In the car industry, underglow or ground effects lighting refers to neon

Neon

Neon is the chemical element that has the symbol Ne and an atomic number of 10. Although a very common element in the universe, it is rare on Earth. A colorless, inert noble gas under standard conditions, neon gives a distinct reddish-orange glow when used in either low-voltage neon glow lamps or...

 or LED

LEd

LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....

 aftermarket

Aftermarket (automotive)

The automotive aftermarket is the secondary market of the automotive industry, concerned with the manufacturing, remanufacturing, distribution, retailing, and installation of all vehicle parts, chemicals, tools, equipment and accessories for light and heavy vehicles, after the sale of the...

 car customization

Custom car

A custom car is a passenger vehicle that has been modified in either of the following two ways. First, a custom car may be altered to improve its performance, often by altering or replacing the engine and transmission. Second, a custom car may be a personal "styling" statement, making the car look...

 in which lights are attached to the chassis

Chassis

A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...

 so that they illuminate the ground underneath the car. Underglow has become popular in car shows to add aesthetic appeal to the cars. Some states prohibit underglow on public roads.

Neon

Neon tubes that are used for the underglow of a car start of heating it up to high temperatures. From there they are filled with Neon gas. Though Neon gas only produces the color red, adding other elemental gases could change the tube up to 150 colors. Mercury makes blue, carbon dioxide makes white, helium makes gold, and phosphorus creates different colors under various pressures. Because neon tubes are gas compressed, they tend to break often while going over speed bumps. With the neon tubes, people are more able to adjust them to follow specific rhythms like music.

LED

LEDs are Light emitting diodes which are semiconductor small bulbs which can be put together. LEDs generally last longer than neon tubes as the bulbs last extremely long. Also LED strips are considerably less fragile than neon tubes. LEDs are used and installed in the same manner as neon tubes. LEDs can emit more than one color at a time since only certain bulbs be on and so it can flash repeatedly without no need to stop it.

Neon vs LED

Neon tubes are less expensive than LEDs. LEDs last longer than Neon because Neon tubing is more prone to break.

Legal issues

In the United States, certain underglow lights can be considered illegal. The colors could be distracting to the drivers or the drivers could easily confuse them for police officers. For this reason, colors like blue, red or any kind of flashing lights are banned from public streets. The laws on the underglow of a car depend on the state and if they believe that it could be harmful for the drivers on the road.

Prohibitions

Almost all the states prohibit the colors green, red and blue because these are used for emergency purposes only. States where there is a lot of traffic and have a lot of cities have stricter regulations due to the high risk of crashes. Police and the state government officials believe that bright colors at night could be dangerous for people who are also driving.
Ground effects lighting is illegal in the state of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

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Restrictions

In California, underglow lights are allowed to be used in places other than public roads and there could be a penalty if found using them in public roads.