Are those street legal for on road use? I thought if they were 55w or less they were street legal. But some states also require you to have covers to put on them.
I have heard in some states using fog lights when the weather is good is a ticketable offense. But those aren’t fog lights, they are driving lights. So I assume the laws are different.
FWIW, this would mostly be in Indiana, but occasionally in Chicago IL.
I figure I could just go ask a cop, I assume they’d be the best source of info on state or federal law.
As runner pat said, it varies from state to state and the vehicle code is the place to check.
Perhaps it’s just me, but those driving lights – and white fog lights – often blind me worse than the high beams in oncoming cars. Please oh please wire them to your high beams.
This sounds confusing. Are the lights I am referring to spot lamps or auxiliary driving lamps? With the auxiliary driving lamps it says you are limited to 1, which makes little/no sense. With the spot lamps you can use 2.
Would the lamps in question be something that I could use with low beams or do they need to be part of the high beam? The reason I want them is because my low beams are terrible. I’ve replaced the battery and the headlights on my car. The light casing is not oxidized, and the alternator is working fine. Despite it all my lights suck. So I want something I can use with my low beams that is street legal in IN & IL that doesn’t distract oncoming drivers.
I was under the impression that while fog lights will blind you and so will 135w driving lamps will, the 55w driving lamps shouldn’t be too distracting to other cars.
Spot lamps
Sec. 13. A motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than two (2) spot lamps. A lighted spot lamp must be aimed and used when approaching another vehicle so that no part of the high intensity part of the beam will be directed to the left of the prolongation of the extreme left side of the vehicle or more than one hundred (100) feet ahead of the vehicle.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7.
IC 9-19-6-14
Fog lamps
Sec. 14. A motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than two (2) fog lamps mounted on the front at a height not less than twelve (12) inches and not more than thirty (30) inches above the level surface upon which the vehicle stands. The fog lamps must be aimed so that when the vehicle is not loaded, none of the high-intensity part of the light to the left of the center of the vehicle will at a distance of twenty-five (25) feet ahead project higher than a level of four (4) inches below the level of the center of the lamp from which the light comes. Lighted fog lamps meeting these requirements may be used with lower head lamp beams as specified in section 20(2) of this chapter.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7.
IC 9-19-6-15
Auxiliary passing lamps
Sec. 15. A motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than one (1) auxiliary passing lamp mounted on the front at a height not less than twenty-four (24) inches and not more than forty-two (42) inches above the level surface upon which the vehicle stands. Section 20 of this chapter applies to any combination of head lamps and auxiliary passing lamp.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7.
IC 9-19-6-16
Auxiliary driving lamps
Sec. 16. A motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than one (1) auxiliary driving lamp mounted on the front at a height not less than sixteen (16) inches and not more than forty-two (42) inches above the level surface upon which the vehicle stands. Section 20 of this chapter applies to any combination of head lamps and auxiliary driving lamp.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7.
Correct, or that’s the way it used to be. Back in the late eighties (yeah, get of my lawn) that was the law in Florida. Driving lights, practically as many a you could mount, were legal provided they were used as high beams. But I will agree with Pat, most officers aren’t real familiar with lighting laws. I put smoked headlight covers on my 1979 Datsun 280zx. I was worried about being legal since they really blocked the headlights so I asked a cop I ran across in the mall parking lot. He said, “you can tell they’re turned on, right? Then they’re okay” He didn’t inspire me with confidence that his integration would keep me from a ticket. But I was young and stupid, who needed headlights that you could actually see with? Looking cool was so much more important. I was cool, right? Right?:dubious:
integration = interpretation DAMMIT SO MUCH stupid auto- correct. I swear if I ever have the"pleasure"of meeting the person who designed this auto-correct system, BAM… RIGHT IN THE YAMSACK! /rant off
Or don’t put them on at all. “Driving lights”? Please. You’ll look like a dick, piss people off and give cops a reason to pull you over. And the benefit to you is…?
Given that the reflectors on those lights are round with no cut-off, I don’t see how you could throw more light downrange to any significant effect AND not have it be distracting to other drivers.
