Neon:
 

Hey guys! As I have said before, I live in NC but very close to GA state line. I got pulled over a couple of weeks ago because I had my neon on. The neon in my car is blue. I have never had a problem with the NC or maybe I have been lucky so far. The guy didn't give me a ticket just a warning and asked me to turn them off.

I am going to go to Pigeon Forge, TN in two weeks for a car show and I don't want to get a ticket. Does anybody know if blue neon is illegal in TN? I tried looking in TN law and didn't fine anything so far.

Thanks!

Re: Neon:
 

Better idea: turn off the lights when you're driving and avoid any potential hassles.

Re: Neon:
 

or remove them and sell them to a ricer.

Re: Neon:
 

Mmmm ok, that wasn'tvery nice. I didn't put them in the car to begin with. The car came with them and we didn't realize it had them until a week later. If you don't have anything good to say then please don't say anything at all Mach1. Please respect other people's tastes and opinions.

Re: Neon:
 

Neon underlighting is repugnent to most of us on this board. While I respect your right to decorate your car as you see fit, you must expect some differing opinions. Neon underlighting makes many of us just want to vomit.

Rev

Re: Neon:
 

That is fine. Let me know if you need a bucket.

Re: Neon:
 

Too late. Seen it too many times. If you like it, keep it.

Rev

Re: Neon:
 

You didnt know it was on the car until a week after you bought it? Wow,you sure do look over your cars well before u buy them.

I respect your right to like neon lights and talk positively about them, and I expect you to respect my right to say what I think about them as well. Rice on......and please dont forget the greddy stickers, fart cans, and 4 foot wing. Neon lights by themselves just dont complete the package.

Re: Neon:
 

[QUOTE=Mach ' the greddy stickers"[/QUOTE]

Sorry for being stupid, but what are "greddy" stickerers?

Rev

Re: Neon:
 

stickers that say "greddy"

Re: Neon:
 

Still no clue, sorry for being an old fart?

Rev

Re: Neon:
 

You havent seen the fart can hondas running around with the stickers all over them? AEM is popular, greddy, a few others. Its really quit disturbing. Kids these days. If they had any real horsepower under thier hood they would shit themselves.

Re: Neon:
 

Sorry, haven't paid too much attention to fart size, hee,hee. I mainly look at my tach to try and see where I need to launch against these Jap hot rods. They seem fast, but can't usually hold a candle when lined up against American muscle (at least in my experience).

Rev

Re: Neon:
 

A fart can does not make a fast car. You heard it hear first.

Re: Neon:
 

CupCake:

Just because you bought a car with neon lights installed on it doesn't mean you have to keep them. If it came with a two-foot tall rear wing, would you leave that in place, too? I kind of doubt it.

Keeping the neons turned off is the easy solution here but I would have the lights removed and thus avoid both any possible legal hassles - and the disdain of Mustangers everywhere.

Re: Neon:
 

I suspect he knew they were on there, and saying he didnt was a poor excuse at a cover-up of that he is a ricer at heart. Kind of hard to miss neon lights.

Yor right though, no reason he couldnt remove them. A hammer would work nicely.

Re: Neon:
 

Ok, for you to know I am not a HE and I am a SHE. I knew the neon was there but we thought it was disconnected because we didn't fine the swith anywhere. Yes, I did buy the car in a hurry because I was on a wreck that totaled my last Mustang and I had to get a new car in a perios of less than a week. Thank God, my Mustang has turned out to be an excellent vehicle and it looks awesome too.

Now, as you said before there is a lot of people with different opinions and I think you guys are convinced that guys with mustangs think neon is for ricers. Well let me tell you that I have seen a lot of mustangs at car shows with neon lights on.

I don't have any fart pipes or stickers on my car. I don't have any clutter or junk in it. My car is clean and it looks sharp.

And no I wouldn't leave the wing on it because that is just gay.

Re: Neon:
 

Go here for a clear definition of "ricer". "ricer" doesnt mean "foreign", it means any car with neon lights for one....

www.ricehatersclub.com

I am on a personnal crusade to discourage ricedom wherever I might find it. Dont take it personally.

Re: Neon:
 

Yes and no

No Blue lights period.

You can have other colors but NOT hooked to a toggle switch. Example: Toggle switch on the dash that only controls the aux lights.

I do know Gatlinburg has a city ordinance against auxillary lighting. Especially under car type. Im sure its a hefty fine, as all of them are up there. So NO lights there period.

Pigeon Forge I dont know. But Id say they have a simular City code.

Any light anywhere can fall under "glaring light," ticket. Those license plate neons will get you stopped everytime.

