Thread: Gone cold on the HID idea.

HID or halogen or sealed beam poorly adjusted lights will blind any on coming driver

Originally Posted by rangieman

HID or halogen or sealed beam poorly adjusted lights will blind any on coming driver

As rangieman said poorly aimed lights are the single biggest cause of blinding other drivers. There are some good HID kits around, take your time to set them up and i think you'll be very happy with the results.

Originally Posted by davenlone

As rangieman said poorly aimed lights are the single biggest cause of blinding other drivers. There are some good HID kits around, take your time to set them up and i think you'll be very happy with the results.

I know I would be happy with the results and I'd hands down convert to HID, it's the legality issue I'm raising.

The cops are paying pretty strict attention to modifications - they aren't usually compassionate and will simply defect your vehicle...

Vicroads have been advising LVTs not to issue certificates to vehicles fitted with HIDs:

"What this means is that if you come across a vehicle
fitted with gas discharge lamps – the rear of the lamp
is quite different from a normal lamp because of the
high voltage starting system required – unless the
vehicle is fitted with a lens cleaning system and has
an automatic lamp adjusting system (this may be a
self levelling suspension system) you should not
issue a Roadworthiness Certificate as the vehicle
does not comply with the standards."

Is it worth running the risk?

Your experience has happened so many times to most drivers I think and it is not just the people who decide to modify their lights. Some car makers are worse then others but in ?Germany if your vehicle has HID's then you must have self leveling on them. I think all countries should make this law.

Xav

Originally Posted by B92 8NW

I was about to order a HID kit from China for $140 this evening, until the events of 45 minutes ago.

I was driving through "Box Hill" waiting for an arrow to turn right when an Asian man stopped at the lights opposite, driving his riced Toyota Echo sporting a cheapo aftermarket HID kit. The passengers side had failed, leaving only a dark blue parking light, and the drivers side was, inter alia, nothing short of blinding. So much so that I was unable too see the traffic lights, or where I was supposed to be going. If you saw a person on Whitehorse Rd lying on the footpath for half an hour, it was me waiting for my sight to return enough to drive home.

I am proficient enough in Mandarin to inform the guy that in Australia, we have strict legislation regarding modification of motor vehicles and that his headlights simply do not comply with relevant ADR legislation at all, and that I am well within my rights to report the vehicle to the police and they can come and defect it.

I have far too healthy a conscience to inflict this on other drivers.

Why do some people think they can somehow justify behaving contrary to the law... *shakes head and wanders off*

How do you know that the Echo was fitted with a cheap aftermarket HID kit. Many are just running the "cool blue" halogen globes from Supercrap or similar. The appearance to oncoming traffic is similar. As others have said, any lights poorly adjusted will blind oncoming traffic.

I've got a cheap Chinese HID kit in the Disco and could not be happier with the result. Other than on the first night with them before I had them properly adjusted, I have never once been flashed by oncoming traffic, and have in fact spoken with oncoming trucks on the UHF and been told that, while they look blue/white and brighter than most other vehicles on the road, they are not annoying.

But I also do a lot of long distance night driving between Perth & Kalgoorlie, and have Hella Predator HID driving lights as well. The reason for the conversion of the headlights to HID was to overcome the absolute crap standard low beam on the Disco, which meant that I virtually couldn't see when I dipped from high beam plus Predators for other traffic.

What amazes me is why people who live in major cities and do not do a lot of night driving on country roads would convert headlights to HID. Not saying that this is you - I don't know where you drive yours. But where people fit HID to a vehicle that spends all of its life in the city - I think that this is only for **** factor. My young bloke has a souped up ricer (RX7) and even though he loves his mods, he can't see the point in converting to HID as the only time that he ever drives it outside of Kalgoorlie is during the day - he won't risk the roos at night. He's tried the "cool blue" halogen globes (as have I) and we both threw them out as they're totally useless.

As far as the "legal" aspect goes, I have yet to hear of a cop that will pick on HID lights as long as they're properly adjusted. I've been pulled up for a few things (including accidentally having my fog lights on) and the cops have never mentioned the headlights on mine. Maybe they're different in Vic ???

or as is more common the idiot in the echo had blown out both his low beam, and one high beam so all he had left for lighting was the one high beam light so he was running on that.

and the thing probably had rooted rear suspension so that was lifting the nose and then what was left of the originaly lighting was probabley also out of alignment.

Wait till you get out near Ipswich, the number of times Ive been blinded from behind (and in front) by idiots who stay on highbeam or have their headlights so far out of adjustment for whatever reason makes me want to fit a self aiming turreted .22 repeater turret to the top of big red so that when I get blinded by these idiots I can just hit the "make it all dark again" button on the steering wheel. (in my saner moments I just want a gigawatt lazer so i can melt out their lights so they think they blew)

I can understand it from things like trucks where their headlights are at about my mirror level but not when some spudwad in some hotted up crumple zone with less ground clearance than a skateboard is blinding me via reflection in the mirrors

I have had had HID inserts in my headlights for at least 18 months and have never been "flashed". if the lights are adjusted properly there is no reason why they would emit more glare than halogen globes. My headlight kit was not a cheap chinese kit as I had two of those fail although I know plenty of people who have had no problems with them.
I also have 42 watt driving light inserts and they are a chinese kit and I am very happy with those. They have been in for around 2.5 years.

Ian

Originally Posted by Xavie

Germany if your vehicle has HID's then you must have self leveling on them. I think all countries should make this law.

Xav

This is the law for modding in queensland. Must have selflevelling suspension or adjustable headlights. Wonder if polyairs count?