Staying compliant with aftermarket light products

Many drivers fit aftermarket devices to their vehicles, often with the best intentions – particularly when it comes to protecting vulnerable road users like cyclists and pedestrians. But your vehicle must be compliant, otherwise you could face enforcement action.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) in the UK notes a worrying increase in non-compliant and illegal light fittings. This includes some Vulnerable Road User (VRU) signs, decorative lights and blue warning beacons.

VRU signs are devices you can buy from third-party suppliers and fit onto your vehicle. They are designed to reduce incidents involving cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians and your vehicle.

These devices display a visual warning, usually a pictogram or LED lamp, or sound an audible alert. They’re typically fitted to the rear or the side of a vehicle or trailer.

VRU signs that work in tandem with your vehicle’s indicators are classed as directional indicators. However, the DVSA warns the signs may not be compliant, and it is an offence to use non-compliant lights.

Many devices that operate in conjunction with indicators don’t meet the legal requirements because they emit light of the incorrect colour – the correct colour being amber; have the wrong flash rate – the correct flash rate is between 60 and 120 times a minute.

Here in Ireland, the message from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and An Garda Síochána is similar – aftermarket light products are generally illegal for road use if they are not specifically type-approved and compatible with the vehicle’s original housing, as they often create dangerous glare.