[DeepakS]

The real pandemic after covid is the aftermarket white LED. Thank Gujarat police for taking an initiative, and hopefully making other states take a similar approach. Maybe the progress would be slow, but atleast it would deter the new car owners from upgrading their cars to the nuisance LEDs which are such a big menace.

[Amrit@wheels]

What we actually need is a strict nation-wide high-beam rule. I drive almost everyday at night and it is the high-beam abusers that disturb me the most, and I know that I am not alone in this. Factory-fitted LEDs' are okay (except for the notorious scooters). We need to ensure the usage of low-beam and proper alignment of the headlights. Another useless law with no real-world benefit.

[chakravorty]

Anti high beam tail lights anyone?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTa2hLe_Kt0

[vivekgk]

Disclaimer: I use aftermarket bulbs on my vehicles. I have used them since I began driving, and the earliest vehicle of them all was a Kinetic Honda, for which I fitted a 25W halogen bulb, which made it much safer to drive at night. I believe that most of the stock headlamps fitted to Indian vehicles are inadequate, mostly because the road illumination is poor or lacking.

Will they also ban the high beams on Suzuki LED equipped cars and the Activas? My opinion is that all vehicles should be equipped with an automatic dipper. On every night drive, I see a dozen or more idiots driving along on high beams even on brightly lit streets, and don't even understand when someone flashes them requesting them to dip their beams.

Since Honda Activa and Maruti are the highest selling 2W and 4W, they are the most common culprits, along with the auto-wallahs who swap put their already too bright halogens with poorly focused cheap LEDs, and drive with high beams on 90% of the time. Then there are the tourist vehicles and the commercial vehicles, which seem to use cheap Chinese flood lights strapped to their bumpers, aimed right at the eyes of the poor souls who come against them.

But before banning LEDs altogether, maybe convince the auto makers to add an auto dimmer. As I understand, the tech has been around for about 70-80 years now and is quite simple and cheap. This would drastically reduce glare and prevent a large no of night time accidents.

I also feel they should update the ARAI lighting regulations to reflect the higher average speeds. 55w incandescent bulbs were enough when cars averaged 60 kph or less, but with legal speeds exceeding 100 kph, a brighter, longer range bulb would add valuable detection/response time.

In several cars, we've seen that the OEM LED lighting is not upto par for night drives on our highways. I think that this is mostly caused by outdated regulations that place blanket restrictions in terms of the Lux or wattage of the light source, rather than relevant matters like glare to oncoming traffic or beam performance in rainy/foggy weather.

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

This is a stupid move, an overwhelming majority of cars come factory fitted with white LEDs nowadays. Some have it on all variants, some only on the higher ones.

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

One million dollar question. What would happen to OE lights in cars like Suzuki Baleno, which are of higher temperature?

The owner's manual definitely comes in handy in these cases. I faced something similar in Mumbai where my Gurkha was pulled over for having a Snorkel and LED headlights by a overzealous cop. Despite me telling him that these were stock, he didnt budge. Finally fished out the owners manual and showed it to him. The specification section clearly stated the type of headlight, plus it had "Force" written inside. Moreover the cover page had the pic of the Gurkha, I was promptly let off.
This is just one of the ways one can clear of his stance.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

The owner's manual definitely comes in handy in these cases. I faced something similar in Mumbai where my Gurkha was pulled over for having a Snorkel and LED headlights by a overzealous cop. Despite me telling him that these were stock, he didnt budge. Finally fished out the owners manual and showed it to him. The specification section clearly stated the type of headlight, plus it had "Force" written inside. Moreover the cover page had the pic of the Gurkha, I was promptly let off.
This is just one of the ways one can clear of his stance.

Exactly my point. At the end of the day, it is unwarranted, avoidable harassment. You and me can open up and show them the manual. Can’t expect my wife or my father or non-enthusiast casual owners to do so.

[wooka]

Originally Posted by Autodoc

I’ve been living in Ahmedabad for the past 2 years. So I feel qualified to give my take here.

Effectively this is going to be a new avenue for Traffic cops to harass people and make money. They will stop people with cars having factory fitted LED/ white lights and take money from them citing this order.

