I'm personally at that stage in life that I forget to turn signals off...let alone do an actual pre trip light check :)

Parents probably pay those too :haha:

We all know that light bulbs are most likely to fail when initially illuminated and not when they have been on for a while. ie, when a light bulb burns out at home it usually happens as soon as you flick the switch on and not when it has been on for an hour already.

Brake lights are constantly being turned on and off when you use the brakes. Even if I have checked that the the lights are working against a wall before leaving wherever it is I am parked, there's a high probability that the light will fail sometime during driving.

Since cars have three brake lights and given the nature of how and when lights burn out, is it not a tad unreasonable to ticket for one burned out light?

Same with turn signals.

I see Civics that come with five brake lights and only have one that still works. I also really hate those cars that come factory with the brake light and signal light as the same light so when one brake light burns out, then they are automatically missing one turn signal. When my brake light burnt out, I went and changed it the next day. I think if your light burns out on you that day and you get stopped, it's real unlucky, and I would be for a situation where if you have one burnt light, the officer gives you a chance to replace the bulb and bring it back to the detachment and the ticket gets cancelled. At least that way, people will get their lights changed, especially those people who have up to 5 brake lights and are down to one light and still don't replace the bulb.

Yeah... how often do you check your own brake lights?

I check mine once a month. And I've only ever had to replace one bulb in the past ten years...

Every day actually. Not hard at all if you park backwards :)

I have always replaced a burned out light within 24 hours, if not quicker. I'd be mighty upset if I got a ticket for a burned out bulb, even if I did have the option to go back and show the officer that I fixed it.

im not Asian or brown so my parents dont pay for anything.. :eek:

An on file warning would be reasonable. If they are caught again and still haven't changed the bulb then a ticket would be reasonable.

That's a bit better.

Either way, if it's the only thing wrong with the car, I would suggest that the OP contest this ticket due to the nature of how light bulbs fail. Maybe instead of paying the ticket he can have the option of buying spares for each of his bulbs or something.