Please excuse the length of this post but I have recently noticed an increase in ‘angry people’ regarding the so called ‘illegal’ use of LED bulbs. Certainly, a FB forum post that resulted in PMs with sexual swear words to a Panda owner and reference to reporting unroadworthy vehicles, death and prison threats suggest some people are not being nice to each other. This post is intended for a rational discussion so if you end every discussion with ‘your stupid cause I am right’ don’t bother posting.
I come to this forum with almost 50 years of modifying, detailing and restoring cars and bikes. My day job has included working on everything from mining equipment to ram jet engines and most of the last 30 years in HSE and legislative compliance. I am a chartered mechanical engineer, Fellow of an institute and SME for an aerospace company. I am not a police office, lawyer, barrister, judge or writer of legal statutes. If you are one of those you win any argument on what’s legal hands down!
LEDs are amazing devices that use less energy, can be easily configured and controlled for output and are significantly more resilient against shock and vibration. I predict that they will eventually replace all conventional bulbs and very soon. My basis for this is the rapid growth in the industrial, commercial, domestic consumer and defence markets.
So, what’s the issue?
LED technology advanced rapidly and of course Chinese exports offered this improved technology cheaply and hence the growth of this market encouraged more and better developments. The legislators however have failed as usual to keep up. The use of after market bulbs is covered by The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 and the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (ECE Regulations) Regulation 37. You could spend hours reading these but they refer to filament bulbs. The regulations refer to an E mark. LEDs can’t have an E mark as there is no detail in the regulations. Note there is a E mark for almost every bit of a motor vehicle.
The legislation needs to change and eventually the legislators will be forced as conventional bulbs disappear.
Here lots of people will go its illegal then? Well, they are not ‘road legal’ but so is any other item (brakes, windscreen, number plate light bulb etc) you have on your vehicle that does not have a E mark.
Is it illegal sell, buy and or to fit an LED bulb of any type to your vehicle? My view no. You can fit what ever you like to your vehicle within reason. The issue is use. Remember that having any lights fitted other than brake is not mandated (track day cars, trial bikes etc.) for an MoT just if fitted they have to work. I could happily drive to an off-road location, use my LED headlights then drive home in daylight without them on. Have I committed an offence?
To claim illegal, you need to define the offence. Dazzling, blinding or otherwise distracting other road uses by the use of excessively bright, misaligned or defective headlights is a good definition. Everyone with extra bright bulbs from eBay, extra power bulbs (55w when your rating is 35w Classic Panda owners), tinted bulbs etc. etc. all potential for an offence. No fluid in your HID head lamp wash, one light broken and driving with fog lights when its not foggy all offences.
As I said at the beginning the people that can define an offence are police office, lawyer, barrister, judge or writer of legal statutes. We are not a Police state (yet) and for every offence we all have the right to be judged by our peers in court and then we have a right of appeal. Fitting an LED bulb will not have your car crushed and will not get you thrown in prison.
The roadworthy issue has recently changed. If an MoT inspector identifies aftermarket HID or LED head lamp bulbs you will get a fail. A punitive reaction by the Brexit Government fighting with technology challenging 1989 legislation and throwing the problem to the garages. However, a MoT inspection cannot include the removal of parts even lower engine covers to inspect suspension. The inspector could guess perhaps? He or she cannot strip the headlamp or any other parts to check for the E mark.
Why are a large number of people unhappy with LEDs? Well early bulbs were poor by design and had very odd light scatter patterns, lots of flickering and a tendency to go on/off when overheating. It was also convenient to blame LED users for all oncoming headlamp deficiencies. More 50% brighter, tinted and larger power filament bulbs have been sold. Xenon upgrades to Halogen lamps are common. My hate is LED number plate bulbs that are so bright they obscure the plate characters (oh yea that’s an offence). Modern LEDs are better designed and give very good patterns deliberately to avoid drawing any attention to the device. The suppliers want the market and automotive aftermarket sales are quality driven.
So, the future is LED and the issue is updating the regulations before the market takes control. I think its already done so. Look at so called ’legal highs’ electric scooters and CB radio.
Will you get pulled over? Not if it’s a quality product and doesn’t cause the dazzling etc detailed above. Is the only crime getting caught or is it a government that won’t keep pace with technology?
Me? I have 19 LEDs units/bulbs on my Panda only 2 are in question. I have a valid MoT so by the Government measure I am roadworthy. All my mods (lots) are declared to my insurance company including the LEDs and I have an engineers report on the renovation. I also have a headlamp test record that’s fully compliant with UK requirements. I have no idea how many of the classic original parts are E marked but as it was built in 1987 probably few. Roadworthy? Well on road it has interesting handling characteristics off road it’s a monster. A set of Defender LED sealed units are £120 so I might go that route for the next build.
Finishing we should as car enthusiasts be kind to like-minded souls. Well unless you have a bike rack covering your number plate and don’t know how to turn your fog lamps off. Please don’t claim you are so legally aware that you can declare what’s illegal, not roadworthy and decide punishment until you fall into the earlier defined categories. I can find no court cases, case law or other actions concerning fitting LED headlamp bulbs. If you can please share.
