I know this is a long shot, because i'm guessing that cold cathodes put out 1000 candlepower. The law here say that we can have lights in the car that arn't more than 15 candlepower. I just got a ticket for my lights, and even though its a long shot this might get me out. How much candle power does a cold cathode put out??

 

Oh man, that sucks. I'm pretty sure it's way more than 15 candlepower. I think you're only safe with the lights on when you're parked. I remember seeing a guy with those strobes in his parking lights. He went to move his car...a cop was right there, once he stared moving, the cop snagged him. It was at a out-of-hand car meet and the cops were just waiting...

 

yea, you gotta be sure if you see a cop to flip that switch off. i've been pulled over but they didn't say anything about them. i got complemented on them by the cop.

 

Colors are another thing. Blue and Red are looked down upon because they can say you were impersonating a cop...

 

yeah those colors are reserved for emergency use vehicles only... unless its stock.

 

to my knowledge, cold cathodes run about 30,000 mcd so youre way over your local limit.
sorry dude... if you got a ***** cop, i dont think you can fight your way out of it.

 

I would fight it anyway. I've gotten about 5 speeding tickets and beat them all because the cop never showed up to court. I say it's worth the fight.

 

yes, this has worked for me also. the only thing is that seems to be a fix it ticket, so it might be easier to remove the lights and get the car checked off and then re-install.

 

How did they see the lights inside the car? They're not that bright.

 

Here's the deal with GA:

• You can have any types of lights on the insides except strobes pointed outwards. ANY colors. Legal ON ROAD.
• You can have blue, green, yellow, red, or white on the outside (or the other colors), but they can't strobe / be used as a turn signal unless red, yellow, or white.
• It's legal for you to have a blue stick of neon right on the front of the car in plain sight, it just can't go on and off contiuously.

With my last setup, I had about 75,000mcd inside the car, if not more.

Learn the exact laws. I find it hard to believe what you have is illegal.

Andrew

 

I found the following about California Codes about lights on a website:
(can't find the URL...)
California Vehicle Codes

California vehicle codes web site http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/vctoc.htm. Below are a few codes that deal with vehicle lighting.

24003 cvc :This is a code that most officers use as a catch all code (read carefully as your ticket may be written incorrectly). This code is for interior lighting. We have asked some officers to read the code, not just go by what they have been told, and they were surprised... as you will be too.... http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc24003.htm

25400 cvc.: This code is where NEON lighting under your vehicle is LEGAL to drive with. Please keep in mind that you can not have the color red and your tubes must be hidden. You may only have the glow effect. We install every neon kit to conform to this code. http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc25400.htm

25106 cvc.: This code states that you may have white OR yellow (amber) lights/reflectors to the front of your vehicle. http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc25106.htm

25950 cvc : This code allows you to have white or yellow (amber) to the front of your vehicle, so clear corners are legal. Also under 25950(c) you can have a bulb of any unlighted color, as long as it lights up amber or white. So if you have a colored unlighted bulb, but it lights up white or amber your legal. http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc25950.htm

Typical assumptions people make about vehicle lighting.

Assumption - I know you can't have red facing forward or blue facing front or back.

FACT - A lot of officers are told that blue is their color, but when researching the vehicle code book, they have not been able to give a code number nor have we found a vehicle code that states blue is a police color, so they may be misinformed. Keep in mind it has to be in the vehicle code book to be a law... They just use it and everyone thinks that it is a police color... The vehicle code does state that only emergency vehicles may have RED facing the front. There is no mention of the color blue.

Assumption - Green is questionable since it is a Traffic Control Device color.

FACT - Just because a color is used on a traffic light doesn't mean it can't be used... look at RED or AMBER. Those are traffic light colors and are on all vehicles. There is nothing stating that green cannot be on a vehicle.

Assumption - I was actually pulled over by CHP for blue neon on my buddies car, then they went over the entire thing saying the whole car is illegal.

FACT - If your buddy had his tubes showing then it would be illegal. If they were installed properly then they would be legal

Assumption - Officers can be quite annoying at times.

FACT - They are doing a job and they just do what they are told..... Neon is legal and like most people, even officers skim through the code book..... Details are the important thing.... If you read 25400 you will see what we are talking about.... Also we can almost bet that if the code you were written up on was 24003 and if you READ that code it's for interior lighting... Most officers think of it as a catch all code....

We've been working with automotive lighting for over 18 years and deal with this kind of stuff everyday..... It's education for both the public and the officers a like. Soon you we see that every one will know the truth and the law.

(Laws in other states may vary)

 

I would love to see any neon tube that is .05 candela per square inch or less! If you could come up with one that dim, wouldn't be able to see it reflect off the pavement! The candela is an old unit still used in the vehicle code and was originally defined as the light intensity of a standard candle. Any neon tube is many times brighter than a candle, and certainly brighter than the .05 candela/in^2 maximum.

What this code section is really talking about is the electroluminescent panels that are used on the sides of limos and luxury cars. They are dim enough to meet this code section.

You may be able to fool a cop by citing this section, but not if the cop paid attention in physics class!

George

 

my mom paid it, but I still want to know for next time, I live in virginia, and for the person who said its not that bright, I have 11 cold cathode tubes, check out my profile. I know that they are crappy pics.

 

Godamn...no wonder he pulled you over for them - you can see the glow from outside the car! Any custom lighting needs to be below the "waistline" of the car, which is basically the seat cushion here in Texas, but I dunno how ya'lls cops ____ you guys over