LED Headlights

Hi, I currently have LED lights in my reflector housings and was just wondering if in the event I did get stopped by the police and they noticed said lights, if I could change them on the spot right there and then would they still fine/punish me?

Thanks.

I had a guy write me up for a tail light bulb out that I fixed before he finished with the ticket. He had a ride along, and had to show off I guess. Fortunately it was just a warning, so no real harm. but in general, if the police person that pulls you over is being a road apple*, then there really isn't a lot to do about it. Then again, if you appear in court and explain the fix, then maybe the judge won't be so anal.

I once got out of a parking ticket by explaining to the judge that the police on the scene when I parked said nothing, even when asked specifically if I was parked OK because snow was covering the lines. So sometimes judges do the right thing, even if the police are acting foolishly.

Cheers,

PH

* A road apple refers to the dung that horses tend to leave on the road. And the large problem of that waste cleanup was something that automobiles were supposed to deliver all of us from.

Once they start writing the ticket it is pretty much over discussing it with them, in my experience.

I got stopped for a headlight out once. When standing outside the car he told me I had a headlight out and he would have to write me a ticket. I banged the fender and the light came on and he let me go. Fixed it the next day at home. Whether you get a ticket depends on the police person and how they feel that day and what kind of record you have. I have to show my LTC (license to carry) when I am stopped along with my license to drive. The very few times I have been stopped we ended up talking firearms and no ticket.

Original poster lives in the UK.

I do know that you have periodic MoT inspections. The place to ask this question, is your friendly local MoT inspection station.

Technically it should be a violation, because the drop-in-replacement LED headlight "bulb" that you have, is not the correct type-approved light source for that housing.

What none of us can possibly know, is whether your friendly local MoT inspection station cares, and whether your local constabulary care.

Around here ... which is not the UK! ... as long as what you have is "reasonable", it won't be a problem. In this particular case, if you have a *good* LED (or HID) replacement bulb that has a proper beam pattern that doesn't excessively glare into oncoming drivers' faces, and you properly dip your headlights to low beam when there is oncoming traffic, it is exceptionally unlikely that you would draw any sort of the wrong kind of attention to yourself. On the other hand, if you have headlights that emit excessive glare on low beam (due to mis-aiming or due to the light source being "too cheap to be good") and you meet a copper on a dark road at night, there is a fair chance that he'll spin around and pull you over, initially for "failure to dip headlights" and then turn up your illegal modification which then, if you are exceptionally unlucky (or lippy to the cop, i.e. you fail the attitude test), turns into the copper pulling your plates and having the vehicle towed with you charged for "operate unsafe vehicle". Doesn't happen often, but it could ...

Agree with GoFaster, posting these questions in the North American forum will not get you the answers you want. Rules and regulations as well enforcement will be different in N.A.

POST in the Europe forum thread.