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Are full width rear lights legal?
Is there legislation which governs the positioning of tail lights (markers) on UK cars? I am seeing more and more new vehicles with a mass of tail lights covering the whole width of the vehicle. I really find these these to be hazardous as they dominate the road ahead so much that other vehicles and especially cyclists become marginalised. I thought rear lights had a specific marker function towards the edges of the vehicle. These new lights seem to be just trendy, selfish and excessive.
Asked on 18 January 2024 by John
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The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 goes into great detail regarding the regulations for all road vehicles. You can read in more detail here: www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/schedule/10/...e but in summary the main requirement in regard of rear position lamps is that there must be a separation of 500mm between them. As a standard UK numberplate is 520mm in width we would expect any car in use on the road would be compliant with this regulation.
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