| fatalelement |
09-24-2014 09:22 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by billwot
(Post 1959821)
I find it very unlikely that ANY state (even anal NJ) actually has a statute that says you cannot alter the "badge" identifiers of any car.
If anyone can actually verify such legislation exists in any state, please post a link to the appropriate statute.
When I was a kid, the first mod we did to a car was to strip of the badges and fill the holes.
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despite being in law school and having free access to databases for this, i'm going to be lazy since I have to swap exhausts and put a master cylinder brace on before it gets too dark.
there are a few states (maybe all of them?) that I know have laws saying that doing it with the express intent of aiding in a crime is a violation of the vehicle code, but in any case it's a stupid law used to slap fines on because doing something like that is already a crime, either:
a) fraud, if done to affect the outcome of a transaction (sponsorship, sale, purchase, etc., whatever)
b) some more vague interfering with an investigation or obstruction of justice if you do it to stop the police from identifying your vehicle. for example, pulling into a side street after a hit and run and swapping your badges out and then ditching your plates would definitely fall under this. not that they'd be fooled since I've been pulled over in a silver 2003 (aka large boat edition) camry when they were looking for a "blue coupe".
maybe later I'll be a good student and find some statutes! but you're right, without criminal intent I have yet to find a single regulation prohibiting this. a previous poster said it's illegal because it "looks criminal" to cops, but wearing a knockoff handbag or clothes that vaguely resemble that of another person (like a Kobe jersey if you aren't kobe? :)) looks just as "criminal". no offense to cops, but no one except people who care knows anything about what cars look like. 99.9% of average people don't know what a lotus looks like, and as a previous poster noted a cop called his regular nissan a GTR, despite that being nowhere on the body, so the idea that it would fool them is already a stretch.
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