Wednesday, Jan 31, 2018 at 17:09
Shaker the part of the ADR to which you refer concerns Side Indicator Lamps which as their name implies are mounted on the side of the vehicle, not at the rear.
Hi mounted rear lamps and hi mounted front park/indicator lamps are NOT illegal provided the original lamps are mounted in the ADR specified preferred height positions. The ADR also provides that where a vehicles structure is such that the lamps cannot be mounted at the heights specified, then other height mounting positions are permitted. Every mining light vehicle in WA as
well as mining contractors light vehicles are fitted with hi mounted rear lamps and many are fitted with hi mounted front park/indicator lamps as
well. The reason is so the dump truck & FEL operators, which are obviously much higher, can see these vehicles. The lights on these vehicles are not restricted to mine site use and can be seen daily on public roads as are many 4WD enthusiasts similarly modified vehicles. If you are improving vehicle visibility hence its safety, provided the mounting of the ADR required lamps complies in terms of height and does not present a distraction or confuse other road users then no copper with an ounce of common sense is going to be interested. That said, you always get the over zealous few who are usually wrong anyway.
The hi mounted lamps up to 4.3m in height at the front and rear of pantechs, omnibuses and other large heavy vehicles are not stop/tail/indicator lamps but are correctly called End Outline Marker Lamps (formerly Clearance Lamps) They are required to be mounted at the extremities of width and height to heavy vehicles with this type of body structure to indicate to oncoming/following drivers the size and presence of such vehicles which are wider and sometimes slower (sometimes not) than light vehicles. ADR13 specifies different mounting positions for lamps on various vehicle categories such as passenger, off-road, light/medium/heavy commercial motor vehicles, light/heavy trailers, light/heavy omnibuses, motor cycles, etc. You cannot compare or justify the rules that apply to one vehicle category to another because each is specific to that vehicle type. It is also common to see on heavy vehicles additional rear stop/indicator lamps to make them more visible in conditions of poor visibility such as fog or spray caused by wet conditions or because the lower lamps become dirty with road grime or diesel fumes and this is quite legal provided as with light vehicles the original lamps are mounted within the correct height range as specified in the ADR.
McLaren3030. You state: "Basically all the commercially produced rear bars that include wheel/Jerrycan carriers have extra lights fitted in the bars to conform to the ADR as can be seen in the attached photo" The commercially produced bars sold in VIctoria must be better than those sold in WA because most here do not comply insofar as lighting is concerned as mentioned in my earlier post. Not criticising but I beg to differ that yours is compliant (TBC by tape measure) as the red reflectors appear to exceed the maximum 400mm from the outside edge of the vehicle as ADR13 specifies and this has resulted in the LH red reflector being almost impossible to see below the spare tyre.
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