Fitting LED flashing lights to a car

[johnphillips]

Okidoki. No problem! Ive had a quick look on Fleebay and bought some from China for a fiver, so i'll see if these are any good and then perhaps buy some more!

 

ive got a blue strobe with magnetic base you could buy

[Stomp]

Avalon: You could always get some from EVS, and then use their RTV Silicone stuff to fix them to your bumper, or under the grille?

[mr. pixel]

if you add lights, do you have to do A-Team driving?

(the kind of driving where you bounce slightly in your seat, and wobble the steering wheel to make it look like you're driving over slightly rough terrain whilst actually being on a straight road)

[NoddyHolder]

So for the past 45 years i have been breaking the law by using a car with flashing amber rear indicators then ?. I think not. Read the following,

 

 

United Kingdom

 

 

Usage of emergency vehicle lighting is restricted in the United Kingdom through the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989.[18] It is illegal for any vehicle to show a flashing coloured light (with the exception of the normal direction indicators and Anti lock brake indicators[clarification needed], unless it is an emergency or other authorised vehicle.[19] However recently pedal cycles can exhibit a flashing rear red lamp

 

The main colour for emergency service vehicles is overwhelmingly blue, although there is also widespread use of flashing (white) headlights and some police forces use blue and red combinations (almost always more blue than red) The legal definition of an emergency vehicle limits the use of both methods to vehicles used for:[20]

 

* Fire brigade, ambulance or police purposes (although no restriction exists here on private fire brigades or ambulance services)

* Fire salvage

* Forestry commission or local authority when fighting fires

* Ministry of defence bomb disposal, mountain rescue, nuclear emergency or armament support

* Blood transfusion vehicles operating under the National Health Service Act (or Scottish equivalent)

* HM Coastguard and auxiliary

* British Coal Corporation (for mine rescue)

* Lifeboat launching vehicles (usually restricted to launching slipway)

* Authorised Search and Rescue vehicles

* Vehicles used for the purpose of conveying human tissue for transplant

* HM Revenue and Customs where investigating serious crime.[21]

 

Blue flashing lights must only be lit at the scene of an emergency, or when the driver considers it desirable to indicate that the journey being undertaken is urgent.[22] Under these circumstances, some services may also choose to allow their drivers to claim legal exemptions from certain motoring regulations (although these are not specifically linked to the use of warning beacons), such as being able to treat a red traffic light as a give way sign, ignoring the speed limit and passing the wrong side of a keep left/right sign. They may not, ignore "no entry" signs, drive the wrong way down a one-way street or cross a solid white line in the middle of the road (other than the same exceptions granted everyone else e.g. to pass a stationary vehicle). In reality some drivers will disobey other laws at their professional judgement but they do so without any automatic protection from the law.[23] Some services, such as HM coastguard do not allow all their staff to claim all the exemptions available to them.[citation needed]

 

With the exception of breaking the speed limit, which requires the driver to have completed or be performing a suitable training course[24], no qualification other than a driver's license is legally required to use blue lights, though most organisations will insist that their drivers are trained in emergency driving techniques.

 

The common combination of blue flashing lights with two-tone sirens has led to 'blues and twos' becoming a nickname for the core emergency services as a whole, as well as the title of a British documentary series depicting them.

 

Doctors on emergency calls are allowed a green courtesy light.[25] Flashing red lights are not generally allowed on vehicles, though many emergency vehicles have rear-facing flashing red lights, which are used to signify that the vehicle is stationary. These are, however, specifically prohibited by the RVLR.[19][25]

 

Checkered lights denote command and control vehicles - these are red and white for fire (one of the few situations where a forward-facing red light may be shown), blue and white for police and green and white for ambulance,[25] and are often fitted in the middle of the light bar.

 

Amber lights grant no priority in traffic and exist purely to advertise the vehicle's presence. The RLVR specifies several classes of vehicles which may use amber lights, such as towing, highway maintenance, pilot vehicles escorting an oversize load, and vehicles unable to travel over 25 mph[21] and fitting these lights to other vehicles is technically illegal (although these beacons are widely fitted to vehicles as wide ranging as security and ambulances).

 

It should also be noted that UK legislation considers all lights, reflectors and reflective material to be lights, and all items resembling special warning beacons (of any colour) must be covered and not just disconnected (as this is a separate offence)[26] while on the public highway.[27] Similarly, no distinction is made between lights mounted on light bars and those mounted anywhere else on the vehicle (e.g. headlights, indicators, brake lights) - all are covered by the same regulations.

Only if your a bus driver or a taxi driver

[creatures]

Talk is mostly to the front or rear but what about the sides?

I'm thinking of an LED strip going along the running board on an american day van. It has a limo look to it already with coach lights.

The LEDs will be warm white (not bright white) and have it chasing effect.

It won't be bright and it's kinda in-keeping with the style of the van nothing too OTT. It's side markers but moving along if you know what I mean.

Would I be breaking any laws?

Laws have yet to keep up with technology. What about dot matrix led panels? Though I'm not having them.

[brus]

Talk is mostly to the front or rear but what about the sides?

I'm thinking of an LED strip going along the running board on an american day van. It has a limo look to it already with coach lights.

The LEDs will be warm white (not bright white) and have it chasing effect.

It won't be bright and it's kinda in-keeping with the style of the van nothing too OTT. It's side markers but moving along if you know what I mean.

Would I be breaking any laws?

Laws have yet to keep up with technology. What about dot matrix led panels? Though I'm not having them.

 

Might be illegal, i used to have a lightbar in the rear window of my car, in the centre of it was a high intensity red brake light and to each side of it was an amber chasing effect light that worked in tandem with the left and right indicators. Had it on for a while and then one day was chased by a police car and stopped and told to remove it there and then as it was illegal to have it fitted due to the chasing effect of the light. No arguing i had to remove it before he would let me go away on my journey.