"Are they legal?"
Funnily enough yes, as long as they don't flash!"[1]
And I would suggest as long as the other obligatory lights, eg marker/head lights etc are present and in their allowed colours.
see Statutory Instrument 1989 No. 1796
The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989
[1] If they flashed or rotated they would be classes as warning beacons and then they are definitely prohibited. However I suspect that a case could be argued that they contravene the regs as in italics below.
above regs: RVLR 1989
PartII Para 16
Restrictions on fitting blue warning beacons, special warning lamps and similar devices
16. No vehicle, other than an emergency vehicle, shall be fitted with-
{snip}
(b) a device which resembles a blue warning beacon or a special warning lamp, whether the same is in working order or not.
DVD?? Care to add your two pennorth?
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Thanks for this but what are they? Are they just for decoration?
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Yep!
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This has cropped up before and I am aware that Durham Police sheeted, courted and had convicted a driver for similar lighting but which offence exactly I have been unable to find out.
I know that they brought it because of the apparent proliferation? of these blue lights which they stated resembled the blue lamp.
Over to MLC and Full Chat from their Motor Patrol Officers Course notes.
DVD
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Thanks for this but what are they?
They\'re LED\'s. A simple look on ebay will find them.
Are they just for decoration?
Yep. But it is also compulsory to wear a base ball cap (back to front) have loud booming bass music, and tinted windows so that people can\'t look in and see how geekish the driver looks.
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Well we've had this stuff for years and not only in blue. Fancy pink, orange, yellow? Pulsating, rotating, on the wheels, underneath, linked to the beat of your sound system or even illuminating your Harley engine and synch'ed to the revs.
Originates in Taiwan, you can buy rolls of sticky LED tape, just cut it to the length you want, hook it up to your electrics and you're in business.
Goes really well, as has been said, with those baseball caps sold with rear facing peaks, a Lakers t-shirt of nightdress proportions, ankle length shorts, a gap-jawed drooling expression and a restless manner suggesting you are continuously wired to some strange tribal music only you can hear, half a bottle of Vaseline on your hair, enormously phallic exhaust trims, and suspension lowered to the point where you charge up to every speed hump overtaking everything in sight then hold 'em all up while you crabwise gently over the obstacle so as not to damage anything on your underneath.
Not to mention the essential vacuous girlfriend who has numerous facial perforations and who chews gum continuously, while it has yet to be established she can walk and do this at the same time, while interminably dexterously texting on a cellphone one-handed at about 80 w.p.m.
They drive us nuts, especially on Saturday nights when all the local plod is getting ripped in the nearest beerhouse and spending its ill-gotten gains of the week and the streets become an impromptu Santa Pod.
Don't get me started on trucks now...if they HAVE any lights at all, some of 'em, I guess we should all be thankful.
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Saw a car, not sure which, with these little LEDs inside his headlamp lens. Definitely not Xenons. Quite distracting as I was turning right on a narrow and busy road. Another step forward for civilisation...
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Here is what the Thames Valley Police say about them:
www.thamesvalley.police.uk/faq/default.asp?Action=...7
Q: Is it illegal to drive around with blue lights fitted to your car?
A: Blue beacons and flashing blue lights are illegal on non-emergency vehicles. However, there is currently a fashion to fix coloured lights on cars. Often, these will consist of blue lights on the front screen washer jets. Generally speaking, this type of light is not illegal, but we advise you to read the details below.
The law on this area is governed by the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989.
In simple terms, the regulations state that a red light cannot be shown to the front but any other colour can (with certain restrictions). However only a red light can be shown to the rear (again with certain exceptions). Therefore, to display a blue light or any other colour than red to the front is generally not an offence.
The regulations do restrict the fitting of moving lamps and revolving or flashing blue lights, and state that lamps must show a steady light and not cause undue dazzle or discomfort. Most lamps fitted to front screen washer jets are unlikely to infringe these regulations.
However, be advised that any lights that do not fall within these criteria may be contrary to the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations, and may be treated as such.
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Due to refraction or something, those fancy gas-discharge headlights fitted to upmarket cars are very blue from certain angles but white from others. As the vehicle traverses bumps on the road they appear to flash blue. Are they, strictly speaking, then illegal?
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Due to refraction or something, those fancy gas-discharge headlights fitted to upmarket cars are very blue from certain angles but white from others. As the vehicle traverses bumps on the road they appear to flash blue. Are they, strictly speaking, then illegal?
Am i being ignorant in thinking that very "pure" white light has a blue tinge to it, so in fact the it is not blue but just a cleaner white.
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CM,
I think what Alan is referring to is typical of gas discharge lights and those which have very thick lenses, projector lamps?
Anyway if you look at the edge of the bean pattern as it shines on a refelctive road sign you see a very narrow band of blueish light. This is due to the refarction of the lens.
and to answer Alan's question no they do not fall foul of the regs.
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bean = beam
refelctive = reflective
refarction = refraction
I'll get back in me glass house. :-(
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Are you sure it's 'fancy' cars and not Fiat's (Punto's ??) with Halogen projector lights as these seem to be able to create every colour of the rainbow. Rubbish car, rubbish lights!!!
PS, Thanks for the endorsement of my Vectra CDX as an 'upmarket' car, cheers!
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I spoke with a plod who did someone for having red lights on one of those plug in Christmas trees that was stuck to the windscreen. Merry Christmas!
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I spoke with a plod who did someone for having red lights on one of those plug in Christmas trees that was stuck to the windscreen. Merry Christmas!
