When was the last time you checked if all three of your brake lights were working? If you don't want to get pulled over, you'd better start.
Legislation awaiting a final vote in the Arizona state House would allow police to stop any vehicle if any tail light is not working. The reason for the legislation stems from a 2011 ruling by the state court of appeals in the case of a motorist stopped because his Liddy light-- that's the brake light in the middle-- was not working. Only then did the officer notice he was drunk and arrested him.
The appellate court pointed out that current law requires there only be a working stop lamp. And since there was technically no reason for the stop, the drunk driving conviction was tossed.
Mike Williams, lobbyist for the Arizona Police Association, told lawmakers the problem with the law remains. "There is a judge in Tucson who is letting people off for DUI because there is a conflict in the law. And he said the legislature needs to fix this."
Lawmakers appear to have no problem making that fix.
But Rep. Charlene Fernandez, D-Yuma, worried the next step would be police stopping motorists if any light on a vehicle is not working. She said that could be as simple as the turn signal lights that some cars and trucks have on their side mirrors, in addition to the ones on the front and rear of the vehicles.
But Williams assured her that a broken side signal light will not lead to her being stopped.