Smoked Taillights not roadworthy

kiwi · Post by **kiwi** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 9:23 am

Ok so now my love of the NZTA and NZPolice has now reached an all time low for being Dickheads.

Today I was stopped at random for nothing more than the appearance of the taillights on the TZS.

Apparently it is no longer accepatable to have smoked lenses on vehicles because they appear to dark, yes to DARK........WTF....when I pointed out that these were fitted as standard to the BX19TZS and had been like that for the 17 years this one had been on the road, the response was the rules have changed

So I was given a green sticker to get them sorted within 28 days. Well in two weeks the BX is in for its Bi annual Test anyways.

Will see what my WOF tester has to say about this and then the letters will be flying.

Post by **Tim Leech** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 9:53 am

Hmm, maybe the copper has interpretted it wrong and got you mixed up with these youngsters who spray their non smoked lamps black in an effort to look cool, we get lots of them over here, it renders the lamps useless. I imagine if they are factory ones as per your car they have to pass a certain tests etc.

even so, what a wally.

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 10:03 am

To be fair, BX smoked lamps are CRAP, especially once the earths have got a bit cruddy! You'd have more luck signalling your intention to brake by using a semaphore flag out of the window.

Do hate when coppers get their facts wrong though - some years ago, a 2CV got pulled over and told to get his suspension fixed because of the bodyroll!

Post by **Tim Leech** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 10:23 am

Dollywobbler wrote:To be fair, BX smoked lamps are CRAP, especially once the earths have got a bit cruddy! You'd have more luck signalling your intention to brake by using a semaphore flag out of the window.

Put a new rear lamp on one side, leave the old dirty faded one on t'other and turn all the lights on, difference is quite noticeable, especially if your cars a diesel that smokes a bit. I always put new ones front and back on my cars when I get them, makes a marked difference and quite reasonable too.

Anyway, that coppers still a Knob!

JayW · Post by **JayW** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 10:47 am

I agree the copper is probably just being an arse but bear in mind that whilst the BX passed all necessary tests for sale in the UK and Europe, i'm pretty sure they were just a typical NZ import and as such might have slipped past various rules.

At the end of the the day, your "M.O.T." tester should know the answer far more accurately than a copper with a chip on his shoulder...

NZ16v · Post by **NZ16v** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 11:33 am

[quote="JayW"]I agree the copper is probably just being an arse but bear in mind that whilst the BX passed all necessary tests for sale in the UK and Europe, i'm pretty sure they were just a typical NZ import and as such might have slipped past various rules.

^most Bxes were imported by Citroen NZ, who USED to be a reliable, competant, and official importer of the Marque, so that is unlikely-not so the caes anymore. That said, however, my Dad made a pretty good return on shipping in Jap imports, SERVICING AND INSPECTING them, putting em right, and selling em on-LOTS of importers didnt do this, and we have a few shit bxes on the as a result.

Also, that cop is a dick. Get his number, and report him, once you get a WOF report-which will be fine.

electrokid · Post by **electrokid** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 12:24 pm

Once upon a time in the 1960s I was walking with my dad - me on the way to school and he on the way to the station for the comute to London and I decided it was time to mention my latest invention - tail lamps for cars that were the same colour as the car but still let light through when needed.

Dad thought the idea was rubbish - and since he was a very experienced automotive engineer I made the mistake of taking notice.

What I didn't get to mention was the prism arrangement I'd thought of that concentrated the light into very small lines of light that allowed most of the area to be covered with paint while the thin strips of highly concentrated light areas would be barely noticable when the light was off.

And there's the rub - modern rear lights don't make the attempt to make up for the brightness lost by smoked or body colour effects - I even saw a rear indicator the other day that used a normal bulb but had a screen with 5mm holes in it to make it look as though it was an LED unit - it was hardly visible - a really stupid design.

Since the idea of having lights on the back of the car is for them to be seen it would appear to me that there are a few lamp designers out there who are several clicks short of dumb.

Having said that - if a government has agreed that a particular design of car can be sold and used in the country (it's called 'type approval' in the UK) then PC Plod has no say in the matter and he should stick his opinion back in his notebook and go catch some real criminals.

Kiwi - since a smoked rear light is somewhat marginalised anyway I'd check to see that it's not marginalised further by a poor reflector or muck on the inside of the lens itself - that sort of stuff can make a normal light look dim so it'll be even worse on a smoked unit. Good luck !