with white lights as soon as I got home. I was never bothered again. On the other hand, they left my clear corners with amber bulbs alone. They are DOT approved so no gripe there.

Just remember, sometimes you pay to play. If you decide to go with something illegal, please don't get upset if you get pulled over and get a ticket. If they count points in your state, you may pay a penalty there as well. Your insurance may go up depending on how your company works. It could be an expensive ticket. Just something to think about.

I loved my clear corners - thought they looked great, but I can't afford the insurance bump and the cops hounding me. YMMV.

[chaddicus]

Ok rear markers can either be amber or red, nothing else. Front markers are to only be amber, nothing else. HOwever I could care less what the law is, I had green bulbs in my turn signals and rear markers. Loved em, wish I still had that 01 Sport Bug. Anyways, have fun but don't go over board.

[FineExampl]

I was just thinking. I've seen a whole slew of Lexus' and such in the last few years with ALL clear lighting. ALL LEDs actually. I hardly think there could possibly be an issue if the light itself while being used is the appropriate color.

I tried to find something on the USDOT site, but couldnt find anything. If someone can find it i'd love to read it.

[hestersu]

This took some digging but I finally found this website that points to all of the relevent regulations. I was under the impression the regulations would be spelled out in the Federal Motor Vehicle regulations (FMVSS), but they are really spelled out in SAE (don't know what that stands for).

Check out this site: http://fmvss108.tripod.com/taillamps.htm

There are some good explanations and points to the necessary regs. There is also a link to each state for their specific laws.

I'll have to disagree with Chaddicus about the rear markers being amber or red. The federal rule (SAE) is red. I can find no where where amber is allowed - but a given state can make their own specification which would make it allowed.

Car manufacturers must build to the federal rules - they have no way to predict where any given car will end up. That's why cars don't come with black out tint or deep tint - I'm talking film tint here. Some states allow no tint (MD) while others allow for limo tint. There is no way to predict where the car will end up.

[larryziegler]

Originally Posted by hestersu

This took some digging but I finally found this website that points to all of the relevent regulations. I was under the impression the regulations would be spelled out in the Federal Motor Vehicle regulations (FMVSS), but they are really spelled out in SAE (don't know what that stands for).

Check out this site: http://fmvss108.tripod.com/taillamps.htm

There are some good explanations and points to the necessary regs. There is also a link to each state for their specific laws.

I'll have to disagree with Chaddicus about the rear markers being amber or red. The federal rule (SAE) is red. I can find no where where amber is allowed - but a given state can make their own specification which would make it allowed.

Car manufacturers must build to the federal rules - they have no way to predict where any given car will end up. That's why cars don't come with black out tint or deep tint - I'm talking film tint here. Some states allow no tint (MD) while others allow for limo tint. There is no way to predict where the car will end up.

SAE stands for Society of Automobile Engineers. The only amber colored lights allowed on the rear are turn signals of which there is no specific required color (many mfg's use red and others use amber, which I believe is the international color).

[hestersu]

I agree with you Larry. Turns can be amber or red. The reflectors are red and the markers are red.

[bugsy98nb]

I know it goes state by state as to what is "" Legal "".
I had CLear corners on Bugsy, for 3 years, with white bulbs in front and side rears never got pulled over , Maybe I just got lucky . as for Lilo she too has clear corners however the white didnt look right against her red paint , I left the amber bulbs in the front and I put Red bulbs in the rear sides. 2 yrs so far no problems . now red bulbs are not DOT ??? then how come they are sold at autoparts stores?? I say if they are not DOT they shouldnt be sold hehe

[FineExampl]

Originally Posted by bugsy98nb

now red bulbs are not DOT ??? then how come they are sold at autoparts stores?? I say if they are not DOT they shouldnt be sold hehe

This is such an unclear topic.

Jay there also runs the whole thing of legal or "legal"? Show cars can pretty much go all out so it stands to reason that a parts store can sell whatever they want. It's not fair.

Than you have things that are "legal", but not approved. I failed my state inspection on my Eldorado back in the day for having a suicide knob on the steering wheel. Made driving a heck of a lot easier, but it'sa no-no in my state. Yet, it's 100% legal to sell them.

[hestersu]

Jay -

It's not a case of "now they are not legal". They never were legal or DOT approved. That's the point. Blue isn't legal or purple or pink or any other color other than amber. If you read the fine print on any package of colored bulbs or LED's, they will have a disclaimer on them somewhere. I know the websites will have some form of a disclaimer.

Most of them will say something to the effect of "for show use" or something like that. It means exactly what it says - use them for a show or display. The sky's the limit there.

Was it last year or the year before that there was some big VW show and the cops laid in wait and started ticketing cars for all of the illegal stuff?

All of this being said - use anything you want, but if you get a ticket, don't gripe about it. You may never get pulled over. You may live in a community where this isn't a priority with the local law. You might drive 2 counties over and get pulled over immediately. It all depends on what the local kids in blue are in a mood to do. It wasn't a big deal around here and then it became a big deal about the time that everyone started putting underbody lighting kits, loud pipes and stuff on their cars. Cops at all levels started enforcing the law and there were lots of tickets. Now you rarely see a car on the street with this kind of stuff in my community, but in the parking lots or private property, the underlighting is on with all of the rest of it. As long as they aren't on the street, the cops leave them alone.

[dunno513]

Three things that you will get stopped for.

Loud exhaust
Tinted windows
Doing something stupid.

From those 3 things, all others are diagnosed. If you don't draw attention, the little things won't be detected.

I once attended a "defensive driver course" which generally is reserved for traffic offenders, but I was there by regulation of my University so I could drive one of their vehicles. The instructor actually said, "If you are going to go drinking, and I do not suggest that you do drink and drive, but if you do make sure you don't have a headlight or taillight out so you don't get stopped for something totally unrelated."

My mouth never left the floor the rest of the class.

[Crazy_MoFo]

I know here in Cali. you can buy a California Vehicle Code Book at the DMV office for like $6(it might have gone up since the last time I bought one back in '95) I had a fixed up Sentra back then and I wanted to know exactly what I could get nailed for and what I could get away with. It helped me on a couple stops. I got stopped one time for amber citylights and the cop was going to give me a ticket for them, but then I showed him the chapter in the CA. VC book that said that it was legal to have amber lights on the front of the vehicle. He gave me this dirty look and asked me where I got the book from I told him "I got from the DMV office for $6 , so far it's been the best $6 I've ever spent on a book" He then tried to nail me for my modified exhaust but then I showed him the chapter where it said that my muffler was legal because it was a direct bolt-on and not considered "modified" since it wasn't welded on boy did he ever leave mad

Colored headlights are illegal unless it says "D.O.T Approved" on the bulb packaging. You can probably get away with the side clears if you put Red LED bulbs in. Any other color would be illegal.

Here's a couple of links for you Shonnel...

Nevada Lighting Laws

Nevada Tint Laws

Nevada Traffic Laws