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Are Illuminated Lyft Vehicle Signs Legal
My question involves a violation in the state of: California
Several times in the past year I thought a police car was behind me, so I pulled over to the right. Each time it was not a cop, but a Lyft car. Stupid me. The Lyft cars in our area have a prominent red to purple light on the front dashboard facing forward so it's easily seen in a rear view mirror . Is this legal and acceptable? Uber cars don't have this light. Is there a rule about this? No other cars except police and fire have a red or reddish color facing the front of their vehicle.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
Yes, it's pinkish and facing to the front. While it is possibly a violation of VC 25950, I know of no citations being issued for it. Probably because the light is not actually RED, but sort of a pinkish tint. Given the fact that there is white "LYFT" lettering in the middle of the light, I have never once considered it to be a law enforcement vehicle.
You are certainly free to complain to your local police department about the issue if you choose, There's no saying what they might do about it, but I'm suspecting nothing.
It appears you will have to just learn to discern the difference in the lights.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
Are you talking about this light often put on the dash of Lyft cars?
https://take.lyft.com/amp/img/how-it-works.png
I would characterize that light as either pink or perhaps violet depending on the lighting. In any event, that light does not violate any California law that bars private vehicle displays of police or fire vehicle emergency lights.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
YES! Those are the lights
Just found this in the California code: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/fa...ctionNum=25950.
Sure seems like those Lyft lights are violating this section.
BTW, the lights vary from red to purple, and are bright enough that the four letters are hard to discern.
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ARTICLE 15. Light Restrictions and Mounting [25950 - 25952] ( Article 15 enacted by Stats. 1959, Ch. 3. )
25950.
This section applies to the color of lamps and to any reflector exhibiting or reflecting perceptible light of 0.05 candela or more per foot-candle of incident illumination. Unless provided otherwise, the color of lamps and reflectors upon a vehicle shall be as follows:
(a) The emitted light from all lamps and the reflected light from all reflectors, visible from in front of a vehicle, shall be white or yellow, except as follows:
(1) Rear side marker lamps required by Section 25100 may show red to the front.
(2) The color of foglamps described in Section 24403 may be in the color spectrum from white to yellow.
(3) An illuminating device, as permitted under Section 24255, shall emit radiation predominantly in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Any incidental visible light projecting to the front of the vehicle shall be predominantly yellow to white. Any incidental visible light projecting to the rear of the vehicle shall be predominantly red. Any incidental visible light from an illuminating device, as permitted under Section 24255, shall not resemble any other required or permitted lighting device or official traffic control device.
(b) The emitted light from all lamps and the reflected light from all reflectors, visible from the rear of a vehicle, shall be red except as follows:
(1) Stoplamps on vehicles manufactured before January 1, 1979, may show yellow to the rear.
(2) Turn signal lamps may show yellow to the rear.
(3) Front side marker lamps required by Section 25100 may show yellow to the rear.
(4) Backup lamps shall show white to the rear.
(5) The rearward facing portion of a front-mounted double-faced turn signal lamp may show amber to the rear while the headlamps or parking lamps are lighted, if the intensity of the light emitted is not greater than the parking lamps and the turn signal function is not impaired.
(6) A reflector meeting the requirements of, and installed in accordance with, Section 24611 shall be red or white, or both.
(c) All lamps and reflectors visible from the front, sides, or rear of a vehicle, except headlamps, may have any unlighted color, provided the emitted light from all lamps or reflected light from all reflectors complies with the required color. Except for backup lamps, the entire effective projected luminous area of lamps visible from the rear or mounted on the sides near the rear of a vehicle shall be covered by an inner lens of the required color when the unlighted color differs from the required emitted light color. Taillamps, stoplamps, and turn signal lamps that are visible to the rear may be white when unlighted on vehicles manufactured before January 1, 1974.
(Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 198, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 2005.)
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
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Lucubrate
YES! Those are the lights
Just found this in the California code:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/fa...H§ionNum=25950.
Sure seems like those Lyft lights are violating this section.
BTW, the lights vary from red to purple, and are bright enough that the four letters are hard to discern.
Yep. That's the section I referred to earlier. There are many lights that appear to look a particular color that courts have determined NOT to be, halogen headlights among them. Halogen lights are not blue, and Lyft lights are not red. As I mentioned, you can call and ask to talk to the local police, but unless the local courts are of the opinion that light in that spectrum is "red", it will not be enforced.
