26-09-2023, 07:35 PM
(This post was last modified: 26-09-2023, 07:38 PM by Steve Jones.)
(26-09-2023, 05:59 PM)Dave Wortley Wrote: Would it be reasonable to say that the majority of people interested in our kind of cars are fairly mature with eyesight usually not as good as it was 50 years ago? Surely we need to be able to take advantage of the latest technology as far as lighting is concerned, bearing in mind that new vehicles have headlights which seem capable of burning roadside hedges as they pass.
Looking at the E marking regulations appears to be a can of worms which started me nodding off. It does seem quite stupid as Steve Jones mentioned. I suspect our current government has a bit too much on its plate to consider such things at the moment.
Of course, Dave. I imagine that the vast majority of those in authority have no knowledge of the actual situation in respect of the legality or otherwise of after market LEDs and hell will probably freeze over before legislation catches up. However, some MOT testers are aware and will, and do, fail cars fitted with after market LED bulbs. The MOT man that does my moderns is well aware and suggests that a pre-test bulb change might be a good idea when booking a test for an old car so fitted. What happens after the test is, of course, not his business. Of course, if your MOT man doesn't bother or you don't take your car for an MOT then that ceases to be an issue. Perhaps an insurance company wouldn't be so accomodating if the worst was to happen. It is a fact, though, that the use of these bulbs contravenes the regulations as they currently stand and some of the more responsible sellers point this out on their web sites. They do that to cover their backsides in the event of that worst happening. From their point of view a reasonable stance for them to take putting any liability on to us as end users. Think about that. In the end, it's down to each individual owner's view of the balance between complying with the regulations against seeing and being seen. Some of the LED bulbs are amazing, particularly these pre-focused LED bulbs that transform the lighting on scuttle lamped Chummys etc. Just hope that the benefit in lighting far outweighs the risk of the worst happening with all that will follow.
Steve