Got pulled over for my headlights.

[NevadaSTi]

Well, most of you all know I have an 2005 STi. Well, I was driving alone tonight and all of a sudden the night was lighted up by blue berries and cherries. I check my speed, and I am fine. So, I am like "what wrong officer?"


He proceeds to tell me that my headlights are illegal in the State of Nevada. So, I tell him that they are factory installed lights and that they are 50 state D.O.T. approved.

Anyway, he wrote down the N.R.S. code that makes them illegal.

Here is it.

NRS 484.575 Lamps and reflectors on other vehicles. All vehicles including animal-drawn vehicles not otherwise specifically required to be equipped with lamps, shall at all times specified in NRS 484.545 be equipped with at least one lamp displaying a white light visible from a distance of not less than 500 feet to the front of the vehicle and two lamps displaying a red light visible from a distance of not less than 500 feet to the rear of the vehicle or one lamp displaying a red light visible from a distance of not less than 500 feet to the rear and two red reflectors visible from all distances of 600 to 100 feet to the rear when illuminated by the lawful lower beams of head lamps.

[Part 6:166:1925; A 1939, 316; 1945, 268; 1955, 40]—(NRS A 1969, 1215; 1975, 31)


http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-4...l#NRS484Sec545

Anyone else have this problem?

[Nick Koan]

Stock headlights? Fight it. The judge should throw it out.

[DARKSTI]

thats bull that will be thrown out for sure..

[NevadaSTi]

Forgot to mention, the NHP officer didn't give me a ticket.

[MattR]

so? What part of that NRS is he saying you are in violation of? What a fuckin idiot.

[Kevin M]

Seriously... was he saying your HIDs were not visible from 500 feet in front of the car? Because that's the only line of the statute that applies to headlights...

[tysonK]

So no ticket?

Just the hassle of gettnig pulled over, that sucks.

[sonicsuby]

Cops can be real idiots.

[khail19]

Originally Posted by NRS Statute

be equipped with at least one lamp displaying a white light visible from a distance of not less than 500 feet

Maybe the cop thinks the HIDs aren't white enough? He's still wrong either way. A factory headlight is already DOT and 50 state legal.

[JonnydaJibba]

What would be the point of telling you all that if he wasn't gonna do anything? Glad you didn't get a ticket, but he musta been bored or something.

[MPREZIV]

I'm sure he thought you were some street racer punk with illegal painted headlight bulbs. Those are illegal, but some dumbass cops don't know the diff. in that, and a true factory installed HID headlight.

[NevadaSTi]

He told me that some headlights appear to be blue from an angle and are white from straight on. He also told me that my headlights are not white from straight on, they are blue. Therefore, the headlights are not legal per the section already quoted.

I am still confused with the whole thing, he didn't tell me to replace them. All he said was to call the dealership and that they would have the answers or a replacement. However, he didn't order me to replace them.

What concerns me is this, I go to a Bar here in G-ville and have a couple beers. However, I don't drive home right away. I hang out and have some water first. But, I also know that most people who get DUI's get pulled over for something stupid. Ex. Blue headlights.

I do believe that NHP officer was very BORED. As I was driving home, from the bar later that evening, I saw three other vehicles with blue headlights. HUMM.

[Dean]

A light can be DOT approved, and alegedly be 50 state legal, but unless you can site Nevada case law, it isn't necesarily Nevada legal. What is the legal definition of white?

But it sounds like it was late, and you had your cop magnet, AKA STI wing, turned on...

[MikeK]

Originally Posted by Dean

But it sounds like it was late, and you had your cop magnet, AKA STI wing, turned on...

I always leave that turned on, the switch is so inconveniently placed!

Speaking of retarded things to get pulled over for, I heard on the radio this morning that police are now enforcing a law introduced last june which says that you have to have your headlights on whenever your windscreen wipers are in continuous use.

[M3n2c3]

Originally Posted by Dean

But it sounds like it was late, and you had your cop magnet, AKA STI wing, turned on...

Now there's an interesting idea: a retractable spoiler. . .

That's pretty lame about the headlights. Law enforcement is good and all, but I hate it when stuff like that is left up to someone's questionable opinion.

