# New headlight, wiper law goes into effect Tuesday



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

New headlight, wiper law goes into effect Tuesday
If you turn on your windshield wipers, turn on your headlights as well.

http://www.wcvb.com/news/new-law-requires-headlights-be-used-in-bad-weather/32211172


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## Pvt. Cowboy (Jan 26, 2005)

Yay nanny state!!


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## Goose (Dec 1, 2004)

Pvt. Cowboy said:


> Yay nanny state!!


Just like NY. Dunno how long they have had their law for, but it has been that way for at least 20 years.


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## HistoryHound (Aug 30, 2008)

Brought to you by the insurance companies. 


> Violators could be hit with a surcharge on their auto insurance policies as well as a $5 fine.


So if I'm reading this correctly, you guys are expected to pull someone over and put your safety at risk for an infraction that the legislature believes is so minimal that it only incurs a $5 fine. I suppose the state is banking on the $25 appeal fee when someone realizes that simply paying the $5 is going to cost hundreds of dollars in insurance surcharges. If the legislature really thought that not putting your headlights on when there's a spring shower and it's still bright enough that you wonder to yourself how it could be raining; then, they should have set a fine that reflects the serious nature of the offense. Oh yeah they did, it's $5 serious. That's as serious as the parking ticket I got over a decade ago. On the other hand, if you're too stupid to not know that you have to put your headlights on when it's low visibility; then, you're probably stupid enough to give the officers/troopers another reason to pull you over.


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## Drinkthekoolaid (Nov 1, 2011)

Maine has this law as well


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## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

just gave a guy a jump start thanks to the new headlight law


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## Kilvinsky (Jan 15, 2007)

I actually get a kick out of when these new laws pass and the rant is something like...."Now police will have the ability to ticket those who do not (or do) blah blah blah." as if the cops have been chomping at the bit to cite those who don't do such and such.

The legislators don't even consult with the cops before passing these laws. If they did, they'd go something like....

"Don't you want to get those folks who do BLANK BLANK?"
"Uh, we don't give two shits."
"But, thanks to US, you can issue citations for BLANK BLANK"
"Yeah, and...?"
"You don't have to wait for them to do such and such before you can NAIL 'em for BLANK BLANK! Isn't that GREAT?"
"No, we don't, as previously stated, give two shits. If you prefer, we don't give a rat's ass. I mean we understand that BLAND BLAND..."
"That's BLANK BLANK, not BLAND BLAND."
"Oh, whatever, so we understand that it's important in a number of ways, but to make it CRIMINAL, or even worthy of a cite? Well, we just don't care. Oh sure, there will be a few overly gung-ho guys out there that will be DYING to write for that, over all, feh."
"OUTRAGOUS!"
"Yeah, whatever."


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## Crazy Otto (Apr 4, 2009)

Wolfman said:


> ...I'm sure there's nothing that patrol officers eagerly look forward to more than conducting traffic stops in a rainstorm because someone didn't have their headlights on...


For a $5 fine. Cold day in hell...


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## felony (Oct 24, 2014)

RI has this same law, which is good to stop a shit bag car if you have nothing else. Seatbelt law in RI is also primary. The law in RI is called "times when lights required" and is similar to MA in that it encompasses the half hour before sunrise and half hour after sunset but also incorporates the times when atmospheric conditions create a hazard and the wipers on a vehicle must be activated, so must the head and tail lamps. It's a $85 dollar fine in RI, what is it is MA?


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## Danusmc0321 (May 21, 2012)

5 bucks haha... This no doubt was pushed into place by insurance companies. No one heard anything about this till last week and Its a surchargable moving vio for 7 years.... The gift that keeps on giving. I am not going to waste my time unless I really want something to pull over the car for.


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## mpd61 (Aug 7, 2002)

*Ho-hum..................*


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## LA Copper (Feb 11, 2005)

We've had this law out here in California for about 5 years now. Some of you guys are looking at it wrong in my opinion.

It's not that you're just supposed to pull people over for this minor violation to write a ticket... this violation adds another tool for you in the Probable Cause grab bag to pull people over to find the drugs, guns, money, felony warrant suspects, etc. It's short sighted to look at it as "only a ticket." Don't look for the small fish, look for the big one. I tell this to my guys all the time. We frequently get lots of good stuff from traffic stops. "Chapter 90" is a great asset.

Think of it this way: How did Timothy McVeigh get caught? The trooper stopped him because he didn't have a front license plate, nothing more!


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## jeepster (Jan 29, 2009)

The five dollar ticket is a joke. Obviously the auto insurance lobby buttered up the politician(s) to pass this law to collect surcharges. On the flip side, and as mentioned by LA Copper, the drug units et al can add this for a PC car stop. Just seems like a "spitting on the sidewalk" type of violation.


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## felony (Oct 24, 2014)

$5 dollars? I thought you were joking when you posted that. Is it primary or must you have another moving violation in order to stop and cite? Either way, its good PC to stop a car loaded with potential persons with warrants etc. Just another tool in the box to stop a car. You would have to be a real hard on to cite taxpayers with that bogusness.


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## FourInchFury (Jun 26, 2013)

The I-Team will be in masturbatory glee for any evidence of cruisers they find in violation of this.


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## Bloodhound (May 20, 2010)

*New headlight law leads to drug bust in Framingham*
By Norman Miller/Daily News Staff

Posted Apr. 9, 2015 at 5:55 PM

FRAMINGHAM - The enforcement of a brand new traffic law on Thursday led to the arrest of a Framingham man on cocaine distribution charges, police said. Framingham Police arrested Jason Compere-Arty, 25, after pulling him over on Union Avenue at 10:25 a.m., police spokesman Lt. Stephen Cronin said.On Union Avenue, officers working extra traffic enforcement funded by a grant pulled over a car that had its windshield wipers activated but no headlights. On Tuesday, a new state law went into effect that now says if a car's windshield wipers are activated, the headlights have to be on as well, Cronin said.

Compere-Arty told police he did not realize the headlights weren't on. When Compere-Arty opened the glove box, an officer saw two things that caught his attention, the lieutenant said."(The officer) observed a thick stack of cash," said Cronin. "There was also a mason jar of marijuana."There was more than $3,000 in cash in the glove compartment. Officers discovered Compere-Arty also had a Concord District Court warrant that charged him with a municipal bylaw violation. When they frisked him, they found another roll of money in his pocket. In all, officers found more than $5,400, Cronin said.

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/article/20150409/NEWS/150405997/1994/NEWS?rssfeed=true


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