Let me see, Big Rig failed the attitude test did he? as you say HO HO HO
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Another must-have lorry accessory is a row of spot lights along the top of the cab. True, these usually switch off when the headlights are dipped, but they can still dazzle at about a mile away.
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Hi all
I had a set of those windscreen lights coupla years ago, but in white. Got pulled by plod, who insisted that he could see a slight tinge of blue. Told to remove - immediately.
Some years ago my old Vectra was done up as a plod car, with the works; blue neons in the indicator lenses, alternate flashing headlights and fog lamps. All except noise. Totally legal, as it was not an offence to have on the vehicle, but is an offence to use these on the road.
It is my understanding that you are not allowed to display any colour to the front other than white (headlights) orange (indicators). You are also not permitted to display a white light to the rear unless reversing. Again, only red to the rear and orange if indicating.
Does anyone remember certain idiots in Toyota MR2s who all seemed to drive around with their front foglamps painted with Amberglaze yellow, and ON?
Regards
Dom F
Still fighting (and losing) the battle of car versus railway iron oxide fallout.
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I am a new subscriber and wonder if anyone knows if there is any significance in the two blue lights increasingly seen in lorry cabs. Is it just fashion or is there some other significance?
I apologise if this has been asked before but I couldn't trace any refernece throught the site search facility.
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I'm sure I remember Sally Traffic saying last year that a trucker had told her they were just a "comfort factor". I'm more than happy to be proven wrong!
On an almost related topic, I saw my first car yesterday with UV lighting between the front and rear wheels. I can't remember when I last saw something quite so ridiculous...
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Previously discussed:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=13157&...f
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Thanks DD and MC.
Now I know!
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As a Class 1 driver,I can tell you that there is no significance in these lights inside trucks.They are there purely for decoration.
I am just about to be given a brand new 38t artic at work,and I will be putting some of the said lights in the front,but instead of the usual blue,I will be going for green.I will also be replacing the roof marker lights with the same colour green bulbs.
The trend a few years ago was to put a red fog light between the bunk and the driver and shine it into the bed area to highlight any large flag or similar decoration.I am unaware of any driver being pulled for,what is basically having a red light facing towards the front of the vehicle,(they were very visible at night through the windscreen) in fact I had one myself.Manufacturers now fit red lenses in the cabs as standard on a lot of trucks,but the idea of a red interior seems to have faded a little,so I suppose they are a little late.
One thing I will say about the red interior,it was very pleasing on the eyes,from a driving perspective.
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Quinny: Were you perhaps a U-boat commander in a previous life?
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For several months I have noticed occasional trucks displaying two small points of blue light at the base of the screen. Now some boy racers near here are fitting them to their bonnets near (maybe instead of) the screenwash nozzles. And last week a car passed me on the M6 which seemed to be floating on a blue glow. People get sadder all the time - what is it for?
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The boy racers use them so we can see the prats coming so we can put ear defenders on to avoid there 1000w audio system from damaging our ears. Peter
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Fortunately they tend to sap the already pitiful power of the Novas they are bolted onto, which makes pulling away from the clowns even easier than it was before.
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www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=13157&...f
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=17424&...f
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Thanks DD. Don't remember reading those first time round.
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Twice in the past week I have seen a car with a blue offside headlight. The first time the main beam was out, just the sidelight on. The second time the main beam was on, and the blue colour appeared to be from varnish on one side of the lens. Bit of swank?
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What are the two blue lights that one sees in the cabs of container lorries?
thanks
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Is it legal for 'civilian' vehicles to display blue lights?
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Yup, providing it is to the front, remains constant, doesn't flash, move or dazzle.
DVD
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A lorry driver friend of mine told me ages ago that the blue lights were originally started as a gay signal - i.e. gay lorry drivers signalling to each other. I was a bit sceptical about this until I read it on the web recently. If this is true I would like to bet that there are a lot of drivers who don't know this.
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That I like Jeds.
Spread the word folks and maybe the lights will disappear.
Plod light must send them delirious so watch out MLC and Full Chat.
DVD
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Shouldn't they be "pink" lights :-)
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A lorry driver friend of mine told me ages ago that the blue lights were originally started as a gay signal - i.e. gay lorry drivers signalling to each other. I was a bit sceptical about this until I read it on the web recently. If this is true I would like to bet that there are a lot of drivers who don't know this.
Yes, I read that somewhere and it mentioned having front fog lights on when it wasn't foggy as well. ;-)
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Jeds - you're having a laugh, aren't you?
I can see these lights being discarded by thousands this weekend!
--
groups.msn.com/honestjohn/problems.msnw?Page=1 - Pictures say a thousand words.....
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but this is what i would like to know so i either send back for refund of fit to car, are alturnating full beam headlight illigal, so you have one on one off and so on and so fourth, so there apear as flashing headlights? and do you normal headlight still work?
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An offence and rightly so. Why anyone other than the Emergency
Services would want to fit these is beyond the wit of man.
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An offence and rightly so. Why anyone other than the Emergency Services would want to fit these is beyond the wit of man.
The nail has been hit well & truly on the head...beyond the wit of man...but not beyond the half-wit of man. Saw a wheel man for da local massiv the other day with alternate blue flashing light strips on the radiator grille. Was I impressed? You bet I was!
8 ball
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Varying colours, blue to green to yellow to red back to blue and so on.
Plus bright flashing blue leds hidden in the door mirror surround.
All well illegal.
Mind you considering the state of the driver and "friend" in the Rover ZR whereupon I saw these in Kidderminster Saturday beginning to wonder how much truth there is in the rumour started by Jeds.
That is the one that these are gay signals.
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