I kinda like that one about the lights and windshield wipers, though. I had to drive around Carson and Dayton for a good two hours yesterday afternoon/evening while it was snowing and raining, and the number of complete tools out there who don't turn their lights on in inclement weather is appalling. It's not a matter of being able to see; it's a matter of being visible!

[Dean]

Originally Posted by M3n2c3

Now there's an interesting idea: a retractable spoiler. . .

Buy a Porsche. Many Carreras have them. But then the whole car becomes a cop magnet.

[M3n2c3]

Really? Bastards. . . stealing my best ideas before I have them. . .

I am 100% sure I will never own a Porsche, though.

[MattR]

Well, If he thinks your headlights are blue, wait 'til he sees an Audi or BMW.

[dknv]

Originally Posted by MattR

Well, If he thinks your headlights are blue, wait 'til he sees an Audi or BMW.

And I don't suppose it would be politically correct to ask him if he is color-blind.

[M3n2c3]

Originally Posted by dknv

And I don't suppose it would be politically correct to ask him if he is color-blind.

Color-blindness is probably a bar from serving, as in the military. . .

[Nick Koan]

Originally Posted by M3n2c3

Color-blindness is probably a bar from serving, as in the military. . .

"Yes, officer. This is most definitely a green Legacy I'm driving here. Be sure to write down on the ticket, that this is a green car."

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Dean

What is the legal definition of white?

Well scientifically speaking, HID's are *much* whiter than regular headlights, which are technically yellow.

Bottom line: The cop used the headlights as a reason to pull over what looked like a riced-out import. It's standard fare and happens frequently, though more in cities like Sacramento and the Bay Area rather than up here in the mountains. STI's are frequently pulled for their "illegal wing".

Start carrying the STI brochure in the car with you. Show him the bits are factory. If it happens a lot, file a complaint with the PD that you're being harrassed for stock items on your car... the officers will either have to admit they don't know what's stock and what's not, or that they're targeting you specifically.

Part of the problem stems from the new anti-street racing training that the cops are recently getting. Part of the course teaches them what mods to look for to ID street racers. Rumor has it, at one point the program was using a stock STI as an example car due to the wing, hood scoop, gold wheels, etc.

And if you want to avoid trouble... just swap the trunk... 90% of that car's attention comes from the wing alone (unless of course you're driving like a jackhole).

[NevadaSTi]

Me, drive like an Asshat??? The thing is, he was driving in the opposite direction. He flipped around and came speeding up on me. He tailed me for 100 yards or so then turned on his lights.

I guess one solution is to get some replacement bulbs that are white versus the semi-white HID's.

I wouldn't mind putting on a wingless trunk, but I honestly don't want to trade my wing for one. Nor do I have the money to purchase an aftermarket wingless trunk.

[MattR]

Just a suggestion....Your 05 is on stock suspension, which means the nose is way up in the air, which means on the "0" setting of the headlight height, your lo beams are actually up a bit high. Maybe try running on a lower beam setting, I used to run on "1" because I noticed people flashing the hi beams once in a while if it was on "0" Now that my car is lowered, the headlights point more towards the ground, not a ton, just enough that they don't bother anyone.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by NevadaSTi

Me, drive like an Asshat??? The thing is, he was driving in the opposite direction. He flipped around and came speeding up on me. He tailed me for 100 yards or so then turned on his lights.

I guess one solution is to get some replacement bulbs that are white versus the semi-white HID's.

I wouldn't mind putting on a wingless trunk, but I honestly don't want to trade my wing for one. Nor do I have the money to purchase an aftermarket wingless trunk.

The only way you're gonna get a different color light is to find a '04/'05 WRX owner that will trade you his non-HID lights.

Unless there are some warmer HID bulbs available for those HIDs, but if IIRC, Subaru HIDs are already about as warm as they get... compared to BMW/Merc which are even more "blue".

And even if there are warmer bulbs, that seems like a waste of $500... since the lights aren't a problem... they're just an excuse to tail you and decided to pull you over. If the light really were an issue, you'd be going to court to have a fix-it ticket tossed out, and make the cop look like an idiot.