Is this legal?

[johnc]

Monday I was passing a slow moving vehicle near el Mirage (45 mph,really), and suddenly my rearview mirror was filled with the grill of a pickup with strobing lights. They were YELLOW, but the truck had exempt plates. I figured it was a ranger, so I expected to pull over. The guy shuts off the lights, passes me, and races off. As luck would have it, he got slowed down in the residential sections of adelanto, and I eventually caught up with him. So I asked I him what the big deal was. He at first denied that he did it. I explained he was playing wannabe cop, and that was a big no-no. I don't think he expected to get caught.

[David_Bricker]

I've been gone from Calif for a long time now, but I don't think it is necessarily illegal. Yellow lights are supposed to designated for emergency service vehicles - tow trucks, power company, etc. Flipping the lights on to make you move out of the way, however, is not likely legal. There, I would say the person crossed the line, but it might be argued that he was just passing the cars you were.

I have seen yellow lights on while these types of vehicles are going down the road, and sometimes they are going far faster than I.

David Bricker / SYR