Norm1961

Okay so I have an 07 V6 that I added an aftermarket GT grill and fog light set to. I've had this setup since I bought the car in 07 and have had no problems at all until last night. After a local HS basketball game in our little town of 1800 people, My wife and I decided to stop by the grocery store to pick up a few things. I turn on my signal and boom all of a sudden I see flashing red and blue lights behind me. I pull into the market and the officer pulls in right behind me, shines his spotlight in my rearview mirror and comes to my window. By this time I have my license, regisration and Insurance card all ready to go but I am wondering what I was pulled over for since I definately was not speeding and had signaled for every turn. The officer then tells me that he pulled me over because my fog lights are illegal. He said that in Washington state your fog lights cannot be mounted even to or higher than your headlights. I told him that these were factory foglights and he said it didn't matter, I needed to go to the dealer and have them fixed under warranty. I then told him that any 2005 or newer GT or pony mustang had there foglights in that location, that is how they come from the factory. He again said that it didn't matter that in Washington they were illegal and had to be changed. He then took my info and said he was going to run a check. After about 10 minutes he comes back and says that he looked at my lights again (he didn't...I was sitting there the whole time, but I decided not to argue) he decided that they were not illegal and he apologized for stopping me. Is the whole world going insane when an officer tells you to contact your cars maker and have them change their fog light design...lol, I'll get right on that Monday morning.

The Beast

sounds like harassment

garyb900

+1, that's some B.S. right there. He was just looking for a reason to mess with you.

KdF

Stolen from the FJCrusier Forums , from safteyDave

Washington State Law:

RCW 46.37.180
Spot lamps and auxiliary lamps.

(1) Spot lamps. Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not to exceed two spot lamps and every lighted spot lamp shall be so aimed and used that no part of the high intensity portion of the beam will strike the windshield, or any windows, mirror, or occupant of another vehicle in use.

(2) Fog lamps. Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not to exceed two fog lamps mounted on the front at a height of not less than twelve inches nor more than thirty inches above the level surface upon which the vehicle stands and so aimed that when the vehicle is not loaded none of the high intensity portion of the light to the left of the center of the vehicle shall at a distance of twenty-five feet ahead project higher than a level of four inches below the level of the center of the lamp from which it comes. Lighted fog lamps meeting the above requirements may be used with lower head lamp beams as specified in RCW 46.37.220.

(3) Auxiliary passing lamps. Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not to exceed two auxiliary passing lamps mounted on the front at a height not less than twenty-four inches nor more than forty-two inches above the level surface upon which the vehicle stands. The provisions of RCW 46.37.220 shall apply to any combinations of head lamps and auxiliary passing lamps.

(4) Auxiliary driving lamps. Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not to exceed two auxiliary driving lamps mounted on the front at a height not less than sixteen inches nor more than forty-two inches above the level surface upon which the vehicle stands. The provisions of RCW 46.37.220 shall apply to any combination of head lamps and auxiliary driving lamps.

RCW 46.37.220
Multiple-beam road-lighting equipment.

Except as hereinafter provided, the head lamps or the auxiliary driving lamp or the auxiliary passing lamp or combination thereof on motor vehicles shall be so arranged that the driver may select at will between distributions of light projected to different elevations, and such lamps may be so arranged that such selection can be made automatically subject to the following limitations:

(1) There shall be an uppermost distribution of light, or composite beam, so aimed and of such intensity as to reveal persons and vehicles at a distance of four hundred fifty feet ahead for all conditions of loading;

(2) There shall be a lowermost distribution of light, or composite beam, so aimed and of sufficient intensity to reveal persons and vehicles at a distance of one hundred fifty feet ahead; and on a straight level road under any conditions of loading none of the high intensity portion of the beam shall be directed to strike the eyes of an approaching driver;

(3) Every new motor vehicle registered in this state after January 1, 1948, which has multiple-beam road-lighting equipment shall be equipped with a beam indicator, which shall be lighted whenever the uppermost distribution of light from the head lamps is in use, and shall not otherwise be lighted. Said indicator shall be so designed and located that when lighted it will be readily visible without glare to the driver of the vehicle so equipped.

cdynaco

Whataya in for kid??


...err... fog lights...

Norm1961

This is good info.....I realize it's a dificult job but please....please, if the best reply you can come up with is that I need to contact Ford and tell them that they need to re-design their car to meet washington law....well think it through first. I am sure that he saw me coming out of the HS parking lot and thought I was some punk kid he was going to pull over and ticket. Now do I need to carry this statute in my wallet along with a tape measure, just in case it happens again..lol

KdF

Personaly, I would write a Formal Complaint, as the excuse for pulling you over was and IS completly Bogus. Just because The Officer in Question wants to jack someone around, is no reason to make up laws on the spot. To serve and Protect is one thing, To be Badge Heavy is another.

bob

You guys know they are not fog lights right? They are auxillary driving lights. The "fogs" as people like to call'em would flat out suck in that application since they create to much glare in fog or snow.

Norm1961

And yes, I agree that as fog lights go, these are not the best locations. But regardless of the terminolgy applied to the equipment, the reason for the stop was BS.....

bob

Thats the thing though, they are not meant to be fog lights, they are in fact driving lights. If Ford had meant for them to be fog lights, they would have been mounted lower and possibly amber in color so that glare wouldn't be an issue. The GT500 has something closer to an acutal fog light compared to the GT.

And yes I agree, its a BS charge, especially in light of Washington state's legal code.

houtex

Oh, c'mon guys. Obviously, the cop was hopin you were a hot chick.

karman

This why my car actually has driving lights in that position.
As for the cop, the smaller the town the less the training.

cdynaco

That makes sense. I've always wondered why they've been called fog lights on the GT when they are so big and high mounted. Doesn't help in fog.
Do they stay lit when you hit high beams?

karman

I wired mine to only go on with the highs or parking lights

bob

bob

Nope, they switch off with the hi-beams. I sorta miss'em though, the GT's driving lights gave a nice wide pattern and did a good job of lighting up the sides of the road. The driving lights on the GT500 by comparison are wimpy

Centurion96

These are fog lamps, they are just positioned too high for practical use. For all of you that doubt it, go to the PIAA web site and look at the beam patterns for each of their different style lamps. What y'all are referring to as driving lights will have a pencil beam of around 15 degrees and can only be used with the high beams. Fogs have a spread of 90 degrees or more and are only used with your low beams. Ford calls them fog lamps and has them slaved to the low beam side of the headlight switch. Perhaps where the confusion lies is in the fact that they were placed on the GTs to mimic the look of the late 60s models.

P.S. The GT500 have their fog lamps located low as they should be, that's why they don't do well as driving lamps. Shelby compounded the problem with their optional driving lamps on the Shelby GT. Their Fogs are high and their drivers are low, just opposite of where they should be.

BB
Semper Fi