New LED Lightbar laws.

[tony d22]

HI everyone.
Western Australia has just introduced new lightbar laws.
This new law has now taken effect of where you can mount your LED lightbar.
Other states are now considering.

In WA, you now can not mount your lightbar on top of your bullbar, roof or rear roll bar.

Please see the link for details.
http://candm.com.au/lightbars-banned-in-wa/

 

[Dan N.T]

Hope this stays out of the Territory. Will have to wait and see now.I was considering a 50" for above windscreen.

 

[bods]

Dammit, you beat me to it lol. I was going to post this up today... it is a stupid law, that annotation under the picture in that link is incorrect though, light bars were previously only allowed to be fitted in pairs apparently, this "law" allows them to be fitted singly, however massively restricts where they can be fitted. Typical politicians who have no clue. The only spot you can fit them now is in the middle of the bullbar, where you can also only fit spotlights... so in wa you can drive for hours at night on country roads and not see another vehicle, but you cannot legally fit spotlights and a light bar to help you see the cows that are as big as your car... unless of course you have an xrox bar and fit spotlights in the wings, which are also illegal because of the forward leaning hoop... oh what a great country we live in hahaha

 

[bods]

Here's the post from facebook
If you can make it out lol

EDIT - thought I'd do this from the computer so it's readable...

 

[jonney]

surely you can mount the front led light bar on the under top side of bullbar as opposed to on top of this same bar also mount the rear facing led on the under side of rear roll bar. forget the roof mounted led lights unless maybe if you have a basket fitted on roof you could mount the led light on the front as long as its not above height of the basket.

 

[simo.93]

LED Bar

from my understanding of the new laws, it doesn't matter if you have basket or anything on your roof, any higher than the front lip of your bonnet and it will be considered illegal, its the same as any axillary reverse lights must be mounted bellow your factory fitted ones unless they are wired as work lights however I'm sure the cops would find a way to say that bar mounted work lights fall into the category of reverse facing spot lights

 

[Dion]

Typical politicians who have no clue. The only spot you can fit them now is in the middle of the bullbar, where you can also only fit spotlights... so in wa you can drive for hours at night on country roads and not see another vehicle, but you cannot legally fit spotlights and a light bar to help you see the cows that are as big as your car...

Not usually politicians putting forward the specifics of the rulings - for the very reason you have stated.

I hate the nanny state too but for once I think this ruling comes from a background of common sense.

As has been pointed out, the ruling regarding lights being required to be fitted in pairs has been removed to accommodate light bars, so there is acknowledgement of their effectiveness and prevalence on roads. The usual knee-jerk approach is to just BAN IT.

The output of these lights is truly brilliant, so the concern with them being fitted to the roof is the level of reflected light from the bonnet, wing mirrors, bullbar and other surfaces forward of the lightbar and within the driver's field of view. Exposure to that reflected light in the foreground does a great job of reducing the sensitivity of the driver's vision to hazards in the background (out in front of the vehicle) - whatever the local wildlife is. Plus you can roll in the effect on the usual issues of driver fatigue.

The issue with mounting them on the top of the bullbar is of course pedestrian safety, the same as fishing rod holders - except there is no other practical place to mount fishing rod holders so there are provisions for them being mounted temporarily.

What this ruling does for lightbar owners is makes these great products legal fitment when they weren't before unless in pairs, provided they are mounted appropriately. Since they still work fine mounted where driving lights usually go, this is a step forward.

 

[bods]

Not usually politicians putting forward the specifics of the rulings - for the very reason you have stated.

I hate the nanny state too but for once I think this ruling comes from a background of common sense.

As has been pointed out, the ruling regarding lights being required to be fitted in pairs has been removed to accommodate light bars, so there is acknowledgement of their effectiveness and prevalence on roads. The usual knee-jerk approach is to just BAN IT.

The output of these lights is truly brilliant, so the concern with them being fitted to the roof is the level of reflected light from the bonnet, wing mirrors, bullbar and other surfaces forward of the lightbar and within the driver's field of view. Exposure to that reflected light in the foreground does a great job of reducing the sensitivity of the driver's vision to hazards in the background (out in front of the vehicle) - whatever the local wildlife is. Plus you can roll in the effect on the usual issues of driver fatigue.

The issue with mounting them on the top of the bullbar is of course pedestrian safety, the same as fishing rod holders - except there is no other practical place to mount fishing rod holders so there are provisions for them being mounted temporarily.

What this ruling does for lightbar owners is makes these great products legal fitment when they weren't before unless in pairs, provided they are mounted appropriately. Since they still work fine mounted where driving lights usually go, this is a step forward.

