glad I don't live in CA...though the police have been horrible around here this summer...

 

So, how do we stay within the law?

 

Under Drag-Net, San Diego officers come to train other departments how to look out for what they believe to be tell-tale signs of illegal modification such as window tinting, large spoilers, extra gauges or racing stickers
I didnt know Racing Stickers were Illegal modification haha

 

Its going to be the usual, take you car to be inspected by the state ref, have it passed, go to court, see judge dismiss police citation.

if you use carb legal products and a legal exhaust, its more a hassle than anything.

Usually the main things to get pulled over for:

-loud exhaust, or even quiet exhausts that have big shiny mufflers/tips
-tint on the drivers/passenger windows
-no front license plate
-expired tags (cuz you can't pass an e-check)

than there's the occasional illegal lighting, but hopefully no NT owners will get nabbed for these:

-neon underbodies
-license plate lights NOT white
-rear signals NOT amber or red

 

The one part that got me is..they will still give you the ticket even if your stuff is legal.

Cali does NOT require the officers to do the sound check on the exhausts...so unless you haev allready gone to the Ref, its up to the cop. I've been to the Ref, and there was NOT a spec for the car to check the exhaust sound..yay.

Erick..Like I said, go get the code book.

 

Ug, stupid laws... poor Khalifornistan. *sigh*

 

glad im movin to texas..lol.. but i havent dealt with the law yet with my mods.. so its all good..

 

Ug, stupid laws... poor Khalifornistan. *sigh*

No kiddin huh? It's nice that they get to tell us how to run our life and how things should be according to them. I guess I will not be getting those headers after all...Having probable cause to search a vehicle because it has tint on the front window. I bet they will use that on EVERY teen driver to see if they can find some weed or beer in the car. :3_saai:

 

The one part that got me is..they will still give you the ticket even if your stuff is legal.

Cali does NOT require the officers to do the sound check on the exhausts...so unless you haev allready gone to the Ref, its up to the cop. I've been to the Ref, and there was NOT a spec for the car to check the exhaust sound..yay.

Erick..Like I said, go get the code book.

They use the "I don't know for sure, but you have a modified looking car" profiling excuse.
The ref deals with this constantly.

"They specify testing procedures for motor vehicle exhaust noise alone (as opposed to total vehicle noise). This procedure specifies a limit of 95 dB(A) measured 20 inches from the exhaust pipe outlet with the engine operating in neutral, typically at a speed of 3000-5000 rpm."
You call, tell them you need an exhaust test, and they make an appointment for you. I just put on an Espelir exhaust, so I anticipate going through this procedure again some time soon.

 

land of the free

 

But not the state of the free.

 

A little clarification: underbody neon is not itself illegal, driving on a public road with them on is illegal. Technically according to the letter of the law in CA, underbody neon as long as the tubes themselves were not visible would be legal, but cops and the general establishment feel otherwise.

Ask any tint shop, generally you can get away with medium tint on forward side windows as long as you don't drive like an idiot, this is my second car with medium sides and dark on the back. No tickets.

My license plate lights are yellow (yellow car) and I used to have blue ones on my old car. Bottom line as far as I've found is as long as the cops can read your plate and the lights aren't hanging visibly and creating a distraction, specially if they're blue.

 

Damn..... Cali has the most import part markets and the companies are based.... and the state is really giving them a hard time... I know there are many companies making milions in Cali, and I think they all should get together and start lobbying the state for some slack....

 

I'm so glad were not in a comunist country!!!! :3_sadley:

 

damn this sux . i will have to go get one. i should be fine

 

a buddy of mine got a fix it ticket for his turbo kit and he lives in SD... think it was something along the lines of tampering with a emissions control device. he ended pulling the entire turbo kit off then had it emissions tested then put the kit back on.

 

Move out, float the damn thing off into the Pacific, leave Hollywood and all its whacko's there to...

 

Jim..you can "generally" get away with a lot of stuff but its still illegal and gives them probable cause....

 

I don't think they need any more probable cause than me being in the car, LoL.... Sherriffs just don't like me no matter what I'm driving, LoL

 

