headlights in france

[giant]

Going over to france but wont be using car in the dark , do i still have to put deflectors on and if so can you use home made ones such as black tape etc. going again in summer , have bought some for then but didnt want to waste them on short trip

 

[Merlin53]

I have used 'coloured electrical tape) several times, the only drawback is the glue on the tape leaves marks on your lenses, so depending on what material the lense is made off, I would try a sample first to ensure that when you remove the tape, it comes off 'clean'.

Use the bought ones as a template.

 

[ChristineandAlan]

HI BRIAN, when we caravanning before we bought beam benders but we are the same as you we didnt drive in the dark,we never had any problems,we went twice we are going in june this year for a month,the beam benders are in the boot just in case i wont be putting them on unless we have to drive in the dark. all the best ALAN P/T

 

[Lutz]

There is no requirement to fit deflectors, but only that one must not dazzle oncoming traffic. On many cars, it is sufficient to use the headlamp adjuster on the dashboard, where fitted. Cars fitted with xenon headlights must not have deflectors anyway because on such lights they can create more dazzle than they prevent.

 

[Guest]

Sorry, Lutz but that is a bit of a contradiction. Yes, maybe the deflectors are not legally necessary but as you say,, the lights must not dazzle, and as UK cars without xenon are designed to dip to the left, then that is inevitable.

Also, not putting them on just because you do not drive at night is also a bit of a misnomer. If the weather conditions deteriorate during the day then in many countries using headlights is mandatory, so you could be foul of the Law in that way. The deflectors cost about a Fiver. Is it worth it? A bit of IPA soon removes the glue traces.

 

[SteveW77]

You should not use blanking masks on modern plastic headlamps, as the heat build up causes minute fractures in the plastic, which can cause more light defraction and could well fail the lighting test when being MOT'd

Use the clear plastic beam bender, as thes do not cause any heat build up.

Steve W

 

[Lutz]

If the lights dip further down than the normal angle of dip i.e. have a shorter reach, then they will not dazzle, even if they dip to the left, except perhaps in the rare situation of meeting oncoming traffic on a humpback bridge.

 

[Lutz]

You should not use blanking masks on modern plastic headlamps, as the heat build up causes minute fractures in the plastic, which can cause more light defraction and could well fail the lighting test when being MOT'd

Use the clear plastic beam bender, as thes do not cause any heat build up.

Steve W

Moulded plastic beam benders are not precision optical devices and therefore cause more scatter than they prevent.

 

[vectisrambler]

I agree with Lutz. My memory goes back to the old days in France when yellow lamps were the norm and the locals would flash white lights, regardless of where they were pointing. Since having lights which can be wound down on the dash, I have never bothered with masking/deflectors. The french, in particular, are very quick to flash if dazzled. It seems my lowered lights are acceptable to other road users and certainly are to me.

 

[Guest]

Sorry, possibly being pedantic..again. But saying that it is 'acceptable to most road users' does not mean to say you are not falling foul of a different interpretation by some Plod.

I have a Volvo with the headlights always on. Yes, I lower the dip as much as I can, but I also stick the reflectors on to the glass lens as although they may not actually do too much, they at least show any Plod that I have made efforts to abide as much as possible with local Laws and customs. Hopefully that means he will be more tolerant of me. Without them he may decide that whatever I say, or other users indicate, I am dazzling him at least, and therefore requires a fine. A number of years ago I lived in Holland and imported a UK car. I tried?? to move the lights as far as they would go to the right and bottom, but the 'checker' merely smiled and said' nice try' but it won't work. Get new lights.

I believe in trying to blend in as much as possible and if that means being more rigorous than locals, then so be it. At least look as if you are doing something.

 

[Lutz]

Although, as you say, the beam benders or black tape, show that one has made an attempt at reducing dazzle, dazzle is a very subjective thing and even then the plod could remain unsatisfied. When I spoke to the design engineer responsible for lights on all GM Europe (Opel/Vauxhall) vehicles, he said that dipping the headlights as much as possible, if necessary by readjustment of the headlight assembly itself, is the preferred solution as anything else causes scatter and could make the situation even worse.

 

[Guest]

I submit the following from the CC travelling abroad technical leaflet.

"Adjust your headlights so that the dipped beam does not dazzle oncoming drivers using headlamp converters or beam deflectors available from any motor accessory shop. Even when not planning to drive at night, this will be required for tunnels or when visibility is poor. Eurolites are available from most shops or on-line at www.travel-spot.co.uk these beam deflectors come with a list of over 300 different vehicle types and over 90 different diagrams showing where the beam deflector needs to be placed."

Although not mandatory one has to assume the CC is quite well placed to offer good advice based on many years of experience. So, for those vehicles where the lights cannot be adjusted to dip vertically I would suggest using some alternative is good practice.

