Taxi Driver Online :: View topic - Is that the law on my tail?

Is it just me again becoming even more of a grumpy old man or does it annoy others? Or for that matter does anyone have these already?

I have these lights on my mini cooper S and yes your right an expensive added extra, but boy are they worth it when you drive at night and the street lights up, however i can see the other side of this too and from a safety point of view its good for the driver of said vehicle but not for some oncomers :roll:

kermit2482 wrote:

my wife drives a cooper s with them fitted, very nice, I made sure the car I bought, DIDN'T have them fitted. WHY? the mini is a company car, the car I use I pay for, has anyone with these lights ever had one fail, we have, dealer replacement only, cost in excess of £150 for one light bulb change?

Nice but maybe not for working cars!!!!

As it stands at the moment, the law says that only police emergency vehicles can have blue flashing lights but these “trendy” new lights seem to come awfully close breaking this rule. Seems to me that there’s a bit of the “I’m alright Jack” thinking with anyone that fits these. For sure a brighter light makes it easier for you to see at night but this is at the expense of other road users. And why do they flash so much? Surley the bulbs can't all be loose!

And that's just lights - don't get me started on other things. :sad:

In practical terms, the life span of the bulb is equal to that of the car, which means that the bulb need only be replaced in exceptional cases.

Author:	bill_datamaster [ Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:53 pm ]
Post subject:	Is that the law on my tail?
I don’t know about anyone else but I’m becoming a bit irritated at the increasing use of the new xenon style headlights. This is an extract from one such supplier. ---------------------------------------- Xenon headlights are the new generation headlights that are fitted to most luxury cars and most new cars can have them fitted as an (expensive) option. They produce 300% more light than standard halogens and yet use 20watts less of power. The light produced is very white with a blue tint when it is approaching. The new trend of manufacturers is to make the light appear more and more blue (the new range rover is a good example). ---------------------------------------- As it stands at the moment, the law says that only police emergency vehicles can have blue flashing lights but these “trendy” new lights seem to come awfully close breaking this rule. Seems to me that there’s a bit of the “I’m alright Jack” thinking with anyone that fits these. For sure a brighter light makes it easier for you to see at night but this is at the expense of other road users. And why do they flash so much? Surley the bulbs can't all be loose! Is it just me again becoming even more of a grumpy old man or does it annoy others? Or for that matter does anyone have these already? Bill

Author:	bigj2552 [ Tue Apr 25, 2006 5:42 pm ]
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just you being grumpy ol bugger i have these lights factory fitted on my p/h car. bloody great nite driving over ordinary lights.... but i get your point with on coming traffic...... had few ppl flashing my as if i had full beam on when i havent just give em a quick flash back and that solves that one . sry but...until you drive with these lights yourself...you will never know the benifits of having these on your car....trust me

Author:	Sussex [ Tue Apr 25, 2006 5:54 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Is that the law on my tail?
bill_datamaster wrote: Is it just me again becoming even more of a grumpy old man or does it annoy others? Or for that matter does anyone have these already? Don't really do much for me, so perhaps I'm a grumpy in waiting.

Author:	meltingsmoke [ Wed Apr 26, 2006 11:08 pm ]
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bloody great never been flash at by on coming traffic.. less power 35 watts pass the councils test no problem

Author:	meltingsmoke [ Wed Apr 26, 2006 11:11 pm ]
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but did people complain when the halogen bulbs first came out

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Author:	kermit2482 [ Wed Apr 26, 2006 11:22 pm ]
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I have these lights on my mini cooper S and yes your right an expensive added extra, but boy are they worth it when you drive at night and the street lights up, however i can see the other side of this too and from a safety point of view its good for the driver of said vehicle but not for some oncomers

Author:	peebee [ Thu Apr 27, 2006 10:44 am ]
Post subject:
kermit2482 wrote: I have these lights on my mini cooper S and yes your right an expensive added extra, but boy are they worth it when you drive at night and the street lights up, however i can see the other side of this too and from a safety point of view its good for the driver of said vehicle but not for some oncomers my wife drives a cooper s with them fitted, very nice, I made sure the car I bought, DIDN'T have them fitted. WHY? the mini is a company car, the car I use I pay for, has anyone with these lights ever had one fail, we have, dealer replacement only, cost in excess of £150 for one light bulb change? Nice but maybe not for working cars!!!!

Author:	bigj2552 [ Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:23 am ]
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peebee wrote: kermit2482 wrote: I have these lights on my mini cooper S and yes your right an expensive added extra, but boy are they worth it when you drive at night and the street lights up, however i can see the other side of this too and from a safety point of view its good for the driver of said vehicle but not for some oncomers my wife drives a cooper s with them fitted, very nice, I made sure the car I bought, DIDN'T have them fitted. WHY? the mini is a company car, the car I use I pay for, has anyone with these lights ever had one fail, we have, dealer replacement only, cost in excess of £150 for one light bulb change? Nice but maybe not for working cars!!!! why not ? i have em on my p/h taxi . and if bulb fails...i can get new one for around 20incl vat...but..... u can do it ur self...but its dam bad for the hair do if it goes wrong $\:D/$ serious dose of volts through ya doesnt fair well with the ticker never mind the hair . dealer garage said they would charge around £30 to change... but my mechanic who services my cars will do it fo £15...so there u have it

Author:	peebee [ Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:26 am ]
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must just be the mini and luxury cars that are so expensive then.