More info?
https://www.suffolk.police.uk/advice/roads-and-vehicles/car-modifications
https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/blog/are-led-headlights-legal-in-the-uk/
https://www.halfords.com/motoring/advice/car-bulbs-and-the-law.html
I come to this forum with almost 50 years of modifying, detailing and restoring cars and bikes. My day job has included working on everything from mining equipment to ram jet engines and most of the last 30 years in HSE and legislative compliance. I am a chartered mechanical engineer, Fellow of an institute and SME for an aerospace company. I am not a police office, lawyer, barrister, judge or writer of legal statutes. If you are one of those you win any argument on what’s legal hands down!
LEDs are amazing devices that use less energy, can be easily configured and controlled for output and are significantly more resilient against shock and vibration. I predict that they will eventually replace all conventional bulbs and very soon. My basis for this is the rapid growth in the industrial, commercial, domestic consumer and defence markets.
So, what’s the issue?
LED technology advanced rapidly and of course Chinese exports offered this improved technology cheaply and hence the growth of this market encouraged more and better developments. The legislators however have failed as usual to keep up. The use of after market bulbs is covered by The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 and the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (ECE Regulations) Regulation 37. You could spend hours reading these but they refer to filament bulbs. The regulations refer to an E mark. LEDs can’t have an E mark as there is no detail in the regulations. Note there is a E mark for almost every bit of a motor vehicle.
The legislation needs to change and eventually the legislators will be forced as conventional bulbs disappear.
Here lots of people will go its illegal then? Well, they are not ‘road legal’ but so is any other item (brakes, windscreen, number plate light bulb etc) you have on your vehicle that does not have a E mark.
Is it illegal sell, buy and or to fit an LED bulb of any type to your vehicle? My view no. You can fit what ever you like to your vehicle within reason. The issue is use. Remember that having any lights fitted other than brake is not mandated (track day cars, trial bikes etc.) for an MoT just if fitted they have to work. I could happily drive to an off-road location, use my LED headlights then drive home in daylight without them on. Have I committed an offence?
To claim illegal, you need to define the offence. Dazzling, blinding or otherwise distracting other road uses by the use of excessively bright, misaligned or defective headlights is a good definition. Everyone with extra bright bulbs from eBay, extra power bulbs (55w when your rating is 35w Classic Panda owners), tinted bulbs etc. etc. all potential for an offence. No fluid in your HID head lamp wash, one light broken and driving with fog lights when its not foggy all offences.
As I said at the beginning the people that can define an offence are police office, lawyer, barrister, judge or writer of legal statutes. We are not a Police state (yet) and for every offence we all have the right to be judged by our peers in court and then we have a right of appeal. Fitting an LED bulb will not have your car crushed and will not get you thrown in prison.
The roadworthy issue has recently changed. If an MoT inspector identifies aftermarket HID or LED head lamp bulbs you will get a fail. A punitive reaction by the Brexit Government fighting with technology challenging 1989 legislation and throwing the problem to the garages. However, a MoT inspection cannot include the removal of parts even lower engine covers to inspect suspension. The inspector could guess perhaps? He or she cannot strip the headlamp or any other parts to check for the E mark.
Why are a large number of people unhappy with LEDs? Well early bulbs were poor by design and had very odd light scatter patterns, lots of flickering and a tendency to go on/off when overheating. It was also convenient to blame LED users for all oncoming headlamp deficiencies. More 50% brighter, tinted and larger power filament bulbs have been sold. Xenon upgrades to Halogen lamps are common. My hate is LED number plate bulbs that are so bright they obscure the plate characters (oh yea that’s an offence). Modern LEDs are better designed and give very good patterns deliberately to avoid drawing any attention to the device. The suppliers want the market and automotive aftermarket sales are quality driven.
So, the future is LED and the issue is updating the regulations before the market takes control. I think its already done so. Look at so called ’legal highs’ electric scooters and CB radio.
Will you get pulled over? Not if it’s a quality product and doesn’t cause the dazzling etc detailed above. Is the only crime getting caught or is it a government that won’t keep pace with technology?
Me? I have 19 LEDs units/bulbs on my Panda only 2 are in question. I have a valid MoT so by the Government measure I am roadworthy. All my mods (lots) are declared to my insurance company including the LEDs and I have an engineers report on the renovation. I also have a headlamp test record that’s fully compliant with UK requirements. I have no idea how many of the classic original parts are E marked but as it was built in 1987 probably few. Roadworthy? Well on road it has interesting handling characteristics off road it’s a monster. A set of Defender LED sealed units are £120 so I might go that route for the next build.
Finishing we should as car enthusiasts be kind to like-minded souls. Well unless you have a bike rack covering your number plate and don’t know how to turn your fog lamps off. Please don’t claim you are so legally aware that you can declare what’s illegal, not roadworthy and decide punishment until you fall into the earlier defined categories. I can find no court cases, case law or other actions concerning fitting LED headlamp bulbs. If you can please share.
More info?
https://www.suffolk.police.uk/advice/roads-and-vehicles/car-modifications
https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/blog/are-led-headlights-legal-in-the-uk/
https://www.halfords.com/motoring/advice/car-bulbs-and-the-law.html