An owner of the new Tesla Model Y Juniper shared his recent experience where a police officer in Indiana pulled him over for doubts over the vehicle’s taillights.
According to the owner, the cop pulled him over because he thought the taillights of the Model Y were not turned on. By looking at the picture shared by Steven in a Facebook Tesla group that I am part of, this happened during a dark evening hour. The glowing rear light bar of the Model Y Juniper is pretty much visible.
However, the taillight’s extended light bar of this vehicle is different from the traditional design that we’re generally used to. Of course, Tesla (TSLA) fulfilled all the regulatory requirements before putting the new Model Y into production.
Steven posted the following details of the incident on Facebook:
Just got pulled over for my tail lights not being “on” i told the officer it’s brand new. It has a 1100 miles. I told him the red light bar is the tail light. The brake lights, both turn signals and red bar was on/worked. He told me the where the brake lights are it should be illuminated there also. He gave me a warning and told me to get it fixed. Had anyone else had this kind of issue?
The new Model Y Juniper’s taillight does not directly illuminate outward, but it reflects downward. Still, the light bar is visible to drivers following this vehicle.
The cop must have mistaken this light bar for a modification. Although the new Model Y vehicles have been sold in large quantities in the United States in 2025, in some states, this specific model isn’t frequently roaming the streets yet.
Most probably, the police officer had good intentions to remind a person having non-compliant lights on their vehicle. However, he was in doubt after talking to the Tesla Model Y driver and still issued a warning, but did not give him a ticket.
This is not the first time this has happened. An AI search reveals that similar incidents have been posted before on Tesla community forums across the web.
Generally, the rear red LED light strips span between the two main lights on each side. This illuminates the entire width of the vehicle. In the case of the Model Y Juniper, the taillight strip dissolves into brake lights, not spanning the entire width of the vehicle.
But as we can see in the image above, there is a small vertical illuminated strip on the sides of the taillights. This provides visibility and an idea of the width of the Tesla Model Y to other road users.
This Tesla owner had to explain to the cop that the vehicle does have separate brake lights and turn indicators located at each corner of the trunk.
Related: Tesla re-engineers the brake system in the new Model Y Juniper for Autopilot and human drivers
Model Y Juniper Taillight Design and Regulatory Compliance
In an episode of Jay Leno’s Garage last year, Tesla’s Chief Designer, Franz von Holzhausen and Lead Engineer, Lars Moravy, talked in detail about the design, engineering, and regulatory compliance of the Model Y Juniper’s rear lights.
Franz refers to the rear light strip of the Model Y Juniper as the indirect running light (IRL). This is suitable nomenclature for this newly-innovated taillight system, as it doesn’t directly reflect red light towards the rear, like the usual LED light strips we generally see in other vehicles.
“It really creates a unique, fresh look,” Franz said in the video. Jay Leno then asked about government regulations that might restrict the taillights from reflecting downwards. Lars Moravy responded by saying:
The regulation is how much lumens come off the surface, but it never defines what kind of surface that has to be.
The amount of light you see, actually meets the requirement.
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) Part 108 governs the regulations of vehicle lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment. According to Lars, they’ve remained in the regulatory framework when designing the new downward-glowing Tesla Model Y Juniper taillight.
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I’m sure that the engineers had the proper lights in the rear. I see aftermarket brighter optional lighting you can buy. Although I wouldn’t buy a Tesla I’ve seen the same thing on ICE cars. Seen worst. People putting blue or green lights up front without checking the law 1st.
This cop was not wise. Plain and simple.
I think that the cop wanted to have a look around the car because he is thinking about buying one himself but he’s not had a chance to view the Tesla so that was his chance to get a look in and out of the Tesla instead of going to the showroom. Here is my chance my to get a look at my dream car. 👈👍🤪🔨
Lol yeah bro cops totally out here pulling over Teslas just to look at them 🙄 and cops making over 90 grand a year are totally salivating over a 45k electric car as their “dream car”. Have you ever even met a cop? They don’t drive electric cars lmao.
Jesus dude I know this is basically a Tesla circlejerk wagon but tone down the delusion a little bit.
Had a 1970 Ford Torino GT that had a taillight that went all the way across. Hard to believe cops have no clue how old that design is.
The Dodge charger that the police officer was almost certainly driving has a rear light bar that serves as running lights. They’ve had them on lots of cars for 60 years. Lincoln Continental, Cadillac El Dorado, Chevy Caprice. It’s not a new design at all.
Cops are just ignorant dicks, news at 11.
I’d of let my mouth run off and told the cop….stop it now. Don’t be a drama queen. Many cars have this type of tail light or similar. I’ll step on the brakes….watch the lights. And turn signals. And the cop issues a….fix it ticket. Many should not be in law enforcement.
I’d make the light bars illegal if I had the power. They are not only ugly but annoying to anyone driving behind. A retrograde step by Tesla.
Then its good, your opinion doesn’t matter
If I had the power I would make people that want to control other people’s lives like this live in another Society far away from people that want to be free from The Nanny state.
According to regulations, the Tesla does not meet standards. It must have two tail lights. Not one. Those little red lights on the side would not count in meeting that definition.
Nope,the taillights are separate, the brake and turn indicators illuminate separately. These side markers are just there for aesthetics and showing the full width of the vehicle.
Tesla should never have been allowed to sell that light bar, it obviously does not actually meet the DOT regulation without the line of logic that bribes and corruption create. Running lights, brake lights and signal lights should be separate and easily identifiable from each other (it simply does not matter how old this crappy and dangerous design is, or how many other vehicles have had it, it shouldn’t be allowed on the road any more than dangerously dark tint or distracting ground effect lighting). This is basic safety and they are making their car less safe with these rear lights.
This is really a bad design, one of the reasons we have two lights on either side of the vehicle is because it helps with depth perception.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Teslas, but a lot of their design choices are really just horrible. When it comes to actual functionality. I see why they do it, they’re trying to make a name for themselves and stand out like everybody else, but it seems like most other companies are able to do that without sacrificing functionality so much.
Either the cop wanted an excuse to pull him over and made something up or the cop has no common sense. In either case, it shouldn’t happen and brings into question if that peraon should be working in law enforcement.
So I think the issue is the brightness of the taillights, not the fact that it’s a bar across. This picture isn’t a good example just because of the camera, but the angle of the light is actually downward, like towards the ground. This makes the taillights appear dimmer, which is a safety concern. The author of this article could have done a better job articulating what the issue is and finding better photos that demonstrate the concern.
Typical dumb a** cop. Just looking for a reason to pull him over with no cause.