Check your Stop lights - Or else !! Why read on

[TER2BO]

My wife was driving our Ford Territory when she was pulled over by the Highway Patrol in Melb.on 1st Feb.
One of the 3 rear stop lights was not working.
Short story - no please fix it - just a Yellow unroadworty sticker and notice to fix it within 7 days or else .
Did the job in about 45sec.(Territories and Falcon wagons seem to blow bulbs on a regular basis). (Are any bulbs made to last these days???)
But now you have to take the car to Vic Roads to have it inspected and the 'unroadworthy' taken off.
Went there today waited 45mins to be served -then they tell me its $45.10 for them to tell whether or not the brake lights are working.
This new charge just happened to start from the (you guessed it) 1st Feb.
To say I was unhappy and it was a complete waste of everyones time plus the added expenses of travel and loss of income is an understatment.
Heaven forbid if they start to make you have a roadworthy as well- another $200 minimum.
So suggest you check your lights regularly and change those Festoon bulbs on your trailer/caravan for something more robust.

[Ducati888]

Put LED bulbs in.

[ratter]

Originally Posted by Ducati888

Put LED bulbs in.

I have seen several weird electrical and running issues from the use of LED's

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by ratter

I have seen several weird electrical and running issues from the use of LED's

Anyone got a BA-FG and got LED globes in the rear? I reckon cruise control would stop working, if one of those brake lights is blown then cruise wont work.

I had the same issue on a Subaru Forester, blown brake light bought up stability control light and disabled cruise control.

[SB076]

Originally Posted by Ducati888

Put LED bulbs in.

They still fail, I have had 3 LED lights fail in my house (didnt get close to the 50,000 hours they were guaranteed to last) They were all replaced free of charge

One in three not working, suggest someone was having a bad day and took it out on your wife. Think in most instances police would use their discretion and simply ask her to get it fixed, or worst case scenario ask her to get it fixed and drive past a Police station so they can see its been done.

[Yellow_Festiva]

I have said for ages that there should be a list of 'offences' that should be a warning first.

And that is one of them. It's an honest mistake and can happen at any time.

How proud this copper must be, going home saying 'I made a difference today'....

Sorry to hear, that would have ruined my day for such a petty thing.

Yep, ready to be flamed about driver safety being the priority and how people should maintain their car correctly... take your best shots... Those that have never sinned be first in the line.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

I have said for ages that there should be a list of 'offences' that should be a warning first.

And that is one of them. It's an honest mistake and can happen at any time.

How proud this copper must be, going home saying 'I made a difference today'....

Sorry to hear, that would have ruined my day for such a petty thing.

Yep, ready to be flamed about driver safety being the priority and how people should maintain their car correctly... take your best shots... Those that have never sinned be first in the line.

Nascar drivers tend to go OK with painted on tail lights, so they are not really required to drive safely, as it were. Having said that, most people don't concentrate enough to notice tail lights that do work, so when they don't, it makes the situation only marginally less safe.properly

[EB#]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

How proud this copper must be, going home saying 'I made a difference today'....

Yep, he got $45.10 added to the state coffers. Awesome job.

[TER2BO]

Glad I posted this thread its been interesting reading all the posts.
Just want to make some comments on some of them.
Firstly, my wife did not give the Police any attitude -she isn't that sort of person. The Territory was in otherwise excellent condition (not a bomb which would attract attention.)
When pulled over she was only 200 meters from Home which they would have known.
Ducatti 888 said put LED's in. Tried that a couple of years ago -caused havoc -had to take them out. As Ratter said "causes weird electrics".
Some European cars have to have a special towing harness with a inbuilt control module to tow a trailer/caravan with LED's
The Beast posted -carry spares and screwdriver. Gasolane quite rightly posted that op's wife wouldn't know how to change the Bulb.

Lots of posts about checking them and how to check them.

But they can blow at any time . As I mentioned not sure where the bulbs are manufactured these days but they don't seem to last that long anymore. Maybe its all the stop/start traffic on the Motorways.

[Blue Shadow]

Excellant reply champ

[JC]

Originally Posted by TER2BO

My wife was driving our Ford Territory when she was pulled over by the Highway Patrol in Melb.on 1st Feb.
One of the 3 rear stop lights was not working.
Short story - no please fix it - just a Yellow unroadworty sticker and notice to fix it within 7 days or else .
Did the job in about 45sec.(Territories and Falcon wagons seem to blow bulbs on a regular basis). (Are any bulbs made to last these days???)
But now you have to take the car to Vic Roads to have it inspected and the 'unroadworthy' taken off.
Went there today waited 45mins to be served -then they tell me its $45.10 for them to tell whether or not the brake lights are working.
This new charge just happened to start from the (you guessed it) 1st Feb.
To say I was unhappy and it was a complete waste of everyones time plus the added expenses of travel and loss of income is an understatment.
Heaven forbid if they start to make you have a roadworthy as well- another $200 minimum.
So suggest you check your lights regularly and change those Festoon bulbs on your trailer/caravan for something more robust.