There is no way you can compel the local police to interpret the Lyft lights as unlawful unless they choose to decide it is so and test it in court. I seriously doubt that this will happen, but, you can always ask them.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
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Lucubrate
25950.
This section applies to the color of lamps and to any reflector exhibiting or reflecting perceptible light of 0.05 candela or more per foot-candle of incident illumination.
Those Lyft lights are not very bright. Do they meet or exceed the brightness specified in this section? Unless they do, this restriction would not apply.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
It is illegal in PA so should be illegal in other states also.
http://www.sungazette.com/news/top-n...s-assumptions/
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
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acai
Yes, because what PA thinks should automatically apply to the rest of the nation as they are the bellweather for what should or shouldn't be allowed. I can see lyft taking action to get their signs legalized as they are not inappropriate.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
Police are human too and can be beaten down and frustrated when enough people want to break a certain law. Example: Uncovered super bright halogen lights mounted above the cab of a truck or off-road vehicle have been illegal for as long as I can remember. I am not aware of that code changing, yet the police do not enforce it anymore. Example 2: Heavily tinted windows. The police used to enforce that code but have since, in large part, given up. They also seem to have given up on the blue tinted headlights and super-bright headlights that shine upward into oncoming motorists eyes.
There are only so many police on the street and they pick their battles too. If a green turn signal is illegal, a reddish light mounted above the headlights that obstructs the driver's view through the windshield would be illegal too. You can talk code violation all you want, but good luck getting the police to enforce it if there is little harm being done, is a new social trend and the complaints are minimal.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
Looks like I've offended some Lyft drivers.
:cool:
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
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acai
Looks like I've offended some Lyft drivers.
:cool:
Not at all. Never worked for them a day in my life.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
I do not mean this in a nasty way. But my husband is colorblind and that is the sort of color that he frequently has trouble with. Is it possible that the OP has some form of color blindness that makes him see it as red? Because I have almost perfect color vision and I see it as violet, but the best my DH could do was "some kind of blue, maybe reddish blue?"
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
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acai
It is illegal in PA so should be illegal in other states also.
There are 50 states for a reason; we don't expect or want them all to be the same. I used to live in PA and it has some of the most antiquated laws and customs I've seen of any place I've lived. Wouldn't want the state I live now to regress to the way PA does things. But some people love PA. Different strokes for different folks. :D
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
I drive for Lyft sometimes. After I logged 300 rides they sent me their "amp" the light you are talking about. It changes many colors but not red or blue. I used it for a few nights but I found it distracting so it stays in the glovebox now.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
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Chuck77
Police are human too and can be beaten down and frustrated when enough people want to break a certain law. Example: Uncovered super bright halogen lights mounted above the cab of a truck or off-road vehicle have been illegal for as long as I can remember. I am not aware of that code changing, yet the police do not enforce it anymore. Example 2: Heavily tinted windows. The police used to enforce that code but have since, in large part, given up. They also seem to have given up on the blue tinted headlights and super-bright headlights that shine upward into oncoming motorists eyes.
There has been a trend in CA of moving patrol officers away from most traffic enforcement. Aside from the CHP whose primary function IS traffic enforcement, with dwindling resources, many agencies in CA have restricted or even prohibited patrol officers from conducting traffic enforcement for equipment violations. Some agencies even discourage their officers from stopping vehicles for movers unless they endanger someone else.
As for the blue tinted lights, the courts have ruled that those halogen lights are not blue insofar as the CVC is concerned. When they first appeared in the 90s, we stopped them all the time. The courts decided the matter for the police.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
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cbg
I do not mean this in a nasty way. But my husband is colorblind and that is the sort of color that he frequently has trouble with. Is it possible that the OP has some form of color blindness that makes him see it as red? Because I have almost perfect color vision and I see it as violet, but the best my DH could do was "some kind of blue, maybe reddish blue?"
Not color blind. A month ago my eyes were tested for refraction, color perception, etc. Vision 30/20. Color perception fine. Twice was in the car with two or more passengers and we saw the same color, purplish red, sometimes more red, sometimes more purple or violet.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
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Lucubrate
Not color blind. A month ago my eyes were tested for refraction, color perception, etc. Vision 30/20. Color perception fine. Twice was in the car with two or more passengers and we saw the same color, purplish red, sometimes more red, sometimes more purple or violet.
