Help Setting Up Enforcement on HID Kits

[Alaric Darconville]

Re: Help Stepping Up Enforcement on HID Kits

Good on those insurance companies!

They're insuring the car based on it being the factory-original car with all parts certified by the manufacturer as conforming to FMVSS 108. When some moron starts messing around with their lighting (and electrical!) systems, problems can occur.

HID kits been known to interfere with tire pressure monitoring systems (TMPS) and electric power steering systems. It's not a stretch to say a problem with those could contribute to an accident if not outright cause them. (For example, what if the TPMS misreads a completely flat tire as perfectly aired up and the handling of the car is affected? What if the car just couldn't be steered properly because of interference from the HID ballast?)

 

[SubLGT]

Re: Help Stepping Up Enforcement on HID Kits

I wonder what insurance companies do with clients who own "brodozers" ?. Not only do these very popular modified pickup trucks typically have illegal front lighting, they also have suspension lift kits which substantially increase bumper height (and vehicle general height), thereby increasing the probability of serious injury to another driver in a head-on collision or a side impact collision.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Re: Help Stepping Up Enforcement on HID Kits

I wonder what insurance companies do with clients who own "brodozers" ?.

Yes, you wonder what they do with those clients.

They may have much higher rates on them, or they may scrutinize the vehicle in the event of a collision. It may well be possible that if the vehicle is lifted beyond what the law allows in the insured's state, that they'll deny the claim.

Obviously, it's a good idea to apprise your agent about what modifications (particularly to suspension) you've made, so they may be able to offer a rider, or they could tell you right then that you might be at risk for a claim denial. You have to be sure they make the right phone calls or send the right emails-- if they bat off a "oh, no problem" answer that might be the incorrect answer.

 

[cetary35]

Re: Help Stepping Up Enforcement on HID Kits

I'm following up with the local insurance agencies about these HID kits and their associated dangers. I'm giving them a heads up to look for these kits. They deserve to know. It really shouldn't be the average Joe that has to cover the cost of someone else's dangerous illegal actions.

Also, from what I've been getting, insurance companies sound like they generally increase premiums for lifted trucks because they are no longer at bumper height with other cars and could be reasonably expected to cause greater damage to others in the event of a crash. I might be off though.

 

[ssanasisredna]

Keitho, I think you have forgotten who that public servant is responsible to. If they are not doing their job right, the public has every right to tell them.

Instead of going into the office of a public servant, and telling them how to do their job better, please consider:
- getting elected;
- getting a job as a public servant; and/or,
- getting a law degree.

Short of that: vote, pay your taxes, and bring homemade cookies to your local police station, while limiting your input to "thank you for your service."

 

[Keitho]

Keitho, I think you have forgotten who that public servant is responsible to. If they are not doing their job right, the public has every right to tell them.

There is a huge difference between the responsibility of all citizens in a democracy to be educated and speak out, and walking into a police station to spout off about some pet issue after a few hours of internet "research." If laws and policies need to be improved, the legislature and executive branches need to be energized by knowledgeable and organized citizens. The police chief doesn't need a stream of people "just trying to help" coming into his office to tell him or her how to be a better cop.

 

[SubLGT]

...The police chief doesn't need a stream of people "just trying to help" coming into his office to tell him or her how to be a better cop.

It's a big mistake to isolate the police chief from the public he is supposed to "serve and protect".

 

[-Virgil-]

Keitho, please stop. This has gone far off topic.

 

[Magio]

This is my take on the issue for what its worth. People can talk all day about low CCT and how much better it is than higher CCTs, and how halogen headlights can be just as good as HID's or LEDs in the performance department. But that is falling on deaf ears. Customers don't like either. End of story, period. And as long as they don't like either there will be a huge market for aftermarket lighting that attempts to satisfy customers. Money talks and where there is tons money to be made there will be someone willing to risk violating any law made that prohibits the importation (if thats a word) and sell of such products, through any means possible.

Because of this I think that the only effective solution to go about preventing dangerous lighting from being used on the road is gonna be a long term process that probably has no chance of ever happening, except maybe some time still in the quite distant future. And that solution is automakers are gonna have to give people what they want. High CCT headlights, that perform very well, that don't cost a fortune, and are standard on all vehicles from the cheapest to the most expensive of them. Thats actually not far fetched at all as Toyota has shown us with the Corolla, but as has been pointed out repeatedly, for some reason most other automakers want to bundle LED or HID headlights with other super high cost packages, and or only making them available for the range topping models that few people can afford.

At the end of the day, when people see all the nice new vehicles with super bright crystal white cool blue headlights, and then they go get in their car and they get this muddy brown light that they squinting their eyes to see with you bet they gonna be looking for something they think is better. People hate the color of halogen bulbs and so the only way to fix that is to just stopping using them in car headlights. That has no reasonable chance of happening any time soon so the problem we are stuck with the problem we are having and it cannot be fixed any other way.

 

[cetary35]

You're right money does talk. Especially when the insurance company finds out that the headlight lighting system, a federally regulated safety device, has been rendered in-operative and the electrical systems have been compromised in the accident they're all the more likely to clamp down on the illegal mods just as they would any other type of performance altering mod that has otherwise not been reported. In fact, I'd argue they have a duty to their customers that do obey all the laws to deny claims from people that do that and end up getting into accident even partially as a result. Also, from what I've been further getting , it doesn't even need to be necessarily illegal or performance degrading for companies to cancel your claim depending on the wording of your contract. It really isn't worth running around "no policy", from what I can gather. Just tell your company. Sorry if I sounded a bit snob-ish.

 

[Magio]

I think you are being a bit naive and or hypocritical on backing insurance companies in their denying claims for people who have modified their headlights. The reason so being that if your vehicle is wrecked and the lights damaged and the insurance company has to pay to get them fixed, often times they will not want to pay to have oem headlights, or oem parts in general put back on the car. Money talks again and they gonna want to install the cheapest possible parts on your car, and in the case of headlights, aftermarket ones that don't meet federal standards. So if they gonna deny claims for modified headlights that don't meet standards, they also gonna also have to deny claims for people whose vehicles they have paid to have repaired with aftermarket parts that fail to meet those same standards. That open up a whole new can of worms.

 

[-Virgil-]

Unsafely modified headlamps is one problem. Insurance companies pushing aftermarket "headlamps" is another, separate problem. They are not two sides of the same coin, and conflating them veers this thread even further off topic than it already was.