California specific legal driving/fog lights?

Bill Idaho

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I just attended a military vehicle show in Petaluma, California last week, and was told by a couple of people that California has its own set of "authorized" driving and fog lights for highway use. Mention was made that even certain vehicles with certain headlights (maybe HID options?) are not allowed to be sold/used in their state.
Anyone know anything about it?
 

Alaric Darconville

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I just attended a military vehicle show in Petaluma, California last week, and was told by a couple of people that California has its own set of "authorized" driving and fog lights for highway use.
Did a vendor tell you this? The vendor of that "authorized" product?

Mention was made that even certain vehicles with certain headlights (maybe HID options?) are not allowed to be sold/used in their state.
The State of California has no authority to prevent the sale of motor vehicles manufactured to conform to FMVSS 108 on the basis that those vehicles don't conform to California laws regarding lighting, and since they require headlamps to be present on a vehicle and "Operated during darkness, or inclement weather, or both...", they can't prevent the use of those headlamps.
 

-Virgil-

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California has its own set of "authorized" driving and fog lights for highway use

No. California's vehicle forward lighting requirements don't say a peep about specifications or authorizations. They don't even refer to SAE "approval" (if that were a thing -- it's not), and see here for what happened in at least one case when a California Highway Patrol officer tried to ticket for a lighting law that doesn't exist.

Mention was made that even certain vehicles with certain headlights (maybe HID options?) are not allowed to be sold/used in their state

False. Alaric's right. Whoever told you that was either very misinformed, or knew he was spreading BS but has a financial stake in people believing it. States are permitted to regulate the use of lamps, but they cannot pick and choose which Federally-OK lights to accept and reject, and they cannot have a technical standard more stringent than the Federal standard.
 
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Bill Idaho

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I just happened to be at a military vehicle show. That is totally unrelated to my questions about alleged California laws regarding headlight/driving/fog lights. And the subject came up at dinner among friends, no sales/business ties. We were actually talking about how California has no shortage of laws many other states do not have, when the topic turned towards those LED light bars that seem to be popular with pickups these days. As beaten down as many of the residents must be, it appears I was getting modern folk-lore.
Thanks guys.
 

Alaric Darconville

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I just happened to be at a military vehicle show. That is totally unrelated to my questions about alleged California laws regarding headlight/driving/fog lights.
That's a far cry from the original narrative:
I just attended a military vehicle show in Petaluma, California last week, and was told by a couple of people that California has its own set of "authorized" driving and fog lights for highway use
You can see how it's absolutely reasonable to assume you were told this by a vendor in the course of him hawking his company's products. Heck, the folklore you heard at the dinner table that night was probably originally put forth by a vendor at some other trade show.
 
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