Ahmedabad city has the worst traffic sense of all the cities I’ve lived in or been through. Rampant wrong side driving, two wheeler riders without helmet, haphazard parking, jumping the signal, wrong side over take, no lane discipline etc etc. It’s just a mess.

Instead of focusing on these real common life threatening issues, they are trying to find a solution to problems that affect a minority.

Sorry to have quoted the whole post but you couldn't be more correct. I drive to Abu Road every month and occasionally to Ahmedabad. 80% of the tourist vehicles/drivers/passengers from GJ coming over to RJ drink and drive. It's a crying shame.

Trucks with 10 aux lights are allowed through. Most of them are overloaded with cement / tiles / rocks / sand and are the principal cause of accidents.

When I was driving in my Sunny from Bombay to Noida in 2020, I was stopped for overloading in Ahmedabad. The claim? 'too much luggage, overloading', which happened to be my wife and a household cat and some luggage in the back. No carrier. The city has the worst traffic of all. Driving from Palanpur to Deesa is an absolute suicide run. You've really got to look left, right and then again left and say a short prayer. The cops are corrupt beyond belief.

Now I do drive with LEDs in reflectors on the Thar and Scorpio-N. I keep the low beam level at 3 (shortest throw). I don't use the high beam unless driving over 80 at night and in the absence of street lights. Driving internationally teaches one manners, surely. will this impact me, yes! Not because it will be measured scientifically, but rather, since the GJ cops are just out to make ₹₹ I just got back from Meghalaya where people stick to queues and lower their beams themselves. If you flash your own high beam, they will 99% lower their beams if they hadn't already. When will we learn? Why do two corners of the country have to be so different?

Lastly, fog lights are being replaced by these Chinese projector lights. There is regulation that fogs should be turned off in the absence of fog. There is regulation that driving fast with the hazard lights on should really land one in jail. What is enforced? Fake 'overloading' a sunny with 2 people in the car. RIP logic.

P. S. Since the law bases logic in wattage, shouldn't the presence of an underhood headlight relay be confirmed? It's not like scorpios with 130W halogen are going to be affected by this move. Or trucks, for that matter. Halogens can also get pretty bright.

[vids2590]

The only time I lose my cool while driving is at night when someone comes towards me on high beam. I understand what's the purpose of this ban but how will they implement it? Take for example a Kia Sonet, that car has a variant with "YELLOW" lights and top variants with "WHITE" lights, how will the police know if the lights are OEM or retrofitted? What will be the impact for private tourist vehicles?

[Cresterk]

I believe the law will check whether LEDs or Xenons are fitted in stock halogen reflector housings. These are the ones which are aligned poorly and blinds everyone on the road regardless of whether it is high or low beam.

[livewire13]

Wow, what great news! In fact, the government should ban all cheaper white lights, even if they're from factories. Seriously, I don’t understand why there's a craze for white light in a country where the environment is full of dust or fog.

[saket77]

I don’t see a use case for white lights. The halogens do a much better job of illuminating roads compared to White LEDs. Sure this wasn’t required to begin with. But now most cars, especially higher variants come with white LEDs advertised as a premium feature, I see that putting a ban will give the cops one more way to mint money. The RTO/ ARAI has approved the factory fitted white LED headlamps and there should be an exception in the law for factory fitted ones. There’s no two way about it. And yes, revert to warmer Color temperatures for headlamps. They are much better.

[RaviCar]

A step in much needed direction. I recently went to China, and all cars were much more better equipped in all respects, and yes that includes lights. All had great lights, but none were piercing the eyes. Something we should learn from them. I would if I get some time would like to share in details about car scene thete in general.

[TheHelix0202]

Who’s going to stop the buses and lorries plying on the highways from not running their bright floodlights? And the various Creta, Innova and Baleno drivers camping right behind you in traffic with their eye cancer inducing high beams?

[RM Motorsports]

Karnataka is the first state to have gone for massive crackdown against vehicles with high beam LED Headlights

8244 cases booked in one week.

Source - Twitter