Legality and Insurance Implications for Smoked Taillights

[kajun]

Originally Posted by jshadeck

Not sure about ur laws, but ours state the reflector (amber front and red rear) must be visible from the side of the vehicle. I have the colin tails, and they come with stick on reflectors to put on the side of the bumper/fender area

jshadeck, you're probably better off staying out of this discussion. ADRs have a requirement for two rear red passive reflectors spaced at least 400mm apart and no more than a certain distance from the side of the car (can't recall maximum distance). We don't have a requirement for the reflector to be visible from the side, for instance. We can't have red indicators on the back lights either, for instance.

From what I've seen, the Valentis and the Crystal Eyes have passive reflectors that are compliant; stickers would work, but you've obviously got to deal with placement of the stickers on a car that doesn't have an obvious "slot" for them.

There's people driving around with smoked lights on other cars, so it's not totally illegal, you just have to cover your bases if you're in a situation where they could be a factor, e.g. crashes, dealing with insurance, and defect notices from cops. Naturally you're going to attract even more attention than usual from cops if you have smoked lights.

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by jshadeck

but ours state the reflector

And how that is relevant to the Australian Regional Forums? I know Australia is referred to America's 51st state but it is not yet official.

[Panman]

Title of the thread in the Australia / New Zealand section Legality and Insurance Implications for Smoked Taillights.

Now I'm no genius, but I would have thought an understanding of Australian (or New Zealand) laws and insurance standards would have been helpful before making comment.

[jshadeck]

Many laws are adopted from other countries through out the world regarding cars and traffic.

[Xauterus]

Hey dont fall off your high horses!

[Blue86]

3rd brake light should be enough to give people the message if your others are a bit dark

[Devie]

I got done in my old car for having too dark of tint.

My tint came from the dealer in Vic. SA has different laws.

Its all fucked.

[kajun]

Originally Posted by Blue86

3rd brake light should be enough to give people the message if your others are a bit dark

Which is completely irrelevant to the discussion about reflectors and legality.

[mswhong]

Originally Posted by Devie

Its all fucked.

THIS pretty much sums up Australian road laws.

[000 Racing]

Guys I can tell you if it was not on the ADR then it's illegal... especially tail lights if they are smoked. HWP will have a field day.

[kajun]

Originally Posted by mswhong

THIS pretty much sums up Australian road laws.

How? Australian road laws are fairly reasonable, and since 2007 have been fairly uniform across the country with legislation in each state to match up & ensure there's no discrepancies. But that aside, ADRs have been standard across Australia for decades, and you shouldn't have a whinge that your blacked out car isn't considered road safe.

[WhiteCar]

Originally Posted by eviledward

if your taillights don't have reflectors you will be in trouble with the police and insurance companies.

FYI Valenti do come with reflectors!

[Panman]

The Brisbane guys did a comparison of a lot of the available taillight options last weekend including visibility range tests day and night - all of the options we compared (with the possible exception of one brand) met all of the visibility tests in ADR including the tinted lights.

Proving this after an accident when your tails are embedded in someone elses bumper may be a different thing.

For reference we tested:
Toms (my car)
Valenti
Crystaleye
Spyder
Colin/TVC
Grazio & Co
Tinted std lights

[Suffa]

Panman, do you know what the rules are for QLD? Ive heard different things but it normally comes back as
1. red light must be visible from 200m?
2. indicator bulb has to be able to be seen (too dark a tint you wouldn't be able to see it.)

But everyone says something different.