A few days ago, one of my younger buddies stopped by to show me a ticket he had just received. No, it wasn't to a local rock concert, but from a local law enforcement officer. Actually, he had several! First off, he was stopped for engaging in a speed contest. In reality, this was nothing more than a bit of stoplight Gran Prix with a pickup truck. The cop was cool enough to only write him up for driving 55 in a 45mph zone. A "street racing" ticket for a 17-year old may have resulted in a suspended driver's license, or at least a hefty fine and a drastic rise in his insurance rate. However, the officer then proceeded to find numerous other mechanical vehicle violations. What caught the officer's attention in the first place was the loud exhaust. Had the exhaust been on the quiet side, the speed contest may have gone unnoticed. The most visible violation was the tires hanging outside the fenders. Most states have laws against this-even Montana-with enforcement kind of hit-and-miss, depending on the vehicle, the amount of tire exposed, road conditions, and the officer's frame of mind. My friend also got nailed on a cracked windshield. Normally, while it is a violation, it's usually not enforced very strongly, as cracked windshields in Montana are a way of life due to weather and roads.
My friend's Jeep had a 6-inch lift, so it towered above most passenger-car traffic, making him more visible. The color was "write-me-up red" and while that caught immediate attention, the large amount of body damage-or is that "trail rash"?-which he considered "badges of honor" didn't help his overall image. He also got nailed for no license-plate light, no front license plate, a burned-out taillight, and only one rearview mirror.
Not one of these violations had any effect on the trail capability of his Jeep, but they did make the Jeep what I call a "cop magnet." In other words, his Jeep stood out among other vehicles. The guy in the pickup truck didn't even get pulled over. You guessed it-it was totally stock. No, cops aren't in the habit of ticketing 17-year olds in red modified Jeeps, but what they do look for are vehicle code violations that stand out.
Resist the urge to show off. Bright colors look cool, but catch attention. If you don't want to go to wide flares to cover your trail tires, consider some "not-as-wide" street tires and swap treads back and forth. Besides, then your trail tires will last that much longer. Make your vehicle as legal as possible, or at least so it looks legal. Consider taking off that brace of overhead lights. Maybe you think that they look cool, but how practical are they on the street? They're just something else to catch a law-enforcement officer's attention.
