PriusclubSD Sticker

Dimming light output of the third brake light so it can spell something?

Yeah, that's a brilliant safety enhancement. :crazy:
. . . not to mention illegal. :nono:

Street Smart Event? Sure sounds like it was a Street Dumb Event.

 

FAMOUS LAST WORDS:
1) "It doesnt dim the brake lights by much."
2) "Watch this!"



That may be so, but 'brightness' is only part of the story . . .

California Vehicle Code:

Regulations Adopted by Department

26103. (a) The department may adopt and enforce regulations establishing standards and specifications for lighting equipment listed in Section 375 and . . .

(b) If there exists a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard adopted pursuant to the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (15 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) covering the same aspect of performance of a device, the provisions of that standard shall prevail over provisions of this code or regulations . . .
V.C. Section 26103 - Regulations Adopted by Department

Required Laboratory Tests

26104. (a) Every manufacturer who sells, offers for sale, or manufactures for use upon a vehicle devices subject to requirements established by the department shall, before the device is offered for sale, have laboratory test data showing compliance with such requirements. Tests may be conducted by the manufacturer . . .
V.C. Section 26104 - Required Laboratory Tests


Part 571: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards

S5.1.1.27 (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, each passenger car manufactured on or after September 1, 1985 . . . manufactured on or after September 1, 1993, shall be equipped with a high-mounted stop lamp which:

(a)(1) Shall have an effective projected luminous area not less than 4½ square inches.
(a)(2) Shall have a signal visible to the rear through a horizontal angle from 45° to the left to 45° to the right of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.
(a)(3) Shall have the minimum photometric values in the amount and location listed in Figure 10.
571.108

A Highway Patrol Officer isn't going to stand there on the side of the road and listen to you try to convince them that your sticker over the high-mounted stop lamp still has a "luminous area not less than 4½ square inches" or still meet "minimum photometric values." . . . nope, they are going to write you a ticket and say, "tell it to the judge."