Parking light laws - WTF?!

[lkiller123]

So my mother just got a ticket today.

Apparently she violated this:

24800. No vehicle shall be driven at any time with the parking lamps lighted except when the lamps are being used as turn signal lamps or when the headlamps are also lighted.

Wow, what the hell?!

Is it a moving violation?

[lutjens]

So my mother just got a ticket today.

Apparently she violated this:


Wow, what the hell?!

Is it a moving violation?

Seems the PD has no serious crimes to investigate or anything better to do. Simple goal here: revenue generation.

I'd like to hear how they consider this to be "serving and protecting."

[Cooper]

Police actually has quotes to fill per each crime Business as usual...

[Origin_Unknown]

i wish to god that the police would enforce this overhere - it's annoying when some nob with HID's has them on in the daytime on full beam or worse when they're not even designed for the car they're being used in so the light pattern is all over the place.

[STEvil]

So my mother just got a ticket today.

Apparently she violated this:


Wow, what the hell?!

Is it a moving violation?

You might want to check her vehicle as most "parking lamps" are attached to the headlight circuit these days which means its impossible to not turn them both on at the same time..

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5023979_pa...ghts-used.html
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-parking-lights.htm

[masterg]

where im at, i see alot of people just put their parking lights on as they drive especially in rain, when they dont need lights, cause they have to have some light on.

[little_scrapper]

she should have torn his badge right off his uniform, kicked in his head lights and said drive your car now homoner. That would have learned him. I love cops. My family is full of them!! Seriously. Nearly all my uncles and cousins. They ususally responde calmly to respect.

[Gamekiller]

she should have torn his badge right off his uniform, kicked in his head lights and said drive your car now homoner. That would have learned him. I love cops. My family is full of them!! Seriously. Nearly all my uncles and cousins. They ususally responde calmly to respect.

I'm sure that works fine in Memphis.. but it's a different sort of place from the rest of the world.

As for the OP, that really sucks. Shouldn't they be busting drug dealers or something? -sigh-

[zanzabar]

I'm sure that works fine in Memphis.. but it's a different sort of place from the rest of the world.

As for the OP, that really sucks. Shouldn't they be busting drug dealers or something? -sigh-

in CA u never get a ticket or arrested or anything unless its profitable, this kind of ticket is the best kind since they are cheap so u will just pay it.

also as others said how do u get a ticket for that since the headlights are part of the parking lights since the 50's on most cars

[Stewie007]

Was this at dusk or night? Note the end of the regulation, "if the headlamps are also lighted." This specifies that if someone is driving without their head lamps on because they thought that their fog lights or parking lights were sufficient then they are operating their vehicle illegally and yes, they can be ticketed.

[Gamekiller]

I have an 89' Chevy pickup and you can turn the parking lights on without the headlights on.

[Stewie007]

I have an 89' Chevy pickup and you can turn the parking lights on without the headlights on. :shurg:

Some of them had the parking lights on separate circuits. I have seen people driving with these on without headlights at dusk and early evening after dark. They probably don't realize that they haven't turned on their headlamps. Some cars that have these lights have both on automatically to prevent such error.

Of course, newer cars don't have this problem with parking lights..... rather, I have seen people driving with fog lights well into the evening.

[halofanman]

I Live In CA As Well, During The Summer Time Cops Like To Put Cones And Caution Tape Alongside The Road, Then Hide Behind A Bush On Their Motorcycle And Radar.
They Ticket Your For "Construction Zone" Which Is Double The Fine, And Since Construction Zone Speed Limit is 25MPH They Give Out Tickets all day long.
I Was Going 40MPH (normal speed limit) and ended up with a $650 speeding ticket, No Signs of Construction Either (besides the damn cones), No Workers, No construction vehicles, Nothing.
Then My Mom Got Caught In The Same Trap About A Week Later LOL... I'm telling you this state is getting desperate for money.

[Stewie007]

They don't have to play tricks around here. People just habitually speed. In the town I used to live in, the speed limits were 25, and almost everybody wanted to go 35. They tail gate me all the time when I go through there. I don't dare speed, because they give out A LOT of tickets around there. They do however stick with the usual 3-5mph cushion.

[demonkevy666]

So my mother just got a ticket today.

Apparently she violated this:


Wow, what the hell?!

Is it a moving violation?

I just did this the other day because it was cloudy but not raining and other people had theirs on.
this state has almost the same laws as California. I live Ohio.

[chinaguy]

The cop was probably on Probation and needed the "Bust" to make his record look good. I always hate getting stopped by young cops that call me "SIR", you just know they are going to give you a ticket.

I got stopped on the A1 doing twice the legal speed limit at 3am in the moring in a Rover SDi 3.9 (Thats 140mph, good job I was not doing the max 150mph). After the old police sargent checked I was not drunk and I had all the paper work and the car was not stolen he just waved me on.

A few weeks later a young cop stops me for no valid reason and checks the car tires, horn, windscreen washers, fog lights and the fir dice did not block my view. He wrote me up for having a lose battery as it moved 1/2 an inch side to side. I had to take that one to court and the Clerk tossed it out on the grounds the car had just passed its MOT 3 days before! Cost me a days holiday and the price of having my suit dry cleaned.

[Dave_Sz]

where im at, i see alot of people just put their parking lights on as they drive especially in rain, when they dont need lights, cause they have to have some light on.

Driving without your headlights on while it's raining is illegal where I'm at.
Are you sure you wrote that right?

[DeadlyFire]

Since that specific law has been on the books since 1961 you would have better luck arguing to have it repealed or amended. Cops only enforce the existing laws(as stupid as some of the laws may be).

[lkiller123]

Yeah, the parking lamp is on a different circuit, so one can simply switch on only the parking lamp.

California only cares about the money now. Cops probably get a raise or something if they write a ticket as Chinaguy said.
The ty thing is, the cop reached in the car and taught my mom how to use the headlamp switch, saying "this ticket is for your safety."

Every day on the way to school, I see at least 2 cops just hiding there, trying to take a chance for the ticket as Chinaguy said.
I personally know friends who got tickets because they are ~5 miles over the limit.
Gotta wonder what are they going to do about the weed dealers in my school.

[Stewie007]

Everybody thinks that when they get a ticket that the cop should have been arresting a drug dealer. They're quite busy doing so, but enforcing traffic rules is also part of public safety. If they didn't enforce traffic rules, even though some of them seem ridiculous, you would see a LOT more traffic accidents. Then we'd all be saying that they should be doing something about that.

Can't she just go to court on the designated day and perhaps hope for mercy?

[zanzabar]

I have an 89' Chevy pickup and you can turn the parking lights on without the headlights on.

are u sure, normally there is a light that comes on in the headlight region but its not bright like a headlight.


back in the day u would use your parking lights to park, but then conventions changed and if u want to pull into a park in traffic u use the emergency flashers.