Although you may be tempted to string thousands of Christmas lights on your car to show off your holiday glee, it’s against the law. The Wyoming Highway Patrol says it would even ticket Santa.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
By Ren\u00e9e Jean<\/p>\n\n\n\n It might sound like the plot of a new Grinch movie, but it\u2019s for real. The Wyoming Highway Patrol is warning drivers that putting Christmas lights on their vehicles is illegal, particularly if the lights include blue and\/or red.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it\u2019s not the colors that are the real issue, WHP Trooper Jason Simmer told Cowboy State Daily. It\u2019s a serious safety issue for motorists \u2014 one that makes twinkling Christmas lights outside a parade illegal just about everywhere in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That means not even Santa Claus is allowed to have twinkling lights on whatever he drives around, if he\u2019s on a public highway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The real issue, Simmer said, is that Christmas lights spread all over a vehicle, regardless of color, can mess with depth perception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you have all those Christmas lights on, and you are braking because there\u2019s some type of emergency in front of you, and other motorists can\u2019t tell because of the amount of lights on the vehicle,\u201d Simmer said. \u201cIf there\u2019s a hill, or a curve, all that stuff can come into play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd when you have more lights, it\u2019s more distraction. That increases reaction time and decreases the amount of time you have to actually react to something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While some might contend this isn\u2019t a big deal or just an excuse for a government agency can be Scrooge-like, Simmer has seen a different narrative play out when there are accidents involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf someone hits you because of that and says, \u2018Hey, I couldn\u2019t see \u2019em before that,\u2019 I wouldn\u2019t want to have to deal with insurance,\u201d Simmer said. \u201cAnd then possibly not have your car taken care of after someone hits you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other issue with twinkling lights all over a vehicle is that sometimes people start looking at the lights instead of where they are driving, he said. That can cause people to drift into the wrong lane, leading to accidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wyoming Highway Patrol\u2019s recent warning about Christmas lights on vehicles refers to a statute that prohibits red and blue colors on the front of vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile this might look cool and be festive, we would remind you that it is illegal,\u201d the WHP warning says. \u201cPlease remember to stay safe when celebrating this season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Below that, many people responded by accusing the WHP of acting like a Grinch, and pointed out it\u2019s common in Christmas parades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if the red or blue statute is the one I would have chosen to kind of say, \u2018Hey, this is kind of a distraction on vehicles and the road,\u201d Simmer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Decorating cars with Christmas lights for parades, meanwhile, is a much different scenario and one that he suggested is legal \u2014 as long as the driver turns off or unplugs the lights once back on a regular road or highway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA parade is obviously a permitted (event),\u201d he said. \u201cThe road is closed, and you know, (Christmas lights) are something that\u2019s expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But once a motorist leaves the parade or other closed-off, permitted holiday event, they should then unplug their Christmaslights so they\u2019re not operating outside of the permitted event venue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for lights underneath a car, those could be legal, Simmer said, depending on the circumstances. It would just depend on things like how bright the lights are, whether they flash and move, or if they cause some other foreseeable problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, they could still set motorists up for the same type of ticket they would receive for putting twinkling Christmas lights on their vehicle and then operating that vehicle on a public highway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fine for adding Christmas lights to a car, or otherwise operating a vehicle in an unsafe manner, is $100, according to state statues, with a $10 discount available to motorists who are wearing a seat belt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou need to be aware of all directions around a vehicle,\u201d Simmer said about making modifications to a car or truck. \u201cNot just, \u2018Hey, this is a really cool side profile look for this vehicle.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The statute Simmer referenced is fairly general, meant to be a catchall for any and all unsafe modifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The statute makes it a misdemeanor crime for anyone to cause or knowingly permit a vehicle to be driven in any type of unsafe condition that endangers any person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s pretty much saying, it\u2019s just a general one for like, speed too fast for conditions,\u201d Simmer explained. \u201cSo, what is too fast for conditions? Well, if you\u2019re driving so fast you slide off the roadway because there\u2019s not enough friction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same law covers situations like having only one taillight which, particularly at night, can make other motorists think there\u2019s a motorcycle on the highway instead of a much larger vehicle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One idea for those in a festive mood who still want to decorate their vehicles might be a Christmas wreath, as long as it\u2019s not placed to block signal or brake lights, Simmer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve seen some of those on the front of vehicles,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve ever seen a violation with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut again, depending on what lights you put on them, I would probably be wary of red and blue on them, just in case.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" People don’t realize the red and blue lights are a problem, and I’ve seen guys that deck out their cruisers with especially the blue lights around the engine get pulled over. Used to be for such an offense you’d get a fix it ticket and have to have it inspected maybe without a fine, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wyoming"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9694,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9693\/revisions\/9694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Nobody](\"https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.imgix.net\/Car-decorated-468992410_1002859721871183_4819422192274580990_n-12.7.24.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress\")
With Parades, It\u2019s OK<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Catchall Statute<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n