Not sure how he picked you out, but US legal headlamps have DOT (Dept. of Transportation) imprinted on them. Tough to find even when looking closely.

Gordo

Check Larry's self-admitted speed in this thread:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-engine-rebuilding-forum/150305-what-causing-grief.html

On a positive note, he did apologize in the 911 Technical forum.

I’ve met and talked to Larry in person a couple times, and imo he is a very good guy.

In the past couple of weeks there has been a couple threads where cop bashing has taken place. I don’t know if those might be part of it but I do know that a lot of hard working honest police officers get a bad name by the actions and attitudes of a small minority of others. I do not defend somebody on this board calling another names, but it has been known to happen from time to time. ;)

I think the apology by Larry on the Tech board was a very respectful thing to do and the issue should be over, imo.

Now about those H1s, that’s a bunch of BS! I have the stock looking H4s, are they going to look at the lenses to see if they’re H4s next time I get pulled over? Really though, I think this was a fluke, most would not have any idea if they were stock or not. What gets me is that if he was a Porsche guy, why would he care?

He bend down and inspected the glass quite carefully and declared the lights to be "aftermarket". BTW the bulbs that are in them are 10 year old run-of-mill bulbs -- nothing especially bright.

To be honest, I felt quite relieved. I thought he had me for a big speeding ticket....but I must have gotten on the brakes in time. I suspect that might have annoyed him.

"how I can tell if these H1's are really illegal"

the ticket should say what part of the code you are alleged to have violated. go look it up at the library and see what it says.

maybe take a photo of them and take that to court with you.

All the bag boy can do is squish your bread and break your eggs. The cop can plant cocaine on your a$$ and have you forcibly removed from your world. It's a little different.

And the truth comes out...:D

H1,s and H4,s are illegal unless they have repealed a Fed code going back to 1930,s that required all headlights to be the new improved "sealed beams". The lights are obviously better but are made to a Euro standard hence the nickname. H 5,s which bear a resemblance have appeared more recently and the lens includes small raised glass dots required for the fitting of alignment equipment.The previous post about DOT approval is probably correct , H1 and H4,s don,t have it.
I bet the cop was looking for an infraction because of what you were driving or how fast not really how bright your lights were.

James, No such thing as a "former Marine" Once a Marine ALWAYS a Marine!

As a cop, I may be able to answer a couple of questions.....

There are 2 kinds of cops in my Dept that patrol the streets. 1 is traffic enforcement and the other handles criminal calls. Both can issue citations, but the primary role falls upon the traffic cops. They write traffic accidents and handle DUI checkpoints and such. Of the hundreds that I know, the majority REALLY know their stuff. The can recite vehicle codes in their sleep as the majority of us have to look them up. If a traffic cop pulls someone over, that person is almost certain to get some kind of citation. That shows that the cop is being productive and proactive. There is no quota of any type. Contrary to what TV or books say, I do not know of any way to change these cop's minds about the citation.

For our safety, we ask that all people remain in their cars as we approach. We also ask the occupants to show their hands because we want to make sure they are not holding a weapon. Traffic stops are one of the most dangerous things we do. In fact, just last week 2 cops were killed while doing a so called "routine" traffic stop. The monster Timothy McVeigh was stopped in a traffic stop for nothing more than speeding after he had blown up the Oklahoma Federal Building. The cops who stopped him did not have a clue as to who he was. I have lost some dear personal friends (3 good solid cops) due to traffic stops and gunfire.

As far as identifying ourselves and placing identifiers on our cars, there is a good reason for that as well. Most of us carry guns while off duty and don't look like a "typical cop." We want the officer pulling us over to be warned that we may be a cop, so there are no surprises should he spot a gun on our lap. Unfortunately, there have been several cops killed by fellow cops in scenarios just like that one because of misidentification. I had cops put guns on me while I was doing an undercover operation because they did not know that I was a cop too.

As it relates to the intial point of this thread, I am not sure if it is a violation or not. I know that most aftermarket modifications (exhaust, light color, too low) are illegal in some states. Whether the cop knows that a mod has been done is another question.

Occassionally, some cops lose their composure and do something stupid. Haven't we all done the same? I have done it both on the job and when my P-car acts up.

Cut Larry some slack. He acknowledged his mistake. We are all adults.

Nobody brought up the important quesion here....Graham, want to sell a pair of H-1's? They are, to the best of my knowledge, legal in Oregon...decades ago, a Cali cop gave me static about my QI lights...just 7" rounds set in the stock trim, on a '69 912. I pointed to my Oregon plate, asked him to check Oregon, not federal code...no ticket.

Well said, David. I suspect the truth is more like John suggests. It was obvious he was going too fast, but the cop was unfortunate enough not to have anything solid to support it in court. Rather than doing the dishonest thing and claiming a radar measured speed, he did the marginally immature thing and got frustrated. "Dammit, I missed a speeder in a Porsche, but I can at least hassle him about those headlights!" Given that perspective, I don't know that I can blame him.

Now if somebody could only explain why I got pulled over on the NJ Turnpike for "having mismatched tail-lights." :)

Dan

OK so let me get this straight, the guy is speeding in his P-car, cop sees him but for what ever reason cannot get 'proof' that he was speeding so instead pulls him over and writes him a ticket for something else, which at the moment seems vague at best and at worse incorrect.