Of course if our ridiculous Government would allow all vehicles in the UK to be fitted with vertically dipping headlights, we would not have the problem. They are very 'Europhobic' when it suits, but very anti when it penalises us.

 

[robin munro]

As an alternative to using headlights in poor visibilty conditions during the day, you could use your side lights and front fog lights.

 

[SteveW77]

Lutz.

Moulded plastic beam benders are not precision optical devices and therefore cause more scatter than they prevent.

I agree Lutz, however I did not say they worked, just that they were legal and did not cause damage to very expensive plastic headlamp units.

Steve W

 

[Lutz]

They are only legal if they work, Steve. They are not going to be adequate defence in case the police consider that your headlamps are still dazzling, despite having them fitted.

 

[SteveW77]

Surely that's the point Lutz, why give them the opportunity to pull you over in the first place. I think they believe like the British police do, that if there has been one offence commited, then there are going to be others, so let's pull them over and give them the once over. The number of cars that fail the first MOT test in this country for incorrect headliamp alignement is staggering. so they come out of the factories like it. I still maintain that if you have at least made an effort you may well get away with a few words, instead of a trip to the cash point.

Steve W

 

[cooky1]

I thought that lights on British cars dip to the left but have a kick up that is supposed to illuminate road signs. The purpose of the tape/beam benders/deflector covers is to stop this kick up so as to not dazzel drivers on the other side of the road when driving on the right.

If you park with your lights on close to a wall/garage door you can see the kick up in the beam and when you put deflectors on this kick up is blocked out.

My car has an adjuster behind the lights that does this so no need to fit tape etc. For one of my previous cars I had to buy covers for the lights that had a blacked out bit built into them, so no need to put tape on actual lights.

Graeme.

 

[NickinFrance]

I would guess that a check on a foreign registered vehicle would not normally be as strict as a test on a French registered vehicle but beam deflectors are not acceptable to enable a RHD vehicle to pass a CT (MoT) in France.

Also, as I found out to my cost, about a month ago, neither are headlights which have a lever at the back of them, as Graeme said, RHD light have to 'kick-up' to the left & the levers (on my Jaguar at least) just make the beam dead flat, whereas to comply with the law, they must 'kick-up' to the right.

 

[NickinFrance]

As an alternative to using headlights in poor visibilty conditions during the day, you could use your side lights and front fog lights.

That would get you nicked, the law is dipped beam headlights in adverse weather conditions.

 

[Lutz]

The law on the Continent does not require the light beam to 'kick up to the right'. If a RHD car with beam benders is imported into a country where they drive on the right and it fails the local MOT, then this indicates that the beam benders didn't work properly and probably caused too much scatter.

 

[NickinFrance]

.

Sorry Lutz, beam benders or bits of tape were disallowed, even if they worked, for French CT's on the 1st Jan 2009.

"The law on the Continent does not require the light beam to 'kick up to the right'"

Tell that to the CT station who failed my car & DRIRE who I appealed to.

I have 'projector' lights on my Jaguar & I had moved the lever behind the headlights for continental & the beam pattern was dead flat with absolutely no scatter but was failed because it didn't kick up to the left

 

[Lutz]

OK, I can't speak for the French, but if there were a requirement for the headlights to 'kick-up' to the right then both the beam pattern and light intensity would have to be specified exactly, also in the area of the 'kick up'. Certainly, that is not the case here in Germany. German Construction & Use Regulations specify:

1. That the light intensity of the main beam 100m ahead of the headlights must exceed 1lx, measured at the height of the centreline of the headlamps.

2. That the light intensity of the dipped beam 25m ahead of the headlights must NOT EXCEED 1lx if the highest illuminated point of the headlamps is no more than 1m above the ground. (Other restrictions apply if the height of the uppermost illuminated point of the headlamps exceeds 1m, but I won't go into the details here as they will probably not apply to most private cars).

3. An assymetric beam pattern IS PERMITTED (note: not required) so long as the light intensity 15

 

[Gafferbill]

..we have an increasing number of European vehicles over here in the UK.

Do we insist on modifications to the lights on these vehicles to protect us from dazzle at night?

I have not heard of any measures in this respect.

 

[Lutz]

I am sure that the UK does not permit dazzle, and why should that not apply to foreign registered vehicles, too? Whether visiting motorists take the requirement seriously is another matter.

 

[NickinFrance]

" but if there were a requirement for the headlights to 'kick-up' to the right ...... also in the area of the 'kick up'."

The test system they use in France has upper & lower lines for both the flat part & the kick-up, the beam must fall within these lines.

Faced with the prospect of spending 600 _ on a new pair of headlights, I argued long & hard that the beam pattern on my lights couldn't cause any dazzle to oncoming drivers but to no avail.

" I am not aware that German car manufacturers fit different headlight units for France, so I must assume that headllamps that meet the above requirements meet those in France, too."

it could be the other way round, that cars are fitted with lights that meet the French spec to all LHD vehicles, which by default meet German regulations.