To make a long story short, on Fri on the way to Thunderhill I get pulled over for "blue headlights". The cop - the rudest fellow I ever had to deal with, and I dealt with many - wrote me a ticket right away. Funnily he didn't mention the lack of front license plate.

Today I called the number and they told me that they can't give me any info about what to do for another week - note, I got 21 days to deal with the problem, and I am not local. The lady on the phone said that I would have to appear in court in the county in which the ticket was issued - I thought I could show up with a Fix-It at any CHP station, since it was a CHP who issued the ticket.

The idea of losing a day's vacation just to prove my innocence (btw, how do I "prove" that my Xenons aren't blue?) is not very appealing; the thought that this may not be the last time I get pulled over by an ignorant cop in bumble**** USA is even less appealing, and wasting my time like this is not what I am saving up vacation for.

Suggestions what to do - long and short term?

- Stan

Unfortunately, the prospect is not great since your LLtek or A.R.T. xenons are not DOT approved. That doesn't mean that they are not within DOT specs, just that AoA never had them approved b/c they were never a part of a U.S. bound car. At the end of the day, if a judge determines that your lights are not DOT approved, you'll lose...

What can you do? Well, a sneaky person might try the following:
1) Get an Audi person (dealer service manager or general manager) to write a letter stating that Xenon lights are factory options on "Audis" and are DOT approved (i.e., don't have them mention that they are not yet available on A4s).
2) Take a picture of an A6 xenon headlamp assembly with a closeup of the DOT approval mark (I assume that there is one).
3) Get hold of a S4 brochure showing xenons as an option.
4) Bring all three items to court to imply that your xenon setup is factory installed and DoT approved. Now if you can manage this without ever saying that your lights are not the same as what is in your eveidence, you can stay out of jail for contempt of court!

Good luck,
Chris

nt

Steve wrote and I missed it. As I (now) replied, the officer's only comment was BLUE, and all Xenons look the same, dot or not.

Oh well.

- Stan

I hear you on the blue light vs. DOT approved issue - BUT your defense will have to be that even though xenons give off a blue-ish hue, they are street legal (i.e., DOT approved). In other words, I doubt that a judge will care about terms like HID, Xenon, PIAA, Hella, etc. He/she will only want to know if the lights are aftermarket and, if so, are they authorized for street use (again, DoT approved).

This is just my $.02 and I could be wrong on this - but it just strikes me that a judge will believe a CHPs word that he viewed your lights to be "blue" and it should be your defense that even though that is the case, they are street legal.

Good luck,
Chris

Stan-


Note that California State Law does NOT require that your Xenon headlights be DOT approved. Check out: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/99div.pdf

DOT approval would be considered only persuasive evidence (not outcome determinative) that they are legal under California State Law but clearly other evidence is also persuasive. Requirement for amber side marker lights is State Law for example.

Which section? I am just printing out all 41 pages because I can't really read it on screen, but it would be good to know whre to start...

Thanks,
- Stan

Check out 24003, 24006, 24400, 24410 and sections 26103 and 26104.

Stanj

No matter what you do, do it calmly and everything will find its way out! Take a brochure with you and contact a local Audi A4 rep so that the judge can call. G'luck

I understand your exasperation. I've got a real problem with this issue also. The Chief's office actually sent down an order stating no officer is to write a tick for "blue" lights until they figure out the specifics.
To me it's also a joke that some officers have no clue what xenons/HID's are. I suppose I shouldn't expect all officers to be car buffs either though.
The only ones I've ticketed for this are the obvious imitators. I've not only seen really 'blue' headlights, but red/rose colored ones as well.
Most people do not understand that xenon/HID's just put out an extremely white light that look 'blue' since everyone else's headlights are really just a dirty white light or yellowish.
I'm sorry you got an officer that evidently hasn't taken the time to differentiate cheap store bought blue tinted bulbs from expensive xenons.