I've never confused a Lyft light with a cop's or fire fighter's light. The color of the Lyft lights to me is not close to red; it is very distinctly pink or violet. Moreover, in this city, there are no volunteer firefighters, and fire vehicles have tons of very bright flashing red lights on them. All the marked police cars use light bars on the top that flash a combination of very bright red, white and blue lights that are also very distinct. Undercover cop cars are equipped with flashing red/blue lights hidden in the front grille. In all events, they have more than one light, all of which are much brighter than the Lyft light and are flashing. So here I don't see the Lyft lights as a problem.
I've not lived in California to know what you'd see there. If you were in a major city, I'd expect it would be similar to what I see. Rural areas where you have volunteer fire fighters or cops using their personal cars from time to time maybe it wouldn't be as distinct. In my state, even those folks use a flashing red light that they toss up on their dash or on the top of their car when responding to emergencies.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
I've never remotely mistaken a Lyft light for police red.
Lucubrate, I seriously doubt you are going to get any traction on this issue with the local police, but as I mentioned, you can certainly call and ask to speak to someone about the issue and your concerns.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
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cdwjava
I've never remotely mistaken a Lyft light for police red.
Lucubrate, I seriously doubt you are going to get any traction on this issue with the local police, but as I mentioned, you can certainly call and ask to speak to someone about the issue and your concerns.
Agree. There are bigger and better fish to fry. Will allow others to correct this problem/violation.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
CHAPTER 4. Windshields and Mirrors [26700 - 26712] ( Chapter 4 enacted by Stats. 1959, Ch. 3. )
26708.
(a) (1) A person shall not drive any motor vehicle with any object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied upon the windshield or side or rear windows.
(2) A person shall not drive any motor vehicle with any object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied in or upon the vehicle that obstructs or reduces the driver’s clear view through the windshield or side windows.
(3) This subdivision applies to a person driving a motor vehicle with the driver’s clear vision through the windshield, or side or rear windows, obstructed by snow or ice.
(b) This section does not apply to any of the following:
(1) Rearview mirrors.
(2) Adjustable nontransparent sunvisors that are mounted forward of the side windows and are not attached to the glass.
(3) Signs, stickers, or other materials that are displayed in a seven-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield farthest removed from the driver, signs, stickers, or other materials that are displayed in a seven-inch square in the lower corner of the rear window farthest removed from the driver, or signs, stickers, or other materials that are displayed in a five-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield nearest the driver.
Aren't the signs in violation of this code?
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
To violate VC 26708, the sign would have to be applied to the window, or obstruct or reduce the driver's clear view. Since these signs are set on the top of the dashboard and it's not easy to show that an object's mere presence is obstructing the driver's view, this section is generally not going to apply. Sure, it's possible that someone might have one of these signs displayed in such a way that it is clearly an obstruction, but none that I have yet seen would fit that bill. And, since I now work at a University, I see a LOT of Lyft vehicles every day, and since this discussion has come up I have looked at several possibilities for violations and cannot yet see one that can be made without stretching the CVC.
I have yet to hear of any jurisdiction in CA going after Lyft vehicles for this.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
I don't see OP getting any support for thinking the cops are behind them; I believe I live in an area with one of the highest concentration of Lyft drivers anywhere, and I've never had that thought.
They are often obnoxiously terrible and slow drivers with little to no experience driving in the area they are serving, and they're usually going so slow while they look at their phone its hard to imagine thinking one is pulling you over. Plus, very few departments put their cops in Priuses, Sportages, nor Preludes, one of which I believe is a requirement for driving for Lyft or Uber.
Having said that, I'm sure glad these services are around. Taxis wait in a pretty long line, so if you ask one to take you 1 mile home, they get upset and curse in another language for the duration of the ride.
And finally, choose Lyft over Uber when available. There are many reasons why its better for everyone involved.
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Re: Is Lyft Violating the Codes Here in California?
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RandallCS
They are often obnoxiously terrible and slow drivers with little to no experience driving in the area they are serving, and they're usually going so slow while they look at their phone its hard to imagine thinking one is pulling you over. Plus, very few departments put their cops in Priuses, Sportages, nor Preludes, one of which I believe is a requirement for driving for Lyft or Uber.
And that's the main issue! Their driving! And stopping in the road ... stopping, standing or parking where prohibited, etc. THOSE offenses are more often dealt with because they tend to be clear violations.
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And finally, choose Lyft over Uber when available. There are many reasons why its better for everyone involved.
I have never used either one, but my kids use one or both when they travel and when they were at school. I work at a University and we see mostly Lyft vehicles ... they're around like minnows in a pond!