otTawaSX

Hello guys/gals,

I was wondering today if those aftermarket Blue LED light for the dome and map light are legal or not? And also the one on the front doors.

Do the interior light of the car has to be yellowish?

Are dome light ON legal while driving or only when parked?

Because I was parked outside my friend's place tonight, and I had my blue LED on while clean up my glove box while waiting, so a police car drive by and stop right beside me looking at me with his flash light in his car. But he didn't get off the car or anything, and pull over and parked right infront of me. At that moment, I was thinking i was parked at a no parking zone, but NO, I didn't. The policeman didn't get off the car but wait. So a minute later, my friend came out and got on the car and then we left. And of course, I did turn off dome and map light when I start driving. And so did the police go away after I left. So it got me wondering if I didn't turn off the light, will the police give me a ticket?

thanks in advances
btw, I am in ONTARIO Canada, without tints or any external mods, just the blue LED interior lights

acn684

Blue interior LEDs shouldn't be illegal unless they're flashing to every beat of a song which would be considered a distraction. As for having ur lights on, i don't know the legality, but of course i read it was dangerous to drive with them on because it creates a glare for people behind you.

Accurate

usually depends on the cops. I've never heard such a thing but you may want to check your local laws.

Adrena

I got the same Blue LED kit in my TSX and I haven't been bothered by the Ottawa Police.

I was once told that they can't do anything if you're parked and the keys aren't in the ignition.

The cop was probably making sure you were the owner and not stealing the car. Lots of cars in the East end have been vandalised or stolen lately...

As the messages above explain - I don't think they can bug you if the lights are off while driving. Call the ex-copper place for info.

sccpu3d

Well I wouldn't get blue for the map lights anyway haha its hard to see at night ^___^

Otherwise, I've had blue forever, and no officer ever pulled me over

helraiser

You can have whatever you want on the interior, strobe lights included. It's the exterior that the law gets picky about.

BulldogHockey

I hope their not illegal, but I don't see why it would be. It shouldn't create any safety problems.

I just got the same kit and like it for the most part. Initially I was thinking that I would keep either the map lights or dome light stock. Just for when we're lost and I have to look at an actual paper map ... no navi afterall...

But then I realized that the vanity mirror lights give out plenty of light, so I switched them all out. It is a pretty neat change for only 20 bucks.

Hondan53

it really depends on the cops you are dealing with. When you have these "aftermarket accessories", You are going to attract attention, especially from cops.

When I had my honda, I got pulled over almost every week, sometimes twice or three times a week. I had piles of non-moving violation tickets, and it is a pain in the butt to go to court every month to explain to the same judge why I had tinted windows or other after-market parts. After I got my CL-S, I left it stock and no cops bothered me at all.

Bottom line, IMO, if you don't want the attention from the law, then keep your car stock.

DMBand0026

It's not illegal, but you have to understand that you were sitting on a dark street, at night, in front of a house. That's going to make any cop suspicious, and with good reason. Don't sweat it too much. Even if he had pulled you over or stopped to talk to you, he would have no reason to give you a ticket as you weren't doing anything illegal.

Hondan53 is right, anything that isn't commonly found on a vehicle will attract attention, sometimes negatively.

bysin

Around here (in Florida), they can give you a hefty fine for having blue lights on the exterior of your car, regardless if they are on or not.

I'm pretty sure its like that everywhere, or people would have blue and red cop-like lights on top of their car, to make people think they are police officers, and just not turn them on.

mjp3475

Yup... a friend of mine had the (lame) blue LED washer nozzles installed on his Focus. He got pulled over, got a ticket for "Impersonating an Emergency Vehicle", and a mandatory court date. Almost got his license suspended, but got a $300 fine instead.

stewie20068

hmmm....I'm from Georgia I have blue LED license plate lights. I got ticketed for speeding last week and the cop didn't say anything about my blue LED's on the exterior. just luck that his headlights were blinding the blue out??

vidgamer

As far as I know (and in Florida), the idea is that a car shouldn't have red or blue lights, because people will think, either on purpose or accidentally, that you're an emergency vehicle. Maybe yellow/amber is out too, except, of course, in the front turn signals.

Even if your map lights are on the inside, your car is going to appear to have a "blue light" from anyone driving at night. So, I expect that if you're driving around with blue map lights on, you're going to get pulled over eventually.

There are certain lights that need to be a certain color. Like, the brake lights need to be red -- both the light and the housing. Going all-clear will also get you in trouble, although, I'm not sure that they care about the side markers so much. Although, the turn signal light still needs to be amber, I'm not sure if the housing absolutely needs to be (but probably).

I've seen some blue bulbs in clear-corner lights, but I think that's a ticket waiting to be written. (Notice the fine print on all of these aftermarket lights -- they all say "off road use only"!) One time, I saw a truck being pulled over that had all clear corner lights; he didn't look like he was speeding, so my guess was it was the lighting. I've also seen people with clear-corners and red cellophane taped over the brake lights! Hmm.

Years ago, the "ion" foglights were popular, and had a blue glare, and that caused some trouble.

I say, leave your map lights alone, and if you want blue light, add some neon in there somewhere, like the footwells? Or custom-wire your own LEDs for a more subdued glow... Besides, the white light is going to be easier to read with, when you do need the map light to read a map!

Michael05

I just ordered some blue LEDs for my car last week, haven't gotten them yet though. I ordered blue for the doors and for the rear dome light, but for the map lights I got bright white. I did it partially because I still wanted to be able to read with the map lights, but partially because of not being sure about the laws. I figure since the rear dome light only comes on when the doors are open, I should be fine while I'm moving (unless I start driving with the doors open!).

Not sure if it'll look stupid with blue in the back and bright white in front...that still remains to be seen. I ordered a third bright white bulb for the rear dome light, just in case the blue LED looks dumb back there with the white map lights.