All these violations fall under Tennessee Light Law, subsection whatever.

signed,

The Police :D

Re: Neon:
 

O-yeah, If your traveling over the mountain through Cherokee. You better check to see what time they are paving. Or your stuck, for hours.

Cupcake,

If you like Cobras , should be a dozen or more there.

22nd April Saturday. 10:00AM Big Boys, At Cherokee NC.

Then onto the Dragon and meet again at the Dam for those South of us. Probably by 12:00.

Re: Neon:
 

You'll find most members of this site very close minded as to what is acceptable in the form of modification to your Mustang.

I'm not sure when the whole neon underbody lights became a ricer modification. There were several fox body Mustangs that would be out cruising the streets locally in the early 90s with neon underbody lighting (years before the ricer craze).

I suppose it was probably about the same time that nearly any rear spoiler became a ricer modification, and around the time that any interior changes such as white faced gauges or color accenting became repulsive. Anyway, last I checked, neon underbody lighting has been around for decades, and so have wings on musclecars, even from the factory.

Meanwhile, it's perfectly okay to chrome everything within sight under the hood... lol, well, at least until import sport-compact car drivers start doing that, too.

Re: Neon:
 

Neon underbody lighting has ALWAYS been "rice", we just didnt have the word to describe it yet when it first came out!

If you are confusing factory rear spoilers with 4 ft aluminum rice wings, you clearly have no idea what rice is.

consider it anything done "untastefully". White face gauges done tastefully arent considered rice.

In fact, if u have to ask what "rice" is, then you are a ricer at heart, because those who label things as "rice" have no problem distinguishing between tasteful and rice.

Of course, every one has different ideas what is tasteful and what isnt.

So guys who feel one way about cars decided to give a label to mods they thought were ridiculous, and called it "rice". It seems to have stuck.

Re: Neon:
 

Here's my take:

There has always been a certain level of animosity between muscle car owners and those who drive imports. As we all know by now, muscle car guys loved their cars because they were fast...and both looked and sounded fast. In the late 80's and early 90's, when guys started inheriting their parents used Hondas and Toyotas and began doing what young guys have been doing for over 50 years...'customizing' them, with wings, loud exhausts, neon, etc, the muscle car guys resented it because they considered this simply a pretension of power that the little 4-bangers did not possess. I have always agreed with that conclusion.

As time went on, NOS and turbos gave a minority of the Japanese cars some real power that could actually compete with the American V-8's, but more often the majority of so-called 'ricers' in the high school and college parking lots were still stock or near-stock 4 cylinder cars that ran 17-second quarters (on a good day) but looked and sort-of sounded like they were much faster, at least to the uninitiated among us.

Most Mustang owners I know (quite a few) would never try to pretend their 'Stang was more than it was, mainly because, if you put a super-loud exhaust system on your Mustang, added a big-scoop hood and so on, you were inevitably going to be challenged on the street and you would look pretty stupid when your near-15-second Mustang automatic was trounced by a more 'serious' modified Mustang V-8 that ran mid-13's and could blow you away in a drag race. Think of it as 'truth in advertising'

I owned a near-stock Mustang 5.0 that ran high 13's (if I drove it right) and I kept it looking bone-stock for the entire 15 years I owned it, including the factory wheels and 15" tires. Occasionally, I ran another muscle car (Camaro's, mostly) that sounded 'bad' and had the wing, hood scoop, etc. Ohhhh. In many cases, I beat them, making their driver incredulous and probably thinking he had been 'fooled' by my car's stock appearance. Not really. Any 5.0 'Stang with a 5-speed was capable of pulling high 13's if you changed out the rear ratio, added a 'pro' shifter and a few other mods, as I did. Nothing special about it. He just was over-confident that a loud exhaust and a few 'muscle car' add-ons equalled 100 HP, much like the 'ricers' still believe. They do not.

In any case, the idea of basically stock Japanese (and european) 4-cylinder cars displaying all the accouterments of a true 'muscle car' remained offensive to many drivers of American V-8 muscle cars - and that hasn't changed. 'Appearance items' such as neon lights just seemed gay as they were far removed from anything signifying 'muscle'. What next? Valour? Unfortunately, many teens just getting their first car that happened to be smart enough to purchase a Mustang (usually, a well-used one) bought into the 'bling' concept and added questionable items to their Mustangs, such as the now-infamous exterior neon lighting that CupCake unfortunately inherited on the Mustang she purchased.

At this post-Mustang point in my life, I don't care much what anyone does to their car, no matter what it is, but I still do wince a bit when I see a perfectly sharp Mustang with a laughably gigantic rear wing or, gasp! exterior neon lighting. Don't you?

