See I was thinking.... Officer doesnt think Jeeps should have such small tires, looks kinda funny. Should be 35's or better. Just kidding had to do it. Good luck however in fixing you delima.

 

Most states do have laws limiting tires extending beyond the fenders and usually for good reason - same reason large trucks need to have tire flaps - to keep road debris from being thrown up into other cars. Laws usually result when someone gets killed or injured then the legislature passes a new law.

As an ex-LEO I can say that cops only have a limited time to catch all of the criminals out there so most people get away with breaking the law most of the time. Just like a lion going after a herd of gazelles - most get away but one usually gets caught. Cops will concentrate on the most serious offenses - such as drunk driving and speeding but they will also take care of other issues that are against the law.

Don't blame the cop if you get caught, he or she is doing the job they were trained to do and are expected to do. And just because you may have something that you do and haven't ever been caught then consider yourself part of the majority and lucky.

 

OP
On the warning does it have a violation code? Might look like this 20‑123.2 I got this one from the spedo one on page 4 so i would assume that yours would look like it. Or scan a copy and post it and block out you personal info.

I would think that if he gave you a warning for you tires he would have told you what was wrong with them. But he could have just been a jerk about it and let you and the officer signing off on it figure out.

Good luck with warning sign off.

 

Law Enforcement in South Carolina

Here's what I found for North Carolina

20-122

(a) No vehicle will be allowed to move on any public highway unless equipped with tires of rubber or other resilient material which depend upon compressed air, for support of a load, except by special permission of the Department of Transportation which may grant such special permits upon a showing of necessity. This subsection shall have no application to the movement of farm vehicles on highways.

(b) No tire on a vehicle moved on a highway shall have on its periphery any block, stud, flange, cleat or spike or any other protuberance of any material other than rubber which projects beyond the tread of the traction surface of the tire, except that it shall be permissible to use farm machinery with tires having protuberances which will not injure the highway and except, also, that it shall be permissible to use tire chains of reasonable proportions upon any vehicle when required for safety because of snow, ice or other conditions tending to cause a vehicle to slide or skid. It shall be permissible to use upon any vehicle for increased safety, regular and snow tires with studs which project beyond the tread of the traction surface of the tire not more than one sixteenth of an inch when compressed.

(c) The Department of Transportation or local authorities in their respective jurisdictions may, in their discretion, issue special permits authorizing the operation upon a highway of traction engines or tractors having movable tracks with transverse corrugation upon the periphery of such movable tracks or farm tractors or other farm machinery.

(d) It shall not be unlawful to drive farm tractors on dirt roads from farm to farm: Provided, in doing so they do not damage said dirt roads or interfere with traffic. (1937, c. 407, s. 85; 1939, c. 266; 1957, c. 65, s. 11; 1965, c. 435; 1973, c. 507, s. 5; 1977, c. 464, s. 34; 1979, c. 515.)

 

20-122.1


(a) Every motor vehicle subject to safety equipment inspection in this State and operated on the streets and highways of this State shall be equipped with tires which are safe for the operation of the motor vehicle and which do not expose the public to needless hazard. Tires shall be considered unsafe if cut so as to expose tire cord, cracked so as to expose tire cord, or worn so as to expose tire cord or there is a visible tread separation or chunking or the tire has less than two thirty-seconds inch tread depth at two or more locations around the circumference of the tire in two adjacent major tread grooves, or if the tread wear indicators are in contact with the roadway at two or more locations around the circumference of the tire in two adjacent major tread grooves: Provided, the two thirty-seconds tread depth requirements of this section shall not apply to dual wheel trailers. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) "Chunking" separation of the tread from the carcass in particles which may range from very small size to several square inches in area.

(2) "Cord" strands forming a ply in a tire.

(3) "Tread" portion of tire which comes in contact with road.

(4) "Tread depth" the distance from the base of the tread design to the top of the tread.

(a1) Any motor vehicle that has a GVWR of at least 10,001 pounds or more and is operated on the streets or highways of this State shall be equipped with tires that are safe for the operation of the vehicle and do not expose the public to needless hazard. A tire is unsafe if any of the following applies:

(1) It is cut, cracked, or worn so as to expose tire cord.

(2) There is a visible tread separation or chunking.

(3) The steering axle tire has less than four thirty-seconds inch tread depth at any location around the circumference of the tire on any major tread groove.

(4) Any nonsteering axle tire has less than two thirty-seconds inch tread depth around the circumference of the tire in any major tread groove.

(5) The tread wear indicators are in contact with the roadway at any location around the circumference of the tire on any major tread groove.

(b) The driver of any vehicle who is charged with a violation of this section shall be allowed 15 calendar days within which to bring the tires of such vehicle in conformance with the requirements of this section. It shall be a defense to any such charge that the person arrested produce in court, or submit to the prosecuting attorney prior to trial, a certificate from an official safety inspection equipment station showing that within 15 calendar days after such arrest, the tires on such vehicle had been made to conform with the requirements of this section or that such vehicle had been sold, destroyed, or permanently removed from the highways. Violation of this section shall not constitute negligence per se. (1969, c. 378, s. 1; c. 1256; 1985, c. 93, ss. 1, 2; 2009-376, s. 5.)

 

Went from the stock steelies to 33" MT Claws and gain 8 mph at 70. 70 speedo = 78 GPS. Took it to the dealer today and for 99 bucks they reprogrammed the computer for the new tire size. Now it's good to go.

 

Don't try guessing what he meant, call the cop that stopped you and have him explain. Or go down to the police department and and ask somebody to come outside and tell you what is the problem.

 

NC will tag you for "improper equipment" if your tires are changed in size and the speedometer not corrected. One of our guys found this out on the way back from Uwharrie a few years back. He attempted to get out of speeding by indicating his speedometer was off. Verify thats what you got, get a procal or similar and correct the speedometer. NBD at that point to get it signed off. Good luck!

 

Smartest guy in this thread! Anything you say can and WILL be used against you in court. I do NOT talk to police during a traffic stop. The only things I will offer up are my DL, registration, and proof of insurance.

 

I think this is the exact issue - he knew that the tires were not stock (we can see it just from the pictures - why couldn't he guess the same). By making the tires a violation, you can't use the excuse in court that your speedometer was off because you caused it by using improper tires. I'm guessing that by default when he pulls a truck over for speeding, if it has tires that appear to be non stock, he will issue both the speeding violation and the tire violation to prevent you from using the speedometer defense in court. My guess is that people use that excuse frequently.