H.I.D. Kits are now ILLEGAL and BANNED in the United States.

All the people who have aftermarket H.I.D headlights are soon to be without a dealer for replacement bulbs and H.I.D. kit's. As of 8/15/2003 the National Highway Safety and Transportation Board has Passed into ordinance the law banning the sale of aftermarket H.I.D.'s.

You see them, the Riced out honda's running around blinding people all the time. H.I.D. aftermarket sales are at a peak as the "under the table" bill was passed with little to no coverage to avoid resistance by the more than 6 million aftermarket H.I.D. users on the road today.

All the fast and furious wannabee's will be stripped of their bright headlamps as they will no longer be able to purchase the H.I.D.'S due to a country wide ban.

Visit this forum on H.I.D.'s for more info.
http://hidforum.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=596

Also of increasing interest, the "CLEAR" lenses used on rice rockets nationwide are all illegal due to lack of compliance with saftey transportation guidelines.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/announce/press/pressdisplay.cfm?year=2003&filename=pr21-03.html

 

[Muskrat]

ahh, good, does this now mean I will be able to see again at night without being blinded by blue HID lights?

 

[Soundguy01tx]

ya my friend has been looking at buying some HID lighting for his new motorcycle, and the dealer he just spoke with told him about this... kinda making him rethink his interest. Im kinda 50/50 on this issue... I mean I undersatnd not wanting them, but at the same time I disagree...
--Bryan

 

[X~FACTOR]

Originally posted by Muskrat
ahh, good, does this now mean I will be able to see again at night without being blinded by blue HID lights?

i'm with Muskrat. Those things blind you coming from the opposite side of the road. Specially the Mercedes and BMW's.

 

[akcrogers]

Does this include HID-look bulbs? You know, the ones that are called HID, but are actually just tinted or whiter than the factory ones?

Or is it just aimed at the expansive ass real HID kits?

 

[onelasttry]

If you read the links (not trying to be a smart ass) you'd see that the ban was on non-filament bulbs. H.I.D.'s are just as such. they actually creatively created the law specifically to eliminate aftermarket H.I.D.'s.

 

[Premier]

Opportunity!!

I smell an opportunity.... Buy up as many of these HID's as you can!! Then secretly supply the ricers at OUTRAGEOUS prices. What do you think??

 

[akcrogers]

I don't know much about HID, so the whole filament thing doesn't really clarify anything. Are they talking about the drop in bulbs like PIAAs Hyper series that are called HID but are basically just souped up normal lights, or are they talking about the real hid systems found on mercedes and stuff?

 

[GaSouthern1]

The PIAA's are not what they are talkin about, they are talkin about aftermarket HID kits, not the ones that come on the mercedes and lexuses from the factory.

 

[Alec]

As it was said above, this applies to aftermarket true HID kits, not factory lights. HID look-alikes are not affected because they still have filaments just like a normal household lightbulb. True HIDs use an electric arc to create light instead of a filament. True HIDs are also much more expensive due to the technology involved.

As always though, you should check DOT approval before buying any lighting products you intend to use on the road. And they also need to be aimed correctly.

 

[EO]

This makes no sense. If the banning criteria = bulbs with no filaments, then how is that different than stock HIDs from BMW/Lexus/etc, which also have no filaments? That can't be the only criteria.

Put another way - why aren't the aftermarket kits DOT-approved?

 

[Alec]

I'm thinking because often the optics of the original lenses aren't designed for HID so the light output is more likely to blind other drivers. Also, most people don't aim headlights correctly when they install them and are much more likely to blind others.

 

[EO]

I'll buy that - good point. It would be nice to find a reference to actual text, just so we're not speculating here. But the mismatched lens idea makes sense.

 

[SoBeLover]

Originally posted by Muskrat
ahh, good, does this now mean I will be able to see again at night without being blinded by blue HID lights?

I am so glad they are banning those things. I have been blinded many times by them and for someone who is extremely light sensitive, it actually hurts.

 

[Shagnasty]

Not to mention that there are weekend mechanics working with somewhat complicated voltage steping electronics, and one slight mistake poses quite the danger under the hood. I've seen several ricers with burnt hoods from mis-wiring of the transformer. How you can mess up so few connections... well... they are ricers... whatever. Darwinism.....

 

[99exEB1]

Wow, I feel bad for anyone that got in on the group HID buy...

 

[jimbo74]

it says there is also stuff about clear corners are getting in trouble on ricerockets... well what about clear corners on trucks? hmmmmmmm they are also made the same way and probably aretn dot approved although they may not be disapproved either....

 

[huskyfan23]

I think with clear corners, they're talking about the blinker bulbs that are different colors besides amber... From what I've heard it's illegal not to have an amber blinker. You should be safe if you've got amber bulbs.

 

[jimbo74]

actually, the actual lense although the books say they have to be amber or clear.... the aftermarkets ones done have the reflecticity of the real amber lense... sure they look the same other than color, but there luminescence is different

 

[Sublime0069]

My aftermarket clear corners produce a just as vivid if not better amber shine than the factory Ford lenses. Plus, my strobe lights aren't dulled by that yellow lense in it.