Re: Neon:
 

I wonder if theres an age line where people hate rice or like it? Like over 30 hating it....

I guess you cant generalize like that. There seems to be plenty of younger people who hate it as well, and even some older people who like it. Go figure...

Re: Neon:
 

The word rice to has been around as long as i can remeber. I am only 29, but i remeber as a kid my dad calling anything car from asia as rice. The meaning of it has gotten changed some how, but it is not a new word.

who cares what the hell anyone else thinks of your car as long as you are happy. I get alot of shit for moddifing my 428CJ but I like it the way it is.

Re: Neon:
 

Hey guys, I don't think she wanted to know if Neon's were rice. Only if they were legal in Pigeon Forge.

Start a new thread if you feel the need to bash neon's.

my .02$

Re: Neon:
 

This one is actually working quite well. maybe we can covince her to remove them! one less ricer polluting the highways!

Re: Neon:
 

the blue neons should be run thru a flasher...........and drive thru south carolina..........you'll get to spend the night in the crossbar hotel for sure! :) only copcars get to run blue lights of any kind in sc

Re: Neon:
 

Actually Mach 1, this thread is not working just fine. I never asked whether neon light or any other modifications were rice or not. I just wanted to know if neon light were illegal.

Since I have the opportunity to help a lot of police officers in my town since I translate for a lot of people. I was able to ask one of them about the neon. Her answer was that neon is not illegal in the state of NC as long as the shine 20 inches outside of the car. Which mine doesn't since I turned it on and showed her, which she thought it was really cool.

I am going to follow her advise and ask a police officer as soon as I get to TN on friday. I have seen a lot of cars in the past with neon so I have no idea. Oh and they have not been "ricers".

Thanks to the guys that answer my question and were nice and gave me the information that I wanted to know. I will try to see if I can meet up at Cheroke but I don't know. If you are going to be around Pigeon Forge look for a 2001 blue convertible mustang with 18" wheels. Not crome, I will try to post some pics here before the weekend.

Re: Neon:
 

I believe your question was answered early on. If you dont like the way the thread is going, feel free to no longer participate.

Rice on!

Re: Neon:
 

CupCake:

Your question regarding the legality of outside neons in Tennessee was answered in post #19:

Yes and no

No Blue lights period.

You can have other colors but NOT hooked to a toggle switch. Example: Toggle switch on the dash that only controls the aux lights.

I do know Gatlinburg has a city ordinance against auxillary lighting. Especially under car type. Im sure its a hefty fine, as all of them are up there. So NO lights there period.

Pigeon Forge I dont know. But Id say they have a simular City code.

Any light anywhere can fall under "glaring light," ticket. Those license plate neons will get you stopped everytime.

All these violations fall under Tennessee Light Law, subsection whatever.

signed,

The Police


Don't take the negative comments here too 'personally'. It's more about neon lighting on Mustangs than about you.

The discussion over the pros and cons (mostly cons) of exterior neon lighting on any car, especially a Mustang, was to be expected. This is an opinion board - for the most part - and exterior neon lighting strikes many Mustangers as borderline-gay. It's simply a point of view, albeit a popular one, I suspect.

Besides, you stated that you are now receiving legal advice on the neons from the local police you are acquainted with and that is even better than advice from anonymous strangers on the internet, well-meaning as they may be.

At this point, I think you can basically ignore this thread if you wish.

Re: Neon:
 

If you want to avoid the law, keep them off unless you are in a parking lot or on private property somewhere. Most lights like neons are generally illegal. I am not from Tennesee, nor am I arguing with the cop that told you the "20 inches" theory, but I know I wouldn't want a cop meausirng 20 inches from my car either...then realize my exhuast was loud.....what ever else he might find while he was lookin around.

enjoy your show,
Ryan

Re: Neon:
 

Strange,

Ive been a officer for 12 years in the county shes coming to. Gave her the 411 on the area she is going (see previous post)as I know, and the Tennessee law aswell.

..and tried to get the thread back on topic....

Did she skip my post, am I invisable ?

Why ask for advice?

Is the earth flat?

Why are my inlaws worthless?

Will gas keep going up?

Why do bugs splatter my windshield dead center in my view, everytime?

Do aliens have 6 toes , or 9?

If you were going the speed of light and turned on your headlights, would it matter?

From now on Im charging for legal advice.

Signed, The Invisable Cobra Cop.

Re: Neon:
 

MustangII460-
Bud, I hope you know I wasn't trying to undermine your advice.
Ryan

Re: Neon:
 

Ryan, Nah.

