Jump to content

Carrying spare bulbs etc.


Charlieme

Recommended Posts

I just tip a goodly handfull of a wide selection of bulbs into an old plastic ice cream box along with spare fuses, flasher unit, bits of wire, a couple of switches, some solder and stuff it under the drivers seat alongside a few boxes of tools. Doesn,t everybody do the same?

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Tracker
Clive - 2007-10-18 10:40 PM

 

I just tip a goodly handfull of a wide selection of bulbs into an old plastic ice cream box along with spare fuses, flasher unit, bits of wire, a couple of switches, some solder and stuff it under the drivers seat alongside a few boxes of tools. Doesn,t everybody do the same?

 

 

I do Clive, and have done for many years on the basis of whatever you carry a spare for will never fail!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Tracker
carioca - 2007-10-19 9:33 AM

 

Charlie&me - 2007-10-16 10:15 PM

 

There are packets and boxes available but if you have loose items fill a plastic bag with rice crispies and conceal them in that.

if you did this it would light up breakfast time (?) >:-) >:-)

 

 

No no you are thinking of Ready Brek!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Tracker
gordonaldson - 2007-10-20 7:57 PM

I'm really surprised no one's mentioned Aldi & Lidl they've a nice set of automotive bulbs in a seethrough plastic box for a few quid !!!

Got one with beem benders in a cardboard box last time.

Gordon.

 

As long as you are sure that the bulbs and benders contained will both fit your van, and there are enough different correct voltage and wattage bulbs to cover every potential need you should be fine?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I went to Halfords and asked the for a bulb set for 2005 Boxer and was given a part number.

 

When I reached home I found that they were for the earlier model which has a headlamp bulb with dip/main beam elements.

 

So much for "checking with Halfords"

 

If you have any sense you will check with the handbook and then you will get the correct bulbs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

twooks - 2007-11-25 6:58 PM Got mine from the main dealer - no probs cheap n cheerful 'course, wouldn't have a clue what to do with them, but if the law sez I've gotta carry them .. .. .. .. .. B-)

It is unlikely, I know, but if you were to be stopped for a defective light in France you would be generally expected to have the correct spare, know how to fit it correctly, and to do so there and then.  Failure risks an on the spot fine, but whether that was actually applied would depend on the plod concerned, and the no doubt length of you eyelashes!  So be prepared, and always drive with the longest lashes you can find!  :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brian's comment about France is also true in Spain.

 

 

The Law.

You're supposed to carry at least one spare bulb of each othe type that all your exterior lights use, AND if tools are necessary, also carry the correct tools to change those bulbs, AND know how to do so.

Failure to do so renders you liable to an on-the-spot fine.

 

In Practice.

There are literally millions of road vehicles here with one or more lights not working. Really. Not a few. But millions.

The Police don't seem bothered at all. Unless you get a pull for something else and then they decide to look for opther stuff to fine you for as well.

As it happens, I do carry spare bulb kits in the car, and in the MH. But not on the motorbike of the scooter.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So if I carry a set of bulbs for every one that I may need on the vehicle and I get stopped as one has gone out, I have to change it there and then right? So as I drive further down the road I get stopped again and when they check I no longer have a bulb to fit that I have just used, so can I be fined then? Pehaps I should carry more than one spare of each, what a nonsense! (TIC)

I do actually carry one spare for each bulb I may need but have often wondered about that scenario.

 

Bas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Basil - 2007-11-27 12:00 PM So if I carry a set of bulbs for every one that I may need on the vehicle and I get stopped as one has gone out, I have to change it there and then right? So as I drive further down the road I get stopped again and when they check I no longer have a bulb to fit that I have just used, so can I be fined then? Pehaps I should carry more than one spare of each, what a nonsense! (TIC) I do actually carry one spare for each bulb I may need but have often wondered about that scenario. Bas

Basil

It is an eminently sensible law that like many, isn't all that rigorously enforced.  It would be extremely unusual to suffer two bulb failures in one journey, even more so to be "pulled" twice for defective ligts.  However, you may be surprised to learn that your scenario was taken into account.  The first officer who stopped you should, logically, record the matter in his pocket book.  When stopped by the second officer, and being found with the necessary bulb missing from your kit, you are allowed to cite the fact that you have just been stopped for a similar infringement and have just used the necessary bulb.  You will then be warned to get a replacement as soon as possible, your registration number and address etc will be taken, and you will be sent on your way.  But woe betide you if you made up the first incident!  At least that is what should happen if you were French, with a French registered vehicle.  Foreigners may be treated differently.

Back in the 60's the French fuzz were very hot on vehicle lights, which then were much more prone to failure, so this law has been around at least since then.

As to whether the requirement is nonsense, I disagree.  I wholeheartedly wish our police would be instructed to enforce our UK vehicle lighting regulations.  At this time of year particularly, the roads round here are full of cars with one or other headlamp out, foglights permanently on, headlamp dip beams set for bird-watching, and continental trucks trundling around with right dipping lamps and no masks.  A few on the spot fines for defective lights seems a pretty good idea to me!  It would do no more than enforce already existing regulations, which seems to me generally desirable in a number of areas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"As to whether the requirement is nonsense, I disagree. I wholeheartedly wish our police would be instructed to enforce our UK vehicle lighting regulations. At this time of year particularly, the roads round here are full of cars with one or other headlamp out, foglights permanently on, headlamp dip beams set for bird-watching, and continental trucks trundling around with right dipping lamps and no masks. A few on the spot fines for defective lights seems a pretty good idea to me! It would do no more than enforce already existing regulations, which seems to me generally desirable in a number of areas."

 

They haven't time Brian - too busy making sure there's plenty of film in the cameras. >:-) >:-) >:-) >:-) >:-) >:-)

 

On a [more] serious note, most of our fellow Europeans are amazed that we aren't obliged to carry useful objects - like warning triangles and first aid kits - let alone spare light bulbs - besides given the obsession that many drivers have with their answer to Blackpool Illuminations - there wouldn't be any room left in the car for passengers :->

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In those 'halcyon days of yore' when I used to pull vehicles over in the matter of road safety. I was always 'impressed' with a 'Well officer, they were all working perfectly well when I checked my lights before starting my journey'. Unless the Vehicle Lighting Regs. have been substanially changed in the past 10 years the aforementioned comment was always accepted as a statutory defence. You cannot be responsible for a (unknown) lamp failure during your journey!! That said, though, you are obliged to change it if as and if you become aware of the defect.

Regards Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...