[whoflungpoo]

is it possible to "white out" a pair of tail lights? or basically take the red out or off so they are just a clear color like i used to see on the older civics? i used to have a pair on my 93 civic with a red bulb or red gel over the bulb and i loved them and the way they looked. they had no color to them at all, no red or orange, just clear/whited out... and as i look for them i cant seem to find them at all, sadly i think theyre illegal?? i got pulled over a lot over them tail lights but id always put a new red gel over the bulb and would be good but is it possible?

edit:
i actually found a pic:

 

[elcompaLalo]

No, as the plastic is already red. No way to get the color out of it, and that style taillight is now illegal. I still see them on older vehicles and they do get away with it. They let it slide for a bit but soon stopped it because of the lack of red reflectors.

 

[emilyzach1130]

Well how do they get away with it on the LTZ. there are no red in those....

 

[DrivenDaily]

The law doesn't care what color the lens is so long as the light coming out is red for brakes, red or amber for turns, and white for reverse. (Yes, I looked it up.)

On the LTZ the light comes from an LED that emits red light. On the other models it comes from a bulb that heats up a piece of wire until it glows yellowish-white and the tinted lens shows it as red.

Sylvania calls the LED in the LTZ a Joule. That word is also used to measure energy but they "borrowed" it as a model or brand name. It is one coulomb-volt or one watt-second.

 

[SBUBandit]

The law doesn't care what color the lens is so long as the light coming out is red for brakes, red or amber for turns, and white for reverse. (Yes, I looked it up.)

There also needs to be a certain amount of reflector on the rear. I'm guessing thats why the LTZ still has red around the clear circle. Some cars get away with clear or translucent red because they have reflectors in the bumper

 

[DrivenDaily]

Yep, there need to be reflectors. The Malibu has them around the taillights for both LED and incandescent bulbs. If they were elsewhere then the whole light could be clear.

 

[SBUBandit]

just a side note on the rear reflectors, but there was quite a case going on in Maryland a few years ago, over the Pontiac G8. Apparently the G8 was short of Maryland state requirements on reflectors by some tiny fraction, and some local yocal sheriff caught it and started ticketing G8s. I never really checked to see how that all turned out, but I know a couple drivers took it up the ladder in courts and GM had finally stepped in to throw their weight into the ring.

 

[DrivenDaily]

Great thinking, eh? You buy and drive a car that is represented as legal to drive in the US and get a ticket. Who's to blame? Not the owner since the design was not theirs and the certification to drive on US roads was not granted by the driver, either. I guess it got him some brownie points at his local LEO station house but other than that all it did was show how petty some people can be, including that officer. If a tiny fraction of an inch or mm is that important, how come he has kids?