Ticket for Yellow DRL's and Yellow Foglights?

[jbsali]

I got a ticket today for having yellow DRL and Yellow Foglights today.
The cop tells me that white is the only legal colour. I see so many luxury cars that have yellow daytime running lights (stock bulbs) and cars for all categories that have yellow foglights and they have no issues with this.

Is this a legit MV Reg or was this cop just having a bad day?
I read most of MV Reg 4.01-.07 and nothing seems to stand out that much...

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[greendb7]

Not that it's any help, but I had an Integra with OEM yellow fogs, I had a cop wave me over at a traffic check and he asked about my lights and I said they were OEM
he let me go after that
I think it depends on the cop

[Energy]

I'm pretty sure yellow fogs are ok but they're technically only supposed to be used when its actually foggy or rainy. Yellow drls are illegal if they are your high beams but I've never been hassled and I had that combo (both yellow fogs and yellow drls) on my old car.

That cop must have been having a bad day to give you a ticket for those.

[S1 S2]

Were u running both the yellow drl and yellow fogs at the same time or your yellow fogs as a drl?

[jbsali]

Originally Posted by S1 S2

Were u running both the yellow drl and yellow fogs at the same time or your yellow fogs as a drl?

my fogs come on with my park lights are on. I turn them on quite a bit around dawn/ dusk cause its a nice colour set-up. never had a problem for years till now...

[exhil]

Originally Posted by jbsali

I got a ticket today for having yellow DRL and Yellow Foglights today.
The cop tells me that white is the only legal colour. I see so many luxury cars that have yellow daytime running lights (stock bulbs) and cars for all categories that have yellow foglights and they have no issues with this.

Is this a legit MV Reg or was this cop just having a bad day?
I read most of MV Reg 4.01-.07 and nothing seems to stand out that much...

Any help would be greatly appreciated

i also got a ticket for that 2 weeks ago and read the MV Reg 4.01-.07. i was thinking the same thing, it never said anything about yellow drl being illegal.
im just waiting for a friend of mine to confirm since she claimed to have proof from motor vehicle act canada that yellow DRL is legal. she showed it to the cop. the cop didnt give her a fine or he let her go.

i'll pm you when i find out from her.

[JHatta]

I am pretty sure if your car's DRLs are NOT-OEM yellow, and you convert them to yellow (or any other colour than OEM), it is illegal

Whether this is actually illegal or not, I have never bothered to follow up on it. But I've been aware of some kind of issue with yellow drl's for years now.

[Fobman]

was it in richmond ?

[Bainne]

Provided your DRL are separate from your head lamps, contest it immediately.

I can't believe a cop would be ignorant enough to even give a ticket for such things, I'd likely complain to the detachment if your car is completely up to code.


DRL specifications are referenced in the

BC MVAR s.4.08

4.08 A motor vehicle may be equipped with daytime running lamps, mounted on the front of the vehicleat a height of not less than 30 cm and not more than 2.11 m, that comply with the requirements of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Canada).

Now first off it says "may" which actually brings into question the requirement for cars to be equipped with DRLs , as the term may only implies that a vehicle "can be" and does not specifically state it MUST be. Granted it refers to the MVSA which states they must, just an interesting contradiction.

Anyways, it references the Canadian MV Safety Act for exact specifications, which specifically states about DRLs

Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038)
Lighting System and Retroreflective Devices (Standard 108)

(44) Every passenger car, multi-purpose passenger vehicle, truck, bus and three-wheeled vehicle shall be equipped with two daytime running lamps or, if the daytime running lamps are optically combined with the upper beams of the headlamps, with two or four daytime running lamps.

(45) A daytime running lamp shall be white, yellow or white to yellow, in accordance with sections 3.1.3, 3.1.2 or 3.1.3.1, respectively, of SAE Standard J578, Color Specification (May 1988).

Now technically there are exact color codes specified in the SAE Standard J578, unfortunately I don't have access to the document, but that particular section is for the colour of "Amber" used on motor vehicles. If your lights are Amberish, then you have a very cut and dry case. There is no way an officer would be able to tell the hex code from simply looking.

I imagine if your DRLs were that pure yellow like many fog lamps then you rightly deserved the ticket. It is blinding, its not technically amber (as outlined by the SAE Standard J578) and it would likely be why you got pulled over and in which case I would recant my rant against the officer. They are dangerous and disallowed, change them.

[Volitaire]

What make/model car and are the lights OEM or aftermarket, if aftermarket where are they installed and what type.

[jbsali]

Originally Posted by Bainne

Provided your DRL are separate from your head lamps, contest it immediately.

I can't believe a cop would be ignorant enough to even give a ticket for such things, I'd likely complain to the detachment if your car is completely up to code.


