Headlamp color law, specifically PA

[blueboy]

currently Amber

Some European trivia on Amber headlamps: In November 1936, the French government came up with a legal requirement for yellow headlights. That law stipulated that all new vehicles in France had to have yellow headlights from 1937 onwards. Only in 1993 did the requirement in France come to an end. In that year, 12 European countries signed the Maastricht Treaty, which formed the basis for the European Union. The lighting for cars was harmonized and white lamps became the new standard. We did see some pre-‘94 vehicles using them while visiting France.

 

[evilfij]

As my 110 is a 1992 and was French, I suppose I could run amber headlamps, but I can’t say I have ever seen a Land Rover with amber headlamps.

 

[blueboy]

As my 110 is a 1992 and was French, I suppose I could run amber headlamps, but I can’t say I have ever seen a Land Rover with amber headlamps.

While in France it more than likely had the yellow headlights as a 1992. The yellow bulb is easily purchased / installed if one has Euro Code headlights which I feel sure you already know. I’ve never seen a Landy with them either yet our visits to France were in 2011-2016 and most 90s/110s were pretty recent. The cool kids in 2CVs ran them when we noticed it.

 

[Frobisher]

I don’t think there are any sniffers left in Pa. At least not here on this side.

I wish that were the case here. Finding one is like going out back to pick the switch I’m getting spanked with. Our school security officer (retired police) said few to any patrol officers will pull a guy over for daily driving a classic license. And these trucks aren’t very stealth; everybody recognizes them around town If you’re driving it daily.

 

[evilfij]

I wish that were the case here. Finding one is like going out back to pick the switch I’m getting spanked with. Our school security officer (retired police) said few to any patrol officers will pull a guy over for daily driving a classic license. And these trucks aren’t very stealth; everybody recognizes them around town If you’re driving it daily.

So I tried every county (including allegenhney) I could think of for a 1995 and they all say “visual and gas cap” or nothing. I am 99% confident there is no more sniffer in PA (this is a fairly new development as it was phased out the beginning of last year I believe). The visual comes up on the emissions machine as does it have a, b, c, d and the tech has to check yes or no. So they look to see if you have cats, evap, etc.

PA DEP I/M - Emission Test Calculator

Enter information to find out which emission test will be required for your vehicle.

www.ahs.dep.pa.gov

177.51

67 Pa. Code Chapter 177. Emission Inspection Program

Information included at this site has been derived directly from the Pennsylvania Code, the Commonwealth's official publication of rules and regulations and from the Pennsylvania Bulletin, the Commonwealth's official gazette for information and rulemaking

www.pacodeandbulletin.gov

As of 2021, no more sniffers in PA in both philadelphia and Pittsburgh region.

Edit: not legal advice.

 

[blueboy]

I wish that were the case here. Finding one is like going out back to pick the switch I’m getting spanked with. Our school security officer (retired police) said few to any patrol officers will pull a guy over for daily driving a classic license. And these trucks aren’t very stealth; everybody recognizes them around town If you’re driving it daily.

Yes, no doubt in our area it wouldn’t even be noticed. And for sure all around even our small area knows the Red Rover D1 and White Rangie! Stealth isn’t part of the program!

 

[blueboy]

So I tried every county (including allegenhney) I could think of for a 1995 and they all say “visual and gas cap” or nothing. I am 99% confident there is no more sniffer in PA (this is a fairly new development as it was phased out the beginning of last year I believe). The visual comes up on the emissions machine as does it have a, b, c, d and the tech has to check yes or no. So they look to see if you have cats, evap, etc.

PA DEP I/M - Emission Test Calculator

Enter information to find out which emission test will be required for your vehicle.

www.ahs.dep.pa.gov

177.51

67 Pa. Code Chapter 177. Emission Inspection Program

Information included at this site has been derived directly from the Pennsylvania Code, the Commonwealth's official publication of rules and regulations and from the Pennsylvania Bulletin, the Commonwealth's official gazette for information and rulemaking

www.pacodeandbulletin.gov

As of 2021, no more sniffers in PA in both philadelphia and Pittsburgh region.

View attachment 25610

Edit: not legal advice.

Great info. I’m just fortunate we don’t have emissions testing in my area.

