Impersonating a police car is, unsurprisingly, already a crime: https://en.wikip...

anon4 · on Nov 13, 2015

Does this apply when you're not fooling any person? As in, you're not trying to impersonate a police officer per se, you're fooling the vehicle's police detection into assuming a police vehicle is coming.

hinoka · on Nov 13, 2015

> you're fooling the vehicle's police detection

Sounds like impersonation to me.

The "person" in impersonation refers to the entity being imitated, not the entity being deceived.

anon4 · on Nov 13, 2015

Yeah, but is a couple of infrared lights enough to be considered "police"? What if I yell "VWEEEWOOOWEEEOOO" and someone mistakes that for a legitimate police siren -- am I still impersonating police, or is that person incredibly stupid?

DanBC · on Nov 13, 2015

intent matters.

If you say "Here's some infra-red lights. They simulate enough of a police car for other cars to change their behaviours" you're not going to have a fun time in court.

brazzledazzle · on Nov 13, 2015

Why does everyone think that the entire law system is like tax code and finance laws? You (usually) can't just break a law because you found a technical loophole.

DrScump · on Nov 13, 2015

It's illegal to have a forward-facing red light at all (for one example)... even if it's not turned on.

petepete · on Nov 13, 2015

Or if you're impersonating another emergency vehicle, like an ambulance or fire engine.