Law help. Aftermarket HIDs, illegal?

atrixblue.-MFR-.

police oficers will know a retrofit, from a manufacturers fitted item.

if the officer believes that your actions let to a defect causing dazzle to other, or potential harm to others and self then he will put a prohabition on it.

for e.g. a VW golf mk4, GTI turbo 1.8, has same offset wheel as the A3 audi, but the body is different underneath is same, a chav thought it would be excellent to fit 18 inch wheel with low profiles to his golf, the difference how ever is that the wheels are wider, and petruded outwards what didnt help either was that the golf was lowered 30mil all round, the outer edges of the tyres were being gouged out by the arches when going over hump or dips, a police officer notice pulls it over, not only is it dangerous from a personal safety point of view, but to other road users if one tyre get popped when he is on a motorway cause cause harm or serious injury or death, he is then slapped with a prohabition notice, he is not allowed to travel on his way, as there is no 2 spare wheels in wich he can put the same size trye on the same axel, the vehicle is towed to a garage where he will have to pay for recovery, he will aslo have to pay for the car to be transported to a garage, he will then have to pay for work and inspection for the notice to be lifted.

same here with these lamp kits, if an officer deams them to bedazzling to himself and other road users, he will stop the car, he will put a notice on it and the cycle will repeat as above.

can he lawfully do it. yes.

if i was to do such a conversion where manufacturers option isnt viable (i.e buy them second had where you would have self levelers and perhaps make some adjustments for lamp washers too if the kit is past the eu reg where they must be fitted). i would research the product in depth. then i would ask out on other internet forums if anyone who has fitted them HOW, What was the outcome, Have they been pulled for them what the outcome was.

vaio

GolfBravo wrote: »

To be street legal in both UK and Europe all headlights and headlight bulbs must be E-marked under the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE Western Europe) regulations. The relevant law is ECE Regulation R48, Section 50, and indicates that only complete xenon headlamp systems may be retrofitted. Headlamps are granted E-type approval only together with the light source for which they are intended - halogen headlamp with halogen bulb, and HID lamp with HID bulb only.

There are no aftermarket ECE compliant HID kits. Retrofitting some cheap Chinese fake "upgrade" HID kits invalidates your car's certification (all car manufacturers must certify their cars before they can sell them in Europe) and consequently your insurance. So I guess your average police officer/MOT tester wouldn't care, but I bet your insurer would.

The first bit looks plausible but the bit about invalidated insurance is just plain wrong which casts doubt on the whole post

GolfBravo

vaio wrote: »

The first bit looks plausible but the bit about invalidated insurance is just plain wrong which casts doubt on the whole post

Are you suggesting that illegal modifications do not invalidate car insurance?

atrixblue.-MFR-.

vaio wrote: »

The first bit looks plausible but the bit about invalidated insurance is just plain wrong which casts doubt on the whole post

it would affect his insurance one way or another in event of a claim when his car is assessed at the recovery center if he cant get the car back home.

police have been know to tip off, insurers by saying modified corsa or saxo or vehicle upon asking if theres coverage. insurers will say its covered if it is then contact the person later on about that.

Joe_Horner

GolfBravo wrote: »

Are you suggesting that illegal modifications do not invalidate car insurance?

Technically he's right, GB, because the Road Traffic Act specifically prevents insurers from invoking any clauses concerning the condition of the vehicle to avoid paying out on legally required cover.

But it also allows them to drag the prat with dangerous lights through the courts for every penny they own in order to recover any payout

They also can, and do, invalidate any form of own-loss (ie: not legally required) cover, including fire or theft. So, if someone steals your car with HID kits fitted and it's later recovered as a burnt-out write off, you lose if they spot the HIDs!

Gloomendoom

GolfBravo wrote: »

To be street legal in both UK and Europe all headlights and headlight bulbs must be E-marked under the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE Western Europe) regulations.

Bloody hell! I'm a crimninal.

Nothing on my Land Rover has an "E" mark on it.

Notmyrealname

vaio wrote: »

The first bit looks plausible but the bit about invalidated insurance is just plain wrong which casts doubt on the whole post

Sorry but you are wrong. If the modifications are not declared then the insurance is invalid.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Notmyrealname wrote: »

Sorry but you are wrong. If the modifications are not declared then the insurance is invalid.

it NOT invalid as such, there will be thridparty liability, will he be done for no insurance NO as there was a Valid cover in place at time of incident, only when after these issue insurers find mods the get very !!!!!y in paying you out for your OWN vehicle, they adjust the policy to as if you had the mods at time of policy purchase and then slam it on you to pay it, if not then the persue you in the courts for that outstanding amount, can you cancel the policy yes if you settle it up,what if you miss the monthly payments to get them to cancel, youll probably find court papers on the door mat at somepoint. its the same as fronting basically.