Guest Tracker Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 The fitting of beam blockers at about £7 a pair is so cheap that you would be daft to drive off a ferry without this highly visible item fitted. If stopped for a minor traffic transgression - easy to do while driving on the 'wrong' side of the road - you may have a better chance of getting away with it if all your required kit is present and correct? Forgive my cynicism but, in effect, it matters little how they are fitted as a roadside beam check is very unlikely and as most of us don't drive much at night abroad it is maybe just a bit irrelevant in the grand scheme of things? Specially as by using double sided carpet sticky tape to fix them and white spirit to remove one set will do many trips - mine have done 4 trips so far on three different vehicles! Reflective jackets are also so cheap that we carry two in each of our vehicles - as are first aid kits and reflective triangles. With the whole lot costing less than a night on a CC site in August why leave it to chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myshell Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Following a trip to France last year I was stocking up on the usual essentials before returning home(wine,wine & more wine) at Cite de Europe, the local police were having a birthday checking British registered vehicles for beam benders and GB plates, they where issuing on the spot fines to any motorist who didn't have them, one poor devil was arguing that he had only come over that morning on a day trip, and would be going back before night fall so he didn't need beam benders as he would not be driving in the dark using his headlights, No chance ! he was still issued with an on the spot fine. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 So it looks as if it would be a good idea if we in the UK joined the rest of Europe and drove on the right! I suggest a changeover taking place over a couple of days so we can get used to the change gradually. All Hymer drivers on Monday and the rest of us on Tuesday >:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usinmyknaus Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 The pressing need for this and similar threads (first aid kits etc) demonstrates that across Europe we have too many regulators with too much time on their hands, which enables them to think up the next pointless wheeze. Those who purport to serve the public have in reality become our oppressors. I wonder how much tax is generated - to the benefit of the Commission - from forcing mororists across Europe to buy extra emergency kit which statistically, on any one day, they are very, very unlikley to use? Similarly, using vast amount of fuel and raw materials to make and distribute it all, then adding the weight of it to the vehicle fleet must use even more fuel, all of which, how convenient, happens to generate lots more tax ..... the bureaucrats can't lose can they? Bob >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 To me it makes very good sense to carry basic emergency kit like reflective jackets, triangles, first aid kits - and even bulbs - because you just never know around which corner they might be needed, especially as the cost to each of us is so low when compared to the potential for life or serious injury saving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usinmyknaus Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Totally agree Tracker and I have always choosen to carry that type of kit. It's the compulsion element and jack-booted enforcement that I object to. The nanny state seems to be growing exponentially and interfering in every corner of our existence. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potjoe Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Hi can some tell me please the price these Prtectors and were from. to fit the New Fiat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catinou Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 potjoe - 2008-08-20 5:28 PM Hi can some tell me please the price these Prtectors and were from. to fit the New Fiat Hi John, If you mean the clip on headlamp protectors - we have just got ours (being fitted at the 1st service as we speak) - from Adams Morey in Southampton - they are a Fiat main dealer and protectors are Fiat parts. They have just told me they are £53 / £54 per pair plus VAT. Still cheaper than new headlights though! *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 202 Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 hi it was me who advised catinou re Adams morey. Now I, have got a pair of protectors, used once, Px'd my mar/08 bolero after lots of trouble. bought different make and different base. You can have mine for £30. I live portsmouth. Hope I am not breaching any etiquete rules. just trying to help. regards mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveH Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Hi, been following this thread with interest as about to take first ever trip to france. The headlamp protectors idea is good if you can find them! Ford do not appear to them in their parts list having checked with the main dealer locally. I went to the Commercial side rather than the car parts. If anyone knows where Transit covers can bve found I would be grateful. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 202 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Ditto Dave, I have 08 Transit base, am going to spain later this year, and like you cannot find Ford headlamp protectors. Only advise I got was to stick them on the headlights. There is also a usefull thread which gives all of the masking details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Hi dave and mike Not sure if they do them for the new transit but try: http://www.gbdriver.co.uk/acatalog/headlight-headlamp-covers-protectors-stonegaurds.html Regards, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 202 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 thanks David, will have a look Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveH Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Thanks for the info David. Mines a Mk5 Transit but I'll give them a try as that site appears to be primarily for cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveH Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 To complete this request for headlamp covers information I have contacted 4X4 AT accessories in Leeming Bar , North Yorks on Tuesday 26th Tel:01677 428793 http://www.4x4at.com and received them today via TNT. They fit perfectly and are marked oout to show where to place the supplied stickers for continental travel. They are marked 'made in Australia'!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Hi daveH There doesn't appear to be anything on the website at 4x4 AT about headlamp covers - did you just telephone and ask if they had them? