Last night the kids put the rear courtesy lights on in the car and I told them to put them off as it was illegal to drive with them on.
This was what I was always told by my dad for years, is it true or did he just not want me reading in the car at night?
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technically illegal as you are showing a white light to the rear of the vehicle,i would rather the police clamped down on confusing blue lights by todays youth mind.
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But the light is inside the car,not on the rear,so he is not showing an inappropriate colour to the rear.I don't think it would be illegal,but bad practice as it is distracting and affects night vision.
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read your croners
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I think it is left over from the days of glass dome lights in the middle of the roof, whereas todays lights are usually if not always in a recess, and have freznell lenses which directs the light downwards.
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No offence Bobby
Reg 11 (2) Road Vehicles Lighting Regs 1989 :
No vehicle shall show other than a red light to the rear except
(d) light to illuminate the interior of a vehicle....
dvd
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Restrictions on the use of lamps other than those to which regulation 24 refers
11 Any other lamp Used so as to cause undue dazzle or discomfort to other persons using the road.
Statutory Instrument 1989 No. 1796
The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 -
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This would apply to something like a swivelling spot light,an interior light is not likely to dazzle anyone outside the vehicle.
read your croners
What is a croner?
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This would apply to something like a swivelling spot light,an interior light is not likely to dazzle anyone outside the vehicle. read your croners >> What is a croner?
I used to subscribe to Croner's. Don't quite know what employment legislation or health and safety at work has to do with courtesy lights in a motor vehicle.
Anyway, what about buses and other vehicles? Never seen a local bus, with passengers aboard, sans lights.
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Just come in.
Interior lighs are the only white light you can show to the rear (Including a number pplate light)- there is no offence to use whilst driving.
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Anyway, what about buses and other vehicles? Never seen a local bus, with passengers aboard, sans lights.
You beat me to it ;-)
Yes, buses are a prime example of otherwise of this imagined law. If the kids start flashing the thing on and off, I guess that's another story.
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Mike Farrow
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Plenty of TV programmes about police work are filmed inside a police vehicle at night with the camera light on - often wonder how the driver manages to see out with all the glare...:-)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Thanks for all your answers, I will let them read in future unless the light is annoying for me driving.
Thanks again.
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surely its dangerous to have a light on inside the car???
u cannot see outside anywhere near as clear....
turn your lounge lights off and look outside at night..then turn them back on and look outside...the difference is drastically different
whether it illegal or not..it is shear stupidity to even consider doing it....especially with the safety of kids in mind
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www.storme.co.uk
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surely its dangerous to have a light on inside the car??? u cannot see outside anywhere near as clear.... turn your lounge lights off and look outside at night..then turn
I'd agree with this if all interior lights were on (though I'd struggle indoors with only the level of light in cars). Shadows or relections are more likely to be a problem. If there are separate lights in the rear, and in some cars these are "spot" reading jobbies, Bobby should be OK. But make sure kids understand, and will act immediately upon, an instruction to turn 'em off.
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I have two friends who insist on putting the rear courtesy light on whenever they're in the car Doesn't really bother me and I can see out of the rear window perfectly well.
I can see how the front one would be distracting though.
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aha........ so THATS y they turn the cabin lights off when w take of...tis cos they dont wanna show a white light!!
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There used to be a range of directable reading lights that you could fit above the doors in the car IIRC.
I never bothered with them but they were aimed at people needing to read maps in the front or even reading in the rear.
Adam, these may be a good compromise for your mates.
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Thanks for that H. I may try them and make my car look really fancy inside...like a BM!
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Sorry. It would be pretty cool though having lights in all the pillars. Wouldn't it?
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Adam,
you need a Berlingo - reading lights front and rear! Focus must have them also??
Phil
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Yes Phil - it's got lights in the front and the back but not in the rear pillars a la more expensive makes.
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"Yes Phil - it's got lights in the front and the back but not in the rear pillars a la more expensive makes"
Hang on a minute, it has the ordinary interior lights (front and rear and "boot area") but it also has directional reading lights as well - both front and rear.
Trouble is Ad, you are confusing "expensive" with "quality". Berlingo is "quality"!!! but not expensive. (oh, and OK my kids refer to it as "the van")
A bit like those £9 jeans I have just bought from M&S - indistinguishable from the £50 Levi's I have bought for the last 40 years!!! (Apart from a slightly different bit of stitching on the back pockets)
Phil
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Oh no - nothing as fancy as those Phil. Just plain, bog standard lights.
Mind you, there is a fading effect on them! I know I know - you're impressed. Who wouldn't be?
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aha........ so THATS y they turn the cabin lights off when w take of...tis cos they dont wanna show a white light!!
I've often wondered this. My personal suspicion is that it's to ensure passengers have adjusted to the dark should the plane crash land and lose electrical power in the cabin. The glow-in-the-dark strips on the floor aren't that bright.
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>>My personal suspicion is that it's to ensure passengers have adjusted to the dark should the plane crash land.......
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at night.
I have always understood this is the reason.
IIRC QANTAS leave the lights on.
I vote for lights off.
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I also was told, that its illegal to drive with interior lights on. As this would interfere with the Drivers vision while driving with the light reflecting on the screen/windows.
The comment made about Buses being lit up, the driver has a screen to shield him from relections and to keep his area dark, same applies to coaches, they reduce the lighting levels at front while travelling to prevent any reflections.
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I also was told, that its illegal to drive with interior lights on. As this would interfere with the Drivers vision while driving with the light reflecting on the screen/windows.
They cause no more glare to the driver than a light beige dashboard does on a sunny summer's day!
The comment made about Buses being lit up, the driver has a screen to shield him from relections and to keep his area dark, same applies to coaches, they reduce the lighting levels at front while travelling to prevent any reflections.
The comment about buses was in reference to distractions at the rear to other drivers, not the bus' drivers.
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Mike Farrow
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Driving down the M1 last night, passed a car with the interior light on and the passenger watching a DVD with the screen in full view of the driver. And it was snowing...
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Its not illegal. Its not its no its not trust me its not.
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