Blue reflectors, legal?

[muckymotor]

As I've just become the proud owner of a Volvo V70 I've been paying more attention than normal to other Volvos. There's been a large Volvo meet this weekend at Thoresby Hall so I've seen more than usual as the venue isn't too far away from me.

Earlier today I passed an S60 with a pair of blue reflectors stuck to the rear bumper, something like these



Legal or not as I'm sure at night they will pretty much look like blue lights when car headlights pick them out? It struck me as the same sort of thing that some horse riders and bikers do with the lookalike police clothing but even sadder.

[magpie215]

I would imagine you would fall foul of lighting regs with those fitted.

[Flibble]

Prohibited by Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/regul...

RVLR said:

No vehicle shall be fitted with a lamp which is capable of showing any light to the rear, other than a red light, except–

<Various exemptions none of which apply to private cars>

#

Edit: also in the same regulations:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/regul...

RVLR said:

No vehicle, other than an emergency vehicle, shall be fitted with–
(a)a blue warning beacon or special warning lamp, or
(b)a device which resembles a blue warning beacon or a special warning lamp, whether the same is in working order or not.

Edited by Flibble on Monday 18th June 00:14

[Pontoneer]

The exemptions permitting amber direction indicators , white reversing lamps and white number plates all apply to private cars .

Nothing in the link specifically prohibits the reflectors shown above .

[Gareth79]

Pontoneer said:

The exemptions permitting amber direction indicators , white reversing lamps and white number plates all apply to private cars .

Nothing in the link specifically prohibits the reflectors shown above .

Blue reflectors are not specifically prohibited, no, but they are prohibited by the blanket prohibition of lamps showing anything but red to the rear, except the exemptions (NB: a reflector is a "lamp"). The second one, that it could look like a special warning lamp would be more work to prosecute, but it would most likely succeed.

Re. private cars: I'm sure he was referring to 2. (h) and (k) which permit certain vehicles to show blue light to the rear.

Edited by Gareth79 on Monday 18th June 00:51

[0a]

Legal or not these must be in the "top 10 guaranteed to get you pulled over every time" list!

[anonymous-user]

muckymotor said:

It struck me as the same sort of thing that some horse riders and bikers do with the lookalike police clothing but even sadder.

Yeah, pretty sad......being seen.

[GC8]

I was always under the impression that blue retro-reflective material was prohibited too, although Im struggling to find anything to back that up (now that other summaries/links have disappeared).

[Pontoneer]

I , too , would have expected them to be illegal , but reading the regs above see nothing definitive .

I also am not so sure about a reflector being a lamp - clearly , a lamp emits light by itself but a reflector can only reflect light which falls on it from an external source - the two are not the same .

Everything reflects light to a greater or lesser degree and , it could be argued , that 'clear over base' metallic type paintwork is retro reflective - are we therefore going to outlaw blue metallic paintwork in case it looks like a blue light under some circumstances ?

Better to start with blue-looking headlamps and those annoying blue neon washer jets some people have .

[anonymous-user]

Thought steady blue was ok, if not entirely sensible, whilst it's flashing/storbing blue which is naughty, hence the proliferation of ickle blue LED washer jets.

[chriscpritchard]

Pontoneer said:

I , too , would have expected them to be illegal , but reading the regs above see nothing definitive .

I also am not so sure about a reflector being a lamp - clearly , a lamp emits light by itself but a reflector can only reflect light which falls on it from an external source - the two are not the same .

Everything reflects light to a greater or lesser degree and , it could be argued , that 'clear over base' metallic type paintwork is retro reflective - are we therefore going to outlaw blue metallic paintwork in case it looks like a blue light under some circumstances ?

Better to start with blue-looking headlamps and those annoying blue neon washer jets some people have .

you could argue it "resembles a blue warning beacon or a special warning lamp, whether the same is in working order or not." and so falls foul of the regs.

[GC8]

Retro reflective material and reflectors are regarded as being one in the same thing, and reflectors are covered under the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989.

Its all far from clear, though.

[SS2.]

muckymotor said:

Earlier today I passed an S60 with a pair of blue reflectors stuck to the rear bumper, something like these

The lighting regulations provide that rear retro reflectors must be red in colour.

[daz3210]

It couldn't have been an unmarked car could it?

[Pontoneer]

chriscpritchard said:

you could argue it "resembles a blue warning beacon or a special warning lamp, whether the same is in working order or not." and so falls foul of the regs.

Indeed you could ; the matter would have to be decided in court .

[XDA]

Sure it wasn't an unmarked police car?

Or perhpas just one of the usual volvo driving knobs who try and pretend they are in an unmarked car?

[muckymotor]

Definately not an unmarked car, too old and had a tow bar.

Interesting replies though.

[XDA]

muckymotor said:

Definately not an unmarked car, too old and had a tow bar.

Just a knob then. There's only one reason why someone would put a blue reflector on the rear of their car...

[ThunderSpook]

Crossflow Kid said:

Thought steady blue was ok, if not entirely sensible, whilst it's flashing/storbing blue which is naughty, hence the proliferation of ickle blue LED washer jets.

No, they are also totally illegal.

[daz3210]

If someone were to have blue lights on my car for some legitimate purpose off road, what would they have to do when on the road? Cover them?

I'm thinking something like a rescue vehicle used at a racetrack.