Drive home from basketball practice last night. Got pulled over by a cop for having more then 4 lights on on the front of my truck. Texas law apparently. And for the lights being too bright? No HID's, just regular off brand ultra white bulbs.

Go figure. Guess I have a weekend project on my hands.

 

That sounds a little off too me.. Pretty sure there are a low of police vehicles that have more than 4 lights on the front.. What about big rigs, also?

 

Did he mean ALL lights, two headlights, two turn signals and two fog lights thats six so the trucks break the law from the factory?

 

Pretty sure he meant you can only have your 2 headlights(includes turn signals) and 2 fog lights. I also had 2 KC Slimlites on bullbar running. But they are wired to turn on/off with the fogs.

 

Law enforcement was digging deep to generate revenue....
But....
Knowing the laws of where you live will help.

Some cities/towns don't allow fogs to be on within the city limits they consider them to be for off road use only....

Edit.
Especially aftermarket add on ones.....

 

I'm sure he meant driving lights. Like having a light bar or lights behind the grill. It's not illegal to have them, but illegal to use them on public roads. In most states, you don't have to cover the lights if they are at the same height as the headlights, but if they are above the headlights (i.e. roof rack) they have to have covers on them.

 

I knew

That is why your fog lights shut off with the high beams... the high beams are counted as 2 lights each (so 4 total lights). Having the fog lights on means you have "6" lights.

Technically it is illegal to do the fog light mod... where your fog lights stay on with your high beams... but I did it anyway...

That really sucks if he gave you a ticket... I would have thought a warning would have sufficed for the first time...

 

Here's the law in Texas:

§ 547.302. DUTY TO DISPLAY LIGHTS. (a) A vehicle shall
display each lighted lamp and illuminating device required by this
chapter to be on the vehicle:
(1) at nighttime; and
(2) when light is insufficient or atmospheric
conditions are unfavorable so that a person or vehicle on the
highway is not clearly discernible at a distance of 1,000 feet
ahead.
(b) A signaling device, including a stoplamp or a turn
signal lamp, shall be lighted as prescribed by this chapter.
(c) At least one lighted lamp shall be displayed on each
side of the front of a motor vehicle.
(d) Not more than four of the following may be lighted at one
time on the front of a motor vehicle:
(1) a headlamp required by this chapter; or
(2) a lamp, including an auxiliary lamp or spotlamp,
that projects a beam with an intensity brighter than 300
candlepower.

As far as the lights being too bright, he would have had to have the equipment to gauge the actual amount of candle power the bulbs emit to make the charge stick. You could easily change them out and show the judge that they are the correct candle[power. FWIW, the National Safety bunch is getting behind the blinding headlights a lot of the morons are running. About a week ago I had an idiot behind me with lights so bright it looked like daylight inside my truck- that's just plain stupid. Then again, he was driving a Chevy so I guess it goes hand in hand. You'll start seeing more and more states issuing citations for lifts, exhausts, headlights, etc. The move is because a lot of the mods guys are doing compromises the safety of the vehicle or the safety of others. While they don't care about the idiots life, they do care about the family he's about to kill with his stupidity.

 

Do you have covers for the lights? Depending on your state's laws, you maybe be able to run as many lights as you want as long as they're covered when on the road.

I failed state vehicle inspection once for the same reason. I had 4 driving/flood lights on the front of my Jeep and 2 flood lights in the back. I was told you can only have 2 auxiliary lights (driving/fog) on a vehicle. You can have as many offroad lights as you want, though, they just have to be covered while driving on the street.

There's also a law around here that you can't use any aux light on the street that's higher than the headlights.

 

here in VA., it is against the law to have any lights mounted on the same level as the headlights. i had some in my '01 mounted behind the grill and it failed inspection. needless to say, they got removed. i personally think the guy was being a pr!ck

 

Yea, My bad for not mentioning it in original post. He did just give me a warning. I just didn't even know it was a law. And I even studied law enforcement . But that's been many years.

Been running this set-up for probably 3 years or so and never had an issue. Ohwell. Just going to rerun a wire to a switch on the dash. Shouldn't be too hard hopefully. But I'm going to have to get new bulbs for the heads because these no name aftermarket bulbs just aren't bright enough alone.

 

No covers, and I've passed all state inspections just fine with this set up.

I think that cop was just looking for something.

 

He wasn't just looking for something...it's a traffic violation. Same thing applies in Florida. They are for off road, not on public roadways. At least you got a warning.

 

Im pretty sure those KC slimlights are designed for offroad use and dont provide a DOT approved cutoff, which is why they appear so bright to oncoming traffic. I'd be pissed too if I was driving at you and you had 6 lights on, 2 of which are glarry as hell. Not saying you deserved a ticket, but he had every reason to nail you if he so pleased.

What you should do is wire the KCs to a separate switch and only use them off the pavement. That way you can use your fogs and still be legal.

 

gotta love those plano cops man, been there done that