[wpietri]

Impersonating a police car is, unsurprisingly, already a crime:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_impersonation

States have similar laws for other emergency vehicles. E.g.: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/2...

[anon4]

Does this apply when you're not fooling any person? As in, you're not trying to impersonate a police officer per se, you're fooling the vehicle's police detection into assuming a police vehicle is coming.

[hinoka]

> you're fooling the vehicle's police detection

Sounds like impersonation to me.

The "person" in impersonation refers to the entity being imitated, not the entity being deceived.

[anon4]

Yeah, but is a couple of infrared lights enough to be considered "police"? What if I yell "VWEEEWOOOWEEEOOO" and someone mistakes that for a legitimate police siren -- am I still impersonating police, or is that person incredibly stupid?

[DanBC]

intent matters.

If you say "Here's some infra-red lights. They simulate enough of a police car for other cars to change their behaviours" you're not going to have a fun time in court.

[brazzledazzle]

Why does everyone think that the entire law system is like tax code and finance laws? You (usually) can't just break a law because you found a technical loophole.

[DrScump]

It's illegal to have a forward-facing red light at all (for one example)... even if it's not turned on.

[petepete]

Or if you're impersonating another emergency vehicle, like an ambulance or fire engine.