Where the yellow went

I had reason to consult Gwendolyn's manual last night, and while I was at it, I thought I'd take a look at the obligatory "Custom Care & Lemon Law Information" booklet that came with it. (There is a third booklet, which contains warranty information.)

There is a Lemon Law entry for each state, which reflects the substantial differences among state lemon laws. And one of those differences became instantly obvious: the pages for Maine and Massachusetts were printed on yellow paper. (This took some doing, since the states are in alphabetical order, and Maryland, which falls between, got a prosaic white page.)

Apparently this tint was indeed part of those state laws in 2000. I still have the manuals from my previous car, also a 2000 model, and sure enough, Maine and Massachusetts are on yellow paper.

Okay, fine. Still unclear to me, though, is why these two states would make such a requirement. Three possibilities suggest themselves:

1. Legislators thought it would be wicked cool to have colored paper.
   
2. Legislators thought it would be a subtle way to express their feelings about automakers by forcing additional rules upon them.
   
3. Legislators thought that their constituents wouldn't connect the legal description to the state's lemon law unless the description itself somehow resembled a lemon.
   

None of these, incidentally, casts a favorable light, yellow or otherwise, on said legislators.

Posted at 9:30 AM to Driver's Seat