Police + LED sidelights.....

[kerry-w]

Well last night going through town to drop some people off I notice a black BMW has been sitting behind me fr a while.

Go past a roundabout and then the blues come on.

Pulls me over, tells me my sidelights are too blue a colour and that there shouldnt be a dim light coming from the fog light area, even if it is white.

So I at this point decide its easier to go along with it and not kick up a fuss because the prick obvously has nothing better to do.

So I pop the bonnet, unplug the lights in the fogs, while im doing this hes making some "ahhh" noises telling me my wiring is dangerous (Its a dual optic conversion, with spades going into bulbs, all spades are electrical taped up and colour coded so I know what ones what) so I ask him why and he says because theres so many wires :S tells me to fix it.

Then he checks my battery is secure by lifting the handle and wobbing it around, then yanks it up and snaps the handle off the battery, tell me its fine. No f**king apology for breaking a piece of my car or anything. Tells me to then take the sidelights out too and go home instead of hanging around town.

Point of this rant being:

1. Are the sidelights fine? Their white in colour and he just said they were wrong and illegal because the headlights were more yellowish in colour.

2. Are the lights in the fogs legal, their a dim white light also, kind of like an extra sidelight, causes no dazzling to anyone and if anything they help because people can see more.

Didnt bother asking for his badge number of name because he would probably get arsey with me and do a full check on the car.

 

[Adam.]

From what you've said you are running illegal lights.

 

[Sam_]

yeah never run fog lights (or dimly lit fog lights) when its not foggy.

unsure about the LED side lights though I've got them in mine and Living in the centre of brighton drive past a lot of police cars and never had a problem.

that said I do carry the originals with me just in case

 

[kerry-w]

yeah never run fog lights (or dimly lit fog lights) when its not foggy.

unsure about the LED side lights though I've got them in mine and Living in the centre of brighton drive past a lot of police cars and never had a problem.

that said I do carry the originals with me just in case

How do a shed load of minis get away with it then :S they have the little fog light holes that act as sidelights, see loads of them going around town all of the time.

Its more the fact that he was fiddling around and snapped the handle off, then said nothing about it that pissed me off tbh, could tell he had nothing better to do with his time.

 

[Sam_]

Yeah unfortunately its never worth arguing with a copper. their always right (even when their wrong)

I had my whole car emptied out by the side of road once after they stopped me for leaving my side lights on.... said something about I might have illegal weapons on board???!!!!

I didn't so after half an hour they left me to sort my car out by the side of a very busy road. Did not win any fans that day.

 

[.Andy.]

Fog lights have there name for a reason, for driving in "FOG"

 

[kerry-w]

Yeah unfortunately its never worth arguing with a copper. their always right (even when their wrong)

I had my whole car emptied out by the side of road once after they stopped me for leaving my side lights on.... said something about I might have illegal weapons on board???!!!!

I didn't so after half an hour they left me to sort my car out by the side of a very busy road. Did not win any fans that day.

Yep ive learnt that from previous times too, find it odd how he didnt breathalise me really. People in the car were off it and all he asked me was "have you been drinking" was surprised he didnt because I had to ask where I just came from because id forgot the name :rasp:

Hopefully just wont see him around again, other coppers that have stopped the car have been fine with everything, seen all the lights etc and only stopped me because the reverse lights were stuck on and gave me 14 days to fix it.

Looking at my lights and his lights though at the time they were the exact same colour, so he was just being an arse.

 

[kerry-w]

Fog lights have there name for a reason, for driving in "FOG"

Read the post, I dont have "fog" lights

 

[joshclio999]

i got pulled over recently (routine stuff apparently) and had LED white sidelights in and had no problems, but i have got xenons so they are same colour as the bulbs, as said above though, police are always right even even when they are being divs. which is normally alot of the time with younger drivers.

 

[kerry-w]

i got pulled over recently (routine stuff apparently) and had LED white sidelights in and had no problems, but i have got xenons so they are same colour as the bulbs, as said above though, police are always right even even when they are being divs. which is normally alot of the time with younger drivers.

