No submittard, not silly. Those ultra-bright blue-tinted lights are terrible for other drivers' night vision and have been rightly banned.

Don't they come standard on higher end cars, like Lexus and Mercedes?

So my car is illegal now?

FU

They are dangerous. Not for the driver, of course, but for the oncoming drivers who now can't see the center line.

I wish ALL states did this.

MrKraclenutz: like Lexus and Mercedes?

Those are not as blue as the ones they are talking about in the article. The cheapies from autozone are practically headlights with blue gels over them.

MrKraclenutz: So my car is illegal now?

Don't worry, you don't own either.

Tennessee cops confused by newfangled brighter headlights, will issue tickets


In the deep south, "bright" = "suspicious".


:-)

Blue headlights aren't just illegal in TN. And for good reason.

FTFA: Only law enforcement vehicles are allowed lighting that appears blue...

Yeah man. You really just don't try to steal another group's gang colours like that.

About damn time.

Minez come from the factory like that.

14years: About damn time.

Agree, I hate those headlights.

This was a dumb greenlight. These are aftermarket bulbs, not stock HID units. It's not like the highway patrol was ticketing people for using the headlights that came in their vehicles from the factory. These are from Autozone and other accessory shiatholes like that.

Nothing to see here.

Yeah we've had to deal with these in California for at least a decade.
We got used to them.

/If you can't look away from new, shiny things, maybe it's better you crash.
//Darwin.

14years: About damn time.
this

There's different kinds of "blue headlights." There's the real deal HIDs which are the ones that come on Mercs and Lexi and actually do work well, although NHTSA has made them more offensive than they need to be by not explicitly allowing lights that meet ECE standards and instead insist on the old, inferior, US-specific beam pattern and also by not mandating self levelers like are required in Europe.

Then there's the blue tinted halogen bulbs, which are pretty much uniformly crap, and to compensate, ricers often use illegal overwattage bulbs to compensate so that they can actually see at night, thus exacerbating the problem of the fundamentally poor beam pattern of their headlights. They also are advertised as "HID-look" despite looking nothing like real HIDs

A third, but fortunately rarer lighting mistake is someone shoving a HID capsule in a reflector/lens assembly designed for H4 or other halogen bulbs. These work, kind of, but the difference in the orientation/placement of the H4 filament and the light source of the HID capsule plays holy hell with the beam pattern, thereby making the lights a) more glaring to oncoming traffic and b) less useful for the driver (although due to the brightness of the HID he probably still can see better than before he "upgraded" and the difference in color between his headlights and the other lighting around makes "his" lighting more distinct where it hits the road/other objects, thus convincing him farther that his headlights f'ing rawk.)

more here:

Link (new window)

Now TFA was so badly written that I haven't a clue which of the above are targets of enforcement and which are not, but I'd hope that it is the latter two, since while not all factory installed HIDs are that great (neither are all factory installed conventional halogen-incandescent headlights for that matter) they are all explicitly legal to use on public roads, and it's not reasonable to expect someone to modify their car simply because a cop doesn't like his headlights.

/have "illegal" headlights on two of my cars
//Cibie 7" E-codes with relay harnesses, biatches
///hey, they're legal in Germany, that's good enough for me
////no blue bulbs for me, I like to see
//saw a Pathfinder with GREEN headlights the other day. WTF?

DarknessTigerpaw: I wish ALL states did this.

Me too. I hate those lights!!

Let me side with the "about damn time" group. I hate those f*cking things.

Big Dave: Yeah we've had to deal with these in California for at least a decade.
We got used to them.

/If you can't look away from new, shiny things, maybe it's better you crash.
//Darwin.

So what your advocating is when you see a bright light while driving, close your eyes or look out the passenger side window.


Good advice.

Engelbert Slaptyback:
In the deep south, "bright" = "suspicious".

In the North, "loud" = "bright."

I put strobe lights on my car so it looks like I'm going really fast.

Seacop: Big Dave: Yeah we've had to deal with these in California for at least a decade.
We got used to them.

/If you can't look away from new, shiny things, maybe it's better you crash.
//Darwin.

So what your advocating is when you see a bright light while driving, close your eyes or look out the passenger side window.


Good advice.

The correct answer is "focus on the white line to your right."

/the more you know
//this has been a part of Driver's Ed for longer than I've been alive
///people do occasionally accidentally leave their brights on, you know, so this is not a new phenomenon

oh, has the "Altezza" taillight thing played out yet? I'd like to know.

/and while we're at it, why don't all these ricer lighting peoples actually come up with a LED-based replacement for a P21/5W that actually WORKS? that would be an actual improvement, not something "different for the sake of being different."

Who the F approved those headlights for road use in the first place?

/Hurt my eyes.

FTA:
These lights are purchased at auto supply stores and, according to the THP, are illegal.

That's some fine reporting there. They couldn't have actually, you know, checked on the law themselves? They just take the police's word for it?

I think the problem is not the color, but the idiots who install the "after market" bulbs do not bother to aim them properly. ANY bulb will blind oncoming drivers if not adjusted properly.

I drive a 2008 chevy silverado with factory lights. I usually never drive with with my hi beams on, but I get flashed all the time.

Seacop:
Just keep your eyes on the road.
I learned to drive on a very twisty bit of highway (17, between Santa Cruz and San Jose) where drivers use their brights for too long, headlights are improperly angled up too far, and yes, all shades and intensities of blue and other colors of headlights shine brightly and in abundance. I learned to keep my eyes on the road and not to be distracted by whatever is going on on the other side of the barrier.

I don't like the blue lights either but I ignore them instead of staring directly at them only to be angry at the light. It's you. Learn to drive.

This article must be a hoax, we all know cars in TN don't have working headlights.