DRL specifications are referenced in the

BC MVAR s.4.08



Now first off it says "may" which actually brings into question the requirement for cars to be equipped with DRLs , as the term may only implies that a vehicle "can be" and does not specifically state it MUST be. Granted it refers to the MVSA which states they must, just an interesting contradiction.

Anyways, it references the Canadian MV Safety Act for exact specifications, which specifically states about DRLs

Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038)
Lighting System and Retroreflective Devices (Standard 108)




Now technically there are exact color codes specified in the SAE Standard J578, unfortunately I don't have access to the document, but that particular section is for the colour of "Amber" used on motor vehicles. If your lights are Amberish, then you have a very cut and dry case. There is no way an officer would be able to tell the hex code from simply looking.

I imagine if your DRLs were that pure yellow like many fog lamps then you rightly deserved the ticket. It is blinding, its not technically amber (as outlined by the SAE Standard J578) and it would likely be why you got pulled over and in which case I would recant my rant against the officer. They are dangerous and disallowed, change them.

The DRL are yellow but at half candle power, appear amber. When highbeams are activated, they are yellow. They run at the same wattage of the OEM ones and are in no way distracting. They just give off a slightly different colour. The fogs are OEM styled but have tinted covers (yellow), w/ regular bulbs behind them. The fogs and DRL are two different levels of brightness. Once the highbeams are enabled, the highbeams would ofcourse be brighter. The fogs in no way hinder oncoming drivers vision. (day/night). would this still be considered ok/ borderline?

Originally Posted by Volitaire

What make/model car and are the lights OEM or aftermarket, if aftermarket where are they installed and what type.

2006 Honda Civic- DRL= Aftermarket (Luminiks), Foglights= Aftermarket (Completely identical to OEM, just tinted yellow lenses, mounted in OEM spots)

[ajax]

Dammmn whered you get the ticket? Talk to "sleepy" on 8thcivic about it!
Posted via RS Mobile

[Bainne]

Originally Posted by jbsali

The DRL are yellow but at half candle power, appear amber. When highbeams are activated, they are yellow. They run at the same wattage of the OEM ones and are in no way distracting. They just give off a slightly different colour. The fogs are OEM styled but have tinted covers (yellow), w/ regular bulbs behind them. The fogs and DRL are two different levels of brightness. Once the highbeams are enabled, the highbeams would ofcourse be brighter. The fogs in no way hinder oncoming drivers vision. (day/night). would this still be considered ok/ borderline?



2006 Honda Civic- DRL= Aftermarket (Luminiks), Foglights= Aftermarket (Completely identical to OEM, just tinted yellow lenses, mounted in OEM spots)

Fog lamps use a "selective yellow" colour (simply put, yellow without any orange component), which is not the same as the "yellow" referenced for Amber DRLs.

If the yellow of your DRL's appear to be the same yellow as your foglamps, then it is a violation.

In reference below, because your headlamps are optically combined with your regular beams, you cannot use the selective yellow outlined in SAE Standard J583, which is allowed for fog lamps.

If your DRL's are optically combined with your foglights however, it would be allowable.

(47.1) A daytime running lamp that is not optically combined with another lamp may conform to SAE Standard J583, Front Fog Lamps (June 1993), or to paragraphs 3, 4.2, 4.3, 5 and 6 of ECE Regulation No. 19, Uniform Provisions Concerning the Approval of Motor Vehicle Front Fog Lamps, Revision 3 (March 2, 1993).

(52) A daytime running lamp may be optically combined with a front fog lamp that conforms to SAE Standard J583, Front Fog Lamps (June 1993), or to paragraphs 3, 4.2, 4.3, 5 and 6 of ECE Regulation No. 19, Uniform Provisions Concerning the Approval of Motor Vehicle Front Fog Lamps, Revision 3 (March 2, 1993).

Regarding the colour of foglamps, BC's MVAR says

4.11 (1) A motor vehicle may be equipped with 2 fog lamps, mounted on the front of the vehicle below the headlamps, that are capable of displaying only white or amber light.

Now, while they quote the generic terms of "white or amber", the BC MVAR also refers to the Canadian MVSA and SAE standards for specifics.

MVSA and SAE state that foglamps must conform to SAE Recommended Practice J583, which is selective yellow. So a pure yellow fog lamp, provided it is mounted properly, is perfectly acceptable.


If you do take it to court, you may want to consider getting the officers sworn testimony that the ticket was given as a result of colour BEFORE you present your evidence of colour compliance. Otherwise they could easily alter their statement to that they also felt your lamps were mounted improperly, in which case (unless you already have evidence to dispute this) you will be stuck.




As a quick FYI, this isn't legal advice, it may be wrong, I am simply reposting the law with my own opinion and interpretation injected in.

[RCubed]

iirc Luminics are not DOT approved.

