Question for UK drivers

When I was stationed in the UK, the rear red (sometimes amber) was a rear "marker light" that was used when driving in dense fog. They don't stop much, may slow down some, so you were required by law to have that, else you get run over.

The white one, I am not sure about

Suddenly, without warning, azwiley1 exclaimed (23-Oct-06 12:36 PM):

I'd guess the white one was a backup light. On my Dakota, they rewired the backup lights to be turn signals, since it is apparently required that the turn signals be white. However, backup lights are not required.

I really missed mine, imagine the Ram owner added it so he could avoid knocking down buildings in the dark :)

And, yes, the red one is a fog lamp.

jmc

Thanks guys. I appreciate you clearing that up for me. Now I can sleep soundly again.

The irony I encountered in the early 90's while stationed in the UK is that come of the lighting modifications made and mandated by the military establishment were not at all necessary. For some reason, those "supporting" the US forces thought that turn signals needed to be amber, vehicles need the rear fog lamp, and front parking lamps needed to be 5W and white. This understanding of the vehicle code simply was not true and many paid for these modifictions unnecessarily.

The motor vehicle code only requred that all vehicles manufactured for sale in the UK have these features. This was confirmed by several frustrated MOT inspectors to whom the modifications did not make sense either. For whatever reason those advising the military establishment felt it necessary to offer poor advice to our commanders, many of whom also paid to have their vehicles modified.

The kicker is that some of the modifications are very tricky to undo once the vehicle returns to the states. If for example the vehicle shares bulb filaments for brake and turn signal, the modification to create a seperate lead for each could be quite extensive. I'm not sure where this lunacy came from, but I'm saddened to see that it still exists.

You may want to check and see how they wired the front 5w bulbs if they are still doing that. When mine was done, they unplugged the wrap-around parking lamps, effectively making my car invisible from either side at intersections. I promptly plugged them back in and never heard another word.

From my perspective, the only thing that should have been checked and changed if necessary are the headlights. Ours tend to illuminate with a fairly fuzzy cut-off, favoring the right side of the roadway. UK(Continental) verions have a very crisp cut-off and favor the left(right) side of the highway.

For those who have been anywhere in Europe, you probably noticed that some vehicles appear to have very dim headlights? That's not necessarily the case. You're just not getting blinded by them because their light is being focused at the roadway. Some modern xenon designs in the US also appear dim until you get hit with them cresting a hill.

As a corollary, those of is who drive US-spec vehicles in Europe have become accustomed to being flashed because our light pattern throws more light into oncoming traffic and resembles the European high beam. And those with US spec pick-up trucks should be prepared for to provoke all sorts of ire with a set of lamps throwing light all over the place from 5 feet in the air.

My 2 cents.

The turn signals are required to be yellow, not red like in the U.S.! The white light is the new backup light (only required to have one for the vehicle inspection). The "fog light" does work as long as idiots don't try to drive 70-80 MPH in dense fog. The "fog light" also works well in heavy rainfall, which does occur in England many times a year. I don't see how your turn signal lights working as turn signals passed the inspection. Unless, of course, you had a brand new truck, which would have exempted it from inspections for 3 years! All I can say, is, whomever wired that setup for you was no friend.

M2CW, Hawkeye65

There is no requirement that those be red in the US. Some are yellow.

Suddenly, without warning, Bob Snyder exclaimed (24-Oct-06 11:00 PM):

I thought that would happen too, but never once in the Dakota's 3 years there did I get "flipped off". But then, I don't think the headlights are much higher (might actually be lower) than the lamps on the increasingly common Landrovers.

jmc