Author:	TDO [ Thu Apr 27, 2006 5:50 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Is that the law on my tail?
bill_datamaster wrote: As it stands at the moment, the law says that only police emergency vehicles can have blue flashing lights but these “trendy” new lights seem to come awfully close breaking this rule. Seems to me that there’s a bit of the “I’m alright Jack” thinking with anyone that fits these. For sure a brighter light makes it easier for you to see at night but this is at the expense of other road users. And why do they flash so much? Surley the bulbs can't all be loose! To be honest I don't really notice them much nowadays since they've become more widespread. In fact in the context of the roads in general there are dozens of more irritating things, for example: 1 Cars with bulbs out 2 Cars with front foglights on in all weathers 3 Drivers who do 2 to compensate for 1 - why break one law when you can breake two? 4 Drivers who park against the traffic with headlights on - many taxi drivers are particularly adept at this. Or with the traffic, come to that. 5 Drivers who sit with their foot on the brake for long periods, particularly taxi drivers on the rank 6 Drivers with these cheap blue tint replacement bulbs which were all the rage for about five minutes before it was discovered that they were crap for seeing the road, but are still used by a handful of mainly boy-racer types. 7 Cars with these little blue (usually) lights at the windscreen washer nozzles. 8 Assorted other boy racer-style adornments such as coloured lenses. 9 Under-body neons - the worst of the lot 10 Drivers who go to full beam just before they reach you - very clever! 11 Drivers who go around in town with only parking lights on because they think it's cool. 12 Drivers in poor visibility/bad weather who go without lights at all, or those who put their side lights on, which generally makes no difference - what's the point? And that's just lights - don't get me started on other things.

Author:	Sussex [ Thu Apr 27, 2006 5:56 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Is that the law on my tail?
TDO wrote: And that's just lights - don't get me started on other things. Edition Two will be out soon with a whole chapter just for TDO.

Author:	TDO [ Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:03 pm ]
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Yes, apparently some of these guys are barely forty. I prefer 'middle-aged' rather than 'old'.

Author:	kermit2482 [ Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:12 pm ]
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I take it you have had a bad experience with the boy racer brigade then However i think you have a valid point

Author:	meltingsmoke [ Fri Apr 28, 2006 11:08 am ]
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And why do they flash so much? Surley the bulbs can't all be loose! there don't flash i think you see the light change though the head light lens .. like a Prism Even the latest blue look on factory fit Xenons is not produced by the bulb, but by the reflector/projector lense. Refraction spilt the colour of the light like a Prism if you remember that experiment from Physics, High Intensity Discharge (HID) is a new type of lighting technology that's primarily different from the conventional halogen bulbs that use a heated tungsten filament. Unlike Halogen lamps, High-Intensity-Discharge (HID) lamps don't have a filament but create light by the arc between two electrodes. The arc activates the Xenon, which in turn ignites the metal halide. The light produced by an HID Xenon lighting system is greater than a standard halogen bulb and with less power consumption. On the road, HID Xenon lighting systems appear as a bright white beam which resembles natural daylight. The bright white beam offers greater visibility and road safety i got hid type bulbs not the cheap blue tinted ones Colour Temperature: 5000, 6000-8000k (white yellow tint, crystal white with crisp delicate blue tint, white stong blue tint) I really recommend the 6000k. Yes its true OEM is 4300K. In an HID Xenon lighting system, the voltage between the two electrodes rises firstly from 12V to 23000V and keeps stable at 8000V by using the Xenon HID ballasts system. Due to the ultra high voltage, the Xenon gas ionises and a super-bright beam is produced, whose colour temperature is up to 12000K. The HID Xenon lighting is much more economic, more stable and brighter than conventional vehicle lighting. 3 TIMES BRIGHTER The clear white light produced by the Xenon bulb is similar to daylight. Research has shown that this enables drivers to concentrate better. Furthermore, this particular light colour reflects the road markings and signs better than conventional lighting. EXTREMELY LONG LIFE The xenon bulb also delivers a marked contribution to road safety in the event of limited visibility due to weather conditions. In practical terms, the life span of the bulb is equal to that of the car, which means that the bulb need only be replaced in exceptional cases.

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Author:	peebee [ Fri Apr 28, 2006 11:14 am ]
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meltingsmoke wrote: In practical terms, the life span of the bulb is equal to that of the car, which means that the bulb need only be replaced in exceptional cases. yeah our mini was less than a year old, and the bill was over £150, unlucky?