Excuse me but that does not sound like a professional law enforcement approach.

Headlights out, misaligned or incorrectly coloured are all very objective issues. It seems as if in California the H1/H4 issue is not very clear. If he wants to contect it in court there seems to be room to challenge the whole ticket.

Whilst Police officers have a dangerous job which means they do deal with the less desirable members of society more often than the rest of us that does not in any way allow them to be pissed off, nasty or disrepectful of the people they serve.

I have no reason to doubt the ability of Officers doing their job, but it seems as if in this case the Officer's personnal agenda was beyond what Professional abilities and options could achieve.

Mind you I have yet to be stopped for speeding or anything else so I'll reserve the right to change my tune when it happens and you can flame me when I turn hypocrite.

I'm sure impressed by Larry's apology. Thanks, Larry, for being a standup guy.

I respect cops too. They're underpaid. Thier job is dangerous. I'm glad they're there, and would not want their jobs. Many of them are extremely professional and well trained.

Unfortunately, they seem to be a bit frustrated by the decisions of thier upper power structures. I think most would prefer to use their training to "serve and protect." Instead, they are often reduced to "citation writers" instead of peace officers. I'd say that applies to the majority. But like all humans, they sometimes embarrass themselves, or worse:

My wife, daughter (about 13 years old) and daughter's friend were travelling through a 30 mph zone on the way to church one day, and got stopped. Wife asks why she was stopped, was she going too fast, didnt think she was going too fast. Cop says (all three occupants heard this) "This must be your lucky day, my radar was not on. I'd estimate you were going about 45."

When he returns to the car with wife's license and registration, he asks here to sign a citation for going 45. We requested and received a copy of the cop's notes, which state in several ways that he used the radar gun and the readout was "45." We go to court pleading Not Guilty. Wife and daughter are dressed sweetly. Prosector meets with us, hears the story, rolls his eyes and asks the judge to dismiss. the judge wants an explanation. Prosector says "You Honor, we believe the prosecution cannot meet the burden of proof in this case." Judge scowls and dismisses.

We're left with one obvious conclusion. That cop is a liar.

I have expressed some grave concerns about certain tactics, and I simpl;y cannot get over my belief that our local "Aggressive Driver Units" (totally unmarked SP cars with darkened glass). These cars tend to have fat tires in addition to the smoky glass. My belief, based on my understanding of human nature, is that these troopers are almost certain to play little games to "bait" motorists. I got nailed by one in March. My fits ticket in about 12 years. I maintained a 72 mph speed entering a 60 mph zone, simply to try to get some distance from this guy who was playing little speed/pacing games with me for the last couple of miles. His lights came on just as I was making a decision to slow way down to let this guy pass. My whole agenda was to get away from him. His driving was making me nervous. This was at 6 am on a Saturday morning with ZERO traffic on an Interstate with three lanes going my direction. Games. Bullship games. If the Washington State Patrol returns to its former agenda of traffic and public safety, then I'll return to being one of its mosty ardent supporters. For the time being, they and the motorists will be playing games. Cat and mouse. And the only loser here is public safety. Sad. Perhaps tragic.

I got pulled over by a WSP in almost exactly the same scenario you just described, Superman. It was late on a Saturday night (like 11pm), and I had been watching a set of headlights at my left rear quarter for probably 10 miles. Traffic was just about nil, and almost nobody does what I was doing -- the speed limit, so I was starting to get a bit concerned. Scarier, the headlights in my left blind spot stayed there when the speed limit dropped from 60 to 55 -- I'm one of like 3 people in the whole state that slows down at that spot! I don't know about anybody else, but I get pretty nervous when people spend more than a moment in my blind spot, or adjacent to me, or whatever. I thought about speeding up to try and lose the individual, who was obviously some joker playing a stupid game, but decided instead to slam on the brakes. As my speed dropped through 45, I saw the headlights draw forward, but not much -- whoever was playing this game had pretty decent brakes too. Then the headlights fell back into place and the red and blues came on.

The officer explained that she had been following me for quite some time, and was concerned that I was drunk (hadn't had a beer in like 3 weeks). I explained that I was concerned that she was some joker kid playing stupid games in the middle of the night. I don't know how well she took that, but she didn't write me a ticket, so I can't complain too much about having lost 20 minutes by the side of the road late one night.

I'll second that sentiment, Superman. The WSP obviously has lots of money and training, but I really don't think they're using it effectively.

Dan

I got too many stories about lying cops. I won't even begin here.
I understand that there are many good cops too, among them are my neighbor and my brother. That still does not change the fact that there are lying cops with bad attitude that shouldn't wear the badge.

my brother is a cop. he admits to having bad days, with his girlfriend, i am surprised he doesnt have more of them. he says his favorite ticket to issue is to parents that do not have their kids in child seats! no way out for them. other than that, policemens best job is just to be visual deterrence. we speed, we see them, we jam on brakes. perfect, everyone understands.

btw, my headlights should be the illegal ones. they are like candles! yellow, and weak.