HIDs illegal?
 

So i got a notice and order paper by a traffic cop for having HID bulbs and no side markers on my car and was given 21 days to fix everything and report it to a nearby police department. Now at the time when i got this i was just finishing highschool and had no job, now im done but still jobless and back then i was in financial difficulties so unable to comply with said things. Now i want to get this fix because i dont want to be nailed with a 598$ fine, i'm still jobless but i am saving up some $ from what my parents give me to get it fix. So what i'm asking is when i do get it fix, do you think i might have to pay some kind of penalty for not getting it done in the 21 days.

the cop said "remove HID bulbs, Halogens only" but i always see cars with HIDs..are they illegal now ? a friend of mine said he got a ticket for having HIDs but he disputed it because now factory cars are coming with them and he said that he won the dispute. What's the difference between HID's and Halogens?

ps : i've gone through roadblocks and driven beside/behind/in front of cops before and they have never said anything or done anything about my HIDs

hids are illegal no matter what

you drive a prelude, and old preludes use halogens.

take out your hid's , and buy some cheap halogen's for like 15 bucks. problem solved.

HID's are illegal on cars that didnt come with them from factory.

Normally you can run them without an issue unless you are running like 12000k bulbs in a 91 civic. I run 6000k in my 95 integra and have never had an issue, but integras come with projectors from Honda so they give proper output.

Sell the HID's and get some silverstars or piaas which are both legal

how about hid fog lights? even though i have stock hid..

ANY aftermarket HIDs are illegal in BC, headlights or otherwise. Only those factory-installed, or factory fixtures swapped from or designed for the same car, are legal.

Silverstars aren't that great, they're just better than the other brands at Canadian Tire; if you want a good quality and insanely bright halogen bulb then look into philips extreme power.

Your buddy isn't telling the truth about winning the dispute.
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HIDs are illegal unless your car came with factory HIDs.

The problem with aftermarket HIDs with hologen cars is the beam pattern.

Your buddy won his dispute probably because the judge was ignorant enough about DOT/SAE requirements and didn't know what's going on so he was just lucky.

Factory HID beam pattern:
http://blog.onexhid.com/wp-content/u...ine-step-6.jpg

Aftermarket HID with halogen headlight housing:
http://www.hidextra.com/wil/user1449...1240129952.jpg

As you can see, factory HID housings are made so that it won't cause glare to other drivers.

If you really to make it legal, some people do "HID retrofit":
http://i14.tinypic.com/47187qc.jpg

HID retro fit is..for example, when you take a car that came with factory HIDs' projector(sometimes reflector) housing, and force it to fit it into your own car...
So some people would have BMW HID retrofit on their Corolla, so that it's legal.

^ im pretty sure a retrofit is also illegal... any non oem modification to headlights is illegal.

^Correct, they are completely illegal just like HIDs in a reflector housing. If you have a retrofit your just less likely to get a ticket since your not an idiot driving around blinding people.
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Edit: I meant HIDs in a halogen reflector housing.

the cop did mention unless i get some custom work done to the housing then its illegal, so i assume that retrofits ARE legal because like Timpo stated the housing is being made to fit YOUR car. But nonetheless thanks for all the advice guys! ill prob look into that phillips extreme power bulb Bomber, thanks! And i'm running 8000k

I meant in his case hids are illegal, its illegal to modify your car to have hid. Simply stay stock

HID glare, what? :troll:
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I'm going to respond to your pm here and say I haven't had any lucky finding phillips extreme power locally, I always bought mine online. If someone here knows who carries them in Vancuver please post it up!
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it's not matter of reflector/projector.

some reflectors are made for HIDs, and some projectors are made for halogen.

Just because it has a projector, doesn't mean it will give that sharp cutoff like Lexus or BMW...for example, Toyota Celica, Mazda Miata, all of those cars with projectors with halogens, will still give you glare.

Here's what's gonna happen if you install HIDs into halogen projector:
http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/3082/dscf1185jb8.jpg
Halogen projectors will glare!

Also, some reflectors are made for HIDs, such as older generation Acura TL, Honda Integra(JDM RSX) are made for reflectors.

JDM RSX(DC5) had different reflector than North American ones...they will give you cutoff lines for HIDs.
I don't know if JDM HID housing would be legal in Canada...because the light will flash towards left instead of right...

just to let you know that the police dont check that 21 day notice. I was pulled over two and never went in for the police inspection and nothing happened. The only thing to worry about if you get a box 1 or 2. My hids are out now and no issues at all now.

iight thanks for clearing that up, i got the last box so none of the ones you mentioned ;p Will get this fixed asap

I wish HIDs were illegal period.

I'll ban HID's if you will drive the speed limit. :devil::D

Just as a further source of info on HID "conversions"

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

As a matter of interest, in the US a seller can be fined $10,000 per HID conversion kit sold


Timpo is correct. I have charged and convicted drivers for installing illegal HID conversions. It is all in the articulation of the law and the resulting danger from the conversions. I issued #2 (daytime) or #1 (at night time) inspection orders for them. The #2's had written on it that the vehicle was not to be operated with the lights until inspected.

Maybe when you set up anti-tailgating traps :)

I used to experience a lot more tailgating than you ever have. We had to not exceed the limit and cars would pile up behind us almost everywhere we went. Was frustrating to keep pulling over to let cars speed past us so we could make a sudden stop or turn safely.

So you can understand the dilemma the average motorist faces - chug along at the speed limit with a tail of tailgating cars growing longer behind them and all the dangers that go along with that or drive at a reasonable speed for the conditions and avoid the aggression.

Just imagine, if all those drivers just learned to do the speed limit, they wouldn't have to be tailgating anymore.

i've got HID's but I've also got projectors. I've got 6000K though and they look ricey. If you run properly aimed projectors + 4300K, I doubt anyone will give you crap for it.

HID's are legal. Hence why you see them from factory.

Aftermarket HID's are illegal because they're not DOT compliant.

Halogen headlamps are designed for use with halogen bulbs, Not HID's. People put them in anyways but end up blinding people on the road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVuSS...mbedded#at=122