New Anti-Import laws comming May 1

[Hollywood]

New Alberta laws against imports is comming up starting may 1 2003. I don't know what exactly these new laws are I was hoping that someone else knows more info.

The only target that I know of so far is the complete illegalization of ANY after market light bulb that is installed. There was a study saying that so far there is no recorded accident regarding aftermarket light bulbs being wrong colors, too bright or non-standard beam pattern, but citizens have complained about them. So basically the police say it's illeagal to have them on your car if they did not come with them from the factory, but if it's factory then it's ok. So I think HID kits now will be a target.

Without the protecting of SEMA lobiests here in Canada were all have to take these new laws up the hoop. Where as SEMA in the US protects the import community by fighting laws so they don't get passed or to reduce their effect.

The police hate now has more firepower!:thumbsdow

[Glowrider]

The only target that I know of so far is the complete illegalization of ANY after market light bulb that is installed

Ok...where is the part regarding "imports"?

[max_boost]

My HID is stock! But I will probably get pulled over anyway :rofl:

[buh_buh]

Originally posted by Glowrider


Ok...where is the part regarding "imports"? well, its not STRICTLY against imports, but typically its the imports that have the ricer bulbs. But I kinda like this idea. It'll weed out all the blue/red/green blub users.

[Hollywood]

Originally posted by buh_buh
well, its not STRICTLY against imports, but typically its the imports that have the ricer bulbs. But I kinda like this idea. It'll weed out all the blue/red/green blub users.

Well I dont even have these bulbs, I still use stock but this is just one of the laws. I would expect more laws on exhausts now too, which most of us do have.

[Altezza]

Just great...now I'm going to have to bust my ass explaining to the officer that my lights are stock... Then I'll get a ticket anyways and waste half a day in front of a judge. They'd better have a list to cross check or something...

[Zephyr]

i always though Xenons are worse.... they r bright motherf--kers...

[Stratus_Power]

Xenons are bad hehe.. i was driving one day From Edmonton to Calgary sometime in Dec.. and i saw 2 BRIGHT super bright light + 2 bright light charging toward me from the back ( total of 4 lights)..
i thought it was some freaken semi trying to run me over.. then the car switched lane to past me and it was a murano hehe

point of story.. none... just those light are really bright :P

[Scott]

and i saw 2 BRIGHT super bright light + 2 bright light charging toward me from the back ( total of 4 lights)..


That was the most confsing thing i have ever read


I thought this law agains lights was trashed already?

[Zephyr]

then again xenons r from mostly car corps like BMW so they probably will battle it out, as for HID i dunno

[Mr. Grinch]

I don't see how this is a concern for imports. The people installing aftermarket bulbs are the ones at risk, and they pretty much cover the entire spectrum. Tell me you haven't seen Neons and Sunfires running around town with blue bulbs and blacked out tail lights.

It doesn't look like it will be a problem for people running HIDs, since they for the most part are all factory installed. Obviously they aren't / going to change their HIDs. But they might change their fogs to match their HID color temp. If the color temps are a good match, I don't think they'll get noticed.

Personally, I wouldn't worry much about it. Law or no law, you're going to get a ticket if the officer wants to give you one, and which officer you get is the luck of the draw.

What does surprise me however is the concern over headlight color for some reason being such a priority. Just about every evening (long after dark) I see someone driving with either just one headlights, or no lights at all. You'd think enforcing something so basic would be a higher priority.

P.S. I'm disappointed the WRX STi coming to Canada won't have HIDs.

[CRX crazy]

this law makes no sense, becasue it seems to state that cars that come stock with HID's are legal but after market bulbs arn't ..... how many cops do you think are really going to know that your car (if it's newer) comes stock with these lights or not, I'm sure after a couple months of this b.s. cops will forget all about it because they will be so sick of trying to determine the difference, they won't care ......... i hope anyways ........ oh and just to throw humor in i got pulled over for my exsaust last week ..... it's not even that loud, but being a girl i got off with a warning :D:D

[bol]

It has to do with the fact that most aftermarket bulbs blind oncomming drivers! wether it be HID conversions or not. Because the beam pattern is not correct. THis isn't to say that stock cars with HID's etc don't blind oncomming drivers too.


It's because a lot of stupid people put in cheap shitty bulbs that don't light up the road as well and blind oncoming drivers because their aimed poorly! If people didn't so stupid, unsafe shit then stuff like this wouldn't happen.

It's not 'anti-import' its anti-stupidity! if large masses do stupid shit that pisses people and law makers off, WHY GOLLY GEE it's going to become illegal!

[Scott]

Originally posted by bol

It's not 'anti-import' its anti-stupidity! if large masses do stupid shit that pisses people and law makers off, WHY GOLLY GEE it's going to become illegal!

