Scary news for visitors to Europe!

[RupertGS]

According to this week's Auto Express a large percentage of U.K. drivers go the Continent without any form of headlamp adjusters fitted.

No adjusters or incorrectly-fitted ones can land us with a fine of up to £710 in France for instance. Even more scary is the fact that, if there's an accident, our insurers can refuse all cover except third-party.

The AA, which conducted the survey for Auto Express, found that 78% of drivers had no beam-bender adapters and of those that did, 58% were fitted incorrectly.

The AA's recommendation is that anyone fitting beam benders on newer vehicles, which apparently have no easy to discern markings for where to place them, should have the benders fitted by an approved MOT station, which can do a proper headlight check to see if they're working correctly.

The loss of insurance is particularly worrying and I for one will be using an MOT centre in future as I find my Renault Master headlamps are very difficult for me to fit benders to and be sure of their accuracy.

[catinou]

I have just this morning ordered our headlamp protectors (at last) but am unsure about how we would be able to keep to the law in this country if we have the beam benders fitted at an MOT station here then drive to the ferry? :-S

[Guest JudgeMental]

catinou - 2008-08-13 3:06 PM

 

I have just this morning ordered our headlamp protectors (at last) but am unsure about how we would be able to keep to the law in this country if we have the beam benders fitted at an MOT station here then drive to the ferry? :-S

 

you fix the beam benders to the headlamp protectors, and remove the head lamp protectors when you return to the UK and refit when going abroad again. They clip on with only a few screws.....

[malc d]

JudgeMental - 2008-08-13 3:22 PM

 

catinou - 2008-08-13 3:06 PM

 

I have just this morning ordered our headlamp protectors (at last) but am unsure about how we would be able to keep to the law in this country if we have the beam benders fitted at an MOT station here then drive to the ferry? :-S

 

you fix the beam benders to the headlamp protectors, and remove the head lamp protectors when you return to the UK and refit when going abroad again. They clip on with only a few screws.....

 

 

I agree that is the obvious solution for the continent, but the trouble is that your headlights are then not protected when driving in this country.

Could always buy two sets I suppose. Must be cheaper than new headlights.

:-|

[JohnP]

Perhaps the AA should also do a check of all of the foreign cars and lorries over here.

Has anyone seen a foreign vehicle fitted with them?

 

I find that with the Renault Master if the lights are set down to their lowest adjustment there is no dazzle to oncoming traffic.

 

Headlamp protectors do not appear to be available for this model.

[graham]

The difference in law enforcement surely is that the French police can impose on the spot fines which have to be paid. Our police are unlikely to take action on a foreign driver who will almost certainly ignore any fine after they have returned home. Additionally traffic police are quite a common site in France but seem to have been largely replaced by cameras over here. At the end of the day is it worth flouting the law because others do when it is so simple to comply.

[chatterdog]

If you buy the universal plastic beambenders(from Halfords or any good car spares shop cost around £6/7.00), there is not a problem from driving in europe or over here, the beambender just stops the upward spread of the beam. Your vehicle will still pass its MOT with beambenders on. I have used them for the last 7 years and have never had a MOT failure because of them, but i did take my vehicle to the test station for them to put them on correctly. I bought headlight protectors and had the beambenders fitted to the protectors whilst on the car, if you have the plastic lens headlight you need the protectors as the adeasive can craze the plastic headlight which could result in an MOT failure. I leave my headlight protectors with beambenders on all year round.

[starvin marvin]

I put my beam benders on last December and forgot to take them off when we came back. Took the van for an MOT in July! and its passed but with a reference to the beam benders having been fitted. I think I'll just leave them on. If I need more illumination at night I just switch the spotlamps on.

[donna miller]

I just left the German fitted headlights in after I imported the van. Had no trouble mot'ing it 3 years on the trot.

[spospe]

We had an Autosleeper Duetto for 7 years (a 1999 model) and the headlamp masks were fitted from day one and never taken off. There was no problem with the MOT and no crazing of the plastic lens covers under the sticky plastic (they were cut from an AA masking kit).

[Derek Uzzell]

As far as I'm aware it's not the presence, or otherwise, of tape masks or beam-deflectors on the headlamps that's legally significant when a UK-registered vehicle is being driven on the Continent, it's whether or not the headlamps cause dazzle.

 

Of course, for a RHD UK-registered car with nothing visibly stuck on its headlamps, there's a high likelihood its headlamps will cause dazzle when the vehicle is driven in 'right-hand traffic', so naked-headlight GB cars are a sitting target for Continental police.

 

Most recent motorhome base-vehicles have a dashboard-mounted control allowing the headlamps to be aimed well downwards. In the lowest position the lights are very unlikely to dazzle anyone, though whether this argument would satisfy a French policeman is anybody's guess.

