Reversing lights.

moray (mtb_hyphen snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

If reversing lamps are present, but in the wrong place or too bright, C&U can indeed be enforced.

There's nothing in C&U requiring them to be present.

adder1969 ( snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

First registered after 1/4/80.

For older cars, if it's present, it must work.

Grimly Curmudgeon ( snipped-for-privacy@REMOVEgmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

But it must be symmetrical with the other one - as must the fog light.

Is there an online copy of the actual regulations anywhere? I'm not finding it.

Cheapskate includes quite a lot of Japanese stuff and the new Golf...

Ian Stirling ( snipped-for-privacy@mauve.demon.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Not of C&U as a whole, but the RVLR (Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations)

Doki ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Correct, it does.

Yes?

From the first, "no flashing lights" (with logical exceptions, decorative ones are right out).

'must be symmetrical' ... Where?

In the regulation I see 'no more than two, to the rear, with an approval mark, white, with not more than 24W per light' (schedule 14 of the first link) There is no requirement I can see on position.

Ian Stirling ( snipped-for-privacy@mauve.demon.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

For reversing lights, you're right. My apologies.

For rear fogs :-

1. Other requirements- Where two rear fog lamps are fitted to a motor vehicle first used on or after 1st April 1986 or to a trailer manufactured on or after 1st October

I now see a blanket exemption for requiring standards on lamps, as long as they meet the standard, so that's not a problem - as the only real requirement for an added reversing light are that it's white.

I saw assorted 'matched pair', and 'pair' used through the document.

I diddn't see any actual requirement that they be symmetricly arranged about the vehicle. It could not unreasonably be taken to mean identical lamps.

There is a (potentially fallacious) argument that it means you can still see the brakelights.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Chris Whelan saying something like:

Those who reverse regularly and really need to see what's going on at the back will ignore that particular piece of nonsense and fit a 55W lamp. cf truckers, recovery vehicle drivers, etc.

They're not reversing lights though, they're on a seperate switch.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Duncan Wood" saying something like:

Of course, that's the story. :)