Led lights how bright and how many can you have?

[saaby93]

Anyone know a link to the regs

There must be a limit as to how bright they can be ( or how dim) and how many.
How do they tie into the 6W/21W rule

[Fox-]

saaby93 said:

Anyone know a link to the regs

There must be a limit as to how bright they can be ( or how dim) and how many.
How do they tie into the 6W/21W rule

I think the rules are no more LED's and no brighter than those fitted as standard to the vehicle.

Hopefully

[snoopy25]

hopefully theres a rule in the regulations to stop people buying the cheap halfords tat that looks so out of place on older cars.....

[LordJammy]

If the old cahncil spec Zafira I saw yesterday was anything to go by, then there are no limits. Halfords entire stock of DRLs was burning with an intensity only the owners Christmas light display in October could match.

[73mark]

LordJammy said:

If the old cahncil spec Zafira I saw yesterday was anything to go by, then there are no limits. Halfords entire stock of DRLs was burning with an intensity only the owners Christmas light display in October could match.

[MitchT]

LordJammy said:

If the old cahncil spec Zafira I saw yesterday was anything to go by, then there are no limits. Halfords entire stock of DRLs was burning with an intensity only the owners Christmas light display in October could match.

I think the general rule-of-thumb is that the brightness of aftermarket LEDs is allowed to be directly inverse to the brightness of the vehicle's owner.

[saaby93]

Fox- said:

I think the rules are no more LED's and no brighter than those fitted as standard to the vehicle.

Hopefully

yeah but there must a rule the other way or you could replace each bulb with one pea led and job done

[Slidingpillar]

As a general rule, if the car didn't come with LEDs, it's not legal. Situation changes for older cars, as the mandating of 'E' bulbs didn't come in till the 70s. LEDs are legal for my vintage car (1930).

The issue is explored in the magazine of FBHVC but I'm not reading all of last years issues to try and find the relevant one (nor am I promising it was last year - I think so though).
http://www.fbhvc.co.uk/members-pages/newsletter-ar...

Cars for sale now have whole European type approval and that trumps the construction and use regulations, so are legal with their LEDs.

[Fox-]

Slidingpillar said:

As a general rule, if the car didn't come with LEDs, it's not legal.

This is excellent news, when can we expect this law to be enforced?

[Retroman]

Fox- said:

This is excellent news, when can we expect this law to be enforced?

Probably when the user of such items annoys a traffic officer

[Slidingpillar]

Fox- said:

This is excellent news, when can we expect this law to be enforced?

As far as I know, it's not! It's basically a law to irritate the law abiding, like the production of documents to get a new numberplate.

[shep1001]

Fox- said:

This is excellent news, when can we expect this law to be enforced?

No time soon, passed MOT for the last 2 years with LED lights retrofitted for indicator/tail/stop. Common sense and courtesy for other road uses should guide you as to what is sensible.

Edited by shep1001 on Sunday 7th June 22:03

[CAPP0]

shep1001 said:

Fox- said:

This is excellent news, when can we expect this law to be enforced?

No time soon, passed MOT for the last 2 years with LED lights retrofitted for indicator/tail/stop. Common sense and courtesy for other road uses should guide you as to what is sensible.

Edited by shep1001 on Sunday 7th June 22:03

I think that passing the MOT and complying with the law are not necessarily the same thing, viz HID headlights.

I asked my MOTer, who I have used for probably 25 years or more, whether my old Landie would pass the MOT with LED headlight bulbs, if those should turn out to be brighter than the old candles currently installed. He said yes, as long as the beam was OK. But that doesn't tie in with statements above about LEDs and old cars.

[Rich G]

So far a lot of speculation and surmise - has anyone got a link to any actual legislation?

Can't see the problem in making rear lights brighter on older cars (as they tend to be smaller so less noticeable) but anyone adding DRLs to cars that never came with them needs stringing up from the highest local building by their goolies!