I know there has been some previous discussion over this case under a post entitled "disclosure." Here is my problem, I now have a DPS trooper who was injured after arresting an individual for DWI. His PC for stop was defective tail light. In talking to him, he said the tail light had red tape over it and the tape was pulled away from part of the car causing the tape to flap. This gives you some red and white light. He also said that it was tape so there was no reflective material. The officer doesn't know if red light could be seen to 1000 ft (the Vicknair std.) DPS as well as most police academies are teaching defective tail lamp-white light to read as a valid stop. How do I procede and is our state not training its officers correctly?

What about a violation of Section 547.325(a) which requires a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer to be equipped with at least two red reflectors on the rear of the vehicle which may be part of a taillamp. If the vehicle in question only had one working reflector, then it violated 547.325.

By the way, I don't teach Transportation Code but in my DWI review classes for the breath test operators schools I used to touch on Vicknair. I taught them if there was any amount of red light visible at 1,000 feet to the rear, they were not violated 547.322 even if white light was also visible.

Janette A