[skidmark]

Amber (yellow) fog lamps are certainly allowed here in BC.

Your DRL's have me confused though. What type of lamp is in use as your DRL? My Toyota Tacoma runs the front signal filaments as DRL and they are yellow.

As for MAY in Bainne's post, it tells you that if your vehicle was built without, you may choose to install DRLs. If they were installed at the factory, there is another section that says they must still be installed and functional today.

[jbsali]

Originally Posted by Bainne

Fog lamps use a "selective yellow" colour (simply put, yellow without any orange component), which is not the same as the "yellow" referenced for Amber DRLs.

If the yellow of your DRL's appear to be the same yellow as your foglamps, then it is a violation.

In reference below, because your headlamps are optically combined with your regular beams, you cannot use the selective yellow outlined in SAE Standard J583, which is allowed for fog lamps.

If your DRL's are optically combined with your foglights however, it would be allowable.







Regarding the colour of foglamps, BC's MVAR says



Now, while they quote the generic terms of "white or amber", the BC MVAR also refers to the Canadian MVSA and SAE standards for specifics.

MVSA and SAE state that foglamps must conform to SAE Recommended Practice J583, which is selective yellow. So a pure yellow fog lamp, provided it is mounted properly, is perfectly acceptable.


If you do take it to court, you may want to consider getting the officers sworn testimony that the ticket was given as a result of colour BEFORE you present your evidence of colour compliance. Otherwise they could easily alter their statement to that they also felt your lamps were mounted improperly, in which case (unless you already have evidence to dispute this) you will be stuck.




As a quick FYI, this isn't legal advice, it may be wrong, I am simply reposting the law with my own opinion and interpretation injected in.

In other words, my fog lights are perfectly legal. However, my pure yellow DRLs are illegal? Even though they are illegal, i still can't believe i got a ticket for something so minor.

Thanks for all the info!

[jbsali]

Originally Posted by ajax

Dammmn whered you get the ticket? Talk to "sleepy" on 8thcivic about it!
Posted via RS Mobile

got it on 104th and 160th. Did she run into a similar issue or something?

[ajax]

Originally Posted by jbsali

got it on 104th and 160th. Did she run into a similar issue or something?

Yeah something similar. She was telling us at the meet. Exhil got a ticket for yellow drls as well I think.
Posted via RS Mobile

[jeffwilliams17]

I am running a similar set up, with amber DRLs and yellow fogs on my integra. The DRLs use the same housing as the highbeams and are pretty dim. I think it is crazy to be ticketed for something so minor, especially when the laws are so unclear. As long as the lights are aimed properly and they are not going to put any other drivers safety at risk then the police should find something better to do. It's another story for every jacked up truck/suv in surrey who run HIDs(in reflector housings) and HID fogs that blind everyone. Those guys should be getting tickets.
Posted via RS Mobile

[S1 S2]

Was the fog lights on with your drl when u receive the ticket or just the yellow drl with the yellow fogs off?
Posted via RS Mobile

[jbsali]

Originally Posted by S1 S2

Was the fog lights on with your drl when u receive the ticket or just the yellow drl with the yellow fogs off?
Posted via RS Mobile

foglights were on w/ drls but i really only got the ticket for DRL apparently...

[skidmark]

Originally Posted by jbsali

In other words, my fog lights are perfectly legal. However, my pure yellow DRLs are illegal?

I don't know, you haven't told me what your DRL's are yet. Are they OEM or something that you have added or modified?

[jlenko]

I'm just speculating here, but I'm going to guess he's "upgraded" his lights to an illegal set of yellow-coloured HID's.

And if that's the case.. finally, some cop is giving out tickets for this. I'm sick and tired of being blinded by you ricers with your HID lights in stock reflector housings. I thought I was going to have to take issues into my own hands and drive around with a 1,000,000 candlepower spotlight to blind you back...

If that's not the case.. my bad

[snowball]

Originally Posted by skidmark

I don't know, you haven't told me what your DRL's are yet. Are they OEM or something that you have added or modified?

I think his DRLs are reduced high beams that are a non-OEM yellow bulb.

[optiblue]

Originally Posted by jlenko

I'm just speculating here, but I'm going to guess he's "upgraded" his lights to an illegal set of yellow-coloured HID's.

And if that's the case.. finally, some cop is giving out tickets for this. I'm sick and tired of being blinded by you ricers with your HID lights in stock reflector housings. I thought I was going to have to take issues into my own hands and drive around with a 1,000,000 candlepower spotlight to blind you back...

If that's not the case.. my bad

HID's DRL's won't fire up at 30% power. My guess is that he put JDM yellow bulbs for DRL's as well as his fogs and they were both on at the same time. I've stopped messing around with my lights. Attracts too much attention.