Stopped by Sheriff Deputy

[Vidman]

Back "In the day" lights were from federal law requirements. It has always been 4 headlights on cars. In the day of 4 lights on with high beam the fog lights had to be off when high beams were on. Today the hi/low beams are usually the same light. The fog lights were suppose to turn off when high beam lights come on. This is because of candlelight power. I am not an engineer and do not know that rating. Also, side lights are exactly that....yellow on front side and red on rear side.

Now in reality....I ride with high beams on all the time during the day. Fog lights and low beam at night for on-coming traffic.

Maybe something has changed since i retired 11 yrs ago.

Now, how can you denigrate an officer for doing his/her job? AND it was stated that common sense should be used. I think in this case he/she did that. No ticket issued. Or did I miss something.

These laws were made so we are not blinded by oncoming traffic. If left to the individual can you imagine the lighting options that would be taken? How about the off road trucks with the spot lights above the cab of the truck. Ever been blinded by those? I have.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

HEADLIGHTS OR OTHERWISE

Drew, I have to disagree. The deputy was doing what he thought was right by state law. He didn't issue a ticket even though he could have and left it up to a judge to decide. I think he did the right thing.

:gaah: I'm an X-LEO of 35 + years and back in the day that Deputy would be known in the barracks as a P*SSY................Any one can administer the Law from a book , even a Monkey , but it's the real Cops who know how to APPLY IT .....AND WHEN....AND TO WHOM...........case closed .......Mikeguyver :yikes: :thumbup:

 

[Bob Denman]

Now, how can you denigrate an officer for doing his/her job? AND it was stated that common sense should be used. I think in this case he/she did that. No ticket issued. Or did I miss something.

Thank you... :thumbup:

 

[wyliec]

Back "In the day" lights were from federal law requirements. It has always been 4 headlights on cars. In the day of 4 lights on with high beam the fog lights had to be off when high beams were on. Today the hi/low beams are usually the same light. The fog lights were suppose to turn off when high beam lights come on. This is because of candlelight power. I am not an engineer and do not know that rating. Also, side lights are exactly that....yellow on front side and red on rear side.

Now in reality....I ride with high beams on all the time during the day. Fog lights and low beam at night for on-coming traffic.

Maybe something has changed since i retired 11 yrs ago.

Now, how can you denigrate an officer for doing his/her job? AND it was stated that common sense should be used. I think in this case he/she did that. No ticket issued. Or did I miss something.

These laws were made so we are not blinded by oncoming traffic. If left to the individual can you imagine the lighting options that would be taken? How about the off road trucks with the spot lights above the cab of the truck. Ever been blinded by those? I have.

I agree with what you say. But, don't forget you're on spyderlovers where someone has to complain about something, otherwise the day wouldn't be complete.

 

[Dan_Ashley]

I guess I'm just old school and remember a time when law enforcement professionals used common sense, instead of being the robot law enforcement drones that we know today.

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I think it is common sense for a cop to stop a possible traffic violator. It is also common sense for the cop to realize he made a mistake and then not do anything. It is not the responsibility of a cop to know the design features of every single vehicle manufactured. That is why it was appropriate for the OP to tell the cop that the lights were OEM equipment. Maybe from this, the cop will learn a little bit about Spyders.

 

[ARtraveler]

Nice lively discussion here. I am going to stay out of the good cop/bad cop part.

IMO: You can't have enough lights. Its the brightness that can sometimes attract unwanted attention.

On :spyder2:, we drive with high beams on, driving/fog lights on, fender lights are automatic, and I have recently installed A-frame LED lights. I get seen by LEO almost every day, and have never been stopped. Actually got one thumb's up sign from an AK State Trooper.

Way back when, (1985 or so) I had a MN Highway Patrol pull me over. He checked my license, and just wanted to look at the Yosemite Sam mudflap on my Yamaha Venture. When the brakes were applied a series of lights in red came out of both guns and looked like tracers in red. He did not even mention ticket.

 

[Wiredux]

You can never have too many lights.

 

[Oldmanzues]

This is really another case of the law being behind technogly (sp). What is a headlight under the law ? Several new car have a series of very bright LED light for parking lights. Is this a suitable "headlight" for driving in the rain.
Too many bright light can blind a oncoming driver.
Good cop/Bad cop depends on a persons point of view in my opinion. If a cop stops me driving drunk and just takes me home. He is a good cop, but if he did the same to Joe Othe guy, he is a bad cop.
Talk to the Cop in Florida from 1958. He took a drunk driver home with no ticket. Three hours later, the drunk driver, in his wifes car killed two people in a head on crash.

I much prefer the term L.E.O. to cop. Law Enforcment Official
Off my soap box
Oldmanzues

 

[M109Dreamer]

Well; it DOES make the camels feel safer...

View attachment 90589

lol, since the only place around here you'll see a camel is a zoo, Id say they are pretty safe.

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[Vidman]

I agree with what you say. But, don't forget you're on spyderlovers where someone has to complain about something, otherwise the day wouldn't be complete.

OK...so you made my night. I am laughing hard. However, now the adrenaline is up and I won't be able to go to sleep for an hour. Gee...thanks. :bowdown::roflblack:

 

[IntoTheWind]

This morning on my ride into work I was pulled over by a Deputy for having too many headlights.
I told him other than the two LED light strips (on the A frame arms) the rest were factory installed.
Legal limit is 4, not sure if he considered the fender tip lights as running light or head lights.
He said because they were "factory installed" there was nothing he could do. So he said have a nice day!
He said they have stopped people with new Jeep Grand Cherokees for the same reason.