 

[blueboy]

Edit: not legal advice.

Lol! Yeah thats similar to what I say when friends want free Structural Engineering advice on their projects!

 

[galen216]

If it's old enough you can run a plate from the year of your vehicle as an antique plate. I drive more than 1 day a week, no one seems to care.

 

[Frobisher]

So I tried every county (including allegenhney) I could think of for a 1995 and they all say “visual and gas cap” or nothing. I am 99% confident there is no more sniffer in PA (this is a fairly new development as it was phased out the beginning of last year I believe). The visual comes up on the emissions machine as does it have a, b, c, d and the tech has to check yes or no. So they look to see if you have cats, evap, etc.

PA DEP I/M - Emission Test Calculator

Enter information to find out which emission test will be required for your vehicle.

www.ahs.dep.pa.gov

177.51

67 Pa. Code Chapter 177. Emission Inspection Program

Information included at this site has been derived directly from the Pennsylvania Code, the Commonwealth's official publication of rules and regulations and from the Pennsylvania Bulletin, the Commonwealth's official gazette for information and rulemaking

www.pacodeandbulletin.gov

As of 2021, no more sniffers in PA in both philadelphia and Pittsburgh region.

View attachment 25610

Edit: not legal advice.

That is good news indeed! I had heard vague murmurs at a few garages a few years back that it might be coming, but I couldn't imagine the State rescinding something as lucrative as testing old vehicles...

Thanks for doing the homework on that. Bonus!

 

[evilfij]

If it's old enough you can run a plate from the year of your vehicle as an antique plate. I drive more than 1 day a week, no one seems to care.

That only applies through 1976

Vintage

www.dmv.pa.gov

BTW I have a PA bicentennial plate around here somewhere. Super cool.

Say what you will about Pa DOT, but they have an excellent website and the private “tag” places make it very easy to get things done (disclaimer my good friend owns a large chain of them).

I am seriously thinking about taking all 7 (soon to be 8) of my antique vehicles and putting on antique plates and doing antique insurance.

I am a heavy consumer of vehicle services and given my occupation I stay inside the line so I have had to figure out annoying things like registering vehicles in other states (where they are garaged) etc. I told my agent I wanted insurance in both states and tried to register in both states but that apparently can’t be done. As I tend to say, things are not a problem until they are. I have heard of people getting pulled over with antique plates and the cop asking questions about use. Of course, anyone who says anything to a cop is a complete idiot.

 

[blueboy]

I have heard of people getting pulled over with antique plates and the cop asking questions about use.

One of the benefits living in a very rural area is no local police force with which to contend.

 

[MountainD]

That only applies through 1976

Vintage

www.dmv.pa.gov

BTW I have a PA bicentennial plate around here somewhere. Super cool.

Say what you will about Pa DOT, but they have an excellent website and the private “tag” places make it very easy to get things done (disclaimer my good friend owns a large chain of them).

I am seriously thinking about taking all 7 (soon to be 8) of my antique vehicles and putting on antique plates and doing antique insurance.

I am a heavy consumer of vehicle services and given my occupation I stay inside the line so I have had to figure out annoying things like registering vehicles in other states (where they are garaged) etc. I told my agent I wanted insurance in both states and tried to register in both states but that apparently can’t be done. As I tend to say, things are not a problem until they are. I have heard of people getting pulled over with antique plates and the cop asking questions about use. Of course, anyone who says anything to a cop is a complete idiot.

For those such as myself that require gov't clearance for doing some work, I too stay within the lines. Things such as intentionally skirting an EPA law would not be looked up favorably by them and can affect things from clearance to simple things like TSA Pre-Check/Global Entry. Good to keep in mind for those idiots that not only skirt the laws but mention it in forums as that proves intent. I always scratch my head at those folks.

 

[MountainD]

While in France it more than likely had the yellow headlights as a 1992. The yellow bulb is easily purchased / installed if one has Euro Code headlights which I feel sure you already know. I’ve never seen a Landy with them either yet our visits to France were in 2011-2016 and most 90s/110s were pretty recent. The cool kids in 2CVs ran them when we noticed it.

