Texas DPS officer hates my Tundra

Let me start off by saying I appreciate and respect law officers and what they do to keep protect us. I have been stopped by the same DPS officer on three different occasions now. Everytime I've been stopped it's in a school zone after dropping one of my kids off at school. I'm always below the speed limit and off of my phone. First time being stopped was for my LED fog light bulbs in the stock housing. So I don't even run them anymore. Second time was for my front Tint being 3% over the state legal limit. Today now the third time was for my accent lights on my NSV auto hood bulge. The first two times I can understand but the third time by the same officer in the same spot now I'm feeling like he hates my truck. I spoke with NSV auto and they actually went through all of this with dot and Toyota as well. They are accent lights and those are supposed to be legal. The officer keep saying they were auxiliary lights. I tried to explain they are tied into the stock daytime running lights as an accent light and not an auxiliary light. He said he can see my lights from a mile away. He also said my accent lights are blinding to others. I strongly doubt that but I don't like to argue with an officer. He then said they are placed to high from the ground level. I did ask then why are Ford Raptors allowed to have accent lights on the grill or dodge ram duallys allowed to have roof lights. He said he didn't want to argue but he was going to give me a warning. I did look up the TXTRC 547.330 on the warning and if they are auxiliary lights then yes they would be illegal. But under TXTRC 547.333 it states a different stipulation for lights and the height they can be at. I'm also confused with why I keep getting stopped by the same officer because I actually talked to him one day before I got my truck in my jeep. I asked him if this aftermarket lights are legal and he gave me the guidelines to follow. Now I'm being stopped all the time for different reasons. Now it's starting to feel more like harassment since I'm just trying to get my kids dropped off at school. It's very embarrassing getting stopped in front of my kids school like I made a traffic violation. Here are the pics of the lights I was stopped for. Do you think the officer had reason to stop me?

 

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/TN/htm/TN.547.htm

 

Man that's bad. When it comes to lighting, law enforcement will either harass you or let it slide. I'm sure you know this because you encounter cops daily and they don't pull you over. Some cops just don't like certain looking vehicles. I used to get pulled over ALL the time in my Integra(s) back in the day because it was during the Fast and Furious era. Once I got my Lexus GS300 and wore dress clothes with my new job they would give me the thumbs up and wave. Especially with the Tundra now, I get mad love from the boys in blue.

 

If the light has DOT numbers on the lens fight the ticket if not you have off road only lights that are not DOT approved.

 

When hds first came out in late 90's my brother was pulled over for tve same reason.. He went to court and the judge asked my brother "are these blinking lights or flashing lights?" my brother said no.. Are these lights, blue like an emergency vehicle lights?,my brother said no, they are white with a very light hue of blue like the ones in European cars. judge looked at the officer and asked him "What emergency vehicle have steady blue headlights? Officer reply "none" ticket dismissed.. He also gave a ticket not for speeding but for ilegal assesive acceleration. The judge asked the officer to explain what he meant by that and said my brother did not exceed the speed limit but he got to it too fast and provided an acceleration rate..the judge looked at my brother and asked him have you modified the engine in this car in any way shape or form? My brother said no..the judge looked at the officer and said..I am a car fanatic and I can assure you a 5.0 factory stock mustang can't perform this acceleration much less a factory stock 1988 tercel..ticket dismissed

 

yep, looks like he got a thing for you lifted truck, tinted windows, lights...match made in heaven for certain LEOs. Now make sure everything you got inside your truck is legal.

 

They don't need a reason to stop you, just a need to fill their quota. They have to make a certain number of stops, and a percentage of those must result in a ticket. If you feel it's harassment, call Internal Affairs. Don't, under any circumstances, complain to a supervisor. That ends any possibility of a resolution.

 

Just curious do you have your concealed handgun license? I am asking because I have yet to get a ticket from a DPS officer when they see my license, I seem to always get warning. I always give them the cc license first before my drivers license and just don't seem to have problems. City cops will give me tickets all day long.

 

LOL... a 1988 tercel

 

Well if the tint is illegal how could you complain about getting stopped about that?
If the lights are legal nothing to worry about.
If he pulls you over again then start really wondering.
Personally i would be really happy if a cop was always patrolling around my sons school.

 

Just out of curiosity, how did he check the tint? If he just eyeballed it, he's found an easy target for his aggression.

 

I completely agree about the Tint. It was done by the dealer before I bought it. I asked for legal but they went over the legal limit just barely. I've been stopped three by the exact same officer in a two month period. Imagine if you were stopped by an officer and you weren't doing any moving violations but other were clearly speeding and you are the one stopped. That's frustrating to me. I was doing 23mph in a 25pmh zone and I got stopped for accent lights while the vehicle ahead of me was doing over 25mph in a school zone. I think most people would find that frustrating especially when my other son is late to his school for being stopped for 20 minutes.

 

He used the legal Tint tester. I just didn't realize the dealer installed a Tint that was just over the legal limit. Which I get there are laws but it wasn't on purpose. I don't have super dark Tint either. It's definitely not limo. Lol Maybe I need to drive a beater truck.

 

I've wondered the same thing but I didn't want to say it.

 

You don't need to hand him your cc, he already knows if you have one. There's always a few officers that go that extra mile to pull you. Believe me we have one in our County , and everyone knows him. Pulled my wife for going 2 over in a 45mph.

 

That depends on the state. Here in CO they only know if you hand him your CCP. Have no idea what way it is in TX.

 

Oh, my bad. I would think when they run your plate, it would come up. Disregard! Disregad!

 

Next time just tell him "bud, if you want to take a ride in my truck, all you have to do is ask!"

 

LMAO!

 

This is a very interesting topics and since your located in Texas. Are you aware of a website to look up the different state laws pertaining to vehicle lights, tint and even taillights? Something other than the dot website. Somewhere that has it all laid out in an EASY to read format? I'd would be interested in some additional information to read up on.

 

Yeah... he either drives a Prius or an F150

 

Interested to see @Sean266's take on this.

As long as you are not driving with those lights on at night, I don't see the issue.

 

Totally understand especially since you had not been rude to him was just trying to give another perspective.

 

I once got a ticket for going 88MPH. Went to court and the judge asked what my defense was. I told him, I was going uphill in a Prius. Ticket dismissed.

 

I went to the county court house and talk to one of the local judges this morning. He told me to go to the website I listed at the beginning of this post. It's not exactly a straight forward answer to most questions. It's all legal lingo and more confusing then anything else. What's more frustrating is that I stopped and talked to this same officer and asked these kind of questions. He told me at the time that as long as they are either white or amber and an accent light it can face the front. Now I'm being told a different story by the same officer. When I asked what the law is he said that's my job to know what legal on my vehicle. I'm just surprised an officer isn't more helpful explaining what is or isn't legal to have. DPS doesn't have a local office and all the numbers listed go to automated systems. So it's tough trying to get a definitive answer on the laws. I still support the blue and I'm very thankful for our law enforcement officers.

 

Where in Texas are you from? Cause we have some cops around here that hide right off base and pull military members over for going 3 mph over.

 

Just north of San Antonio. I drive over 100 miles a day all over and have 16,000 miles on my 17 Tundra in 6 months. I've been pulled over three times all by the same officer all for minor things. I see police officers all the time and never have an issue exept for this one officer. Something isn't matching up.

 

He's stalking you like no tomorrow.

 

Imagine what this cop will do when he finds a REAL criminal.

 

@pbryant44 I would print the document from the website, highlight some of the stuff and take the whole thing back to that judge you spoke to this morning and have him explain the whole thing