Thanks, might change the bulbs for some more white ones than the current ebay specials.

Never had any problems with them before and theyve always been nice about things and told me what the problem was etc.

 

[DrR]

???? No wonder you got pulled

 

[PP200t]

I agree on the fogs but some cars have 'driving lights' which are different I think. My old fiesta si had them. Minis have sidelights separate and that's the design.

 

[kerry-w]

???? No wonder you got pulled

That photo really didnt catch it properly, they are no where near as bright as that.

 

[Gouldy]

Led sidelights are fully legal if they are White. You shouldn't have your fog lights on and if the copper damaged my vehicle I would of got his name, all his details and what police force he is part of. An officer is not allowed to vandalise your vehicle. Pulling on the battery until the handle snaps is too much force just the check that the battery is fastened in correctly.

 

[MT AUDIO]

regardless as to whether you call them driving lights or fog lights their position that they are mounted on the vehicle dictates what they are classed as,ie FOG LIGHTS
so long as your led bulbs are e marked they are road legal

 

[kerry-w]

Led sidelights are fully legal if they are White. You shouldn't have your fog lights on and if the copper damaged my vehicle I would of got his name, all his details and what police force he is part of. An officer is not allowed to vandalise your vehicle. Pulling on the battery until the handle snaps is too much force just the check that the battery is fastened in correctly.

Thanks for that, couldnt be bothered getting his badge and name because I just wanted the **** gone and me to be on my way because it was 1am and I had work at 8 and really didnt need him wasting my time.

regardless as to whether you call them driving lights or fog lights their position that they are mounted on the vehicle dictates what they are classed as,ie FOG LIGHTS
so long as your led bulbs are e marked they are road legal

Ah never knew that one, seen cars with sidelights at the bottom where the foglights would normally be. Not too sure on the e mark, ill take a look tomorrow.

 

[MarcB]

I have White LED side lights and a white LED licence plate light and i have been stopped a dozen times by the traffic and they have also admitted that the rear licence plate light is OK as it does not state in the highway code or in the road traffic act how bright it has to be or what bulb has to be in it aslong as it lights up the number plate in white.

As for the side lights you can drive around with them on all you like no matter where you are or what time it is at as once again there is nothing in the road traffic act or in the highway code that states you "MUST" drive with your main bean on.

There is one traffoc officer round town that actually waves at me now as he has stopped me 3/4 times and most of the time im stopped cause of the car and the fact i potter about at 20mph and plod along

 

[Alastair.]

vectra touring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PP200t]

^^ awesome cars those!!

 

[balax]

i love vectra super tourings!! i used to have a vecgsi, so will always have a soft spot

 

[DanielJames]

Love the Vectra!

Hate the fog lights a few posts above..

 

[Goodj]

MSD Vectra's are winners.

 

[Tigger]

I have the LED (13xSMD per side) in as my sidelights - match the xenons really well and never have a problem when passing police checkpoints etc and they passed the MOT :hail:

Also have the LED fog light bulbs with about 48x SMD on each bulb lol but I don't USE THEM unless it is FOGGY

Also passed MOT - that's how I roll

PS - I'd rather push a Renault than drive a Vauxhall/Opel :dead:

 

[dredge3]

Driving lights and fog lights used to differ because of the bulb and lense. Fog lights beam is spread. The bulbs beam bounces of a plate and the lense diflects if. Driving lights are a direct beam.
Try putting your high beam on in bad fog.They will make it worse.Then try turning your lights off....much better. Light and water (fog) dont mix

 

[Mike...]

I have a fog light question actually not worth starting a new thead so will stick it in here. (Hope you dont mind kerry-w)

Anyway.

Fog lights - May seem a dumb question but can they really only be used in fog?

Example; Yesterday, it was pissing rain all day, the sky was grey, I was driving on the motorway and so there was plenty of water spray and making it to see other cars who had their regualr lights on. If I were to put on my fogs would the OB have a problem in that situation? I could see them saying they should only be used in fog but wasnt like the conditions yesterday were normal.

 

[SC03OTT]

I have a fog light question actually not worth starting a new thead so will stick it in here. (Hope you dont mind kerry-w)

Anyway.

