RHD hating Bacon in Kamloops? DRL questions

[sfd_656]

Our L400 has the classic Mardy DRL set up LED strips under the headlights. Today while driving out to the dump in Kamloops my wife was pulled over she was issued a notice and order for inspection based on "unapproved lamps/ DRL impropper inspection" we have never had an issue before and have seen many other deli's with the same lights, are we acctually in non compliance with the Motor vehicle act or is the cop just being a dick? He also questioned our headlights although he did not include this on the order and made his badge number and signature illegible on the notice...

Also does this mean we need a complete vehicle inspection or can we just have the lights checked, does anyone know of a good place in Kamloops.

Thanks for any info...

[izack98]

I'll give my 2 cents, based on my experience. I will stand corrected if anyone knows better.
I installed LED strips in the same manner you did when I was preparing my L400 for inspection. I also did work on the brakes and suspension because I, like the majority of us, wanted my Delica to be safe and legal on the road.
As part of the preparation, I took it in to a muffler shop shop to have the tailpipe replaced. The owner of the muffler shop and I began to chat. He said he used to import a lot of Delica's and he seemed to know a lot about them. He asked if my LED DRL's were SAE approved. I had no idea. I later found out they weren't. He advised that in order for them to officially pass inspection they (and every other light on the Delica) must be SAE approved.
It appears from the documentation that i have read, the approval standard in Canada is the 'Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard' (CMVSS).
He further advised that I probably didn't want him to inspect my Delica as he was very 'by the book' and it would fail for that one reason. I appreciated his honesty.
I had mine inspected at the place I had originally intended on going to and it passed without issue.
I am guessing that this is the issue with your LED DRL's. Unless you have the manufacturers documentation that indicates the lights are SAE or CMVSS approved then I think you may fail the inspection. Of course, this would depend on how closely the inspector looks at the DRL's.
It's too bad as most of us keep our Delica's in very good shape and take pride in ownership.
But I imagine that if you were to apply the 'letter of the law' your lights would be deemed to be 'unapproved lamps' (assuming they aren't SAE or CMVSS approved).

Here is the wording (in part)
In accordance with the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (MVSA)(Canada) sections (44) to (65)
vehicles manufactured on or after December 1, 1989, must be equipped with Daytime Running Lamps that comply with
Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS)108.

The complete document is here:
http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/CVSE/vehicle_in ... ngLamp.pdf

[sfd_656]

Thanks for the reply, this was kind of my understanding as well after reading the act... Shitty thing though we have 83000km on it in 4 years with a couple run ins with the popo and never a mention of any lighting issue; and they wonder why the youth don't have respect for authority.

[FalcoColumbarius]

I'm moving this thread to RHD Political and Legal Matters.

[izack98]

Yes, it's too bad. You at least spent the time to ensure it had DRL's.
I would just go get a set of decent SAE approved lamps and mount them up front. Use the wiring that already goes from the relay to the LED strips.

I'm not sure if you have to get the entire vehicle inspected again or just the lamps. If you drop into any service center that does vehicle inspections they should be able to tell you what extent you will have to go to re the inspection.

Please update when you get it resolved.

[lrp374]

Falco tricked me again!! I was sure I read this post but couldn't find it again. Now for my question. Have you talked to Mardy about your situation. He has likely installed 100's of these and you would think they must have some kind of standard for him to get them approved in the first place.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Here is a link to the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations 4.8 & 4/9, which state and I quote:

• Daytime running lamps
  4.08 A motor vehicle may be equipped with daytime running lamps, mounted on the front of the vehicleat a height of not less than 30 cm and not more than 2.11 m, that comply with the requirements of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Canada).
  
  [en. B.C. Reg. 476/98, s. 2.]
  
  Auxiliary driving lamps
  4.09 (1) A motor vehicle may be equipped with 2 auxiliary driving lamps, mounted on the front of the vehicle at a height of not less than 40 cm and not more than 1.06 m, that are capable of displaying onlywhite light.
  
  (2) An auxiliary driving lamp must be directed so that the high intensity portion of the beam is, at a distance of 8 m from the lamp, at least 12 cm below the height of the lamp and, at a distance of 25 m from the lamp, not higher than 1.06 m from the road surface.
  (3) An auxiliary driving lamp must operate so that it is illuminated only when the upper beam of a multiple beam headlamp is illuminated.
  [en. B.C. Reg. 476/98, s. 2.]

You can build your own automobile if you want to it just has to pass inspection before it becomes street legal. Last time I looked, Mardy mounts the LED strip on the underside of the headlamp, which is consistent to what I understand the Motor Vehicle Branch requires that the centres of additional lamps, such as fog lamps, must be below the centres of the head lamps. Audi LEDs might actually not meet that criteria. Either way ~ I'd think that if your LED strips are not considered regulated by the MVB then there are an awful lot of expensive cars like Audis that will have to be taken off the road.

Falco.

P.S.: The above mentioned link, along with others, can be found as a pink sticky in this forum ( RHD Political and Legal Matters).

[sfd_656]

DRL's must be SAE approved to comply with the motor vehicle act... (there are LED strips that appear to be the same product with SAE approval and there are also DRL's from some major european car makers that have exceptions to the act.) I am sure there are many Delica's out there with non conforming lights but it is likely they will not ever have a problem, most likely wifey ran into the wrong cop on the wrong day who felt holding her, our 3 month old and our very "dangerous" van on the side of the road for 45 min. was reasonable.

I have heard that the province has cracked down on the "inspectors" in the province in an attempt to get things done by the book, but do not know what this means as my brother paid a guy to get his out of province grand caravan inspected when there were some clear "fails".

I spoke to Mardy today and he is going to send us some lights so big thanks to him as we have had the van for over 3 years. So in the end it looks like we will be out around $160 depending on how the rest of the inspection goes as the order forces a full vehicle inspection.

[FalcoColumbarius]

"SAE International, initially established as the Society of Automotive Engineers, is a U.S.-based, globally active professional association and standards organization for engineering professionals in various industries"- Wikipedia. What bearing do they have in Canadian motor vehicle branch regulations?

Falco.

[dah_hunter]

DOT, SAE all USA standards that Transport Canada follows because..... They are to lazy to come up with Canadian Standards?

So Standards that are good enough for Japan * (Which has more people and is more congested then Canada) some how arent safe enough for Canada? anyways i wont rant about it. Rules are rules, even if they dont make any sence

best of luck on your inspection. hope all goes well.