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HID Legal Trouble?


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I am currently studying criminal justice and from what i have learned so far in virginia if the headlight says VDOT approved then they aren't illegal. so i would recomend checking your states laws. if you find out the laws then there should be no question about if your lights are illegal or not???

Headlight are tested during the design process to get the DOT approval. they are tested with the bulb that will be used in the when the vehicle is new, the housing is still legal but not for use with a different kind of bulb.

you can cook bacon shirtless if you're not a pussy...lol

not hatin, but am i wrong here it looks as if the amp is not grounded its hooked directly to the battery. it that the way it should be.

intr.jpg

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Legality of Alternative Headlights

In the USA, headlights are only legal for use on public roads if they are DOT approved. (Similar laws apply in all other "developed" countries and many other countries.) This requires that samples of the headlights be sent to the proper testing laboratory and certification must be obtained that the design is approved. Approval is only with specific bulbs tested in the lab in the samples and DOT approval is invalid if a different bulb is used.

It is illegal to use on public roads homebrew headlights or headlights using a bulb other than what they were DOT-approved to use. For example, a headlight that is DOT approved and normally uses a 9005 halogen bulb is almost certainly not DOT approved for anything else - especially not a D2S for example.

Many HID conversion kits come with disclaimers to the effect of "off road use only". Such disclaimers may appear in the kit seller's ads, web site, or on the kit packaging. Less honest retrofit outfits may merely fail to let you know that such a retrofit is not road-legal. More dishonest retrofitting outfits may even falsely claim that their headlights or ones modified with their product/service are road legal.

DOT requirements have lower and/or upper limits (sometimes both) on candela ("beam candlepower") into many different directions, as in various angles above, below, and to each side of straight ahead. In the unlikely event your headlight meets all of these and other technical requirements, it is still illegal unless it is submitted for testing and certification.

As for what can happen if you use illegal headlights?

1. Often enough, nothing. This depends on location. In some USA cities, law enforcement of traffic regualtions in general is lax. Police are generally not equipped to do headlight photometry anyway.

2. Some unlawful HID retrofit headlights are obvious to a few cops. It is more obvious if you have the really bluish or aqua-ish or obviously dichroic fake HID bluish headlights that are known to some cops to be a safe bet to not meet the complex photometric and colorimetric standards.

If the cop believes you have unlawful headlights, you can be stopped and ticketed. Depending on your state, the violation may be having an invalid inspection sticker or whatever violation of headlight law. Depending on your state and the mood of the cop, you may in extreme cases be barred from driving the car at night (or at all) until it has legal headlights and it has passed inspection again with the legal headlights.

3. Excessive light in some directions can dazzle other drivers. It is possible for you to be legally liable if this causes or contributes to an accident. Modified headlights might have insufficient light in some directions, and you could be held legally liable if that causes or contributes to an accident.

4. You may have trouble with your insurance company if you have an accident while driving a car that cannot legally pass inspection or has fraudulently passed inspection, even if the inability to legally pass inspection did not contribute to the accident. You might also have trouble with your insurance company if you are cited for driving without valid current inspection stickers or are cited for having fraudulently passed inspection.

Note that at least in some states, "off road" lights must be inoperative when driving on a public road. This may mean having opaque covers on the lights and/or having wiring to the lights disconnected..

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you can cook bacon shirtless if you're not a pussy...lol

not hatin, but am i wrong here it looks as if the amp is not grounded its hooked directly to the battery. it that the way it should be.

intr.jpg

DC.jpgDC POWER

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...suggestion?

Stephen start a new thread with all the information you know about HID's, the legality, brightness, myths, etc.

post it up and have a mod sticky it because its getting ridiculous how many people DON'T know about HID's and think they know

then there just ends up an argument because someone was told something and another person was told the opposite and its not needed IMO

Wouldnt be thehoe92 without teh purple

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So 6000K will not only reduce visibility, but will also more than likely get me ticketed too, regardless of how well they are Aimed?

over stock NO WAY 6k will greatly improve visibility.

even my 12k's improved visibility and they are the least lumens of the range

6k is still white with a little bit of blue so you could get ticketed but the likelihood is slim

just bottom line aim them right!

Wouldnt be thehoe92 without teh purple

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Guest Scylloga
...suggestion?

Stephen start a new thread with all the information you know about HID's, the legality, brightness, myths, etc.

post it up and have a mod sticky it because its getting ridiculous how many people DON'T know about HID's and think they know

then there just ends up an argument because someone was told something and another person was told the opposite and its not needed IMO

This x 20 million.

Its funny how people run to wikipedia then claim it as the gospel truth.

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