Legality of Lighting?

Hey all, I’m considering putting on a set of Morettes and amber fogs onto my daily driver.

The Morette literature states that they are not DOT approved and are for off road use only. Has anyone ever been ticketed for this – or do you think that the cops will even know or care?

Also, the amber Hellas just showed up today. Anyone been ticketed or stopped for running yellow/amber fogs on the street?



Thanks,

 

Yellow fogs are 100% legal (assuming you run the normal 55W bulbs and not 100W or 130W like someone I can think of... :hsugh

Morettes aren't, simply because they aren't DOT approved, but they shouldn't do anything that causes you trouble unless you overlamp them or aim them way high.

 

I had an 00 GMC Jimmy with PIAA fogs that were crazy yellow bright... no tickets just mad drivers... SOOOO worth it... im running a HELLA yellow bulb in my fogs right now... And dont worry about the morettes... as long as you have headlights on no one cares...

 

here is a copy from http://www.policeworld.net/vb/showthread.php?p=71746

"..... Two driving lights using those same led bulbs would likely be fine.

Here's the list of statutes that would apply. I'd look within the whole general area of the numbers to see what all the equipment rules are.

169.56 sub 2 - Fog lights must illuminate between 12 and 30 inches, no more or less.

169.56 sub 4 - Driving lights must illuminate between 16 and 42 inches, no more or less.

Somewhere in this same general vicinity is a statute saying no more then 4 white lights to the front of the vehicle are permitted. I think it is 169.49a. So 2 headlights and two driving lights is it. A bar of lights wouldn't be acceptable.

That isn't to say you can't have more. A lot of trucks used off road have more then 4, but they are not illuminated when on the road."

 

Nice, Thanks!

 

No thank you for that avatar....

 

I just got done driving around with yellow headlights for like 2 weeks. I definately got eyed up by a few officers but never got pulled over. I even made a point of going down to Uni to see if those tight asses would bother me, I never got messed with.

 

had yellow fogs for a year, and no problem.

 

With the yellow headlights I did get a lot of folks flashing/yelling at me that my lights were off. Thats pretty much the only reason they came back off.

 

I have Hella 500s on my Impreza with Yellowstar bulbs. Never been ticketed for it. People flash me all the time because they are bright, (and yes, properly aimed w/55w bulbs), but no Police heat from them.

I have them wired to my marker/parking/corner lamps. (whatever you want to call them) So, you don't have to have the headlights on to run them, just the corner lamps, and they still go off with the rest of the electrical system. Also, you can have your high-beams on and run the fogs, unlike the stock fogs. (The switch on the top of the steering column also enables them without having to have the key in the on position.)

I highly recommend wiring them this way. Skip using the stock harness and wire them yourself.

 

I have a set of rally lights. They make a world of difference. So I have 6 white lights on the front at the same time and have never been pullled over for it. Unless it's super dark out and there are on coming cars ofcourse.

I'm actually thinking about getting another set with something like 130w bulbs to put in my grill area just to go crazy...

 

Lexus IS 300s come standard with yellow fogs...

 

No issues yet...

 

I do not run mine year around (sometimes I wish I had them on for some drivers on the road). I am hoping to use them a lot more at the next MNSubaru Ice event. I do use them in the UP in MI though. Post pics and stuff in this thread if you want..... http://www.mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14201

 

Kind of a necropost, but is it possible to aim driving lights so that they are usable with other cars around or is this a no-no?

 

It's a no-no. It has to do with the pattern of light, not so much the aiming.

Essentially, by the time you aimed them down far enough to not blind oncoming traffic, they'd be useless or worse for you.

I'm hoping to get a chance soon to do some photos of different light patterns from several different kinds of lights, which will hopefully illustrate the point a little better.

 

I've got my aiming dialed in - almost.
The fogs are awesome.
The morettes light pattern is... um... unique..:hsugh:

 

this is illegal. i read through the statues before and well this is included in there. you cannot have any other lights on with your high beams. sucks. i highly doubt you would get pulled over for it....

 

I think you're right about that.

You can have fogs on with low beams
You can have driving lights on with high beams
You cannot have fogs on with high beams
You cannot have driving lights on with low beams

But this might not be right, I really should look up the statutes.

And since you should be dipping your brights if there's oncoming traffic, I never worry too much about what's legal/illegal when the brights are on. I just make sure I'm legal when I go to low beams.

 

That's what I figured, I guess I'll be dropping in some 500s then.

Thanks.