# What was up with the lights on this truck? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 2025, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277 "2025-12-01T01:59:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/41 "2025-12-02T03:39:14Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > > > [@jnglmassiv](#): > > > > > > Looks like OP’s running lights and/or side lights might be ok to me > > > > I’m skeptical, if it looked anything like the pictures of underglow which have been shared in this thread. > > According to [Neon Laws,](https://www.neonlaws.com/virginia/) the Virginia State Police website used to have a FAQ entry which specifically covered the illegality of neon. I checked the site Skywatcher linked to and, as far as I can tell, the lights I saw were legal. This was in New York and the only restrictions on underglow lights here appear to be that they must be white and they can’t blink or oscillate. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/42 "2025-12-02T03:43:47Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > So many derogatory comments! Buncha old fogeys. Take your complaint to the various state legislatures that banned them. > **[Is Underglow Illegal? Neon Lighting Laws By State (2025)](https://www.consumershield.com/injuries-accidents/car-accidents/is-underglow-illegal)** > > Is underglow illegal? In some states, it is. In other states, underglow is allowed, provided you follow certain restrictions. Here’s a closer look. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/43 "2025-12-02T10:34:19Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > The true old fogeys try not to drive after dark. Geekish old fogeys add lights so it never GETS dark… ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/44 "2025-12-02T14:32:29Z")
I agree, I think that shit is dangerous. Sort of like those stupid spinning hubcaps. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/45 "2025-12-02T15:05:00Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I agree, I think that shit is dangerous. How is it dangerous? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/46 "2025-12-02T15:11:20Z")
Distracting and unexpected. Both are dangerous when driving. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/47 "2025-12-02T17:09:50Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > (yep, janking your chain …) “See this pinky, see this thumb! See this fist, you’d better run!” 🥸 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/48 "2025-12-02T17:26:46Z")
Distracting and unexpected. Until it becomes commonplace. LED headlights were distracting and unexpected too. Now they’re ordinary. I get your point, but on the list of owner/driver-caused hazards out on the roadways, underglow is about number 134. We’d save far more lives by banning pickup trucks as private vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/49 "2025-12-02T17:42:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > We’d save far more lives by banning pickup trucks as private vehicles. California requires commercial plates on all pickup trucks. They’re still too numerous. The real problem is the relatively lax safety standards on trucks compared to cars. Every vehicle that a class C license can drive should meet the same safety standards that cars do now. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/50 "2025-12-02T17:49:30Z")
I drove a pickup for years. It was incredibly useful. I don’t know how many friends I moved with them. It ain’t the truck, it’s the drivers that cause accidents. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/51 "2025-12-02T17:52:19Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > It ain’t the truck, it’s the drivers that cause accidents. And the fact that so many of them now are utterly enormous, and, as you note, driven by idiots who are either unaware of their footprint on the road, can’t see around them, or just don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/52 "2025-12-02T17:57:28Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Not to nit pick, but I haven’t seen bumper stickers on cars in longer than I can remember. Really? I see multiple ones every single day. Keep an eye out and I’m sure you’ll see one. As for the underglow, I remember it as far back as c. 1993 here in Chicago (purple was common) and its environs and then it just seemed to disappear, so I don’t know if the laws changed or what. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/53 "2025-12-03T00:26:48Z")
There was a 20’ box truck in my area that had a digital billboard on the side of the truck. It scared the crap out of me one night on the highway. It was like daylight all of a sudden. I swerved not knowing what was going on. It was for a bar or night club. I was going to call the police but figured someone else on the road would. I never saw it again. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/54 "2025-12-03T01:08:39Z")
Those are common in big cities. Rolling jumbotron billboards getting maybe 10mpg. Baby green jeebus cries every time one sets out to meander in urban traffic getting in the way for 8 hours while going nowhere. We here in Miami also have those giant jumbotron LED billboards installed on large boats plying our waterways while getting 1mpg tops. Ain’t America great? Sheesh! ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/55 "2025-12-03T06:31:25Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Those are common in big cities. Rolling jumbotron billboards getting maybe 10mpg. I consider them dangerous on a highway. They can light up a lane at night without warning and are a distraction if anyone stares at them while driving. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/56 "2025-12-03T09:50:25Z")
I can’t remember ever seeing underglow lighting, probably because it’s illegal where i live. But add me to the people questioning why it’s dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/57 "2025-12-03T14:02:30Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I can’t remember ever seeing underglow lighting, probably because it’s illegal where i live. I may have seen one or two. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > But add me to the people questioning why it’s dangerous. It’s dangerous because anytime you are driving, or doing anything really, when you see something totally unexpected it diverts your attention from your task at hand, driving. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/58 "2025-12-03T14:07:39Z")
Well, if it weren’t illegal, i doubt it would be all that unexpected. Cars have all sorts of odd decorations. Reindeer antlers. Stickers. Flags. Metal balls hanging off the end. Why would some lights be worse? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/59 "2025-12-03T14:14:20Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Why would some lights be worse? Seriously? They are a LOT bigger of a distraction than Reindeer antlers. Though I think BIG flags should be illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277/60 "2025-12-03T14:15:58Z")
At night, drivers have limited visibility, and _expectations_ about what other lights on other vehicles mean. The underglow lights break those expectations. There’s nothing standard about the way they’re implemented. You’re probably imagining a situation where visibility is perfect, you can see the entire car along with its underglow and have all the time you want to look it over before you react. That ain’t always so. ETA: > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Those aren’t going to be shining in my eyes and blinding me. If the road is wet, yes, they could, from an unexpected direction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-the-lights-on-this-truck/1025277.md?page=4)