Thread: Blue driving light covers - opinions please?

Originally Posted by Disco EMU

Well, that throws a different light on the subject ...

Thanks BJ

A blue a red light?



I always have clear covers on mine, and have broken one cover in the 12months that's I've had them... So IMO they have been a good investment.

Originally Posted by one_iota

Even the european yellow fog lights are subject to debate with regards to whether they are effective in fog conditions

I was told you got a 16% reduction in glare by filtering out 16% of the useful light...

With regards to Yellow Fog Lights this should clear things up:

http://www.lightingresearch.org/prog...01-01-0320.pdf

I can see more clearly now the rain has gone

Originally Posted by isuzurover

No vehicles are permitted to have blue lights other than emergency services vehicles.

People on other forums have reported being warned or fined by police for having blue covers on their spotlights, as this has been deemed by the officer to be the same as a blue light.

Blue covers on spotlights ARE NOT Illegal. Blue flashing or warning lights are. The blue headlight covers show up as a pale blue only. If the police are warning people they do not know the laws, standards and regulations regarding them/ If this was the case we would all be fined for red clearance, tail and stop lamps and green, white and blue clearance lamps.
I do have the information somewhere as I looked into it extensively when at Ravey.
You can legally have blue, red, white or green flashing lights fitted for private property use, but the moment you go onto a public road you must have them covered so that they are not visible unless you are a designated emergency vehicle such as an ambulance or fire tender. A security vehicle does not come under this definition.
The laws are a bit vague but it basically comes down to the state emergency services minister or similar as to who is allowed to do what.

Yeah, only emergency vehicles are permitted to display (operating) red and or blue warning lights - an emergency vehicle (in NSW) includes Police, Fire Brigade (including RFS), Ambulance, SES and RTA vehicles.

They must be operating to prove the offence.

Not sure about driving lights, but I remember reading recently in the RACQ magaine (since thrown it out) that some blue bulbs were legal and others were not, but I can't remember how to separate them, so you might want to check the law with your motoring organization.

As someone who spent about 20 years in the optical game, I'll try to throw some very basic clarity (pun intended) on this argument.
Firsty, if you put ANY colour into a so called 'filter' you REDUCE the output of light from the source, thus the penetration of your lights will be less. This also applies to 'clear' filters. These are generally made of polycarbonate which although virtually bullet proof, is optically quite poor.

The old Amber/yellow glasses worked on increasing the 'sense' of contrast, in other words tricking the eye into believing that it has a better depth of field in a low light situation. All tests of this led to a fail. Main reason is that if you filter any part of the spectrum in a low light situation you WILL lower the overall light getting to the retina, this in turn will tend to make light areas look lighter, and dark areas look darker.

Without getting into what does what, it's all to do with rods and cones on the retina and frankly, after a couple of reds, I'm not up to a full on lecture.

Suffice to say... the more natural the light is that is available to your eyes, the better. If you choose to pollute it with what the promoters of light filters say, you will just not see all the things you should at a critical time...... not all things glow in the dark.... and tinted lenses on your eyes or your lights make sure that you'll miss (or hit) something.

I have red protectors on my driving lights, see my av. They were originally fitted as bling, with the intention of removing the covers when in use, but I have found them very helpful. Wildlife does not seem to dazzled to a standstill and there is less reflected glare. Admittedly the light output has been reduced, but not to the point that I can outdrive the lights at sensible or legal speeds. I have 100 watt H7 bulbs in an 8" lamp.