Do I need Beam Deflectors?
When we travel to France in June we will not be doing any night time journeys and as far as I am aware the only requirement is not to dazzle. There is no specific law that requires deflectors so I am proposing not to to fit them. Also, I am not sure that
it is simple on the Peugeot Boxer (my car headlights can be adjusted quite simply). I wouldn't stick tape so it means a proprietary item.
Any thoughts?
Comments
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The way I read it you are correct, it is illegal to dazzle. If you have 'step up' lights and the thumbwheel control you could always lower your lights that way, and although you won't be driving at night don't forget maybe a tunnel or two or even bad weather requiring headlights.
Personally I have flat beams that meet EU spec so require no adjustments or deflectors.
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It is an offence on the continent to dazzle other road users because of incorrectly adjusted headlights. Some vehicles have headlights which are or can be set for continental driving, but most dont.
If yours comes into the latter category -- Much better to fit the correct beam deflectors and keep yourself legal.
That you had no intention of driving in the dark is not a valid legal excuse.
Beam deflectors are inexpensive. If they stop the possibility of you receiving a hefty on the spot fine then they are well worth the money.
Your choice !!
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I have been to Europe twice with our Peugeot based motorhome. As yet I have not used beam deflectors but done as Dave suggests lower the beam to the lowest level. You will always encounter times when you have to use your lights, for example in France, when
it rains or in countries that insist on lights on all the time. My observation is that I have been dazzled by more oncoming highpowered headlights than my lights have an affect on other people. In a tunnel, for example, you can see the footprint of the beam
and it does not extend much beyond the middle of road.David
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I always use deflectors....I'm quite baffled why so many, so called responsible, intelligent drivers, don't fit them with the most pathetic reasons!
Just read some of the reasons......'A car dazzled me so I won't use them'
For goodness sake
PS. Goodnight.
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Before you stick beam deflectors to your vehicle, do you actually need them? Are the beams symmetrical or asymmetrical? If your vehicle has flat beams then you don't need to do anything but I can't see that even if you dip your headlights via the thumbwheel
that the kick up to the left won't blind Pierre if you have asymmetrical headlights.What's the manual say?
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The reason I queried it was that I have read reports that they can be difficult to fit and remove. Once I figure out how to use the electronics on the Peugoet I will just set the beams down to the lowest position. Thanks for the contributions.
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Another option is to buy headlight protectors to which you can add a beam deflector.They are available for Peugeot Boxer vans.The can be removed when you get home, however they are not cheap at around £40/50 a set. I am not so keen to add stickers to the original surface of my lights in case I damage the plastic. As I said in my original post my observation is that set at the lowest level they do not cause problems so that is how I will proceed, I do however carry a set of universal beam adjusters just in case, £7.99 from Halfords which does illustrate where they are to be fitted on Boxer.
David
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The reason I queried it was that I have read reports that they can be difficult to fit and remove. Once I figure out how to use the electronics on the Peugoet I will just set the beams down to the lowest position. Thanks for the contributions.
but if you have asymmetric beams you'll still blind Pierre. drive up to a wall & look at the beam. If you have
\____ \____ you need to do something, if it's flat 9symmetrical) without the kick to the left you need to do nothing.
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French Plod are known to be sneaky and hide at the end of tunnels to catch those unwary souls who fail to put on headlights.
Finding a UK driver with no deflectors would make their jour.
Rgds
and how would they know whether the lamps have the shutter set to LHD or not from the side of the road? Some of the cleverer Mercs even know where they are in the world & adjust themselves to suit .... mine isn't so I need to move the shutter in each
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When we travel to France in June we will not be doing any night time journeys and as far as I am aware the only requirement is not to dazzle. There is no specific law that requires deflectors so I am proposing not to to fit them. Also, I am not sure that
it is simple on the Peugeot Boxer (my car headlights can be adjusted quite simply). I wouldn't stick tape so it means a proprietary item.Any thoughts?
Write your comments here...hitchglitch, You may not even get on the ferry before some observant car marshall walks along the lines checking your papers and your lights and advises you that you are not sporting any beam deflectors but reminds you that
you can purchase them onboard.... not much choice really.... Good Luck safe jouirney.....................0 -
The reason I queried it was that I have read reports that they can be difficult to fit and remove. Once I figure out how to use the electronics on the Peugoet I will just set the beams down to the lowest position. Thanks for the contributions.
but if you have asymmetric beams you'll still blind Pierre. drive up to a wall & look at the beam. If you have
\____ \____ you need to do something, if it's flat 9symmetrical) without the kick to the left you need to do nothing.
