New Anti-Import laws comming May 1

[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.

[three.eighteen.]

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