While I agree with what you are saying, they do contradict themselves in their wording. They say they must be fitted at the front of the vehicle, then they go on to say they must be forward facing and not produce any glare to the driver in the normal driving position. Then they also go on to say that they must not obstruct view within 11m of the front of the vehicle...

I do agree with the pedestrian safety aspect, what I was getting at with there they are able to be mounted is the effective range they have. A pair of 100w 9" hid spotlights will fit in the centre hoop of almost every bullbar and put out a hell of a lot more distance of light than a light bar taking up the same space. Obviously your requirements will differ depending on the type of driving you are doing, but having a light bar plus hid spotlights gives you an overall more effective amount of light for driving in outback wa...

As for roof mount light bars, positioned correctly will produce minimal glare. If I didn't have the light bar on top of my xrox bar, I would have no glare off the front of the vehicle noticable from the driver's seating position.

At the end of the day it is up to the police to decide if they will book you for it or not. As long as you don't give them reason to pick on you, I think it will largely go unnoticed... considering the amount of them getting around already, before these laws came in...

 

[Old.Tony]

I wonder if they're referring to mounting light bars on bull bars like this:

I wonder if the WA police can spell "hippokrit".

 

[75 GRC]

I wonder if they're referring to mounting light bars on bull bars like this: I wonder if the WA police can spell "hippokrit".

Hahaha LIKE IT... OT

 

[MANNING]

I wonder if they're referring to mounting light bars on bull bars like this:

I wonder if the WA police can spell "hippokrit".

Haha.. perfect.. only thing else i would say would be, whats the difference between my white light on the roof and highway patrols rednblue?

 

[Old.Tony]

Haha.. perfect.. only thing else i would say would be, whats the difference between my white light on the roof and highway patrols rednblue?

Their red&blue means they can break the speed limit, drive on the wrong side of the road and run red lights. Your white light means some wild animal is being cooked a little ways up the road.

 

[bods]

Their red&blue means they can break the speed limit, drive on the wrong side of the road and run red lights. Your white light means some wild animal is being cooked a little ways up the road.

Or according to some of the rather intelligent beings on facebook, abother drive over the other side of a hill you are approaching, but are too low to see their lights and realise you are blinding them with the one 10cm above your head on the roof hahaha

 

[bods]

What I still can't understand is, it's like they have chosen the bits of legislation they think sound the best. How can you seriously say that they have to be fitted below the front edge of the bonnet, but then go on to say that they are not allowed to restrict vision within 11m of the front of the vehicle... Does nobody read these things before they are released? How can it restrict vision if it is below the front edge of the bonnet? It is seriously just stupid...

 

[bods]

I wonder if they're referring to mounting light bars on bull bars like this:

I wonder if the WA police can spell "hippokrit".

They have defended themselves though, bu saying that the department of transport has brought in the regulations... still begs the question, how come it was fitted singly before the regulations came in? Hahaha

 

[bods]

For anyone that's interested https://www.change.org/p/western-au...utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink

 

[d22dave]

I believe they give emergency services vehicles exemptions from certain rules, which is absolute bullshit, the old saying, do as I say not as I do.

 

[Dion]

How can you seriously say that they have to be fitted below the front edge of the bonnet, but then go on to say that they are not allowed to restrict vision within 11m of the front of the vehicle... Does nobody read these things before they are released? How can it restrict vision if it is below the front edge of the bonnet? It is seriously just stupid...

Covers vehicles which do not have bonnets, like OKAs.

 

[bods]

Covers vehicles which do not have bonnets, like OKAs.

the roof mount thing, fair enough. But, this is from the vicroads site, nothing about not mounting on the top of the bullbar https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/vehicle-safety/fog-and-driving-lights

sa has got something right for once.... https://www.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/76070/MR1517-LED-Light-Bars-Fact-Sheet-8.15.pdf

I like how wa has changed their tune since this http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/licensing/LBU_VS_IB_123.pdf
i know this is for driving lamps and not specifically led light bars, however it does say there is no maximum height limit, just that they must not cause discomfort to the driver.

qld is about as basic as you can get http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/~/media/S...ctions/drivinglampsvehiclesguidelinemay13.pdf

that's all I can find at the moment, but they need to make something uniform across the whole country, not all decide what they like best and sticking it up everyone else. yes, all the above are similar, but there is enough variation in it that you could be illegal going between states...

 

[mike1303]

" it's wired so it only works when I'm in 4wd officer"
" then put it in 4wd and show me"
"Sorry can't engage 4wd unless I'm on a loose surface, might destroy the transfer case"
" put it in 4wd and just go forward slowly"
" no can do officer you've pulled me over, not meant to drive away until I can leave"
"But I'm asking you to edge forward slowly"
" even if I was allowed to, I can't turn it in because there's on coming traffic"


So on so forth

XD