[Usinmyknaus]

Sounds like the British policy of pursuing motorists (easy, safe, profitable and applauded by ministers) rather than criminals (hard, dangerous, expensive and often thankless) has been exported to the mainland!

 

I tried to buy headlamp protectors for my June 07 Master and could find none which fitted this latest shape lens. My local Renault dealer supplied their recommended benders at £10 a pop. They were very easy to fit following the instructions provided.

 

I removed them with the recommended hot water and soap and there were no adverse effects visible other than a small amount of adhesive residue which I hope will wash off over time. (If not I least I know where to put the next set.)

 

I had no problems from plod, les plod (French and Belgian) or the Dutch equivalent. I intend to stick (sorry couldn't resist the pun) with the method I have used for 33 years, but more cautious souls may, of course, prefer a belt and braces approach.........

 

Bob

[Derek Uzzell]

Bob:

 

When I discussed 'dipping the wrong way' headlamps at my local police station I was advised that UK traffic regulations were no different to those abroad where this was concerned. If the headlights on Continental vehicles being driven in the UK caused dazzle, then it was as much an offence here as if the headlights on a UK-registered vehicle caused dazzle when it was being driven in France, Germany, Italy, etc.

 

However, because the UK did not have an on-the-spot fining system for traffic offences, prosecuting 'dazzling' Continental driver's would be time- and effort-consuming and (I quote) "was not considered a hot policing issue".

 

I also spoke to the people at a local roadside inspection station and was told that, when they pulled in Continental trucks for a look-see, they checked that all the necessary lights were working, but didn't check the dipped-beam pattern.

 

So the realistic chances of a Continental driver being prosecuted in the UK for having wrong-way-dipping lights are probably pretty small.

 

As far as I'm concerned, if UK motorcaravanners get fined abroad for having 'wrong' headlights, it's their own fault. Most UK drivers know they should make sure their lights don't dazzle when they go abroad and, for those who don't, then they should damn well find out.

 

I doubt very much that Continental police will use beam-testing equipment to confirm the accuracy of a UK vehicle's dipped-beam alignment. They'll just note when there's no mask/deflector stuck on the lights and assume (correctly in most cases) that the lights will dazzle. Then the motorhome's driver will have to argue his case, which should be OK if the motorhome is LHD and/or the lights are clearly right-dipping pattern, or the motorhome lights can be shown to have the ability to alter their pattern from left-dipping to right-dipping and the latter option has been selected. Otherwise it might be difficult...

 

While I'm abroad my LHD Hobby has right-dipping headlamps, but, if they dipped left, I'd stick beam-deflectors on them. Frankly, even though I'd try to position the deflectors accurately (and some deflectors come with vehicle-specific instructions how to do this), I'd be keener on having something immediately visible on the headlamps to deflect the Continental police's interest than worry about how efficiently the beam itself was being deflected.

[BGD]

All interesting stuff.....but I wonder how many people from the UK have, in actual practice, been fined on the Continent for having dazzly headlights??

 

In all my 6 years of living permanently in Spain (where there are now gazillions of UK plated cars/bikes/vans, and of which maybe 0.00001% may have had their lights changed or beam benders fitted), I've NEVER heard yet of anyone being done for having headlights aimed wrong.

[cronkle]

I have plastic headlight protectors.

I've marked around the beam-benders with an indellible marker. If I need to put new ones on I know where to site them.

[RupertGS]

For anyone still think of taking a risk you should read this on MHF:

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-50476.html

You've been warned!

[Usinmyknaus]

Derek, I agree. It makes sense that if the headlamps have masks fitted then les plod will bother someone else. I have always fitted them just before going foreign.

 

Bob

[Usinmyknaus]

Rupert GS your last post was very illuminating.

 

Before heading off to France in July I checked the Foreign Office website and it had a clear warning that les plods were going to have a blitz on the newly introduced mandatory carrying of day glo jackets and warning triangle. It would appear from your informant that that has now come to pass and you have issued a timely warning.

 

I think the FO website is always worth a look before travelling abroad as it is genuinely useful and up-to-date in my experience.

 

Bob

[Usinmyknaus]

Hello Bruce,

 

I wonder if the reported blitz is primarily about the yellow jackets and warning triangle - a newly introduced mandatory requirement (used to be "recommended" only) and the lights issue perhaps an add-on 'cos les plods are ticking boxes on the "lets get some money off the Brits and by the way we remember Agincourt you know" sheet.

 

I suspect it is very easy for plod to prove you have not got the jackets and triangle i.e. you can't show them the kit, whereas demonstrating dazzle despite carefully fitted benders, to the satisfaction of a court, may be a little more technical ............. Hope so anyway!

 

Presumably then, no benders equals possibly, an easy extra pinch for les plods if one is unlucky enough to be caught up in the spot check? So Rupert's reminder is timely for those of us for whom Murphy's law is in reality, a universal constant.

