Driving Light Legality
Submitted: Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 12:35
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MintabiePete
When I was full time in the opal fields and driving between
Mintabie &
Broken Hill at one stage I had my big Hella Bullight with a 150 watt sealed beam 6" light each side of it and it was perfect for night time driving , I could spot the roos on the side of the road from a long way back . I had my alterator delta'd to give me more amps , so I never had any problems with losing
battery power with the amount of lights I had .
Then I changed my headlights to the brighter xenon blue lights and found that I didn't need the 150 watt lights , which was good as the sealed beam units were starting to cost a fortune to replace , but I still kept my big Hella Bullight in the middle , which I used to take off in the daylight to let airflow through on my HJ 75 to keep the temps down in the summer .
Now it has come to my notice that even before when I was running 3 lights plus my 2 headlights I may have been running illegal , as I have also been told that if you have a driving light , they have to be in pairs , so even with only the 1 bullight in the centre I may not be actually legal . I was going to go to the RTA here in
Broken Hill and ask them , but thought of checking with you mob first :)
What are your thoughts on this ?
Reply By: Dave198 - Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 13:03
Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 13:03
Pete, I am also in
Broken Hill, and you see plenty of trucks going through town with one bullight in the middle.
Not sure about the legality, I have heard similar stories, but if it's good for some, whynot others.
Maybe the problem might exist with it protruding too far forward from the bullbar, if you strike a pedantic member of the force.
Dave
AnswerID:
233766
Reply By: Redback - Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 13:31
Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 13:31
From what i've been told (NSW ONLY) you can run 2 lights and 4 lights only, no odd numbers 1 or 3, and running them on the roof is illegal unless it's for ornamental purposes only, they are not allowed to work if mounted on the roof.
Also they must be a mixture of spread and spot, with
the spot beam being on the drivers side.
Baz.
AnswerID:
233778
Follow Up By: Member -Signman - Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 14:14
Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 14:14
Re: roof mounted lights..
I have a ADR engineer a couple of doors up from my workshop. His son has a 'feral ute' with 4 lights across the roof. I asked the engineer re the legality. No probs. as long as they are a white beam- and dip off when switching to low beam.
Thats in NSW....
FollowupID:
494650
Follow Up By: Member - Willie , Epping .Syd. - Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 17:33
Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 17:33
Baz ,
I cannot believe that my two spead beams are illegal . Sorry .
Willie .
FollowupID:
494695
Reply By: Time - Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 13:33
Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 13:33
ADR13/00 Says
7.3. DRIVING LAMPS
7.3.1. Presence: Optional on motor vehicles. Prohibited on trailers.
7.3.2. Number:
7.3.2.1. Two or four.
7.3.2.2. To be used in conjunction with headlamps.
7.3.3. Arrangement
No individual specifications
7.3.4. Position
7.3.4.1. In width no individual specifications.
7.3.4.2. In height: no individual specifications.
7.3.4.3. In length: at the front of the vehicle and fitted in such a way that
the light emitted does not cause discomfort to the driver either
directly or indirectly through the rear-view mirrors and/or other
reflecting surfaces of the vehicle.
7.3.5. Geometric visibility
No individual specifications.
7.3.6. Orientation
Towards the front.
7.3.7. Electrical connections
The driving lamps must be able to be lighted only when the mainbeam
headlamps switch is in the “lamps on” position.
AnswerID:
233779
Reply By: MP - Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 16:26
Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 16:26
A few years ago now mate had an old Nissan Skyline GTS defected (while the wife was driving
home from work mind you!) because he had 3 spotlights mounted on a pram handle. Reason - must be in pairs with min 600mm centres.
Cheers
MP
AnswerID:
233804
Follow Up By: Brew69(SA) - Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 20:13
Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 20:13
Yep i had a mate defected for same thing. Lights MUST be 600mm from centre to centre. Just about every vehicle on the road is illegal.
FollowupID:
494758
Reply By: nowimnumberone - Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 18:17
Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 18:17
iv vic you can only pair them up with the maximum numer of 6 including factory headlights.not sure about other states
cheers
AnswerID:
233836
Reply By: hiab - Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 19:10
Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 19:10
we get the scalies to come to the workshop to
check cars for compliance if they are changing rego from interstate to nt rego, i have asked one what about spotties on the top bar of a bullbar, he said illegal but we dont police it unless the lights are ridiculously mounted. seems to make sense as some of the cop 4wds that go to remote communities have lights on top of the bar, rafferties rules in true territory style, wouldnt have it any other way.
AnswerID:
233846
Reply By: MintabiePete - Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 20:05
Monday, Apr 16, 2007 at 20:05
Thanks for everyone's reply , I tend to go along with Dave198 & hiab and with my experience over the years the constabulary have better things to do than knock you off , unless as has been mentioned , you go over the top with your setups .
But seems to me these days with the way the insurance companies are set up you have to cover yourself as much as you can , I have no intention of changing my setup from the way it is now , unless something drastically changes in my thinking :)
AnswerID:
233859