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveH Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 David, Yes is the short answer. I found the original reference to them in a post by Tony Jones in the Hint and Tips back on 13 April 2008 when he responded that he had got some for his vehicle. Interestingly, he fitted the beam benders on the inside of the clipons so that the outside remained smooth for cleaning. Hope this helps Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapple Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 spospe - 2008-08-13 10:13 PM 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). That may be so but what you have been doing is driving your vehicle for a very long time with degraded headlamps. Normally, without the deflectors, they will light up the kerb well ahead of the main part of the dipped beam. With beam deflectors fitted the kerbs will not be lit up ahead of the main beam thus reducing what you can see in the dark. Never mind, it's your life your endangering hopefully not mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cronkle Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 djchapple - 2008-09-05 8:50 PM spospe - 2008-08-13 10:13 PM 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). That may be so but what you have been doing is driving your vehicle for a very long time with degraded headlamps. Normally, without the deflectors, they will light up the kerb well ahead of the main part of the dipped beam. With beam deflectors fitted the kerbs will not be lit up ahead of the main beam thus reducing what you can see in the dark. Never mind, it's your life your endangering hopefully not mine. If the 'beam benders' have been fitted properly then only the part of the beam that lights up the higher level things like road signs should have been blocked. If the part of the beam that lights up the kerb has been blocked then the masking has been placed too low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Derek, Is the colour to be taken literally ? only I bought the girls pink vests. Beginning today, cars in France must carry a gilet de sécurité / bright, yellow vest with 2 reflective stripes and a triangle de pré-signalisation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Michele: I don't really know the answer to this. When I bought my Hobby in Germany in 2005, the dealer's accessory shop was selling reflectorised safety-waistcoats in yellow or orange/pink. The associated shelf-labels suggested that the yellow ones met the requirements of certain EU countries and the orange/pink ones met the requirements of others. I wasn't totally convinced this was correct so, when I got home, I tried to check. It seemed that, at least in the UK, yellow was the norm for these waistcoats/jackets, but certain industries (say, those involved in railway track-maintenance) might choose a different colour to identify their own workers specifically. The UK, of course, has yet to implement a traffic regulation demanding that drivers carry/wear reflective clothing. Apparently, to be 'approved', the safety-vest must bear the marking "CE" and also a reference to one of two applicable Euro-Norms - either "EN-471" or "EN-1150". So, if the pink jackets you bought are marked in that way, they should be fine for use in France. See: http://www.service-public.fr/actualites/00905.html?xtor=EPR-140 The latest French law is aimed primarily at improving the safety of vehicle drivers rather than passengers. My understanding is that, if your children need to exit your motorhome in a roadside emergency, a) they are not legally obliged to be wearing reflective clothing, and b) if they do happen to be wearing safety-vests when they leave your motorhome, there is no legal requirement that this clothing should be a specific colour or should carry CE/EN compliance markings. Personally, I'd keep a yellow safety-vest (not a pink one) within easy reach of your motorhome's driving seat for the driver to wear in an emergency (or to wave at a French policeman if he/she asks if you've got one) as yellow is definitely acceptable. You really don't want to be arguing over French traffic-law small-print if it's easy to avoid doing so and, if French police are expecting to see a driver wearing a yellow jacket, then it's easier for all concerned that they don't see a driver wearing a different coloured one. I'm sure you know how picky policeman can be!:D There's a longish discussion about safety-vest French regulations on the link I've given below. It's worth wading through the thread as long as you skate over the bitchy twaddly stuff that forums inevitably produce when legal fine detail is discussed. http://www.totalfrance.com/france/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44326&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0 I picked up the cross-reference to the required markings for safety-vests via this link. The question of colour is also raised (yellow-versus-orange) in the thread, but it's not fully addressed other than to say that French "Casino" supermarkets were selling orange vests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porky Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 The trouble with information is that you go from ignorance to confusion in a nano second. We are off to France next year so do we need a waistcoat, a vest or a jacket or all three to ensure we comply? Porky - confused, well fed and happy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Porky: I'm sure your French dictionary will tell you that "gilet" is the French word for a "waistcoat" - I wouldn't have thought there was much room for confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panagah Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 As a regular traveller to France, I have never seen so much tosh in one post. Talk about scare the living daylights out of people who are attempting their first trip. Tracker gives good advice and speaks sense. The rest of you who want to take the bells and whistle approach and shed out even more dosh go for it. You could all send me £40-00 and I will insure you that you dont get caught. If you do then I will pay your fine on your return. If you all done that I would be ordering my new van tomorrow. It's simple, Dip your lights from within the van, place a set of beam benders on, There you go, 1) you wont dazzle anyone causing them grief and as someone else states force them to have an accident. 2) You have made the effort. if you want to get technical, get a peice of cardboard, hold it away from your lheadlamp, get someone to hold the beam bender over the light untill the beam bends the way it should and then apply. And then why o why do we continually slate our cousins accross teh water for good things they do. How many over here have a warning triangle or 2 in there car? or High Vis Jackets for all the family when travelling in case of a breakdown on a country road or motorway and you and your loved ones have to get out the car, a first aid kit incase they come accross and accident?. The EU should be applauded for these deicsions, and why should anyone think they can just go to another country even for the day and even if they aint driving at night and get away with it? it's not the people on te continents fault that when they come over here they can do as they please, thats OUR fault and OUr police having far more important things to be doing. Oh and finally on returning home, soap, water and elbow grease and your back to normal. Someone posted a comment from the AA to take the car to an MOT station to have the benders fitted? How riddiculous? if you do that and then fitted the beam benders, how on earth do you get to Dover without breaking hte law here? your lights would not bend the right way? lord help me :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John.N Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 Thank you Panagah for bringing a bit of common sense into the ridiculous hysteria and confusion of this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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