Why don't police enforce law requiring headlights in the rain?

If you're a cop and it's pouring down rain, are you really going to pull someone over and stand out in the elements to write a $25 ticket? I think not.

I see it a lot, too, and it can be quite scary. These people have the attitude that since they can see, they don't need their lights on. Wrong! It's not TO see, but to BE seen. I will never understand why someone in a dark car will drive in poor conditions without their lights on. They are just asking to cause an accident!

As with most drivers on the roads, they need to THINK with their brains instead of sitting on them.

Headlights?!? How about all the aggressive drivers, many with Jersey and NY plates, that are driving 20mph over the limit on 78? They don't even enforce the speed limit!!

for the same reason that people are not stopped for:

Headlights being grossly mis aimed
Glass being tinted too dark
Mufflers being too loud
Music being played too loud
Sliding through stop signs (and that is being generous)
Following too closely
I'd add texting and cell phoning but those evidently are still legal.

But don't be jaywalking!

The scary thing, is that a lot of these people on these posts beleive Government has over stepped their boundaries in our daily lives, but want the gov, to be nannying us, and keeping us tucked safetly under its wing. Well take my tax dollars, and stuff them in a f***ing pot hole, so my headlights are jarred into different directions, and my muffler is banged up and loud.

StaberDearth wrote:

for the same reason that people are not stopped for:
Headlights being grossly mis aimed
Glass being tinted too dark
Mufflers being too loud
Music being played too loud
Sliding through stop signs (and that is being generous)
Following too closely
I'd add texting and cell phoning but those evidently are still legal.
But don't be jaywalking!

All of these need to be aggressively ticketed by the police so fines can be levied to help the general city revenue fund.

Why isn't the law about loud stereos enforced? Why isn't welfare reform enforced? Why aren't are border, and illegal immigration enforced? Why are things a mess? Because none of the laws are enforced.

David-1206 wrote:

<quoted text>
All of these need to be aggressively ticketed by the police so fines can be levied to help the general city revenue fund.

But a single speeding ticket far out-weighs the revenue vs. paperwork... More bang for the buck.

mjm wrote:

Why isn't the law about loud stereos enforced? Why isn't welfare reform enforced? Why aren't are border, and illegal immigration enforced? Why are things a mess? Because none of the laws are enforced.

These are Pawlowski's constituents....

This upsets you? At least you can count to 95. There are many more IMPORTANT issues.

Enforce

Dont make me laugh, the police now do not enforce the laws they have now, like cell phone use while driving. Its a joke people do not follow orders or direction. But they sure now how to cry when something happens to them. Maybe learn to listen yourself and the world just might get better.

And it's often the cars that blend in with the wet roads and trees - dark green, black, silver, gray, blue, etc.- that don't have their headlights on.

Sure, it seems trivial - until YOU're the one who has a near-miss or gets hit because YOU pulled out in front of a dark car that you didn't see coming out of the tree shadows or mist on a rainy morning - and they're often speeding, too.

But hey - if they don't care about their own lives - they why should I.

Will the people complaining about not ticketing cell phone users please tell me what law they are breaking. One of the problems is that most people don't even know what the laws are. To be absolutely honest, there are a great many things that I will stand out in a driving rain getting soaked for. Someone not having their headlights on when it is raining is not one of them.

Let's be honest with ourselves about this -- the headlight law is unenforceable. The writer claims to have seen 95 cars without headlights on; imagine expecting a police officer to run down/stop all 95 vehicles to issue tickets.

And if that would happen, the topix boards would be full of people whining that the cops are wasting their time on these petty offenses instead of tracking down thieves and murderers.

West End Resident wrote:

And it's often the cars that blend in with the wet roads and trees - dark green, black, silver, gray, blue, etc.- that don't have their headlights on.
Sure, it seems trivial - until YOU're the one who has a near-miss or gets hit because YOU pulled out in front of a dark car that you didn't see coming out of the tree shadows or mist on a rainy morning - and they're often speeding, too.
But hey - if they don't care about their own lives - they why should I.

You're correct and I'm glad someone besides myself has noticed that the very cars that SHOULD have their lights on (black, gray, etc), seldom do. Wonder what that's all about? Anyhow - guess there's no easy answers as to how these laws should be enforced but it's really a shame that there HAVE to be laws to make people use common sense when they're driving, isn't it?

It is common sense to have your headlights on during low light conditions / bad weather/ construction. I keep them all the time when I drive no matter the weather. Headlights are just the tip of the iceburg of bad driving habits I see on the road. Going thru red lights, stop signs, no turn signals, not yielding when merging into traffic, tailgating, slow person in the fast lane, speeding . Everyone is in such a hurry to save a few seconds getting somewhere. Then people wonder why their insurance rates go up after an accident.

Your police don't enforce the laws on the books like this unless they want to punish someone for contempt of cop. Cute blondes also have a tendancy to not get tickets for things like this. Who shall guard the guardians?

There's a simple solution. Require carmakers to put a switch on the cars they make that when wipers come on, lights automatically come on. I guess police officers just don't want to pull people over and have to get out of their police car and get wet to write a ticket.

zzzzz wrote:

Your police don't enforce the laws on the books like this unless they want to punish someone for contempt of cop. Cute blondes also have a tendancy to not get tickets for things like this. Who shall guard the guardians?

Actually, I have written citations to quite a few cute blondes, brunettes, etc. That really doesn't matter. And before anyone asks, yes I do like girls!!!

Dani wrote:

There's a simple solution. Require carmakers to put a switch on the cars they make that when wipers come on, lights automatically come on. I guess police officers just don't want to pull people over and have to get out of their police car and get wet to write a ticket.

Some manufacturers have daytime running lights on their vehicles, which I think is a great idea. If anything, they should make it mandatory for ALL cars to come equipped with DRL. That way, no matter how lazy the driver is, the lights will be on.