Your car and the lights on it

We are all used to seeing cars in the dark, and also seeing their indicators in the day to communicate to other car drivers. But what must you ensure with regard to the lighting of your car?

Most people don't give this much thought, but of course there are lights that must be fitted to a vehicle in order to comply with the legislation and regulations of the land.

It is the responsibility of the driver of the vehicle to ensure that their lights are both present and in correct working order, and they will be committing an offence if this is not the case.

You must have two headlamps, two sidelamps, two rear lights, a number plate lamp, two red reflectors at the rear, flashing direction indicators at the front and the rear, rear stop lamps and also rear fog lamps.

So you can see that there are actually quite a few lights that you require. You should check these periodically for your own safety anyhow.

It can be difficult to know if an indicator bulb has gone for instance, so all you need to do is get a friend or family member to walk around the car as you try the various lights and let you know if anything isn't working: a broken indicator bulb for instance can cause real confusion to other road drivers who won't be expecting your manouevres as they won't be able to see which way you are indicating if the bulb is broken and therefore should be replaced immediately.

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