Going back to the sixties, we drove road trains with semi sealed headlights. (Alice Springs/ Darwin NW Qld. and NW WA.)
They were backed up by Lucas "Flame Thrower" spotlights.
Point is, we had a switch on the dash' to turn the spotties off when we saw another truck coming.
I don't know if this is law to isolate the lights. I find it a slight problem when approaching another vehicle, with big driving lights, on long roads.
As far as I understand it, Driving lights /Spotlights/lightbars must be wired to the full beam on your vehicle and must also be able to be switched off independently of your full beam.
It is also against the law to dazzle oncoming drivers with your lights whatever you have them set at. That is one law common to all jurisdictions.
I bought a set of aftermarket LED headlamp globes. 15 thousand lumens. Absolutely brilliant light output, but even on low beam they dazzled oncoming vehicles. Out they came and I now have seven thousand lumen globes which don't dazzle oncoming traffic.
Lighting ADR's need the same as lots of other issues in Australia. Standardisation between all the States and Territories.
Lifted off RACQ website / However, there are also aftermarket LED conversions. We are not aware of any of these having been tested and certified as meeting Australian legal requirements. Without this certification they are not acceptable for on-road use.
We understand that some Queensland drivers have already been fined for using these unapproved conversions. Also in WA i understand it is illegal to fit hid headlights unless the vehicle has self leveling headlights.
As a previous post has stated the spotlights must be wired so that they only operate when the high beam is used and automatically go out when you dip your lights. You must also have a separate switch that you can turn them off but still have normal high beam. Fairly simple wiring job with the high beam circuit triggering the relay for the spots.
1 It is essential (and a legal requirement) that the spotlights be wired in to the high beam circuit only - they are not allowed to operate on low beam. Even so, If you have something which melts the bitumen at 500 m and an on-coming car crests a hill, you won't even know he is there until his lights pop up over the hill. Then add your reaction time as well, and meanwhile the poor blighter is getting melted with your lights. It is common courtesy to dip your lights BEFORE you actually see the oncoming lights. Sadly, a lot of people seem to wait until they see your lights dip before they dip theirs. It doesn't make sense to have some poor guy coming towards you who has been blinded by your lights. There is a high chance that he may well stray over the centreline and hit you head on....
2 Fitting brighter or after market bulbs to existing lights is great for the driver behind those lights, but is a real pain for oncoming drivers because they dazzle. Most aftermarket lights do not focus properly with the result that they spray light outside the intended are and dazzle other drivers. The comment above re dazzled oncoming drivers applies just as much here. This applies to low beam lights, but equally it applies to fog lights which although most drivers claim they do not dazzle, in fact they do and are a real hazard. Night driving is already difficult enough without adding more glare to oncoming drivers.
3 It is often counterproductive to have lights too bright on low beam. If they are adjusted correctly, you have brilliant white light on the road directly in front of you and then blackness. The contrast is too great. Similarly, high beam with ultra bright lights is often counterproductive as well because road signs bounce back at you, and the contrast around the signs is too high. Having said that I still like plenty of light on high beam, but not necessarily at 500 m distance from the car. If you see a cow or kangaroo at 500 m, you are not likely to hit it. It is the animal which pops up at 20 to 50 m from you which does the damage.
