G8 GT Taillights illegal in Maryland, says moron judge

[Stressball]

Maryland Judge Decrees Pontiac G8 GT Tail Lights Illegal

Maryland Judge Decrees Pontiac G8 GT Tail Lights Illegal

Maryland Judge Decrees Pontiac G8 GT Tail Lights IllegalA Maryland judge issued an $85 fine to the owner of a Pontiac G8 GT for illegal tail lights, despite being factory-installed and approved by the US Department of Transportation. She's promised to keep fining him. Judicial activism, FTL!

Forum member "jackalope" at G8Board.com was ticketed by a Maryland officer who claimed he was sporting illegal tail lights. After amassing a healthy amount of evidence proving he hadn't modified his car and it was approved for sale by the Department of Transportation, he went to court confident the ticket would be dismissed, only to find the contrary. We'll let him tell you how it all went down:

Went to court for my clear tail lights on my car and was found guilty!

The judge actualy told me she didn't care what the manufacturer said, what the federal govt said, what the DOT # stamped onto my taillights said if the officer says my lights aren't legal then they're not legal. I took the G8 sales brochure in along with pics of my car and other G8 GT's and the VIN trace by 3 different dealers saying my lights were factory none of it mattered she found me guilty of failing to display or reflect red light on the rear of the car. Didn't matter the reflecters were in the bumper, didn't matter where the light is has that little red circle, the whole lens isn't red so they're not legal. Also where the back-up and turn signals are should be the reflectors according to the cop so the V6 cars lights aren't legal either.

Judge stupid went on to tell me that maybe I should consider trading in or selling the car since its not legal in MD and that I'm going to continue to get the $60 tickets till I get rid of the car.

So I contacted Pontiac's 1-800 # and I have an apt next friday to have my car looked at by them and see if they can help or at least repay me the $85.50 fine and court costs.

I honestly don't know what else I can do. The cop was ALL smiles afterwards and winked at me! WTF! Now I'm screwed! How do I go to work now? I drive right thru where he works!! So this ass nuget can make up **** randomly for any car he gets a hard on for and nothing can be done to fight it!

This is BS.

The problem centers around the clear lens tail lights and bumper-mounted reflectors of the Pontiac G8 GT model. Because the red area in the lenses is reduced in the G8 GT, there are reflectors mounted in the bumper to reflect additional light and bring the reflective requirements into spec. Th officer and by extension the judge considered them illegal.

Now, we can understand Mr. Jackalope's momentary lack of respect for the legal system above — this is B.S., but he's got legitimate cause to be pissed. He bought a car he assumed to fall within the operations laws of all states and which was in reality approved for nationwide sale by the government. According to the Judge, the opinion of an Officer of the Law supersedes what the Federal government approved for sale and the design somehow doesn't jive with what the State of Maryland considers legal.

One of the other forum members has offered up legal service to fight the fine, but it makes us wonder if all the G8 GT drivers in Maryland now have something to worry about. Should motorists who've bought a car approved by the Federal government be worried about being arbitrarily fined by a Judge who seems to side with the opinion of an officer over the law.

So, this judge admits that she is not enforcing the law, she is supporting her officer's belief that it is illegal. Despite proof that it isn't. Ergo, she is refuting the law and setting her own rules, and enforcing fines based on these bollocks charges. My guess is she must be on her rags Or just incredibly stupid. She should be sacked for putting opinions before law.


KGO.

[Rufys]

Even though this is over a year old, it warrants a reply.

The car in question had heavily tinted tail lights. Here's a picture of the car in question:

[aaronevolution]

So Pontiac put those lights on as standard?

[Reaper]

So Pontiac put those lights on as standard?

No - the owner tinted them. His idea of "unmodified" didn't include the bits he modified. I remember reading something about it at the time.

Reaper

[Stressball]

last I read, he had 3 sets of lights. the tinted ones, which were on for a car show. some mostly standard ones except for painting the chrome ring black. and some totally factory ones, no modifications. the argument from the judge was not related to tint or paint; it was that the whole lens had to be red, not just have red reflectors in it.

[Gaming Warrior]

Here is a quote from Jackalope on how it all turned out. From my understanding the lights on at the time were the same as the SSV tail lights not the ones in the picture above.

This is an update on my crazy tail light saga.

I went and spoak with a states attorney last friday and he told me the officer may need further training and the judges rulling was "ludicris". He has a Lexus SUV with clear tail lights so he knew exactly what I was talking about. He took all my info down and made copies of the ticket, the court summons and the reciept where I paid the fine and court costs and said he'd be in touch. Well he just called this morning and left a message that he talked to the judge and she claimed she "misunderstood" the whole thing. He got her to reverse her decision and issue a refund of which I should see in 6 to 8 weeks. (not holding my breath)

The officer who winked and smiled at me had his supervisor contacted and has been explain to what harrasment means and that clear tails are NOT illegal. His supervisor issued me an appology and his promiss I'd not be pulled over for my factory tail lights again that they're going to have a little refresher course in whats legal and whats not when it comes to lighting.

So I guess thats that, I won! it should never have gone this far but at least its fixed now.