Flashing Amber LEDs

[ernienbeth]

My wife and I moved to NC not too long ago and we have been involved in several MVC, all of which we were not at fault and one was quite serious and I even suffered temporary paralysis because of it. The wrecks were caused by people saying they didn't see us coming or didn't see that we had stopped among other reasons. One accident was a hit and run in which the NC State Trooper stated that the driver was undoubtedly under the influence of alcohol, and yet nothing was ever done to try and find out who it was that was driving the car that hit me. It was totaled as well as my vehicle and one other and then the driver fled on foot. Since then, I have been trying to make my vehicle easier to see by adding DRL and LEDs. I've read the laws concerning flashing amber lights and it seems to me that anyone could use them as long as it was not used for illegal actions. Could someone please clarify this for me? The lights I want to use are small amber LEDs mounted behind the grill of my truck. Thanks.

[GoDirectly2Jail]

My wife and I moved to NC not too long ago and we have been involved in several MVC, all of which we were not at fault and one was quite serious and I even suffered temporary paralysis because of it. The wrecks were caused by people saying they didn't see us coming or didn't see that we had stopped among other reasons. One accident was a hit and run in which the NC State Trooper stated that the driver was undoubtedly under the influence of alcohol, and yet nothing was ever done to try and find out who it was that was driving the car that hit me. It was totaled as well as my vehicle and one other and then the driver fled on foot. Since then, I have been trying to make my vehicle easier to see by adding DRL and LEDs. I've read the laws concerning flashing amber lights and it seems to me that anyone could use them as long as it was not used for illegal actions. Could someone please clarify this for me? The lights I want to use are small amber LEDs mounted behind the grill of my truck. Thanks.

And... your question is???

[mcsap]

I am not from NC so I cant answer your " auxiliary lighting " question but I have one for you....how do you KNOW nothing was done to find out who the other driver was ?

[ernienbeth]

I've read the laws concerning flashing amber lights and it seems to me that anyone could use them as long as it was not used for illegal actions. Could someone please clarify this for me? The lights I want to use are small amber LEDs mounted behind the grill of my truck. Is it legal to use small flashing amber LEDs?

[ernienbeth]

The car that hit me was reported stolen 2 hours after the MVC. The keys were left in the car and had all the keys on the ring that belonged to the owner. When the trooper asked the woman who owned the car asked her about it, she said She went out and started her car, remembered she had left something inside and went back in to get it at which time her car was stolen, she had no excuse for the 2 hour delay in reporting the car stolen, but said she had a spare key hid that she used to get back in her house. The Trooper said he knew she was lying but couldn't do anything about it and it was dropped.

[cntryboy0531]

I've read the laws concerning flashing amber lights and it seems to me that anyone could use them as long as it was not used for illegal actions. Could someone please clarify this for me? The lights I want to use are small amber LEDs mounted behind the grill of my truck. Is it legal to use small flashing amber LEDs?

Not sure about North Carolina, but in Florida, they would be illegal to have on while you are driving. You can use them while parked, just not while in motion.

[cntryboy0531]

The car that hit me was reported stolen 2 hours after the MVC. The keys were left in the car and had all the keys on the ring that belonged to the owner. When the trooper asked the woman who owned the car asked her about it, she said She went out and started her car, remembered she had left something inside and went back in to get it at which time her car was stolen, she had no excuse for the 2 hour delay in reporting the car stolen, but said she had a spare key hid that she used to get back in her house. The Trooper said he knew she was lying but couldn't do anything about it and it was dropped.

That's the problem with hit and run crash investigations. The state is still required to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that someone drove the vehicle, hit you, and intentionally fled. The biggest part is placing a driver behind the wheel at the time of the crash. Can't tell you how many hit and run crashes I've investigated where I know who was driving, I just can't prove it. In those cases, all I can do is write a report, and hope the driver of the other vehicle, and their insurance company, makes the hit and run driver pay for it.

[icu650]

The answer I received from Trooper Mozingo, Troop B, of the North Carolina Highway Patrol is NO.
You should not be driving with any flashing lights constantly on. Amber flashing lights are used as warning in situations where the vehicle is inoperable and stuck on the highway or the vehicle can not maintain speed for one reason or another. It is against the traffic laws for someone to be driving with their flashing amber lights on all the time for no reason.You can however put small amber lights in the grill that do not flash when on. You can see this a lot on big rigs.
Every officer on this forum can probably relate a story of when an officer in a police car had someone pulled over and had all the blue lights, flashers and headlights blinking and some inattentive or drunk driver slammed into the police car. The best accident avoidance system is defensive driving.