Brad Willis

There have been several recent posts regarding aftermarket Xenon aka High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights, and their legal status. Even though I was a police officer for years, my tenure was prior to the creation of these lights for motor vehicle use. I would be interested in knowing what Vehicle Code section the officers are referencing on the face of the citation.

Steve S mentioned that his friend got a ticket for aftermarket Xenons. If he was written for "lights to front-must be white or yellow" then I believe that the citation was written in error. Xenon lights are not blue, they are actually a more "true" light, but they just look blue when viewed alongside the usual more yellow night time lighting.

Anyway, I've included a link to a site that will tell you more than you probably wanted to know about Xenons. Steve, if you can specifically tell me which CVC section was referenced, I'll try to shed some more "light" on the subject.<ul><li><a href="http://a-car.com/xenon.html">Xenon Info</a></li></ul>

Steve S.

Thanks Brad.....Stan has been looking at the Vehicle Code ALL afternoon (all 1100 pages of it)

CFriedriszik

German manufacturer Hella (builds the headlight units at least for our Audis) now offers
a retrofitting kit - but first for the Benz E-class only.
Mail them you NEED Xenon headlights.

BTW, in Germany the main bonus of Xenon is not safety, but blazing away other
drivers form the left lane.<ul><li><a href="http://www.hella.de/shop/nachxen/indexe.htm">Hella</a></li></ul>

Rich Quinlan

I agree with you 100%!!!!! I always moved over when i saw a car approaching from my rear, when when I saw a Xenon equipped car coming up from behind, I moved N-O-W!! It was usually a 993 Porsche or an A8...

Nobody respected the old '85 5-series I drove, even though it WAS a Hartge-tuned 535i.. only made about 285ps But between that BIG WHITE "Amerikaner im Deutschland" license plate, and the old car, some people would never move! (Probably more the plate)

Rich
Longing to be BACK in Germany...<ul><li><a href="Quinland">http://home.att.net/~richquinlan</a></li></ul>

Corey S

So in preparation for the upcoming Xenon battle, I read the entire 1999 CA
vehicle code regarding lights. This is some 40 pages, baby. Which brings
us to the following conclusion:

- if a technology is DOT, it's legal in CA
- CA does not require DOT

Since my headlights are Xenon, a technology approved by DOT, my headlights
are legal as long as they meet the legal aim, distance etc.

Other interesting info: clear corners are legal in CA, as long as there is
an orange bulb inside. The section about orange reflectors says that all
trucks, tractors, trailers, and motorhomes must have them, but on other
vehicles it's optional. OTOH, the rear red reflector is mandatory.

I should have been a lawyer, in this country never unemployed :-)

- Stan

ErikR

Here in MT it is legal to run 4 100w rally lights, as long as you have them mounted less than a certain distance from the ground.