illegal taillights

today one of my friends told me that my new all clear taillights are illegal. does anyone have these in MA and get shit for them? I thought it wouldn't really matter as long as you have colors for brake and turn

if the tail lights say DOT legal or SAE (something light that) legal, than ur pretty much in the green. But yeah plenty of cops have seen myclear lights and they havent pulled my over or nothing yet. so hey

I haven't seen totally clear tallights on a car for years but I do remember them being illegal. You have to have three red and reflective surfaces (lights on or off) on the rear of your car. I've been in trouble a couple times for my blackouts, and that's what the cop told me..

Yea, you have to have RED reflectors on the rear of the vehicle. I thought it was 2 red rear reflectors on the tailights of a vehicle, but maybe it was 3, I'd have to check. Either way, yes, techincally, your clear tailights (as well as smoked ones like Ricochet mentioned) are illegel due to a lack of the required rear RED reflectors (even if you have the proper colored light bulbs).

well one of the spots is a reflector, just a clear one though. guess that won't count. this suks i'll let you guys know if i get a ticket; i don't wanna take them off they look too damn good on my car. cops in my town gave me a 300$ ticket for the blue led's in my mirrors m3 style or whatever mirrors. luckily i'm only there on the weekends and not driving most of the time

Well at least clears > altezzas.

you mean they're better than altezzas? i actually had altezzas b4 these clear ones, and kind of liked them. i dislike the majority of them, but once in a while they actually are kind of tight (once in a great while actually). i wish i had b4 and after pics, the clear tails on black 95 accord just look so hot. when you use led's, will it look more like a bulb in the middle of a clear square or just red evenly distributed throughout that section of the light? i'm asking because a buddy told me i might be able to trick cops if i just leave my lights on all the time w/ bright bulbs, maybe it'll pass for a red panel (i know when my foot is on the brake they're red enough to fool a cop)

I can't stand all clears for one reason. That clear reflector you're talking about. Have someone pull up behind you and shine their lights on that reflector, it looks like you have the car in reverse.

I can't stand all clears for one reason. That clear reflector you're talking about. Have someone pull up behind you and shine their lights on that reflector, it looks like you have the car in reverse.

Yea, thats a really anoying part of clears. It really draws your eye to the stop too, which isn't too great. I can see why clear reflectors are banned...too close to reverse, like you said.

what do you mean by 'it really draws your eye to the stop'?

what do you mean by 'it really draws your eye to the stop'?

That was just written poorly by me, I was sick and feeling like sh*t. What I ment was that is is too close to reverse, plus it tends to draw your eyes off the road and to the tailight instead, which is annoying. It's the same reason your eyes tend to look at a car's reverse lights, the white/yellow light just draws the eye more, thats my 2 cents. Anyways, sorry for the confusing post perviously, lol...It really was written bad.

oh alright didnt' get it the first time haha. guess i don't really care about the peopel behind me though. they'll be able to figure out whether or not my car is in reverse on tehri own anyways

oh alright didnt' get it the first time haha. guess i don't really care about the peopel behind me though. they'll be able to figure out whether or not my car is in reverse on tehri own anyways

It's not just that, it's a distraction. It draws your eyes towards it and away from the road. Have you ever seen a car drving down the road with clear tailights versus red lights? The clear white light was distracting as anything...I hated it...sure, I KNEW what it was, that don't mean I liked it. I found the distraction annoying and dangerous. Distractions like that can be dangerous, hence it's illegel...the law is there for a reason. I hate lights like that, and have no respect for someone who doesn't give a rip about the other dirvers on the road. It's jerks who don't care about other drivers who cause wrecks, and that's something people shouldn't tolerate. That I have no respect for. Someone who doesn't care about the other drivers on the road shouldn't be driving.

I found the distraction annoying and dangerous. Distractions like that can be dangerous, hence it's illegel...the law is there for a reason.


first off that's not why they are illegal. it is the absence of red reflectors, not the presence of clear ones that are illegal. second, i know they may draw your eye, but if you're distracted by shiny things to the point where your driving is dangerous, then get the fuk off of the road. i hardly doubt they're any more 'distracting' than the factory, legal HID's on beamers

I found the distraction annoying and dangerous. Distractions like that can be dangerous, hence it's illegel...the law is there for a reason.


first off that's not why they are illegal. it is the absence of red reflectors, not the presence of clear ones that are illegal. second, i know they may draw your eye, but if you're distracted by shiny things to the point where your driving is dangerous, then get the fuk off of the road. i hardly doubt they're any more 'distracting' than the factory, legal HID's on beamers

You know what d*psh*t? First off, learn how to f**king quote, geez. Second, It's as*h*les like you who cause wrecks, thinking your all big and bad and above the law...IT'S ILLEGLE FOR A REASON!!!! If you don't like it, Petition to change the law. The fact is, not with me, but with some people with glasses and older people, that can create problems. I knopw what the fuck it is, but white tails will fuck them up. They are not "down with the hip shit." It's not "shiny things," it's the fact they are white friggen taillights, not red!!! The expect what the law says, red in the rear, clear in the front. When they see white in the rear, it can freak them out. I get sick of assholes like you fucking with people like that. You think your all big and bad. Sure I know what it is, but some older people can get confused easily. Now don't go telling me "how gives a fuck." I happen to have grandparents, and I care about them very much. I get sick of justs like you fucking with people because you are young and think you can. Grow up. You know what, you don't even derseve a car, you obiviously don't give a fuck about anyone but yourself, and I have NO RESPECT for people like that, nor any tolerence. A car is a great thing to have, but understand with it comes great responsability. Either learn that, or get the fuck off the road yourself.

*Sorry to all who my post offended, you all know I don't go off like that much*

*Now jazer80, can we stop the flame war now? It's counter productive, a waste of bandwidth, and frankly, you and me will probably never see eye to eye on this topic. You have your mind set, that's that. Let's just drop this BS and realize, we won't agree on this subject*

Question answered, thread now closed.

Here in CA (where law usually seems to be strictest) the law on tail lights states that the BULB must be of the proper color (red for brake, and amber for blinker, unless blinker is intgrated within brake light bulb, and clear (NOT hyperwhite) for reverse), and there MUST be a red reflector both on the rear facing portion of the tail light, as well as somewhere on the SIDE of the vehicle, either on the bumper, or the corner of the tail light housing. Clear tails are illegal because they lack the red reflectors, which in turn would defeat the purpose of the clear housing anyways. No win situation there. On another note...

...guess i don't really care about the peopel behind me though. they'll be able to figure out whether or not my car is in reverse on tehri own anyways

That's a really pisspoor and rather ignorant attitude to have. With that statment, you are just proving to everyone on here just how much you really don't deserve to be on the road, if you don't even take into consideration the well being of the cars and people around you. :disappoin Cars don't have all clears because they ARE distracting as well as confusing. Any car that has euro type tails from the factory (i.e. IS300 Lexus) if you'll notice has a red lense cover OVER the brake light, and they don't use a white/clear outer lense cover, but rather a crystal clear type which is also less distracting. IMO they are just as tacky (white/clear tails) as Altezza imitations. But to each their own.