Yeah, I misread things in my haste yesterday. The actually relevant part is here:
I read this as saying that in CA, you are allowed to hang something from your mirror as long as it doesn’t “obstruct or reduce” your clear view through the windows. (The part later on about rearview mirrors is just saying that you are allowed to affix a rearview mirror to your windshield, not that you are definitely allowed to affix something to your rearview mirror.)
As with many statutes, this one seems like a judgment call that would be decided first by the mood of the cop and second by the court and/or case law.
Granted this is a zombie, I think the concept behind the question is important enough, and general enough, to warrant further discussion.
Let’s start with a tautology: It is legal to do anything that a law does not make it illegal to do. How this applies is that, while there are some things, ranging frrom premeditated murder to going faster than the posted speed limit, that are everywhere (or effectively so) illegal, it is the law of the relevant jurisdiction that matters. There is not a massive one-size-fits-all regulation that makes it illegal to, e.g., hang fuzzy dice from the rearview mirror of a Jeep used for back-country travel on the property of a lodge in Nunavut, or to build a storage shed on a ranch in rural Montana without a permit. Answers to questions like this depend on the law of the relevant jurisdiction – in general, the U.K., New Zealand, individual states in the U.S., and either the Ottawa Parliament or the individual provinces in Canada (and I think the same is true [with appropriate changes] in Australia, but an Aussie lawyer will need to speak to that.
Houston, for example, does not as of the last I knew have municipal zoning laws such as almost every other city has. Therefore, the general principle that it’s illegal to convert your house to a store, day care, or whatever without a proper permit does not apply there, any more than it does in some rural crossroads in Cherry County, Nebraska.
It’s possible in many such questions to make a broad statement of what is generally the case – I’ll be that in every state it’s illegal to hold oneself out as practicing law without being admitted to the bar, and driving an uninsured, unregistered automobile is likewise equally prohibited everywhere. But absolutes based on generaliuzing from one’s experience in California or Virginia aqre likely to be incorrect.
I’m not a lawyer, but I have studied a lot of Australian law, and in this Australia is much like the U.S.: the states and territories are responsible for traffic regulations, though there is some attempt to have uniformity between the states. On a question like this one, you’d need to look at 8 different jurisdictions.
Well, the theory is that it’s actually mostly hidden by the mirror itself. It’s placed behind where the mirror hangs, rather than below.
Of course, those that work in the garage place it where it’s easiest to reach.
RedSwinglineOne, that was partly in jest. I know it can work, but it does have to be applied exactly correct, or it will fail. On cars that I had the issues with, I was too young to understand the “follow directions exactly” part.
Originally Posted by California V. C. Section 26708
A person shall not drive any motor vehicle with any object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied upon the windshield or side or rear windows.
External GPS Devices would seem to fit this then as well.
I guess it’s the same for that Bumper Sticker “If pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of progress?”
In NJ it is a violation. A minor one. Its a violation I have never written except when I say things like “I could have given you a 4 point $150 ticket but instead I’m just going to give you this obstructed view ticket”. Which I’m sure some people then told their friends “This asshole cop gave me a ticket for my air freshener!”