LED and HID Lights and the Law

[DJT]

Interesting article in the latest edition of Triumph World regarding the use of LED lights in classic cars:

[richardthestag]

Good info Dave

I never bothered with LEDs because although there are obvious advantages I found normal bulbs to be ok, but I know plenty who have them fitted with a bit of the old "MoT tester cannot take it apart to tell they are or arent" and even then the rules were not particularly well defined until now.

I guess their may be some wriggling from insurance companies if you get rear ended "fnarr" and they find led stop/tail lights fitted etc etc

for the additional cost of LED I think I shall stay standard outside the car. Dash Leds brighten stuff up but then dont work with the dash dimmer, on my Range rover they flicker as the voltage drops. but with fiddling I can find that sweet spot. then wonder why I bothered to upgrade. CANBUS systems on modern cars are not fond of LED where they are NOT expecting them.

What also bothered me is the vast difference in quality of LED units themselves. buy cheap (but still more expensive than standard filament bulbs) and you buy twice.

Certainly for domestic bulbs, arghhh different story

[barkerwilliams]

Interesting the mix of dates and the subsequent reference to minimum wattage of bulbs. I thought the whole point of LEDS were similar / greater lumens with reduced wattage. I presume easy to measure wattage but little chance of garage / police being able to measure light output by the roadside.


Alan

[RobinLegin]

What about the safety aspect of better lighting on classic cars? Returning from a rally a couple of years ago in the pooring, with lots of spray, the rear lights on my1955 Alvis could not be seen by road users behind us. Drivers kept flashing their lights at us so we pulled off the motorway to check the lights were working. They were. The lumens intensity of the older car is generally not up to or suitable for modern day driving. I am now waiting for Classic Car lights to restock so as I can replace the rear tail / stop lights on the Alvis. I may also do the same for the Stag. Meantime, I have a red LED bicycle light on the back window ledge which I switch on to add to our visibility in adverse conditions. Safety must be foremost surely?
Nigel

[Phil S]

The poor light output of the standard lamps was the reason l went to led's.
the units supplied by better car lighting have proven to be of good guilty with a far better output than standard lamps.
if it ever went to court the case could be proven to be better for safety as they can be seen in poor weather conditions.
having had a blue suit with shiny silver buttons and a pointy hat l for one will take the chance on at Mot time.
Phil

[davidf]

The problem is, there is common sense (better lighting, and probably more reliable), and then there is the law. As we have seen from our discussions about MoT and VHI status, there is not a lot of common ground between the law and common sense. Unfortunately, if it comes to any argument, the law takes precedence over common sense.

[Kithmo]

What's the situation with halogen sidelight bulbs, 5W halogen are much brighter than the old standard filament bulbs.