Why should there be any need to do anything if you set the highest point of the kick-up to be no higher than an equivalent symmetric beam pattern?
When we travel to France in June we will not be doing any night time journeys and as far as I am aware the only requirement is not to dazzle. There is no specific law that requires deflectors so I am proposing not to to fit them. Also, I am not sure that it is simple on the Peugeot Boxer (my car headlights can be adjusted quite simply). I wouldn't stick tape so it means a proprietary item.
Any thoughts?
Write your comments here...hitchglitch, You may not even get on the ferry before some observant car marshall walks along the lines checking your papers and your lights and advises you that you are not sporting any beam deflectors but reminds you that you can purchase them onboard.... not much choice really.... Good Luck safe jouirney.....................
How would the marshall know whether your car's headlamps have a symmetric or an asymmetric beam? Besides, as mentioned before, HID headlamps must not be fitted with beam deflectors.
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...Why should there be any need to do anything if you set the highest point of the kick-up to be no higher than an equivalent symmetric beam pattern?
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I doubt they'd go low enough. They're only intended to lower the beam slightly for when you have a boot full & the back of the car is lower than normal
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I use them all the time on my Ducatto but they are the ones that are part of the perspex protective covers so guard against hadlamp breakage too. Easy to fit once you have done it the first time as it involves removing the small plastic panel above the headlamp first.
I would not risk sticking things to the lens but would carry them in case I was stopped by Police but having driven lots on the Continent in the van I can say most UK vans don't use them. Regards, Roy
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The reason I queried it was that I have read reports that they can be difficult to fit and remove. Once I figure out how to use the electronics on the Peugoet I will just set the beams down to the lowest position. Thanks for the contributions.
but if you have asymmetric beams you'll still blind Pierre. drive up to a wall & look at the beam. If you have
\____ \____ you need to do something, if it's flat 9symmetrical) without the kick to the left you need to do nothing.
Why should there be any need to do anything if you set the highest point of the kick-up to be no higher than an equivalent symmetric beam pattern?
When we travel to France in June we will not be doing any night time journeys and as far as I am aware the only requirement is not to dazzle. There is no specific law that requires deflectors so I am proposing not to to fit them. Also, I am not sure that
it is simple on the Peugeot Boxer (my car headlights can be adjusted quite simply). I wouldn't stick tape so it means a proprietary item.Any thoughts?
Write your comments here...hitchglitch, You may not even get on the ferry before some observant car marshall walks along the lines checking your papers and your lights and advises you that you are not sporting any beam deflectors but reminds you that
you can purchase them onboard.... not much choice really.... Good Luck safe jouirney.....................How would the marshall know whether your car's headlamps have a symmetric or an asymmetric beam? Besides, as mentioned before, HID headlamps must not be fitted with beam deflectors.
Write your comments here...Lutz, I gather you are the tecno man on here: I was told that the newer halogen lights do not need deflectors because the light is a flat beam and therefore does not cause the same problem, so no need to deflect when abroad.......is
this the case? SG20 -
Newer' Halogen' lights?
We've had haogen lamps fitted for years, did you mean HID (High Intensity Discharge) aka Xenon? They
can be both symmetrical or asymmetrical0 -
My Shogun has HID lights. The recommended fitment to comply with European law is plastic headlamp protectors with a black stick-on patch that obscures the kick-up. The protectors have alignment marks to ensure that the patches are correctly fitted. I used
to have a BMW with HID headlamps with a lever in the bonnet slam plate to operate the shutter. A Mercedes had levers inside the headlamp unit to operate the shutter (beware high voltage).0 -
My Shogun has HID lights. The recommended fitment to comply with European law is plastic headlamp protectors with a black stick-on patch that obscures the kick-up. The protectors have alignment marks to ensure that the patches are correctly fitted. I used
to have a BMW with HID headlamps with a lever in the bonnet slam plate to operate the shutter. A Mercedes had levers inside the headlamp unit to operate the shutter (beware high voltage).Surely the Shogun has the same shutters that your BMW & Merc had
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...Why should there be any need to do anything if you set the highest point of the kick-up to be no higher than an equivalent symmetric beam pattern?