General rule around the country is; If there off there legal.

But each city can "Add to" the state violation. That way the local municpalities can collect the fine, instead of the state getting the cash.

Say if its wrote as " Violation of light law" Thats a state offense. Nowhere in the T.C.A. code does it say NO neons. The closest thing to neons in our state law is "Glaring lights." So they would write VIOLATION OF LIGHT LAW, with a side note of GLARING LIGHTS. State gets the cash.

Whereas; The City code ( Gatlinburg ) [may] have NO UNDERCARRAIGE LIGHTING. So they write the citation as a code violation to collect the money. They also don't have to send the ticket into the state.

Cities can have their own codes made to reflect the generic state law.

Gatlinburg is a heavy cruising town. They also have a "Sound Ordanance." I think its around 70db, not sure. If they didn't, they could still write you for the State Law for " Excessive Noise." but State gets the cash.

These are examples of Tennessee only.

Each city has their own ordanances. I can't keep up with them, but then again I dont have to. I havn''t wrote a ticket in 4 years. :D

Re: Neon:
 

Wow, you havent wrote a ticket in 4 years! You are my kind of cop!

But please, if some idiot is driving past you with blaring neon lights, distracting other drivers, because they think it looks cool, please do the right thing and give them a ticket to discourage the advance of ricedom across our great nation.

Re: Neon:
 

MustangII460-
Most of our ordinances parallel state law, except the noise ordinance. The noise one is termed "excessive noise" and states exhaust that can be heard from over 100 feet away are deemed excessive.

As for lighting, the state here is along the lines of "improper lighting.....or any combination not here by authorized".

When I first told her to leave them off, was before I realized you work in the state in question. We here in Illinois tend to be pretty heavy on the equipment laws, if it is restricted, we are one of the states leading the way on restrictions.

Mach 1-
I personally stop most of them, it gives me bona fide excuse to approach the car any time I feel necessary to see what other nice things I can find up there .

Ryan

Re: Neon:
 

First of all, I want to say that I didn't take anything that was said here personally. Everybody is entitled to its own opinion and therefore are allowed to share it at anytime. I just don't appreciate being called names or else specifically by one person in here.

You are not invisible. I did read your post,I didn't ignore it, the reason why I asked the police officers that I help is because I am on a different county and state and wanted to know what were the regulations here before I get a ticket, I don't want one. Never gotten one.

Re: Neon:
 

Hey mustangII460,

In Va, Md, and DC if you cant have neon lights even on your car on or off unless it is deemed a show car, hot rod, classic car. If you get caught with them on your car when off you can get a fine from $500-$3500. If you have them on $2000 to $10,000 depending on how many tubes you have on your car that are turn on.

Now when noise pollution tickets stereos, exhaust, etc. you can get a fine up to $15,000 depending on what is going on(complaints or officer is there). I got a 2 tickets a couple of years ago for noise pollution and neons being on in a parking lot I was fined $17,183 and had to go to court for it. And this was right when it got dark they said they had so many people complain about how loud my music was-they even tested my db level coming out of my car (state police station in VA).So I fiqured I let you know what they do up here so if you have to come up here watch out. The cops are dicks.

ross

Re: Neon:
 

Ross, Thats why I moved from Rockville Md, LOL. My dad is still in Olney and moms at the beach. Maryland is whack on all of its laws. I thought about buying a vaction home in Delaware though.

Re: Neon:
 

Cupcake,

THEIR ARE NO CITY ORDINANCES ON NEON LIGHTING , IN PF OR G-BURG.

************HOWEVER************

THEY CANNOT BE OPERATED ON A TOGGLE SWITCH. HAVE TO COME ON WITH VEHICLE HEADLAMP SWITCH.

NO AUX LIGHTING ON ANY KIND OF TOGGLE SWITCH.

NO STROBE LIGHTS , PERIOD.

TENNESSE DOES HAVE A "LIGHT LAW." AS I POSTED B4. AND CAN BE VIOLATED BY ANY MISUSE OF PREVIOUS MENTIONED.

THEY ARE PAVING HWY 441, TRAFFIC TRAFFIC TRAFFIC.

YOUR WELCOME.

CALL THE PF POLICE @ (865) 453-9063 IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME.

SIGNED, THE TENNESSEE POLICE

O-yeah, see my picture on my car, THATS PIGEON FORGE, WHERE I LIVE.

LOL.