My in-laws merc has a dash warning come one if any light is blown (I think it even tells you which one is gone). That's in a 2003 model car - wouldn't be too hard for Ford, Holden etc to do the same thing in these "modern" cars.

I was behind an idiot last night who has one tail light working, but the red lens was broken, so that was next to useless - the intact red lenses did not work at all. To top it off, said moron didn't use indicators on any of the 3 corners I was behind him for.

[commodorenutt]

Originally Posted by JC

My in-laws merc has a dash warning come one if any light is blown (I think it even tells you which one is gone). That's in a 2003 model car - wouldn't be too hard for Ford, Holden etc to do the same thing in these "modern" cars.

The WB Caprice in 1980 had it... and the control module that monitored the bulbs was desiigned so well, that if it failed, you could unplug it, rotate the plug 180 degrees, and it bypassed the module.

After that 5 year run in the WB, Holden released it again in 1993 - this time in the VR Calais, Statesman & Caprice - all tail lights & brake lights are covered by the blown bulb light on the dash.

[Ross 1]

My daughters 93 Merc has that system, very handy, as she wouldn't check anything that isn't displayed on the dash, oil, water etc... Same with my wife' newer Merc, scroll through the dash and it tells you everything that's needed or faulty.

[mik]

Originally Posted by commodorenutt

The WB Caprice in 1980 had it... and the control module that monitored the bulbs was desiigned so well, that if it failed, you could unplug it, rotate the plug 180 degrees, and it bypassed the module.

After that 5 year run in the WB, Holden released it again in 1993 - this time in the VR Calais, Statesman & Caprice - all tail lights & brake lights are covered by the blown bulb light on the dash.

i think Supras had bulb monitoring from the first model in 1979, even had 4 speed auto back then.

[Captain Stubing]

Originally Posted by JC

My in-laws merc has a dash warning come one if any light is blown (I think it even tells you which one is gone). That's in a 2003 model car - wouldn't be too hard for Ford, Holden etc to do the same thing in these "modern" cars....

I have a 1985 Ford Sierra, and it has warning lights on the dash for blown brake, park and headlights!

It's something they've included in some cars, and possibly decided it wasn't cost effective to include in the modern day vehicle.

[whitelion65]

Thanks JC,
I was going to ask if the terri warns of a blown globe.
One tail-light in my Berlina wagon always plays up. Give it a thump and it comes on again. But the indicators go at double time if a bulb is out!

[.:4:.]

Wow, I got a trailer blue slip for $44.10 in nsw. About 12 years ago I copped a defect for " shiny front tyres" whatever that means and my mechanic cleared it for $17 as the tyres were new.. totally irrelevant now but what's the world coming to... $45 to make you spend pocket change on bulbs, thats rediculous. I'm sure a warning would have made you change the bulb

[Yellow_Festiva]

Shiny front tyres??? You are kidding, right????

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Shiny front tyres??? You are kidding, right????

It was just after they banned high performance cars for p platers...I got my p's before the ban so I was exempt. I guess the cop needed a reason to pull over a wb ute with an engineering plate for the 96 clubsport efi 5l with p plates on it... he went for me over the car that was doing 80 to overtake me... who knows...

[Yellow_Festiva]

You would think that it should be a mandatory safety item for all new cars much like warning chimes for belts and ice on the road....

What are we talking, some extra wires and a control module?? A few extra dollars on the production line, if that.

[Blue Shadow]

Common sense needs to used, the car has 3 stop lights, surley safety is not compremised as 2 are srill working. The HP must be hard up for numbers to ping you on that, they do have discresion but this cop dosn't see the mum and dad paying a mortgage and putting food in the table for the kids. What a grub, the cops have changed so much since I was in, (NSW). They are not taught to be a buman these days.

[SYZ]

Originally Posted by Blue Shadow

Common sense needs to used, the car has 3 stop lights, surely safety is not compromised as 2 are still working. [...]

What makes this so silly is that the old Holden 48-215 only had a single tail light as standard. So now the cops reckon a vehicle with better tyres, brakes, suspension and steering needs three times the brake lights to be safe? Yeah... that makes sense. Not.

[ratter]

Originally Posted by SYZ

What makes this so silly is that the old Holden 48-215 only had a single tail light as standard. So now the cops reckon a vehicle with better tyres, brakes, suspension and steering needs three times the brake lights to be safe? Yeah... that makes sense. Not.

cops don't reckon it, the Australian Design Rules for the car dictate it.

[SYZ]

Originally Posted by ratter

cops don't reckon it, the Australian Design Rules for the car dictate it.