"It's getting dark out Jim Bob, hand me when of them light stick things and shine yours down the road."

While we're on the subject.... i would like to point out that fog-lights are meant to be used in the FOG.

The fact that your car has fog-lights doesnt mean that you get to just drive around with 4 (or 6) headlights on all the time.

And another thing, when using fog-lights in the fog, you are supposed to turn OFF your normal headlights.

myth321: I drive a 2008 chevy silverado with factory lights. I usually never drive with with my hi beams on, but I get flashed all the time.

It's because the two-foot ground clearance that you don't need puts the level of your headlights at the level of other drivers' eyes rather than their headlights. But don't worry, that one time per year that you actually need a truck makes inconveniencing the majority of people sharing the road with you every other day of the year well worth it.

chewd: While we're on the subject.... i would like to point out that fog-lights are meant to be used in the FOG.

The fact that your car has fog-lights doesnt mean that you get to just drive around with 4 (or 6) headlights on all the time.

And another thing, when using fog-lights in the fog, you are supposed to turn OFF your normal headlights.

Ironically, most cars with fog lights won't allow you to turn on the fog lights unless you turn on the headlights too.

lajimi: Those blinding ultra bright light bars the cops use should be banned too but who's going to write the cops a ticket?

I actually agree with this, because it seems to be common practice in DC now for cops to drive around with their light bars activated ALL THE DAMN TIME.

Also, if a cop has someone pulled over and you're coming at him from the opposite direction, because those f'ing "takedown lights" HURT.

chewd: And another thing, when using fog-lights in the fog, you are supposed to turn OFF your normal headlights.



Not true at all.

You just are not supposed to use the high beams as the light will simply reflect back at you.

Regular headlights are used.

stiletto_the_wise: FTA:
These lights are purchased at auto supply stores and, according to the THP, are illegal.

That's some fine reporting there. They couldn't have actually, you know, checked on the law themselves? They just take the police's word for it?

The URL is officer.com - I imagine it's a very pro-cop bias over there.

/Hate those damn lights as well

jxb465: Ironically, most cars with fog lights won't allow you to turn on the fog lights unless you turn on the headlights too.



That is designed that way for a reason.

jxb465: chewd: While we're on the subject.... i would like to point out that fog-lights are meant to be used in the FOG.

The fact that your car has fog-lights doesnt mean that you get to just drive around with 4 (or 6) headlights on all the time.

And another thing, when using fog-lights in the fog, you are supposed to turn OFF your normal headlights.

Ironically, most cars with fog lights won't allow you to turn on the fog lights unless you turn on the headlights too.

Every one I've had allows you to use the fog lights with either parking lights only or low beams, but the fogs will go off if you switch to high beam, which is the correct implementation (legally, you can't have more than four bright lights lit on the front of your car at once.)

jxb465: myth321: I drive a 2008 chevy silverado with factory lights. I usually never drive with with my hi beams on, but I get flashed all the time.

It's because the two-foot ground clearance that you don't need puts the level of your headlights at the level of other drivers' eyes rather than their headlights. But don't worry, that one time per year that you actually need a truck makes inconveniencing the majority of people sharing the road with you every other day of the year well worth it.

The "truck" pick-up I drive, is for my business. It's pretty much a one seater, because of all the parts I carry. Silly....

I wish there was a device that could be pointed at the farkers with those things that would immediately incinerate them. It's awesome you can see for miles, never mind everyone in your vicinity is blind.

jxb465: myth321: I drive a 2008 chevy silverado with factory lights. I usually never drive with with my hi beams on, but I get flashed all the time.

It's because the two-foot ground clearance that you don't need puts the level of your headlights at the level of other drivers' eyes rather than their headlights. But don't worry, that one time per year that you actually need a truck makes inconveniencing the majority of people sharing the road with you every other day of the year well worth it.

No, it's because GM cheaped out on the headlight design, combined with NTHSA's reluctance to update FMVSS 108 to bring us into the 1970s.

If I have a choice, I will always buy a vehicle that's either sold in Europe or else uses standard sealed beam format headlights, making retrofitting E-code headlights easy.

/Ford trucks of the 90's are the worst, and there's no E-codes available for them.

I'm pretty sure this is about neither "stock" HID lighting that comes from the car manufacturers nor is it about aftermarket halogens with gels and bumped up wattage. I'm pretty sure this is more about aftermarket HID with a high color temperature. 4300k and 6000k are fairly standard. 8000k, 10000k, and 12000k are increasingly bluish, decreasingly useful as headlights because of decreased light output, and universally popular with retardo ricers.

They're not referring to the bluish tinted HID lights you see in some high end cars...these are $20 cheapos that blind the crap out of people unnecessarily...usually you see idiot ricers with 'em.

I can almost count on getting a migraine if I look into those blue lights. A lot of the mexicans around here install them. Don't know if they're illegal here or not (lights not the mexicans. Although I'm sure there are a lot of illegals here).

Had a 76 Harley that was stock with 45w55w headlight. Installed a 45w100w (illegal). Lit up the ditches. Not difficult to get oncoming vehicles to dim their lights.

I am all for it. Not only for my sake but for my Mom's sake as well. They really mess her up. Hook them up on an alternate circuit to headlights like fog lights, which is what they are for. The rest of the time put lil tiny KC smiley face covers on your Lexus that would be so sick.

aagrajag: FTFA: Only law enforcement vehicles are allowed lighting that appears blue...

Yeah man. You really just don't try to steal another group's gang colours like that.

win!

MrKraclenutz: Don't they come standard on higher end cars, like Lexus and Mercedes?

So my car is illegal now?

FU

yep... now you'll have to pimp your car out with just spinners and 27s.....