[Image Credit: CHP West Valley / Facebook]The driver of a Transformers vehicle was cited by California police for looking too much like a patrol car, sparking debate online on whether it actually does or not. The Mustang is inspired by the character Barricade and its base police vehicle, but it has many details that distinguish it from both the movie-based car and the typical police car in order to comply with California law. Still, some commenters think that the ticket is valid, while others think a judge should let the driver off.Some commenters believe the vehicle looks different enough from a police carThe vehicle in question was stopped by California Highway Patrol when officers noticed a few things about it that they felt was deserving of a citation, according to a post by CHP West Valley on its Facebook page.The ticket that commenters don't disagree on was the citation for the car displaying unauthorized forward-facing red lights, which are clearly visible on the front of the Mustang. However, they find the other citation for operating a vehicle painted to resemble one used by a peace officer to be questionable.AdvertisementAdvertisementThose defending the driver point out that there are more than several decals on the car to make anyone understand that it isn't a cop car. The "NOT A COP" on the front makes that readily apparent, let alone the italicized "BARRICADE" on the white door and the quote "to punish and enslave" on the back. This is opposed to the real movie prop for Barricade that has the word "POLICE" on the door, so the driver was already making noticeable concessions in this build.However, other commenters believe that while the words are fine, they say that its paint scheme, specifically the white door on the black background, too closely resembles an actual vehicle. From a distance, a driver might mistake the vehicle for a CHP patrol car. They point out that Best Buy's Geek Squad back in 2005, was forced to change the color scheme of its vehicles, which had a white door on a black background too, per The Press Democrat.That said, some think that this is selective enforcement, since many decommissioned police vehicles that go up for auction still maintain their white doors on a black background. Indeed, a quick search on retired police cars being sold at auction have a similar color scheme, like this 2020 Ford Explorer AWD Police SUV on GovPlanet from California. So if these vehicles are eligible to be sold with police oversight in the state, the similar color scheme for the Barricade car could be acceptable too.The post Transformers-Inspired Mustang Driver Cited Because Cops Say it Looks Too Much Like a Patrol Car appeared first on Mandatory.
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