The manager at Auto Zone, who is a really good guy, said altering the lights is illegal in NC. He had blacked out his tails on his Chevy truck and got pulled multiple times. He finally took it off to avoid the continued hassle. I am trying for a certain look, not tickets.
FYI its illegal in ALL states to tint lights. As a matter of fact, its illegal to alter or replace with anything other than FMVSS approved items. Most "Streel legal" aftermarket parts are just DOT approved which every state's code has adopted a law that says thigns have to meet FMVSS if its not specified in thier own words.
now that said, yes, tinting lights is illegal, unsafe, and just kinda dumb IMO. sure it looks good, but yes, I cite every one i can stop. Tail lights have to have reflectors as well so some aftermarket ones dont even have that, and none of them have it if u tint them. Tails have to be visible from the specified distances in ALL lighting conditions, not just at night. so, a setting sun or bright day light is the hardest for a light to overcome the ambient light and be noticeable.
Do all cops worry with it? No. Traffic cops do. Alot of small town cops will also. Small towns with low crime rates (like the one I work for currently) have reputations for pulling anything over that moves. It works. Badguys are afraid to come through, afraid their license plate light burned out and they are going to get pulled over and busted. Since people are afraid to come through, it cuts down on offenses. We have very very little violent and property crimes as compared to just outside our jurisdiction. Also on that same note, alot of big city cops are just too busy running from call to call to even generate alot of self initiated activity. So they see "Small stuff" and dont make time to deal with it.
But to give u an idea of why we look for violations:
this past month alone, besides teh obvious driving behaviors that led me to arrests, i have done the following:
Tahoe Z71- pulled over for wrong color license plate lamps- had red instead of white. He was arrested for Felony Driving While Intoxicated with Child. He hadnt even left the same street he pulled out on leaving the party. But his 11 yr old kid is safe now because he didnt get a chance to go far enough to kill him.
Cadillac deVille, pulled over for license plate lamp being out- car was stolen, driver hooked for manuf/delivery of controlled substance PG1 1-4g (meth)
Box U haul style truck, missing mudflap. Driver had warrants, wound up connecting the truck and suspect to property offenses in neighboring cities.
i've gotten my fair share of "little" equipment violations that led to big arrests- people you guys would be appalled to have driving down your street. So, our residents are fine with us doing our job. They expect it. If we pull people over and they arent up to no good, sure, they may get a citation...and equipment cites are dismissable. The law still applies to everyone.
Anyway, that said, aftermarket stuff is fine just dont go silly with it and expect to badmouth cops for doing their jobs when you roll through with tinted windshields, limo tinted side windows, black painted tail lights, purple headlights, and crap like that. its just asking for trouble.
