HIDS Are They Road Legal

Everyone wants the best headlights possible, there are some major problems with upgrading your headlights to HID and legal problems. The UK road law states the vehicle must have the correct headlamp ( commonly known as a projector ) type of headlight and headlight washers in order to keep the headlight casing clean to prevent bulb scatter on the road. And the vehicle must be fitted with self leveling suspension which means when driving over a hill the headlights will automatically angle down to prevent blinding other road users.

The HID bulb can't be matched no matter what performance bulbs you have nothing compares to the HID bulb light output. Many drivers simply want to upgrade there lighting and get a standard HID kit fitted in a normal headlight casing. The problem you will notice almost instantly after changing the bulbs over is the glare which your headlights will emit. If a headlight was designed for normal halogen bulbs the reflectors and headlight is designed with this in mind and built from the ground up. Due to the way HID bulbs work they will have excessive light scatter and the beam pattern will be massively different meaning you will be fine driving but the other road users may end up getting blinded.

Changing your halogen headlight bulbs for HID bulbs will make any CE or E approved headlamp approval void and it will mean you have an illegal upgrade fitted to your vehicle. This could mean a fine or penalty points on your driving licence. Or even worse if you have a road traffic accident due to another road user being blinded your insurance could end up before void.

Before upgrading your headlamps to HID I would advise thinking about what lighting system you have and if you have a set of HID performance bulbs installed will you break any VOSA or UK road laws.