.....I doubt they'd go low enough. They're only intended to lower the beam slightly for when you have a boot full & the back of the car is lower than normal
Don't forget this is a question about motorhomes, not cars. Most motorhomes remain reasonable level regardless of load because the weight is distributed differently to a car towing a caravan.
David
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...Don't forget this is a question about motorhomes, not cars. Most motorhomes remain reasonable level regardless of load because the weight is distributed differently to a car towing a caravan.
David
I realise that, but even if the vehicle is level, the kick up to the left needs shuttering/masking off if it has one. As they're French don't most have symmetrical lights anyway
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My Shogun has HID lights. The recommended fitment to comply with European law is plastic headlamp protectors with a black stick-on patch that obscures the kick-up. The protectors have alignment marks to ensure that the patches are correctly fitted. I used
to have a BMW with HID headlamps with a lever in the bonnet slam plate to operate the shutter. A Mercedes had levers inside the headlamp unit to operate the shutter (beware high voltage).I went into retirement just at the time when HID headlamps were starting to appear so I can't give an authoritative answer on whether these types always have a symmetrical beam or not. But one thing is certain, headlamp beam deflectors must not be used in
conjunction with such headlamps because they cause beam scatter. Normally that is not such an issue, but with HID lamps the intensity of the scattered beam is much greater and this can actually cause more dazzle than what beam deflectors try to prevent. Besides,
they can affect the self-levelling feature that HID headlamps are required to have.0 -
headlamp beam deflectors are available to suit all types of headlight including 'Clear Glass Headlamps', 'Projector', 'Xenon,' and 'Glass Line Pattern' see here
http://motoring-into-europe.co.uk/aa/faq.htmlThe self levelling function of the lights is not affected as lutz suggest by reflective light but by sensors built into the vehicle called longtitudinal sensors and they detect deviations of the vehicle ride hight from front to rear. this information is
then taken by the relevant ecu and a correction is applied either by altering the self levelling suspension(if fitted) or altering the beam height on the headlights.Jeffcc (former Bosch, hella and delphi technical instructor)
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Ever the cynic, I don't accept the AA advice. In 30 years of caravanning we rarely drove in the hours of darkness and I don't intend to start now, so dipping the beams seems a good solution to me. The AA response to that is that you won't be able to see
properly.When I read the instructions for the stick-on tape and it just seems so complicated. Maybe I am being lazy.
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headlamp beam deflectors are available to suit all types of headlight including 'Clear Glass Headlamps', 'Projector', 'Xenon,' and 'Glass Line Pattern' see here
http://motoring-into-europe.co.uk/aa/faq.htmlThe self levelling function of the lights is not affected as lutz suggest by reflective light but by sensors built into the vehicle called longtitudinal sensors and they detect deviations of the vehicle ride hight from front to rear. this information is
then taken by the relevant ecu and a correction is applied either by altering the self levelling suspension(if fitted) or altering the beam height on the headlights.Jeffcc (former Bosch, hella and delphi technical instructor)
I could understand headlamp deflectors being effective in conjunction with HID headlamps if they were optically of high quality, but those that I have seen were only of cheap moulded plastic. At one time I was responsibile for a project to develop polycarbonate
glazing for motor vehicles and that was abandoned for, among other reasons, we could never get the optical quality to anything approaching that of glass.0 -
headlamp beam deflectors are available to suit all types of headlight including 'Clear Glass Headlamps', 'Projector', 'Xenon,' and 'Glass Line Pattern' see here
http://motoring-into-europe.co.uk/aa/faq.htmlThe self levelling function of the lights is not affected as lutz suggest by reflective light but by sensors built into the vehicle called longtitudinal sensors and they detect deviations of the vehicle ride hight from front to rear. this information is
then taken by the relevant ecu and a correction is applied either by altering the self levelling suspension(if fitted) or altering the beam height on the headlights.Jeffcc (former Bosch, hella and delphi technical instructor)
I know what Lutz is saying. The headlights might well have self leveling but if the lenses are dirty or someone has stuck something to them, then the light is being scattered in a way that might well dazzle on coming traffic
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