Fog lights - May seem a dumb question but can they really only be used in fog?

Example; Yesterday, it was pissing rain all day, the sky was grey, I was driving on the motorway and so there was plenty of water spray and making it to see other cars who had their regualr lights on. If I were to put on my fogs would the OB have a problem in that situation? I could see them saying they should only be used in fog but wasnt like the conditions yesterday were normal.

The Highway Code doesn't specifically mention fog when using them. All it says is when visibility is reduced to 100m or less. So yes, technically you can use them in very heavy rain (spray).

 

[spuzzcake]

lol at op for cowardly bending over

 

[Goodj]

Anyway, back on subject.
LED's look toss on anything uther than cars that had them from the factory.
Period.

May as well just get a Sunstrip with "Bellend" written on it for good measure.

 

[Tigger]

Goodj you're always so delightful with your words on here lol :clown:

lol at op for cowardly bending over

CS traditionally requires pics of THIS!

 

[kerry-w]

Thanks for all the help in this thread, going to ditch the fogs now anyway and smooth the surrounds over into the bumper.

lol at op for cowardly bending over

Yes whatever you say you hard f**k, I didnt really want to get hassle off the dickhead of a cop at 1am when I wanted to be home asap to get some sleep before work. Plus then I can garuntee that he would have something against my car and flag me down as much as possible.

 

[.Andy.]

Read the post, I dont have "fog" lights

 

[joshclio999]

Anyway, back on subject.
LED's look toss on anything uther than cars that had them from the factory.
Period.

May as well just get a Sunstrip with "Bellend" written on it for good measure.

I know that's your opinion, but surely if a car has xenons factory fitted, adding some led side lights looks better lol
Imo leds are much less 'toss' than go faster stripes!

 

[john182rs]

???? No wonder you got pulled

If my lights were this bright i'd be awaiting to be pulled, your lights are majorly blue.

End of the day, dont argue with a Police officer. Its a well learnt lesson for me. Did he give your any notifications, points of a small fine of any sort? If not then shut up moaning about it. Maybe he was having a bad day and wanted to look at your arse as your bent over in the car.

 

[kerry-w]

If my lights were this bright i'd be awaiting to be pulled, your lights are majorly blue.

End of the day, dont argue with a Police officer. Its a well learnt lesson for me. Did he give your any notifications, points of a small fine of any sort? If not then shut up moaning about it. Maybe he was having a bad day and wanted to look at your arse as your bent over in the car.

Their not actualy blue, if you see them in actual light they are white. The camera hasnt picked it up well and with the normal lights being more yellow it makes them look blue.

No points, fine or anything, just the fact he was being a dick about it and snapped my battery handle off is what pissed me off. How about you go f**k off yourself?

 

[Goodj]

How very pleasant

 

[Gouldy]

Anyway, back on subject.
LED's look toss on anything uther than cars that had them from the factory.
Period.

May as well just get a Sunstrip with "Bellend" written on it for good measure.

I disagree, I changed my side lights for LED bulbs. The yellow side lights looked crap especially with the bright xenons.

The White LED lights look alot better IMO

 

[kerry-w]

How very pleasant

Well if people are going to get arsey on here and start telling me to shut up then they dont really deserve me to act nice towards them do they.

I disagree, I changed my side lights for LED bulbs. The yellow side lights looked crap especially with the bright xenons.

The White LED lights look alot better IMO

Agreed, plus whenever ive had filament bulbs they dont seem to last very long at all before they burn the bulb so it goes a smokey black on the inside.

 

[DanielJames]

May as well just get a Sunstrip with "Bellend" written on it for good measure.

lol I'm sure I posted something similar to this the other day

great minds think alike!

 

[fUbAr]

Yes whatever you say you hard f**k

How about you go f**k off yourself?

You're quite an angry person aren't you?

Calm down dear.

 

[kerry-w]

You're quite an angry person aren't you?

Calm down dear.

Well if half the people on here dont just spend their time trolling I wouldnt bother to kick up a fuss about it.