Just a little info on light color/lighting spectrum. Amber lighting for high speed activities like driving (yeah, even in a Series, lol), isn't as good as white lighting at night. Why? because in low light activities, our eyes switch from the cones to the rods for most vision, but in these "lower light" activities such as night driving, of the cones that are still active, the blue cones are the most sensitive of any of the cones (which is why we have fewer of them) so having some blue light in our white light is good. Our visual acuity is better and more accurate with some of the blue spectrum available especially for noticing motion and small target visibility. amber and red reduces this but it does keep the rod-based vision for very low light conditions more active. It is also more glary--especially the "daylight" or other bullshit term that they use for the 6000-7000K blue light that we see from a lot of import LED lamps--they do this because the more phosphors we use, the better full spectrum the light can get but the efficiency drops--so they use limited phosphors (or the cheaper ones) that keep your lights high efficiency but crap quality. They want to claim high lumens--which 99% of them don't even measure coming out of the headlight---they use the raw LED data which isn't relevant.

Personally, I like 3000K but good luck finding that much. I would accept anything from 2700-4000K but even those options are slim under $400 bucks. Amber is typically in the 1700-2000K range.

More info than you needed/wanted--but maybe 1 or 2 of you will find this interesting. Lighting is my professional gig, so I know a little.

 

[hillstrubl]

I told my agent I wanted insurance in both states and tried to register in both states but that apparently can’t be done.

Weird, maybe its the 2 states you're trying to pair? Many livery cabs, regular cabs and Uber/lyft cars in the DC area carry 2 (sometimes 3!) license plates in order to operate over municipality lines; DC, MD, VA. I have no idea what their insurance situation is however.

 

[hillstrubl]

Just a little info on light color/lighting spectrum. Amber lighting for high speed activities like driving (yeah, even in a Series, lol), isn't as good as white lighting at night.

More info than you needed/wanted--but maybe 1 or 2 of you will find this interesting. Lighting is my professional gig, so I know a little.

That is interesting, my headlight questions more than anything else was just me trying something out. Its just a $20 film from Lamin-x, no "permanent" changes.

 

[erover82]

A good read on selective yellow headlamps:

What is "selective yellow" light?

It is a particular kind of yellow light that was required from all road illumination lamps on vehicles in France for many years. Light appears (more or less) white when it contains a mix of all the colours—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. By removing (filtering) the blue, indigo, and violet out of white light, we get selective yellow light. It is not the same as the more orange colour called "yellow" or "amber" used for vehicle turn signals, side marker lights, and (in some countries) clearance and front position or "parking" lights.

Full article here:

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

 

[blueboy]

A good read on selective yellow headlamps:

Full article here:

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

Yes, very good read.

 

[blueboy]

Just a little info on light color/lighting spectrum. Amber lighting for high speed activities like driving (yeah, even in a Series, lol), isn't as good as white lighting at night. Why? because in low light activities, our eyes switch from the cones to the rods for most vision, but in these "lower light" activities such as night driving, of the cones that are still active, the blue cones are the most sensitive of any of the cones (which is why we have fewer of them) so having some blue light in our white light is good. Our visual acuity is better and more accurate with some of the blue spectrum available especially for noticing motion and small target visibility. amber and red reduces this but it does keep the rod-based vision for very low light conditions more active. It is also more glary--especially the "daylight" or other bullshit term that they use for the 6000-7000K blue light that we see from a lot of import LED lamps--they do this because the more phosphors we use, the better full spectrum the light can get but the efficiency drops--so they use limited phosphors (or the cheaper ones) that keep your lights high efficiency but crap quality. They want to claim high lumens--which 99% of them don't even measure coming out of the headlight---they use the raw LED data which isn't relevant.

Personally, I like 3000K but good luck finding that much. I would accept anything from 2700-4000K but even those options are slim under $400 bucks. Amber is typically in the 1700-2000K range.

More info than you needed/wanted--but maybe 1 or 2 of you will find this interesting. Lighting is my professional gig, so I know a little.

Good info. And one needs to take into account the headlight lens pattern. My ‘04 Saab has High/Low Xenon HID headlights with Euro pattern and on High beam the light on dark deer infested roads is very impressive.

 

[evilfij]

The headlights on my NAS90 are like candles in an oxygen free environment.