LMAO, very well said!!!

[Hollywood]

Originally posted by bol
It's not 'anti-import' its anti-stupidity! if large masses do stupid shit that pisses people and law makers off, WHY GOLLY GEE it's going to become illegal!

In the states they are legal if DOT SAE, and there is way more pissed off people and cops there.


Originally posted by Scott
LMAO, very well said!!!

I think you guys are missing my point that I do not give a rat's ass about stupid fucking lightbulbs! :banghead:

It's the only new law that I heard comming but many other new laws are comming with it. One law could say you cant lower your car, unless it comes lowered stock, in which they tow your car on the spot and give you a fine, then you guys might be singing a different tune.

[Luke 96 T/A]

All the fines are being increased..
No registration increases from $57 to $200, etc..
Speeding fines will increase, red light fines will increase, tint fines are increasing..
As it is, those bulbs are already illegal.. They distract other drivers, don't provide as much light without blinding other drivers, etc....

Funny thing is, I've never been pulled over for my exhaust ;-)
And it is LOUD!!!
(I had to spend an extra $1500 to get a quieter one :(.. Still wakes ALL my neighbours..)

[T5_X]

Originally posted by Mr. Grinch
What does surprise me however is the concern over headlight color for some reason being such a priority. Just about every evening (long after dark) I see someone driving with either just one headlights, or no lights at all. You'd think enforcing something so basic would be a higher priority.
.

:werd: :werd: :werd:

[Mr. Grinch]

Originally posted by bol


It's because a lot of stupid people put in cheap shitty bulbs that don't light up the road as well and blind oncoming drivers because their aimed poorly! If people didn't so stupid, unsafe shit then stuff like this wouldn't happen.



So basically the result is, if the lights are not stock, you get a ticket, regardless if they are aimed correctly or not, and if your lights ARE stock, you don't get a ticket, even if they are not aimed correctly.

Sounds like highly effective legislation to me



;)

[Hollywood]

Originally posted by Mr. Grinch
What does surprise me however is the concern over headlight color for some reason being such a priority. Just about every evening (long after dark) I see someone driving with either just one headlights, or no lights at all. You'd think enforcing something so basic would be a higher priority.


There is more money in chasing down cars with light blue light bulbs......that's why.

[bol]

Originally posted by Mr. Grinch



So basically the result is, if the lights are not stock, you get a ticket, regardless if they are aimed correctly or not, and if your lights ARE stock, you don't get a ticket, even if they are not aimed correctly.

Sounds like highly effective legislation to me



;)


yes, there are issues surrounding it but the fact remains that if thousands of kids didn't put in blue blubs, clear our turn signals and all other shit related to lights than laws like this would be thought up of

they see a problem and try to correct it through legislation, it's easier to make aftermarket bulbs against the highway act, than it is to go after manufacturers.

also, has anyone considered the fact that if you don't run tinted lights you probably will not have any problems? aftermarket is a general term, canadian tire bulbs might be considered aftermarket, but you're not going to get pulled over.

[Mr. Grinch]

I can't argue with that one. Tax men with wheels. Too bad I can't just pay my tickets in advance or get a package deal.

[4wheeldrift]

Has anyone given any thought about emailing SEMA and seeing if there is anything they can do for us, or if they have a canadian branch or know of a canadian equivalent? There was an aftermarket lobby group that helped get the anti-modifications bill in ontario shot down, I wonder how we could contact them. If you guys don't want to see things like this happening, its time to start talking to your MLAs. This is only going to be the begining.

[Mr. Grinch]

Originally posted by bol

yes, there are issues surrounding it but the fact remains that if thousands of kids didn't put in blue blubs, clear our turn signals and all other shit related to lights than laws like this would be thought up of


I'm not a fan of aftermarket lights myself. I can see what the motive is, a lot of people don't realize what they are doing to their cars could be unsafe.

Having said that, teens don't hold any sort of monopoly on poorly aimed headlights or sloppy automotive work in general. After getting one of my factory HIDs replaced at the dealer, the HID was pointed so high you'd think I was searching for low flying aircraft. This has happened more than once when I've asked shops to replace halogen bulbs in other cars. Very few shops take the time to aim them properly.

I'd have to agree with Hollywood... the end result in this case has more to do with raising money from people with poor automotive fashion sense than any real safety issue.

Just last week a calgary police Durango coming the opposite way obviously just had it's left (driver side) headlight replaced... it was pointed extremely high. If you get any glare at all from an oncomming vehicle, it should be more from their right (passenger) light than the left, because the left is supposed to be pointed more downwards to avoid blinding oncoming traffic. This is the recommended aiming pattern for both HIDs and Halogens or sealed beams.