Ok, well anyway guys, I can tell you this is in effect! I had to find out ya know? Last week I got pulled over at night in Rancho Santa Margarita, not seeing the officer parked off the side, there was this Honduh in front of me that slammed on his brakes and came almost to a dead stop in front of me, after seeing the cop, so not seein the cop I decided to go around him in second gear, when doing that I saw the cop, running to his cop car with the flashlight in his hand and automatically I know I am over with. Sure enough he catches up in the bike lane pulls me over, asks for the usual and he tells me that he is impounding my car and I am going to jail. I said, calmy that the honduh slammed on his brakes and I was simply going around him. Then tells me to relax, he is just going to give me some tickets then. As I am sitting in my car, I see another cop car roll up, and I am thinking that is my ride to jail. Actually it was a trained officer to check out cars to see if they are illegally modified. So she asks, what are these Tuscani symbols on your car, is this imported? I said, No, I bought it from Hyundai, Tuscani is what its called in Korea and asked me again, "So you imported this car." I replied to with No, its a Hyundai. He doesnt belive me checks my VIN on my engine, and dash, and spent 10 mins looking in my engine compartment, and comes back to me with, "I see your exhaust is aftermarket, is there anything else?" Being honest I replied, Yes telling him I had intake. Well he tells my that he can give me a fix it ticket for my exhaust for being so loud and I told him that it was the lowest decible exhaust that they made for my car, and he told me it doesnt matter, if HE thinks its too loud he can get me to take it off. He told me he wasnt going to because it was a nice car, and I was trying. But he did come back a little later with a ticket for Following to close, unsafe lane change, and speeding. But hey, I did have a good night testing out my new Eibach springs and struts, and my new HID's. I will be from now on driving like a grandma at night....

 

man my dream is to live in San Diego but now I'm not so sure, that is ridiculous

 

Driving at night in Rancho Santa Margarita with an exhaust is asking for trouble. Its sooo quiet there at night. I've had a cop tell me that if the car is louder than her stock 2000 honda civic, than its illegal. Ha. I had the state ref verify I was under the maximum legal decibel allowed and that cop sure did look foolish in front of the judge.

If a cop thinks it is too loud, the only thing he is allowed to do is mandate you visit a state referee to verify the sound db your exhaust emits. The cop cannot make you take it off, etc. In fact, even the state ref cannot force you to take it off if it is too loud. You are just cited for a noise violation and pay a fine. If the ref can verify it is legal, you can have the police citation overturned. When a cop knows you aren't blindly believing all the bs he is trying to feed you, he'll change his attitude quick. Impound your car, under what pretenses? The thing is the cops don't know much about modified cars and they are foolishly living by the motto "if i don't know anything about it, it must be illegal."

 

Chuck, when did you goto the ref? When I went about a year and a half ago there were no standards to check the car. If it was recent I'd like to go back and see where I stand.

I have about 4 pages of printed out VC's I keep in the car so I'm prepared when I get pulled over.

 

sux to live in CA.....but MA ain't much better!

 

April 2004. You have to have an exhaust ticket violation. The cop usually puts the white sticker over the area of the ticket that is for correctable violations signatures with the state ref's 1-800# You call them, give them the modified exhaust citation code that the cop wrote on the ticket, and they set up an appointment based on your address. I know east la college and chaffey college have it. State ref's are usually at community colleges in their auto/mechanics dep't.

I aslo carry printouts of the VC's and the CARB approved numbers for the parts I have. It got me out of the cop trying to cite me for carrying a nitrous bottle. The main valve was closed, the main line was disconnected, and the bottle was empty. He tried to cite me for transporting a licensed material...but I had the VC with me that showed a license is not required for nitrous oxide quantities under 25lb...something like that. I showed him the DOT label that is on the 10lb bottle. I still got a modified exhaust ticket, amongst modified fuel/emissions equipment. I had every single citation dismissed in court. This was my 3rd "modified exhaust" ticket I had gotten.

The exhaust ticket used to be a simple correctable violation. You could have any law enforcement officer "sign it off"...but once aftermarket exhausts starting getting really popular. They made it so any officer couldn't just sign it off. SEMA and other enthusiast agencies rallied and the gov't decided that state refs would have db testing equipment to test the sound levels. This helped come when most of the citations fought in court were overturned because the cop couldn't prove the car was too loud w/out a db meter. In the courtroom...in front of the judge, we are still innocent until proven guilty, despite what the cops and their "street racer" training has them thinking. The police dept's didn't want to make all the officers carry meters, so just the ref's would have them now. I helped educate some of the officers from the "dubbed" Ontario Street Racing Task Force to show them that all car tuners are NOT breaking the law. Some still don't even care since they aren't car enthusiasts in their off-duty time and think they don't have to take the time to learn things they don't care about. But a few do care, and things like "Beat the Heat" and the "What not to do" pamphlets at CHP stations show that.

EDIT: the last time I got pulled over, the CHP took pictures of my engine bay, interior, exterior, everything...while we were pulled over on the side of the freeway. They tried to use the photos in an older pamphlet on illegal parts. The judge thought it was ironic that my car wasn't even illegal, and passed the first time I went to the state ref. Just goes to show you how little some of the cops know about the laws. They think modifying the car at all is illegal. :3_plzdie: