Q: The rule of 60-day MN residency doesn't apply to out of state non-residents going to college and living in MN for schooling purposes and still covered under their parents' insurance...right?

Jon,
St. Paul, MN

Jon,

There is nothing in our law allowing or exempting students from having to change driver licenses or registration, but the State Patrol has had a long-standing, common sense policy to allow this as long as the student is currently in school and maintains permanent residency in their home state.  They should also have their own state's registration which we also allow.  It has nothing to do with insurance.  

Thanks for asking and good luck.

Sgt. Curt S. Mowers
Public Information Office
MN State Patrol

Q: I just bought a JetSonic Lightbar to put on my truck for snowplowing. Do I have to have amber filters for all the lights or can I leave any of them clear for additional lighting while plowing? If I can have some of them clear which ones would they be? Thanks!

Jim,
North Branch, MN

Jim,

Amber lights only, and only while actually snowplowing, so whatever you need to do to correct that is up to you. The additional white lights allowed for snowplowing would be those lights above the plow that you commonly see out there, if they are mounted and aimed correctly of course. Thanks for asking.

Sgt. Curt S. Mowers
Public Information Office
MN State Patrol

Q: On my 4-door Jeep Wrangler, am I legally able to remove the doors as long as I do have mirrors on the vehicle? I got pulled over this summer and was escorted to my house where the city police officer made me put my doors back on. Also, it was just me, no passengers.

Matt,
Crookston, MN

Matt,

Yes, you are, but you do need to be seat belted in properly too, besides at least one rear view mirrror.

Sgt. Curt S. Mowers
Public Information Office
MN State Patrol

Q: Are under car neon lights such as Street Glow neon kits illegal in Minnesota? After reading this, it does not appear to be as long, as its not red,flashing,rotating etc.

Quote "169.073 PROHIBITED LIGHT OR SIGNAL.
(a) No person or corporation shall place, maintain or display any red light or red sign,  
signal, or lighting device or maintain it in view of any highway or any line of railroad on or over  
which trains are operated in such a way as to interfere with the effectiveness or efficiency of any  
highway traffic-control device or signals or devices used in the operation of a railroad. Upon  
written notice from the commissioner of transportation, a person or corporation maintaining or  
owning or displaying a prohibited light shall promptly remove it, or change the color of it to some  
other color than red. Where a prohibited light or sign interferes with the effectiveness or efficiency  
of the signals or devices used in the operation of a railroad, the Department of Transportation  
may cause the removal of it and the department may issue notices and orders for its removal. The  
department shall proceed as provided in sections 216.13, 216.14, 216.15, 216.16, and 216.17,  
with a right of appeal to the aggrieved party in accordance with chapter 14.  
(b) No person or corporation shall maintain or display any light after written notice from the  
commissioner of transportation that the light constitutes a traffic hazard and that the commissioner  
has ordered the removal thereof." Unquote

David,
Minneapolis, MN

David,

The statute you quoted deals with lights at railroad crossing areas..........not on motor vehicles.  Neon lights are NOT approved by the Commissioner of Public Safety as required, and they do not meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.  They are not required lights, they are after market lights that have nothing to do with vehicle operation or safety and because of all of this, they are not legal to even be put on your vehicle at all, lit or unlit. The archives on this site actually cover more in-depth info on it, but thats the way it is and always has been.

Thanks for asking.

Sgt. Curt S. Mowers
Public Information Office
MN State Patrol

Q: Re: My previous message re: NO PATROL CARS in 30 mile radius (I called one time in Anoka Co., one time in Isanti Co., and once in Kanabec Co.)

Just to let you know. It was a Tuesday. Between 2:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. (approx.) It was a nice day, sunny, no rain, no wet roads. No reason for a person to be drifting around the road as far as I am concerned. (Maybe I should not be concerned ?????) What do you think? What is your opinion on that tho't?

Also, I noticed three (3) Hwy Patrol cars parked in the Pizza Hut parking lot in Mora, MN on Oct. 21, 2009. Hummm What were they doing? They could have checked up on the person who had been driving poorly from the day I reported. But I guess like you said it would cost too much and it would interfer with their lunch (BS) break. Huh????

I can't believe the person would not get a message in the mail re: being seen drifting from side to side on the highway. Don't people who speed get a notice??

Signed ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Vicki (aka: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?),
Mora, MN

Vicki (aka: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?),

October 21 was a Wednesday, not a Tuesday, but I checked our Computer System GPS logs for squads on Oct 21 because that is the date you gave me.  There were 3 troopers at Pizza Hut like you said.  The GPS from their squads show they were there from 12:22 to 1:22.  Two of them were actually off duty but stayed after their shift to have lunch with the one on duty trooper. (I think you were being scarcastic, but if you were serious and wanted to know, I asked them what they ate, and the trooper told me they were eating pizza). The one on duty trooper radio log shows no record of any calls from you on that date.  Our dispatch does not either.  Your calls covered 2 dispatch centers.

So did you mean Tuesday, October 20th?  It does not matter because I can't spend any more time on this anyway.  This is it.  Either we got the person or we did not, and without exact information they can't keep looking it up trying to figure it out.  The cost I mentioned in the original answer was concerning the unreality of getting back to every single caller on a driving complaint.  That is never going to happen because in the state, we get hundreds of criving gomplaints called in a day and thousands of them every week.  The ones we do get back to are the ones we have to get back to for statements, eveidence, court, etc.   We just don't have the money or resources to do that.

I am sorry if you are upset about this situation but I tried very hard to find out what you wanted to, and I was very nice about it.  I was being (and still am) sincere and respectful to you like I am everyone else.  Please continue to call in driving complaints, and we will continue to try to respond.  If we don't have a car in position, we give it out to the local departments too, and we don't always know what happened because they don't get back to us either.  That's about all I have to say about this.   If you would have given me all the information I needed to look it up the first time you wrote, this would all be over a long time ago. Thanks for asking, sorry you did not hear what you wanted to hear.

Sgt. Curt S. Mowers
Public Information Office
MN State Patrol

Q: Is it legal for a 12-year-old to drive a car, dirt bike, and ATV on private property?

Kyle,
Minneapolis, MN

Kyle,

Concerning the issue of not having to have a driver's license?  Yes,.......legal, as long as you stay out of the right of way of any roadway, street or highway.  DNR I think requires registration on the ATV I think and maybe the dirt bike too,even on private property (check with them on that).

Sgt. Curt S. Mowers
Public Information Office
MN State Patrol

Q: Hi, I was pulled over last night by a Rochester City Police Officer on Highway 52 for having "too dark window tint". The officer checked the tint with his light meter and it read "45" he stated it was legal because there is a "plus or minus" 3 percent on the reading. Is there a legal leeway percent? I thought it had to be 50% or more? I'm thankful I didn't get ticketed, but I am also concerned that my car may not comply if this should happen again.

Mike,
Oronoco, MN

Mike,

The law does allow 50 per cent with a 3 percent leeway.  I don't know what the policy is for other departments, but the State Patrol will cite for 40 per cent or below. We warn between 50 per cent and 40 per cent. Window tint is a serious violation because it is an officer safety issue.  Also, just within the past few weeks, we have made some drug arrests and warrant arrests because of window tint violations. Yours should be fine, but technically you should remove it or change it to be legal. Thanks for asking and being concerned.

Sgt. Curt S. Mowers
Public Information Office
MN State Patrol

Q: How is it that certain businesses (Menards) can license their vehicles in another state i.e. Wisconsin, when the vehicle is used year round (usually MANY years) in MN? Is this legal? And if not, why is it not enforced? With today's budget crisis... you could nearly balance the budget on these fines alone. ;-)

Rob,
Plymouth, MN

Rob,

No, it is not legal.  It IS enforced.  But we have to know about it first.  I am forwarding this information to our motor vehicle crimes unit and so they may (or may not) contact you about this for more information.  Thanks for asking.

Sgt. Curt S. Mowers
Public Information Office
MN State Patrol

Q: I've heard conflicting answers: Can fog lights (Amber or clear) be used anytime the headlights are on, or only in inclimate weather (rain, snow, fog?)

Some say the police will ticket you if they are used on a clear night. others say that they are 100% legal to use at anytime. Please, help "enlighten" me!

Terry,
Minnetonka, MN

Terry,

The fog light law is slightly ambiguous which may be causing some confusion.  Fog lights can be used if they are mounted properly according to the law requirements and aimed properly according to the law requirements.  The law for fog lights specifically states that the fog lights can be used with low beam lights, (but it does not say with high beam lights) and there is no specific prohibition of their use alone.

So, it is apparent that they can be used alone, and anytime, as there is nothing about certain conditions required before they can be used. Even if they are mounted and aimed properly, they still have to be lights that are approved for use, and cannot be blinding to other motorists.  That's all I can find about them in the law, short of listing the aiming and mounting requirements, which I will not do here. Thanks for asking, and good luck.

Sgt. Curt S. Mowers
Public Information Office
MN State Patrol

Q: On a rural two lane hiway, can a person go 65 in 55 to pass another car?

Dustin,
Cook, MN

Dustin,

As of June 1st of this year (2009) YES...you can.......      Same thing in a 60 zone, on a two-laned highway, you could go 70 mph.  That's it. No exceptions. Thanks for asking......the word is now OUT !!

Sgt. Curt S. Mowers
Public Information Office
MN State Patrol