 

Bob :-D

[Randonneur]

The mandatory yellow jacket and triangle law was put back until 1st October from 1st July.

[david lloyd]

One very valuable point that has been overlooked so far in the debate as to whether beam benders or masking should/sbould not be used, is easy to get away with/or not - is the simple fact that one dark evening whilst driving in europe you could just look in the rear view mirror to see the car you have just passed disappearing from the carriageway in a cloud of dust - the real point is if you do dazzle another road user you could cause a serious (even fatal) accident.

 

David

[BGD]

Randonneur - 2008-08-15 1:22 PM

 

The mandatory yellow jacket and triangle law was put back until 1st October from 1st July.

 

 

 

Hi - I'm assuming you are referring to France only, as here in Spain the requirement to carry 2 warning traingles has been in law for quite a number of years now.

 

The additional requirement: to also carry as many hi-vis waistcoats as there are people in the car, stored in a location where you can get at them without leaving the car, has been in place in Spain for a year or more (from memory I think the law came into effect in April 2007, but am not certain of the actual date).

 

 

 

Be aware also that it's a legal requirement to carry your driving licence with you at all times when driving any car/van/MH or riding any motorbike, anywhere in Spain.

If the Police stop you and you can't produce it, you can be arrested as it's a criminal offence here not to carry it......and I think there are a lot more "on spec" roadside stop-and-check-every-vehicle events here in Spain than in the UK.

 

[Derek Uzzell]

My understanding was that the French law about reflectorised jackets/warning triangles wasn't postponed as such, just that motorists were being allowed 3 months grace to comply. Click on the following link:

 

http://www.whytraveltofrance.com/category/french-laws/

 

and there's an entry (dated 01/07/2008) that I've quoted below:

 

"Beginning today, cars in France must carry a gilet de sécurité / bright, yellow vest with 2 reflective stripes and a triangle de pré-signalisation / a reflective red warning triangle. These are to be used if you have an accident or must pull off the road for break downs and other emergencies. Note: The vest must be in the cab portion of the car, that is, where the drivers and passengers are, and not in the trunk.

 

The police will be performing random checks to verify that you have these obligatory items. If you’re caught without them after October, 1, you risk a fine of 90 to 135 euros.

 

You can sometimes get free kits with vests and triangle at a gas station if you have your oil changed or have your tires checked. Otherwise, they are available to purchase at gas stations for about 15 - 20 euros."

 

Incidentally, some while ago I asked the Caravan Club to confirm what the EXACT legal position was in Spain regarding the '2-triangle rule'. The CC's touring handbook says about Warning Triangles:

 

"Foreign-registered vehicles are recommended to carry two triangles - as required by Spanish drivers - in order to avoid any local difficulties which may arise."

 

This tallies with what I understood to be the specific rule of law in Spain - triangle-wise, 2 triangles obligatory for 'native' Spanish motorists, but only 1 triangle obligatory for 'foreigners' - but it seems to conflict with BGD's advice (and, as he lives there, he should know).

 

I've also asked the CC about the light-bulb-related advice in their handbook that, when driving in France, "you are required to carry spares at all times", as I've been told (and seen it advised on some websites) that, although it's certainly strongly recommended that motorist carry spare bulbs, it's not legally obligatory. I've added that, if it is indeed French law for motorists to carry spare bulbs for their vehicle, to which bulbs specifically (and to how many of each) does the law refer. My Hobby motorhome is festooned with lights and, if I'm obliged to carry spare bulbs (which I, in fact, do) while I'm touring in France, it would be valuable to know for sure to which of the Hobby's lights the bulbs should relate. (Not that there'd be a hope in Hell of me roadside-changing a failed headlamp bulb, even though I carry a spare!)

 

I've yet to receive a reply from the Caravan Club (though they did acknowledge receipt of my inquiry), so I guess I'd better remind them about it.

[Usinmyknaus]

I recall the "Honest John" column in Telegraph Motoring made the point recently that for some (European) vehicles, replacing a headlamp bulb is effectively a "garage only" job and certainly not one to be attempted at a roadside!

 

Bob

[Mel B]

Slight digression but ... hubby has been watching Fifth Gear (should that be Sixth Gear now?), anyway, they were doing a survey on how long it takes to change a light bulb on Renault cars. Apparently an AA man managed to change a standard front headlight bulb in 45 minutes!!!! If you've got Xenon lights though it's even more difficult and time consuming and definitely a garage job.

 

Apparently to do it you have to first remove the wheel and then remove some cover, then ... well I won't bore you, but it takes ages. Garages are charging upwards of £30+VAT for the labour alone, and for Xenon lights it can be £230+VAT!!!!!

 

Just something to think about when buying another vehicle!!! 8-)