Definition of RED, more of a rant...

I know the police cars in this area have the laptop computers bolted inside the cars, do they keep non-ticked stop information in those things? And my second question is, and I think I know the answer to this, what is the legal definition of red? :rolleyes:

I have been pulled over about 10 times in the past month for the same stupid thing. When I bought my truck it had a broken taillight cover. Got pulled over, OK, it’s broken, bought some red tape stuff at the parts store, all fixed.

Got pulled over 2 more times, the first was because there was “clear showing” (officer’s words, not mine), and the second was to tell me that the red tape wasn’t legal in this state. Why didn’t the first cop tell me it wasn’t legal?

So I bought a new cover ($75 + shipping from out-of-state), and put it on. OK, problem solved right? WORNG! I have been pulled over 4 times, in the past 3 days because “the cover isn’t red enough”. That’s almost an exactly the same thing all four cops have told me.

So, being the smart person that I am (HA!) I very nicely asked the kind man with the gun and hat, what is the exact shade of red that is required by this state law? I also asked what I could do about it, since I don’t have the money to go buy another cover, the tape is legal, and I can’t buy red bulbs for my truck. Of course, now I have ANOTHER ticket showing that I was stopped, not that it does any good since every time I get one and go down to DMV they don’t even look at the truck when they sign it off.

I called a few places in town to ask advice, and more than one though I was joking. There are no trucks like mine locally to get parts, and new covers are about $200, which might not sound like much to some people, but I’m a janitor, and $200 is 1/3 a months work for me! (yes, it’s possible to live on $600 a month, you just have to do without unnecessary things like food, and entertainment).

So what should I do? If this keeps up I’m going to get pissy and say things I shouldn’t say. :confused:

Get a waterproof (“permanent”) red marker and color over the cover. This should darken the color and still allow sufficient light through.

Take the illegal tape, and tape the inside of the legal cover.