driving a black and tan in Florida illegal?

[ImEvil1]

Mike,

It's not illegal to have one painted in the scheme. The problem is the wording "to color or cause to be colored". For it to apply, an officer would have to witness the car being painted. Sounds ridiculous, but there have been several rulings on cases in the state that back up that interpretation. It's very similiar to the "attaching tag not assigned" misdemeanor argument from a few years back. If you didn't see the person swapping plates, you could no longer charge it.

[MOstang]

Isn't bottom line you should plan to trailer your FHP SSP anywhere if painted black and cream since you're likely have plenty of hassles/issues. Most of us don't have bottomless legal fund to pay for a lawyer to defend/fight/resolve?

[ImEvil1]

Originally Posted by MOstang

Isn't bottom line you should plan to trailer your FHP SSP anywhere if painted black and cream since you're likely have plenty of hassles/issues. Most of us don't have bottomless legal fund to pay for a lawyer to defend/fight/resolve?

Amen.

[beanie]

i would go ahead and chance it but I heard the FHP Legal Advisor was asked in person and he replied that the essence of the law is to stop any1 from driving those colors despite the current wording of the statute....to me that means they would push the issue and it would definitely be a problem if seen on FL streets!

[ABN2060]

Originally Posted by ImEvil1

Mike,

It's not illegal to have one painted in the scheme. The problem is the wording "to color or cause to be colored". For it to apply, an officer would have to witness the car being painted. Sounds ridiculous, but there have been several rulings on cases in the state that back up that interpretation. It's very similiar to the "attaching tag not assigned" misdemeanor argument from a few years back. If you didn't see the person swapping plates, you could no longer charge it.

OK. I see now. The law is a little ambiguous but who needs the hastles.
Interesting about the "Attaching tag not assigned" thing. I've been out of law enforcement about 9 years but we used to hook people all the time for that one. I guess you can't anymore?

[ImEvil1]

Originally Posted by ABN2060

OK. I see now. The law is a little ambiguous but who needs the hastles.
Interesting about the "Attaching tag not assigned" thing. I've been out of law enforcement about 9 years but we used to hook people all the time for that one. I guess you can't anymore?

We did, too. There was a ruling awhile back on it, and you can't now unless you actually witness it.