Anyone had any problems with the police or insurance companies ( in the event of wrecks ) with having tinted tail lights?

Would hate for insurance or a police to say "you got rear ended, b/c people could not see your tail lights". Or something similar.

Opinions people? Thanks!

 

Yes and no...I had mine done with VHT for like a yr....I got pulled over by a state trooper for being too loud.....he commented that my tail lights were extremely dark, but said they were still legal so he can' give me a ticket....and this was at night, they were so dark that during the day they woulda been illegal, but now I got the factory smoked ones so I can drive during the day, have heard nothing about them since

 

I have a friend that has his tail lights tinted on his redline and he got pulled over on his way up to Denton from San Antonio for speeding, but then also got a ticket for his tinted tails. The law states that you have to be able to see the lights lit up from a certain distance (check the law to find out) If you can't see it, then it's illegal...

 

never had a problem with them, and I'm a night *****. Put it this way, if they give you a ticket for your tails, chances are they are giving a ticket for something else (like speeding, )

 

ive had my tails tinted for about 6 months now and havent had a problem with cops. the true test will come when it is time to take the car in for inspection next month. i wonder if the inspector will say anything about the tinted tails.

 

they didnt give me a problem.

 

tinted tails AND painted headlights are against state law and the vehicle can be rejected for state inspection.
notice i said CAN..cus normally the hourly kid you take it to at jiffy lube doesnt even know what the rules in his book are and just slap a sticker on your car anyway haha so as long you dont MENTION it at inspection i dont think you guys will have a problem...unless they are simply TOO dark and then you will probably get a ticket for having "non visible tail lights"

 

good to see you again scottie! you need to register at our new forum sometime.

 

i did love the new site..just been really busy..i keep up with you guys dont worry i just dont always have a lot to say lately

 

why dont you have a link to yalls site in your sig?

 

If you can see the brake lights from 250ft you are fine. This is what a cop told me

 

^^x2 so far no problems

 

i just tinted the tails on my sedan.... middle finguh to the law. lol

 

i got one for you

 

I just got pulled over and told that it was illegal to have tinted tail lights in the state of texas, the officer stated you must be able to see the red reflector. Sux cause they look really good....

 

told you so

 

every where you go it will be a different story. I had mine VHT'd darker than hell for like a yr or maybe a yr and a half, never had any problems....except that during the day NO ONE could see them! At night I was fine. A couple of people saw how dark thy were and can tell you about them. I finally got pulled over for excessive acceleration (no ticket) and the state trooper asked about my tails, but said since they are visible they are legal (he had to go look it up he said), and no ticket for that either. Now, I just have the OEM tinted ones and they are still quite dark when off, but very visible when off. What you would be best to do is buy a spare set of un-tinted ones and keep them handy. That way if you get a ticket, you can swap the tails and take a pic of it and get the ticket dropped. Also, if you get failed for an inspection, go home, pop in the untinted ones, and go back. simple. I think I still have my VHT'd ones laying around somewhere, I'll hafta see if I can find them and take pics for comparison.

However, basically, it is upto you whether you wanna take the chance or not. Some people I know with other types of vehicles have their headlights and tail lights VHT'd, and they have been like that for upwards of 5 yrs and no problems. Others will VHT them and get pulled over the same day/night. Its all about how much the cops wanna be dicks and how you feel about it. But, if you get pulled over for it, I'd go with the response I gave the cop...."I dunno, that's how they were when I bought it used" cause they won't know if it was used or new!!!

 

I just got pulled over in TX for this a couple weeks ago. Cop told me law was that they had to be visible from 1000 ft. Of course, he let me off b/c I'm from AZ. Tinting is ftw, just don't go as dark as I did...

 

ya, that is key, don't go too dark....but they tend to look better darker and I do believe it is far less than 1000 ft, more like 250 or 300, I think the law actually says 100 yards (which is 300 ft for those bad at math)

 

The illegalness of tinted tails is when you can't see the reflective part anymore. So find the reflective part, tape it off, VHT the rest of the taillights a few layers, then take the tape off and VHT all of them again. It'll give a slight tint to the reflectors, but not enough to hinder their purpose, and the whole taillight will look great.

 

....you can barely see the reflectors on my OEM smoked ones....especially considering the reflector is the chrome colored part inside the taillight....and no where in the transportation code for Texas does it say anything about tinted, smoked, or painted tails...only that you have to be able to see them at whatever the distance is...I have looked at the transportation code so many times and I update the one I have saved every year when they update it on the site...best thing to do is find a shop that does inspection and ask them....if they inspect it, its legal