Rear License Plate Light
 

I did a search and nothing about license plate lights came up..
My question is.. What are the restrictions on the license plate lights on the rear of the vehicle? Only white light?

edit: nvm, found it:

Licence plate lamp
4.16 (1) The rear licence plate of a vehicle must be illuminated by a lamp that is capable of displaying only white light so that the numbers on the licence plate are legible from a distance of 15 m to the rear of the vehicle.

(2) The lamp required by subsection (1)
(a) must illuminate whenever the headlamps or parking lamps are illuminated, and
(b) must not project white light to the rear of the vehicle.

"must not project white light to the rear of the vehicle."

What exactly do they mean by that? I have LED bulbs and they're fairly bright, just wondering if this falls under the whole rear of the vehicle deal.

The light is supposed to shine onto the plate but not shine to the rear fo the vehicle. ie: the only white light that you see should be the light reflected off of the license plate.

Is this a terrible crime or is it something that can be overlooked by the police? I'm just trying to compile a list of things I need to replace for my VI and this doesn't seem so major.

This is something that should be checked as part of your VI.

And that you will have to have installed and working properly to pass the VI. Not as big a concern as a bald tyre, but it helps you be seen by cars coming up behind your bike. Not much sheet metal there and you tend to blend into the rear of the vehicle in front of you at night. Every bit helps.

You shouldn't be able to see the bulb/LED itself from behind the car... how about that?

just dont use blue / purple bulbs than u should be fine

damn that sucks. I asked one of my cop friends about license plate lights before i went and bought my LED ones and hes like "aslong as they are white, securely attatched and dont blind people your fine." Mine light up some of the ground, but are white and dont blind.

I knew i should have read the MVA lol.

^ I dunno, I interpreted that MVA law to mean you can't have the light shining backwards as opposed to downwards, so that you don't blind people behind you and nobody thinks you're reversing.

If they were illegal, BMW wouldn't have them in all their cars. Just put 'em in already. :)

so does all the lexus that came with it

I put in stock bulbs, they emit a tad bit more light but they illuminate the same parts on the car as the LED lights. I think that part of the MVA is vague so it's open to the officer's interpretation.

What's so vague about it? The lights have to shine onto your plate... not towards the car behind yours.

How difficult is that to understand?

It's vague cuz it's not specific. Specific would be: white light must only illuminate the license plate, or must illuminate downwards not outwards.

Again it's how you interpret the rule. If you look through the thread people have interpreted it at least 3 different ways.

Ok, let's break it down for those who don't understand English...?

I don't understand how you can interpret that any other way than how it was written??? :confused:

There you go, confusing us with a simple explanation. This is RS,....we MUST have something to complain about.!!! Must!!:D

You dont understand how different people interpret things differently?
Okay let's break it down.

Soundy said: You shouldn't be able to see the bulb/LED itself from behind the car.

slammer111 said: ....MVA law to mean you can't have the light shining backwards as opposed to downwards

So according to you we don't speak english and are retarded because our interpretation is different then yours? Lol very nice.

Etymology: Anglo-French projecter, from Latin projectus, past participle
Date: 15th century
transitive verb
1 a : to devise in the mind : design b : to plan, figure, or estimate for the future
2 : to throw or cast forward : thrust
3 : to put or set forth : present for consideration
4 : to cause to jut out
5 : to cause (light or shadow) to fall into space or (an image) to fall on a surface
6 : to reproduce (as a point, line, or area) on a surface by motion in a prescribed direction
7 : to display outwardly especially to an audience
8 : to attribute (one's own ideas, feelings, or characteristics) to other people or to objects <a nation is an entity on which one can project many of the worst of one's instincts — Times Literary Supplement>
intransitive verb
1 : to jut out : protrude
2 a : to come across vividly : give an impression b : to make oneself heard clearly

— pro·ject·


The light must be hidden/must not face backwards so that it does not "project" white light to the rear of the vehicle.

"The light must be hidden" yeah that makes sense and isn't vague. Are you talking about the bulbs? The amount of light output.... I can't believe I'm still posting in a thread about license plate lights.

Thanks for that dictionary copy paste, I think I've proven my point and I stand by it, people might interpret what it says in different ways.

License plate lights must be white, must not project light outwards, not onto the bumper only the plate itself.

It doesn't matter if it shines on the bumper... as long as it doesn't shine straight back towards the back of the car (and therefore, into the eyes of a person in the car behind you), it's legal.

Go look at a stock car... you'll notice the bulb is always shielded from emitting light straight back towards a trailing car. Whether it's an incandescent bulb or an LED one... it puts the light onto the plate itself... not straight back towards another vehicle.

And since you're the one who brought up the 'retarded' comment... yeah, it suits you.

There was a theological discussion back in the middle ages. It was about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. I think we have found the 21st century version. I'm outta here...BTW...NO I don't know how many angels they agreed on. I'm not that old.

Ouch man internets fighting. You're both offensive and of little help. I posted here to get a cop's perspective because it's an opinion I value.

According to skidmark "the only white light that you see should be the light reflected off of the license plate".
So yeah kinda does matter if light is emitted onto the bumper.

Also there's a chance that side mounted plate lights would blind/aggravate a person...if you drive a tall ass truck with plate bulbs that somehow emit a massive amount of light that are also side mounted.

".....into the eyes of a person in the car behind you" um..my break lights shine into the eyes of a person behind me too, so what, it's about light output which LEDs have more of. I think you meant to the point of aggravation but hey i'm retarded it's dangerous for me to assume.

"doesn't shine straight back towards the back" how do you shine straight back towards the front? You're redundant, oh and considering I've been speaking english for 9 years I think I'm pretty damn good at it.

Now I'm gonna start walking forwards towards the front if you'll excuse me retard coming through.

9 years... and you still don't get it.

The only part i was kinda confused of was when it was referring to projecting light to the rear of the vehicle.

I didnt know if it meant, projecting light rear wards as in the same way a brake light does, or if it means rear wards like if some of the light is projected onto the ground.

From this discussion i will take that it meant projecting it backwards towards other drivers like a brake light does.

what Metra doesn't seem to get is that if you can directly see any of the bulb (specifically the filament or reflector) then light will be projected rearward from the vehicle, this is a no-no. slammer and Soundy were essentially saying the same thing...

the only light headed rearwards needs to be reflected off the plate, so that the plate is visible and people don't accidentally think you're reversing. any light headed downwards, while technically wrong, doesn't really have any ill effects on other drivers.