Tinted tail lights question
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It's most likely illegal. The question is, will the cops care. If you don't blacken them out, you should be fine. I have done mine pretty dark and haven't gotten in any trouble but I live in the country where police don't really care much about what you have done to your car as long as it's not too loud.
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8,950 Posts
I have seen them here on cars, some completely black and some just tinted. I have no idea if its illegal or not, I would lean towards illegal. If it is illegal, I'm sure some cops might care and other wont. It does decrease the ability of other cars to see you so I could see that being the reason.
Call your local police department and ask. You could also call some tint or paint shops and see if they know whats legally allowed.
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Found this posted here
"TAIL LAMPS
§ 4513.05. Tail lights and illumination of rear license plate.
(A) Every motor vehicle, trackless trolley, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or vehicle which is being drawn at the end of a train of vehicles shall be equipped with at least one tail light mounted on the rear which, when lighted, shall emit a red light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear, provided that in the case of a train of vehicles only the tail light on the rearmost vehicle need be visible from the distance specified.
Either a tail light or a separate light shall be so constructed and placed as to illuminate with a white light the rear registration plate, when such registration plate is required, and render it legible from a distance of fifty feet to the rear. Any tail light, together with any separate light for illuminating the rear registration plate, shall be so wired as to be lighted whenever the headlights or auxiliary driving lights are lighted, except where separate lighting systems are provided for trailers for the purpose of illuminating such registration plate.
(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.
HISTORY: GC § 6307-78; 119 v 766(792), § 78; Bureau of Code Revision. Eff 10-1-53; 149 v S 123, § 1, eff. 1-1-04."
Then searching that code i found it here: http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4513.05
So if you tint, it still has to be visible up to 500 feet. You can always try to find a brighter brake light or LED to compensate for the tint, depending on how dark you want to tint. I've thought about tinting the tails but since my car is already a shade of red, I dont mind them being red still.
"TAIL LAMPS
§ 4513.05. Tail lights and illumination of rear license plate.
(A) Every motor vehicle, trackless trolley, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or vehicle which is being drawn at the end of a train of vehicles shall be equipped with at least one tail light mounted on the rear which, when lighted, shall emit a red light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear, provided that in the case of a train of vehicles only the tail light on the rearmost vehicle need be visible from the distance specified.
Either a tail light or a separate light shall be so constructed and placed as to illuminate with a white light the rear registration plate, when such registration plate is required, and render it legible from a distance of fifty feet to the rear. Any tail light, together with any separate light for illuminating the rear registration plate, shall be so wired as to be lighted whenever the headlights or auxiliary driving lights are lighted, except where separate lighting systems are provided for trailers for the purpose of illuminating such registration plate.
(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.
HISTORY: GC § 6307-78; 119 v 766(792), § 78; Bureau of Code Revision. Eff 10-1-53; 149 v S 123, § 1, eff. 1-1-04."
Then searching that code i found it here: http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4513.05
So if you tint, it still has to be visible up to 500 feet. You can always try to find a brighter brake light or LED to compensate for the tint, depending on how dark you want to tint. I've thought about tinting the tails but since my car is already a shade of red, I dont mind them being red still.
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63 Posts
I would say that the third light doesn't cut it officially. My rule of thumb is as long as you can see into your light (not completely black) then you are safe... not necessarily legal.
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To me, that is a case to tint everything dark as looks good, throw in some silver star bulbs or LED and leave the third light alone. That covers all the bases and if a cop wants to hit his ticket quota you could fight it in court.
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Tinting is pretty much the same for your front turn signals. Start out with a light tint, turn your parking or hazards on, and step back a ways and see if you can still see them without any issues. If you feel you can go darker, do it.
As for uploading pictures to a thread, first upload them to a sharing website such as Flicker or Photobucket (the one I prefer) and post the image link to your post. Hope this helps.
As for uploading pictures to a thread, first upload them to a sharing website such as Flicker or Photobucket (the one I prefer) and post the image link to your post. Hope this helps.
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I was reading up for something else and found this which applies to the tinted tail lights.
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4513
there are actually lots of sections that should be read, as lots of them pertain to lights/reflectors.
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