Re: Neon:
 

Thank you Frank! I had a really good time this weekend. The Rod Run was pretty cool and I got to see a lot of cool Mustangs. I didn't have any problem with my neon, police officers were driving next to me and all of that and never got a ticket or pulled over. I saw a lot of old muscle cars with neon underneath and they looked pretty neat. The good thing about mine is that you can't see the tubes at all. Only a little bit of light.

I could see that you guys were very busy this weekend. Is it like that all of the time or only because of the show?

Re: Neon:
 

Every weekend is busy. This area is a all year vacation spot now. But the Rod Runs stop traffic because of the heavy hitters that come.

Check each cities webpage for local events.

For more Hot Rod weekends its better to google search your favorite vehicle. Example, search "Ford Show Pigeon Forge" That usually brings up other clubs showing up that arn't listed in the cities website.

SUper Chevy, Ford Trucks, Mini Trucks, VW's, Mopars, SVT mustang club, shades of the past, fall rod run, etc etc etc.

If they are not in Pigeon Forge, they are close by like the fairgrounds in Sevier Count. Or even in Knoxville. Like the Corvette expo, Mothers car show and Honda Hoot.

This area is the premiere area for Hot Rods in the South East.

Re: Neon:
 

Sounds like bad luck.

The cops around here are very unpredictable with their ticketting habits. A few years ago I narrowly escaped a ticket for doing smoking my tires along with my friend and his 5.0. The cops seemed like a cool guy, not the young asshole type that you sometimes get. We were being careful (not only to not get caught, but not to endanger anyone), too. I think that played a big part.

Then not too long ago I got a ticket for having tint on the front windows on my '99 Taurus. The tint was hardly noticable, and MUCH lighter than the back windows. As far as I knew it was legal. It turned out to be a $10 fix it ticket, but how lame is that? I could have bought a couple gallons of gas with that. What's worse, he pulled me over next to the back of a middle school where all the soccer moms parked with their stupid SUVs that were limo tinted all the way around. No tickets on their windshields, how strange...

Re: Neon:
 

Sounds like bad luck.

The cops around here are very unpredictable with their ticketting habits. A few years ago I narrowly escaped a ticket for smoking the tires on my '65 coupe along with my friend and his 5.0. The cop seemed like a cool guy, not the young asshole type that you sometimes get. We were being careful (not only to not get caught, but not to endanger anyone), too. I think that played a big part. He just happened to round a corner at a bad time, heh heh...

My first and only REAL ticket was for going 40 in a 30 zone. Honest to god I thought it was 35, and the only reason I was going 40 was to avoid an SUV that started driving erratically right next to me. The motorcycle cop wasn't having any of it, though. There was a red camaro that was pulled over, I think they were working on their musclecar quota or something, the jerks. I don't regret it though, better a $100 ticket and driving "school" than having a totalled classic.

Then not too long ago I got a ticket for having tint on the front windows on my '99 Taurus. The tint was hardly noticable, and MUCH lighter than the back windows. As far as I knew it was legal. It turned out to be a $10 fix it ticket, but how lame is that? I could have bought a couple gallons of gas with that. What's worse, he pulled me over next to the back of a middle school where all the soccer moms parked with their stupid SUVs that were limo tinted all the way around. No tickets on their windshields, how strange...

Re: Neon:
 

Neon is a personal taste thing....I personally think its been done too much, but who am I but a 47 year old fart thats building a 408 92 mustang so I can put all these Ricer driving neon, fart can, sticker wearing, imports in the pavement. Serious cubes will outdo all the turbo, nitrous, or supercharged 4 bangers they got. And probably cheaper too. Some might be close races but I'll tell you, There isn't a ricer driver out there that'll beat me off the line, or at the other end. I respect someone in a camaro a hell of a lot more than anyone who drives a ricer....As for the neons....its personal taste...I really would hate to see it on American iron though.

Re: Neon:
 

wow did this turn into something i never thought it would be.

Re: Neon:
 

yea really fastback. but i'll tell ya what makes me sick, me and a few friends went to Myrtle Beach last year and everybody and their grandma had them dang neon lights, on them damned crothrockets and golfcarts too. oh well, must be the "cool" thing to do. I think Im one of the last 21 year olds in the world that loves purebred muscle cars. My poor ol' stangs just a plain jane, but as long as that 302 will rumble up and down the hardtop everyday and get me to work and back, ill be a happy fellar. maybe not a "cool one with neon lights", but a happy one.

Re: Neon:
 

Actually you will be the cool one for not putting those gay things on your car. Leave the neons for las vegas where they belong.

Re: Neon:
 

hmmmm never been a fan of neon myself, but to each there own i ain't telling anyone else what to do with thier cars.