Back in the day—but after ADRs were introduced in January 1969—the cops would use what's called their discretionary powers to decide whether or not to issue a warning, or write up a defect notice. Nowadays, our government is so keen to increase the state coffers by any means fair or foul that this more than fair practice has long ceased.

I also note an ongoing debate about smoked taillight lenses; do they comply with ADRs? Not even the cops seem to know. The relevant ADRs only state that the taillights must be visible for 200m and the stop lights for 30m. And that's it.

[commodorenutt]

Originally Posted by SYZ

What makes this so silly is that the old Holden 48-215 only had a single tail light as standard. So now the cops reckon a vehicle with better tyres, brakes, suspension and steering needs three times the brake lights to be safe? Yeah... that makes sense. Not.

Originally Posted by ratter

cops don't reckon it, the Australian Design Rules for the car dictate it.

The ADRs from 1972 (when they were introduced) actually stated one centrally located brake light, or a pair of brake lights located equally apart from the centre line of the car, and also had specs on the minimum separation distance for them. The rules were actually like this until 1990.
They only changed with the ADR introduction of the CHMSL - the high mounted 3rd brake light.

Originally Posted by Sabantien

Funnily enough I've seen quite a few police cars with brake lights and headlights not working lately.

Guy beside me at work got pulled over for an RBT very late one night - literally just outside the driveway of the local RSL. Unfortunately for the cops who were waiting, his 4 passengers were his sons & mates, and he was sober - just picking them up. It was the passenger in the cop car that did the test, and his boys were a bit smart to her about him being sober, and wasting their time. So she then proceeded to berate him about driving with fog lights on and how much the fine is, pulling out the ticket book.

He claimed he didn't realise, and it must have happened accidentally (I called him out on this by pointing out the dash indicator, and the fact that on his car you have to pull out the headlight switch to turn them on).

Quick thinking - he looked in the mirror, and noticed the cop car foglights were also on. With the utmost of diplomacy, pointed this out to her. The attitude quickly went from snarly to "have a nice night and don't let me catch you with them on again."

Originally Posted by mik

i think Supras had bulb monitoring from the first model in 1979, even had 4 speed auto back then.

First Supra wasn't until 81, and I don't think Australia got it until 82 or 83.

GM cars had the 4 speed trans from '81 in the USA. Took Holden another 7 years to get it (1988 VN - if you discount the 86 VL as a Jatco) and Ford were a bit longer again to the 4 speed EA.

But in any case the whole "euro is better" thing doesn't apply here, as the "technology" and it's very basic technology, existed in Australian built cars decades earlier....

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by Blue Shadow

Common sense needs to used, the car has 3 stop lights, surley safety is not compremised as 2 are srill working. The HP must be hard up for numbers to ping you on that, they do have discresion but this cop dosn't see the mum and dad paying a mortgage and putting food in the table for the kids. What a grub, the cops have changed so much since I was in, (NSW). They are not taught to be a buman these days.

There are endless posts on here with people complaining the cops do nothing but book people for speeding. One cop does do something else and its all hands on deck for a whinge about that.

Why should police be asked to be selective about the law? He was doing his job and he should be commended for it. The problem is not with the HWP officer. It was and is the money grab by the government to get the inspection and all clear. That fee was excessive. Then again we all know that state governments use anything to do with vehicles as a cash cow.

As for losing time to get it cleared for inspection. If it makes the owner check the tail lights more often, I would say job done.

[Blue Shadow]

What he was doing was being was being a tool his job was to ensure that the car was safe, with 2 other brake lights it was safe. All that needed to be done was let the driver know and log it.
Police gain more credibility by using descresion and helping drivers not by burning them for this sort of stuff. Check your lifht every time u drive and one blows while you are driving and you get booked and a defected tell the cop "but i just checked them" and see if that will fly. Cops should be selective in these matters and the traffic act does allow for it. By your standard cars should be defected for tyres beung 2 psi light on air

[xisled]

Originally Posted by DanielXR8

There are endless posts on here with people complaining the cops do nothing but book people for speeding. One cop does do something else and its all hands on deck for a whinge about that.

Why should police be asked to be selective about the law? He was doing his job and he should be commended for it. The problem is not with the HWP officer. It was and is the money grab by the government to get the inspection and all clear. That fee was excessive. Then again we all know that state governments use anything to do with vehicles as a cash cow.

As for losing time to get it cleared for inspection. If it makes the owner check the tail lights more often, I would say job done.

If it was a cash grab, the officer could have fined the ops wife $300 plus for driving an unroadworthy car.

[Blue Shadow]

Originally Posted by xisled

If it was a cash grab, the officer could have fined the ops wife $300 plus for driving an unroadworthy car.

Its not a cash grab its a cop being a ******. Cash grabs are everything else the govt does to the motoring public

[rancidpunx]

I believe most cars have a feature for letting you know about blown bulbs. When indicating the lights flash double time and the dash lights/tick is also double time. Not sure about Falcons, never had a blown bulb.