On Sat, 11 Jan 2020 08:34:31 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

On Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 11:08:52 AM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 1/10/2020 7:44 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Friday, January 10, 2020 at 5:36:09 PM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
On 1/7/2020 2:59 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Tue, 07 Jan 2020 18:27:43 +0000, Spalted Walt
wrote:

Clare Snyder wrote:

On Tue, 7 Jan 2020 08:48:02 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote:

On 1/6/2020 12:06 AM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Mon, 06 Jan 2020 05:17:02 +0000, (Chaz of
Canterbury) wrote:

Could you blokes explain to me how the bloody hell
these Ben Hur death-chariot wheels are legal on
Texas motorways?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIjMgDHFFgk

Driving with the boot lid open as well?
Do the constables simply look the other way?
Show vehicle only - only on the show grounds. Boot lid open would not
be an issue on the highway if nothing loose to come out


No, these vehicles with these wheels exist on the roads and freeways in
Houston.
Placarded for over-width???
Definitely illegal.
Defionitely unsafe

They _appear_ to be legal IF the car doesn't exceed 8ft width.

https://abc13.com/archive/7699639/

https://www.khou.com/article/news/exaggerated-tire-rims-swangers-are-they-legal/285-567542949

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLRVdADj8Og
a PH.D gives the history:

difference between 83's & 84's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZbb_R18OIo






FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) outlawed any wheels or
wheel covers with "winged projections" for 1968; that particular
regulation was included in the FMVSS revisions due to Ralph Nader's
efforts. That's why GM released special hex nuts and a special wrench
as service replacements for KO wheel spinners - it was illegal to sell
the original spinners after 1968; the same thing happened to all
service replacement wheel covers that originally included spinners -
the service replacements were sold with no spinner - just a round
emblem that attached to the center of the cover

According to this many of those Swangers ARE illegal under FEDERAL
Law

Regardless if the wheels are legal or not, that is not the police
departments focus.

True, but minor illegalities can be used as a reason to pull someone over even
if they aren't outright doing something wrong. Commonly called a pretextual
stop. Sometimes all the po-po need is an excuse and anything they find
afterward is in play. (more or less)

My police friends have told me that they will use things as simple as clear
plexiglass over a license plate as a reason to pull someone over if they
suspect something is amiss. Technically, the plate is "obstructed", so no
one can later claim that they were being harassed or profiled.

I'm a fan of Live PD and see that all the time. License plate light,
turn signal and next is a drug bust.

In the new recently a car was pulled over for window tint and found a
million dollar in weed. Crooks can be incredibly stupid.

I used to have a van with clear plexi over the personalized plates. I got
pulled over for speeding (67 in a 55) but after the officer realized
what a nice guy I am he decided to lessen the charge.

Nice guy indicators: My plates say DERBYDAD and I was taking my 9 YO
daughter and a couple of her friends to their basketball tournament,
all dressed in their uniforms.

He went back to his car, came back a few minutes later and said "When I
pulled you over I called it in, so I can't just let you go. I'm giving you
a ticket for an obstructed licence plate. $15, you can mail it in. Keep it under 65, OK?" Then he looked into the back of the van and said "Good luck,
girls." :-)
MOST cops are pretty decent people, most of the time. Some decent
cops have some bad days - and spme cops are just miserable human
beings on their best days. Nephew is a cop. Uncle was a cop,
brother-in-law was a cop, 2 cousins were cops, several friends kids
are cops. Only one would give me concerns about hew he/she might
handle a situation (if having a bad day)