Police Stop Me For My Drl On My Aygo

[autt86]

today i was driving with my drl lights on and I was stoped by the police.

i installed - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250925989414

on my 57 plate aygo, my aygo has already got front fogs installed all i did was changed the lapms over.

the police man said i can not have drl lights as my car is a 57 plate and also he said he is concern about me using the fog lamps position for my drl and say they looked blue. the lamps are drl ECE R87 street legal.

he said he has reported my car to the system and if they see me driving with them i will get a fine. anyone can help?

[cabcurtains]

Sounds like you came a across a copper who thought he was going to give you a ticket for having your fogs on, then you informed him he was wrong so he chose to feed you some bull. The ECE appears to be the legal standard.

Putting lights that look like fogs in the fogs slot is a bit provocative though i have to say.

The Volvo above DRL's that look like fogs.

[MikeSh]

Sounds like you did something to annoy him, but not unlawful, so he's trying not to lose face. There is certainly nothing about not retrofitting DRLs to older vehicles, but they do need to be approved. I found this doc that you may find useful:

http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/dft-information-sheets/daytime-running-lights.pdf

There is one bit of interest:

"Retro fitting DRL

There is no requirement to retro fit DRL on vehicles not fitted with them as

standard. If you decide to retro fit DRL you should ensure they have been

approved to the correct European legislation. This can be confirmed by

checking that the approval mark embossed on the lamp contains the letters

"RL", see figure 1 below."

When you say you changed the "lamps" over, did you mean the entire assembly, or just the 'guts'. If the latter you have likely lost that RL mark and would probably not be legal.

I've found nothing about DRL location. There is a help page at Halfords:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ACArticleDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&articleId=809953&categoryId=245215

which has a photo showing DRL inboard of and slightly below fogs, so I can't believe you are illegal there.

[autt86]

Sounds like you came a across a copper who thought he was going to give you a ticket for having your fogs on, then you informed him he was wrong so he chose to feed you some bull. The ECE appears to be the legal standard.

Putting lights that look like fogs in the fogs slot is a bit provocative though i have to say.

The Volvo above DRL's that look like fogs.

as you know not all aygo has front fog lamps therefore it shouldnt matter where you place the drl lamps. as long as :

Position - min 250mm and max 1500mm from the floor

not more than 400mm from outside edge and min of 600mm apart

which they are with mine

[autt86]

Sounds like you did something to annoy him, but not unlawful, so he's trying not to lose face. There is certainly nothing about not retrofitting DRLs to older vehicles, but they do need to be approved. I found this doc that you may find useful:

http://assets.dft.go...ning-lights.pdf

There is one bit of interest:

"Retro fitting DRL

There is no requirement to retro fit DRL on vehicles not fitted with them as

standard. If you decide to retro fit DRL you should ensure they have been

approved to the correct European legislation. This can be confirmed by

checking that the approval mark embossed on the lamp contains the letters

"RL", see figure 1 below."

When you say you changed the "lamps" over, did you mean the entire assembly, or just the 'guts'. If the latter you have likely lost that RL mark and would probably not be legal.

I've found nothing about DRL location. There is a help page at Halfords:

http://www.halfords....tegoryId=245215

which has a photo showing DRL inboard of and slightly below fogs, so I can't believe you are illegal there.

hi thanks for the fast reply and help. even the department for transport says i am in the right.

what i mean is i taken my old aygo front fog lamps and replaced them with the new drl lamps. same slot same hole. both lamps does have the RL markings on them so should be fine.

Position - min 250mm and max 1500mm from the floor, not more than 400mm from outside edge and min of 600mm apart

have to say the cop didnt know what he was talking about, he said the lapms are BLUE.. i say to him get an eye test because they are WHITE. wish i could see the same cop again and then put him to shame! i make sure i keep all the information in my car next time,

http://images.exchan.../image1_400.jpg the new drl lamps are installed the same way as this picture.

[cabcurtains]

as you know not all aygo has front fog lamps therefore it shouldnt matter where you place the drl lamps. as long as :

Position - min 250mm and max 1500mm from the floor

not more than 400mm from outside edge and min of 600mm apart

which they are with mine

It shouldnt matter but looking like fogs will attract unwanted attention, thats my point. The cops love an easy ticket for illegal use of fogs, and they are rarely wrong in all case, i bet they were fuming

[autt86]

the new volvo i see around has the same drl lamps as mine also installed where the fog lights sits.

[cabcurtains]

Indeed they do, but the police wont bother pulling a new Volvo being driven by a mature driver. Its easier to pick on an older small car being driven buy a young driver. I am of course assuming your younger than the average Volvo owner...

