Those who fancy having an arm sticking out of their boot or a spiderweb hanging from their wing mirrors this Halloween could face the fright of large fines for breaking road traffic laws.
Car decorations have seen increasing popularity following a TikTok trend called 'trunk or treat' designed to be a safer alternative to trick or treat, with those getting involved decorating the boot of their car and parking alongside other participants.
But experts at car leasing company Leasing Options have warned that decorated vehicles could face heavy fines.
Blood handprints and stickers
When placing stickers on your windows, check that they won’t obstruct your view of the road or your surroundings, otherwise you could be fined up to £2,500, be banned from driving and get three penalty points for driving a vehicle in dangerous conditions.
Additionally, if you are in an accident caused by an obstruction to your view caused by stickers and decorations, you may invalidate your insurance.
Arm sticking out of the boot
It might be Halloween but staging a fake arm sticking out of your boot is a controversial decoration that could land you in a lot of trouble.
Despite being one of the most popular choices of Halloween decorations for your car, doing this is inconsiderate towards other drivers and pedestrians.
The Road Traffic Act 1988 states that driving "without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road or place" is an offence and could lead to you being stopped by the police and given up to a £5,000 fine.
You could also be fined an additional £1,000 if the fake arm covers your number plate.
Covering your car in spiderwebs
A popular way to decorate your house for Halloween, people are now adding spiderwebs to their cars as well.
There are a variety of places you can place the spiderwebs inside and outside of your car, including on door handles, headrests and across the boot shelf.
If you plan on using spiderwebs to decorate your car this year, make sure you can still see the road and your surroundings otherwise you could become a risk to others and be fined up to £2,500 and receive three points on your licence.
Changing the headlight colours
It is an offence to have red lights at the front of your car, white lights to the rear (unless reversing), or neon lights under or on the side of your car.
If you have these, you can receive a £50 fixed penalty notice.
There are certain colours that are only allowed to be used by certain job roles.
Green lights can only be fitted on paramedic cars, whilst blue lights can only be used by emergency vehicles. If you are caught using these, you risk a £50 fixed penalty notice and could be reported to court.
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