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He was doing his job, be thankful.

 

[Bob Denman]

OK...so you made my night. I am laughing hard. However, now the adrenaline is up and I won't be able to go to sleep for an hour. Gee...thanks. :bowdown::roflblack:

That's GREAT!! :thumbup:
We can complain about that now, too!! :clap:

 

[Vidman]

Here in arizona we're a tad touchy about stop and interrogate operations within some pretense of traffic stop. Civil liberties and all.

Right you are. Here in the Northeast we LIKE to be stopped and interrogated. SMH

 

[Vidman]

Right you are. Here in the Northeast we LIKE to be stopped and interrogated. SMH

In retrospect I am sorry for this response. I get a bit touchy when I PERCEIVE westerners making comments that seem like they have stronger feelings about our rights then us easterners.

Goes back to my Civil War days with General Grant. (I keep telling ya I'm older then dirt.) :roflblack:

 

[erikkelly]

maybe he wanted a closer look...:roflblack: If they are not all on should not be a problem though I have never heard this one before. I have 8 if you count the fender lights 6 otherwise...:dontknow:

I'm not sure how many this counts as...

 

[Bob Denman]

That would count as, "More than sufficient..." :2thumbs:

 

[bug's zedi]

In retrospect I am sorry for this response. I get a bit touchy when I PERCEIVE westerners making comments that seem like they have stronger feelings about our rights then us easterners.

Goes back to my Civil War days with General Grant. (I keep telling ya I'm older then dirt.) :roflblack:

Around hearh they call it the War of Norther Aggression. First time my boss said that I told him I don't care what you call it we still kicked your a$$. I am originaly from PA.

 

[Bob Denman]

And I'm willing to bet that you're STILL paying for that comment! :roflblack: :joke:

 

[bug's zedi]

And I'm willing to bet that you're STILL paying for that comment! :roflblack: :joke:

Actually it would be more accurate to say I am Not being paid because of it

 

[Rick H.]

I'm not sure how many this counts as... View attachment 90620

Sadly for you, in my area you would me probaly getting a ticket for that lamp setup if you were on the street with it and the LEO wouldn't be a P****Y for citing you. You can't go running down the a public highway looking like a Christmas tree. While some may like to think they can install any number and type of lamps on a vehicle it is illegal to do so in many states. As is usually the case, a few ruin it for everyone else and all suffer for it. The question was posed regarding roof mounted off-road lamps. Some say as long as they are off they should be allowed, some states agree and others don't and require the lamps be covered so they can't be immediately put into use. Once you have someone burn your retinas with 200,000 candlepower off road lamps you will get the hint.

Some may think more lamps on the front of a motorcycle is a good thing and that's true to a point. You want to be noticed, but not stared at nor do you want to blind an on-coming driver causing them to look away from the road. Should either happen your "great idea" to be noticed just brought you directly into the path of an oncoming car because the driver locked onto your mind blowing vehicle with all the gaudy lights or the glare of your multiple lamps forced them to look away from you and they turned into you.

And to Drew, don't you think calling the deputy an idiot is just a tad extreme? Let's change the scenario up a little and say the deputy that stopped the vehicle for having too many lamps lit, discovered a 5 year old child that had just been abducted in the back seat of a stolen car. Would you still consider him an "idiot" as you called him? I ask because that was exactly what happened to me when I was working as a trooper. I was working a late shift running radar when I observered a car go by me on the Interstate with high and low beams engaged and auxilary driving lamps. Six lamps were lit and the law stated no more than four (4) lamps were to be lit at any time on a motor vehicle in operation on a public roadway. I pursued and stopped the vehicle and disovered the driver of the car wasn't the owner. The driver had stolen the car and he was revoked and wanted on warrants. The car had not yet been entered as stolen as the locals were still taking the intitial report from the owners. I cuffed up the driver and put him in my cruiser and returned to the car to take charge of the little boy who I thought belonged to the guy I had in custody. The child was in the backseat had obviously been crying a lot and when I asked him what was wrong and that I wasn't going to hurt his dad, he said the driver wasn't his dad and that he hit him. It then dawned on me that there was more here than a car being driven by a revocated and wanted driver. Was I an "idiot" as you put it for stopping the car for having 6 lamps lit? Was I a P***Y as someone else said? If that's someone's definition of an "idiot" or a "P****Y" I can live with it, especially when the parents came to pickup their child and the mother hugged the air out of me with tears of joy pouring out her eyes. If something like that ever happens to someone you love or cherish I hope some sharp eyed cop that has a little bit of integrity and professionalism makes that stop.

As most cops do I would reflect on some of the cases or incidents I was involved in throughout my career and I sometimes wondered what would have happened to that little boy had I looked the other way or decided a multiple lamp violation was somehow beneath my threshold for stopping a vehicle. I didn't have to imagine much because the warrants that the driver was wanted on were for 3 counts of Criminal Sexual Assault of a Minor. I did my job that night and I was happy I did. I never meant a cop that was an idiot and I knew and know a lot of cops. You might not like what they do, but they all are my heroes same as anyone that served in the military.

Rick H.