It appears Indiana is unique in only allowing one driving lamp, everywhere else two is allowed so I don’t know if that means you need to stop at the border and remove one. But regardless it’s absolutely not alllowed to use driving lamps to supplement low beams. Headlights are kind of a compromise between distance and side to side illumination. Driving lights are intended to throw more light straight ahead to prevent overdriving your headlights and would absolutely blind other drivers so they must be dimmed. Usually the switch is wired in series with your high beam switch.
(Front fog lights are designed to throw more light to the side so you can see the edge of the road better in bad weather conditions. Thus they must be used with low beams only and are usually wired in series with the low beam switch, as in such conditions you shouldn’t be driving fast enough to need (and turning on would cause excessive glare back to the driver) high beams. In theory since they’re aimed low they shouldn’t cause too much glare to oncoming drivers.
So in most places a car can have six lights mounted, but a maximum of 4 would be active at any time. Also, IMHO cheap lights are worth what you pay for them. Get some KC or Hella or something if you’re going to.
I bought a Jeep that has those lights but they do not seem to work so I question if they are wired up. If not I want to wire them to my high beams or better yet my trail lights switch. What would be a good resource to see how to wire them up?
Last night I posted a message quoting the Indiana vehicle code at length, and deleted it because the OP had already done so. But now I see that one issue remains at large: Section 20 of Chapter Six of the article in question makes it clear that the entire lighting system, including driving lights and fog lights, must comply with the basic parameters of the high-beam/low-beam requirements. Driving lights, as described in the code, are a holdover from an earlier time, when headlights didn’t have dual beams; cars were mostly for town use, and had low beams, and driving lights were an accessory for rural driving, when one might expect to drive rapidly along the road without encountering oncoming traffic – basically the high beams of the day. If your headlights are inadequate, replace them with aftermarket lights with better illumination. Before you do that, though, try checking the aim – they might just be pointing the wrong way.
I would have said that myself, except that this is GQ.
Might I recommend glasses? Your driving lights are much more likely to cause someone else to drive over the highway divider because you’ve blinded them than to help you see.
I’m curious about the OP’s vehicle. Do you have some extra weight in the trunk or back seat? I have a similar problem, due in part to the newer narrow-band lights that vehicles have. Both the upper and lower boundaries are well defined, and my vehicle doesn’t illuminate the road immediately in front (at least not very well). My problem is with a pickup truck, but I could see the same issue happening in a sedan. When I’m hooked up to a 5th wheel trailer and pulling at night, the lights are angled up* enough that the highway stripes are barely illuminated. Add oncoming traffic and rain, and it becomes dangerous. I’m actually looking for driving lights to mount on the bumper, but angled lower than the regular beams.
*The angle isn’t so high that irritates or blinds oncoming drivers. I actually tested this with a family member (I was curious). It’s just the lower boundary of the lights is too high. Also, I’m well within the rated load and pin-weight for the truck.
you could recommend it but i already have em. Hide your Wife, hide your kids.
I have tried a new battery, better bulbs, testing the alternator, having the voltage tested, none of it has worked. Headlights seem to be even with bumper at 15 ft so they dont seem unaligned.
I’m interested in seeing where this lands. I’ve got a 2006 Mustang GT, and the GT’s come with two central driving lights. So, there are the two headlights on the outside and then two more lights in the grill area. You can turn these on with the regular (non-high) beams. I think (but am not positive) that they actually turn off if you go to High beams.
Anyway, I drive with them on most of the time because it gives me much better light on the road. They do not point up any higher than the normal lights, just more light in the center. I will occasionally get people who will flash their brights at me (but not frequently) so at least some people must think they are too bright. I see many other GT’'s driving with these lights on and they don’t appear blinidingly bright to me. They are obviously legal since they are standard equiptment on this model of Ford.
The owner’s manual doesn’t really address if you should use them for normal driving or not.
It might just be lousy lights.
We had a 98 Chevy Venture. Hands down the worst headlights I’ve ever not seen by. It was either the reflector was a poor design or it was the plastic covers were diffusing the light too much. The exact same bulbs in our Dodge van lit up the road like daylight with a good pattern.