Blinker Solution with Eurolights...

Sat Jan 12 13:06:44 EST 2002

In the United States according to "federal" law, E-code headlamps may be
"sold" only for off-road use, because they do not conform to US Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108.

HOWEVER, it is a matter of "State" law as to what sort of headlamps you
can or cannot "install" on your own vehicle. The vast majority of US
states do not specify any particular type of headlamp, as long as it
emits white light, has an upper and lower beam setting, and is aimed in
a manner so as not to dazzle other road users. If your state does not
have a vehicle headlamp inspection, it would be extremely unlikely that
you would experience difficulties if you were to use off-road headlamps
on the road.

If you live in Oregon, Washington, Alaska or Massachussets, or in
Canada, then E-code lamps are 100 percent legal.

Some eastern Seaboard states, such as NJ, PA, VA and MD, still specify
that E-code headlamps may only be used on motorcycles.

What does "E-code" mean? It's a quick way of referring to a
European-specification headlamp. The "E-code", signified by a capital
"E" in a circle on the lens of the lamp, signifies that the lamp has
passed the ECE (European regulatory) tests for light output, durability,
quality control, beam pattern, etc. The United States does not subscribe
to ECE auto safety regulations, which is why US-market cars do not come
equipped with ECE headlamps.

Although US and ECE headlamps both start with light sources (bulbs) that
produce about the same amount of light, the two kinds of lamps handle
the light differently. The ECE specifications for the low beam pattern
tend to be a more useful beam pattern. Lighting to both sides of the
road allows you to see to the sides of the car.  Road signs along the
driving side of the road tend to be illuminated for a greater distance
than with DOT headlamps.

The Low beam pattern is less offensive to oncoming traffic because of a
sharp cutoff across the top of the beam pattern. On the left side of the
beam pattern, the cutoff is horizontal. On the right half of the beam
pattern, the cutoff rises to the right at a 15 degree angle (or,
alternately, the right side of the cutoff is also horizontal, but is
"stepped" upwards with respect to the left side cutoff). This sharp
delineation between illumination areas (areas that need to be
illuminated in order for you to see what needs to be seen) and glare
areas (areas that are likely to include other road users' eyes) tends to
reduce back-glare in bad weather. Because there is minimal light above
the horizontal (in contrast to DOT lamps, which are required to produce
quite a bit of light above the horizontal), light tends to be thrown on
the road, the roadsides and the road signs, NOT back in your eyes via
reflection from rain, fog or snow. Back-glare in bad weather is
completely eliminated. The effect, with properly-aimed ECE headlamps in
bad weather, is a nighttime driving experience in which you see the
*road*, the *obstacles* and the *signs* , not whatever might be falling
out of the sky towards the road. The light tends to be more evenly
distributed on the road in front of the car, with less of the
streaky/blotchy/tunnel-of-light effects that are common to many DOT
headlamps.

All headlamp beams are a compromise! It is not a simple task to design a
good headlamp, because so many of the jobs we need a headlamp to do
conflict with one another.

Too much light above the horizontal can cause too much glare for other
road users and too much back glare for the driver in bad weather, as
well as a "veiling glare" effect even in relatively good weather.

Insufficient light above the horizontal can make it difficult for the
driver to read overhead road signs and can reduce seeing distance in
some conditions, such as when going down a "sag" in the road.

Insufficient light on the pavement in front of the car tends to make
drivers uncomfortable, apparently causing a "black hole" effect in which
it is difficult for the driver to judge accurately the position of his
car on the road. But too much light on the pavement close to the car can
reduce the driver's ability to detect obstacles farther down the road.

A super-sharp cutoff makes a lamp very easy to aim visually, using
height measurements and a vertical wall, but can create distracting
effects where the driver sees the cutoff bouncing up and down as he goes
over road irregularities; at the same time, a very vague cutoff (or none
at all) makes a lamp difficult to aim visually, but can reduce the
on-the-road effects of a very sharp cutoff.

These are just a few examples! Every aspect of a headlamp beam must be
carefully adjusted to create a good overall compromise. The goal is to
pick the compromise that works the best in the conditions in which you
drive. I have found that in the vast majority of the driving conditions
the ECE headlamps do a better job of allowing me to see what must be
seen in time to react properly.

Ned

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Hoffman [mailto:billzcat1 at hotmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2002 12:01 AM
To: orin at drizzle.com; JShadzi at aol.com
Cc: Q at intendedacceleration.com; fastaudi90 at yahoo.com;
quattro at audifans.com; urq at audifans.com
Subject: Re: Blinker Solution with Eurolights...

...I don't get it - does this mean that headlamps that are TUV approved
(which I assume is covered under the United Nations' policies) would be
legal in this state?

Just wondering...and hoping

Richard
1990 CQ 198K

>From: Orin Eman <orin at drizzle.com>
>To: JShadzi at aol.com
>CC: Q at intendedacceleration.com, fastaudi90 at yahoo.com,
quattro at audifans.com,
>        urq at audifans.com
>Subject: Re: Blinker Solution with Eurolights...
>Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 22:48:53 -0800 (PST)
>
>BIG old exception in WA law, which is what 'Q' posted...
>Basically, it would be silly to ticket all the Canadians crossing the
>border for illegal lights!
>
>Orin.
>
>RCW 46.37.320
>Authority of state patrol regarding lighting devices or other safety
>equipment.
>
>(1) The chief of the state patrol is hereby authorized to adopt and
enforce
>rules establishing standards and specifications governing the
performance
>of
>lighting devices and their installation, adjustment, and aiming, when
in
>use on motor vehicles, and other safety equipment, components, or
>assemblies of a
>type for which regulation is required in this chapter or in rules
adopted
>by the state patrol. Such rules shall correlate with and, so far as
>practicable,
>conform to federal motor vehicle safety standards adopted pursuant to
the
>national traffic and motor vehicle safety act of 1966 (15 U.S.C. Sec.
1381
>et
>seq.) covering the same aspect of performance, or in the absence of
such
>federal standards, to the then current standards and specifications of
the
>society
>of automotive engineers applicable to such equipment: PROVIDED, That
the
>sale, installation, and use of any headlamp meeting the standards of
either
>the society of automotive engineers or the United Nations agreement
>concerning motor vehicle equipment and parts done at Geneva on March
20,
>1958, or
>as amended and adopted by the Canadian standards association (CSA
standard
>D106.2), as amended, shall be lawful in this state.
>
> >
> > Well, if you want to get technical, Eurolights are not DOT approved
>either.
> > Javad
> >
> > In a message dated 1/11/2002 7:55:52 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> > Q at IntendedAcceleration.com writes:
> >
> > << Info from the State of Washington:
> >
> >  RCW 46.37.200
> >  Stop lamps and electric turn signals.
> >       (1) <. . .snip . . .>
> >
> >       (2) . . . Turn signal lamps shall be visible from a distance
of
>not
> >  less than five hundred feet to the front and rear in normal
sunlight. .
> >  .
> >   >>
> >
>

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