[mrpj]

" i say to him get an eye test because they are WHITE" If you really did say that then I would suggest that you were lucky not to have been subjected to a whole lot more hassle!

" wish i could see the same cop again and then put him to shame! i" If you do, then not advisable, you'll end up in a whole sea of "pain".

[dwilson]

I wish the police would enforce the correct use of foglights in Worcestershire!

Yesterday I had a RAV4 with fog lights blazing behind me and today an Auris hybrid. At least I assume they were foglights - they were bright, distracting and where I would expect foglights to be. The headlamps were also on and it was daylight.

David

[grinner82]

It is very confusing for the Police now, some cars have a foglight, type light that turns on as you turn a corner, so it looks like you have just one fog on. I cant tell these days what is a DRL, a fog light, a turning light, headlight, to many lights. The retro fitted ones, some are brighter, some are dimmer that factory fit ones. TBH He prob thought they they were not road legal, and yes they should know everything, but may be he was just wrong, so i would not worry about it. There has been prob no stated court cases yet regarding this matter and I am sure guidance will follow once everyone has got used to them!

[Cyker]

I personally think they should just ban DRLs and be done with it instead of making them mandatory! I just don't understand the point of them, unless they think the average driver is so stupid they don't know how to switch their side-lights on in inclement weather!

[cabcurtains]

unless they think the average driver is so stupid they don't know how to switch their side-lights on in inclement weather!

Thats the issue, people are that stupid!

[acetip]

For years Swedish cars (Volvo, Saab etc.) had lights on when being driven during the day and these caused no problems for other drivers.Now they are called day time driving lights and many of them are far to bright and have become a must have with some, which is ok as long as they dont cause oher drivers trouble.

Are these lights supposed to go out when other lights are switched on cos some look like christmas trees driving along after dark.

[Jan van de Wouw]

DRL may not be lit when any other light (except for the indicators) is lit.

They use less power and are specifically meant to be SEEN, not to see by.

So a car with DRL is seen better than one running dipped beams.

Another advantage is that when running DRL the taillights aren't lit,

so when you hit the brakes there's a bigger contrast since the

brakelights go from NONE to BRIGHT instead of from dim to bright.

I had DRL installed on my Aygo (inspired by the TTE-grille with foglights) and

if my Picanto hadn't had them as standard, I would have put some on myself.

I DO agree that it can be confusing where they're positioned: on my Picanto

they're integrated in the headlights as combined parklights/DRL with LEDs

and I have foglights below the projector-headlamps. On lower specced

Picantoes the lights below the headlamps are DRL (filament)...

But that's one of the reasons lights need to have an E-approval and light-designation

in their glass: B or F for Foglights and RL for Running Lights. So if a cop wants to fine

you he'll have to get on his knees to check for these markings...

[MikeSh]

... unless they think the average driver is so stupid they don't know how to switch their side-lights on in inclement weather!

That is part of the problem - front sidelights are a waste of space really. They are better called parking lights as that is about the limit of their usefulness at the front.

Highway code: "You MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced". The general rule is that if you think the vis is poor enough to need lights at all, then headlights are required. The police could pull you for driving with just sidelights.

Good DRLs are a much better visibility aid than dipped heads. Volvos always had them in the UK until the dim-dipped thing came in, when they went for that instead. But I'm chary of dipped heads - modern lamps have such a good cut off that their visibility at a distance isn't always that good. And if the car pitches on a lumpy bit of road it can be viewed as flashing the lights, so encouraging some plonker to pull out in front of you :o .

So (although I don't currently have them) I think DRLs are a good idea. And they are now/soon law so it's tough if you don't like them. What I don't like is the icky styling a lot have installed - one of the smaller Citroens is esp horrid, but then again Citroen always have to be wierd :)

[acetip]

A car can pitch at night and be viewd as flashing. if cars were permantly on auto lights when ignition is on maybe there would not need.for DRLs.

American cars i beleave use to and stil may have amber driving llights. not too bright either. but there one mans meat is anothers poison.

[Duce D]

I was under the impression that you can turn DRL's off if you wanted to as it is only a law to have them fitted on new cars released since Feb 2011.

Personally i dislike them as they will train drivers to look for lights instead of people/things. I think it is bad news for cyclists really as they will be even more vulnerable on the roads as they will not be seen at all.

Also the Audi's which have those stupid christmas tree leds in the headlamps are far too bright & they look very silly as they are indicating as the LEDs go dim on one side.

[acetip]

THe smaller the car the sillier these lights look.

[Parts-King]

If an Auris was behind and blinding you it was most likely a Auris Hybrid, I drive one and the DRLs are shockingly bright, I personally dont like them at all and are a waste of space in my book

Kingo