So if someone doing automotive work for the Police can't even be bothered to get it right, why would anyone take the implied "safety" aspect of this bylaw seriously?

Personally, if you really wanted to stop the colored bulbs fad, I think you'd have more luck convincing teens that it's "uncool" or "cheesy" through their peers.

[speedyalero]

Originally posted by CRX crazy
this law makes no sense, becasue it seems to state that cars that come stock with HID's are legal but after market bulbs arn't ..... how many cops do you think are really going to know that your car (if it's newer) comes stock with these lights or not,


The window tint law is the same. No tint on front windows unless it was done at the factory (ie: stock..).

[speedyalero]

Originally posted by bol



yes, there are issues surrounding it but the fact remains that if thousands of kids didn't put in blue blubs, clear our turn signals and all other shit related to lights than laws like this would be thought up of

they see a problem and try to correct it through legislation, it's easier to make aftermarket bulbs against the highway act, than it is to go after manufacturers.

also, has anyone considered the fact that if you don't run tinted lights you probably will not have any problems? aftermarket is a general term, canadian tire bulbs might be considered aftermarket, but you're not going to get pulled over.

Yeah, I agree. I do have Lund covers on my headlights but they are very easy to remove at night (not that I do all the time). I have been pulled over for them once (it was a checkstop). Cop told me to take them off and sent me on my way without a ticket. My window tint causes me more problems than the lights do, no ticket yet, but the last cop wrote on my registration papers that I recieved a warning.....

[benyl]

I don't know what you guys are so paranoid about. I don't think there a new laws coming, they are just going to enforce them more and the fines are higher.

HID kits have always been illegal. Anything that doesn't say DOT on the bulb is illegal. When you buy a hid kit, it says for offroad use only. You can get phillips Blue Vision or Silvania Silver Stars and get whiter light while being legal. You can also probably get away with a 9005 conversion with cars that have the 9006-9005 combination. 9005 will give you about 1700lm iver the 9006 1100lm. 4300K hid gives you 3300lm and 6000k hid about 2700lm. You can see that you get 3 times more light with a factory color temperature.

Lowering your car beyond a certain point has also always been illegal. There is a minimum bumper height requirement.

Clearing out your headlight, clear side markers, clear tails have always been illegal. There are laws about color and reflectors.

There is a discussion somewhere on here about mufflers too. Aparently you can't change the diameter from stock. So aftermarket exhausts are mostly illegal... especially if you have coffee cans.

[Hollywood]

Originally posted by 4wheeldrift
Has anyone given any thought about emailing SEMA and seeing if there is anything they can do for us, or if they have a canadian branch or know of a canadian equivalent? There was an aftermarket lobby group that helped get the anti-modifications bill in ontario shot down, I wonder how we could contact them. If you guys don't want to see things like this happening, its time to start talking to your MLAs. This is only going to be the begining.

I agree with 4wheel, this is just the begining nothing is stopping them from doing more, this is why I'm conserned, even though
I do not use lightbulbs and never will use the colored lightbulbs. 4wheel, do you remember the name of the lobby group?

[benyl]

If you guys have questions about specific laws, there is an RCMP officer that answers questions on revscene.net

[Hollywood]

Originally posted by benyl
Anything that doesn't say DOT on the bulb is illegal.

Nope all aftermarket bulbs are now illegal, even DOT! Only ones that are not illegal are stock from the factory. Funny thing is even the stealerships sell the eurolights these days.

[ACS-e36]

i could really careless bout light bulbs... i just hope the law dont turn out like richmond where NO mods are tollerated

[4wheeldrift]

Originally posted by Hollywood


I agree with 4wheel, this is just the begining nothing is stopping them from doing more, this is why I'm conserned, even though
I do not use lightbulbs and never will use the colored lightbulbs. 4wheel, do you remember the name of the lobby group? I don't, I just remember seeing some posts about that bill in ontario on the Calgary Sports Car Clubs mailing list, I'll try and dig up some more information on the group that was helping out down east.

Found what I was looking for actually. Here is the information on the bill that was shot down, and I think this was the group that helped. I wonder if something like that exists in alberta?

http://www.corskan.on.ca/svao/bill241.html

[V6-BoI]

Eh? DOT bulbs are illegal as well? That's bullshit.
But that's stupid even places like Walmart sells bulbs that has a blue tint to them.

[speedyalero]

Originally posted by V6-BoI
Eh? DOT bulbs are illegal as well? That's bullshit.
But that's stupid even places like Walmart sells bulbs that has a blue tint to them.

I call bullshit on the DOT bulbs being illegal.


:bullshit:

[three.eighteen.]

hmmm...what about oem aftermarket euro-dm...say ellipsoids?