Q. I have a motorcycle MOT station here in Dumfries (Dumfries Scooters) I wonder if you could give me a definitive answer on the fitment of LED type combined rear lamp/stop lamp and indicator units that seem to be becoming more popular these days. When lit, the whole lamp illuminates with the stop lamp functioning as normal, and when the indicator is used, 50% of the light turns into flashing amber. There may have been a special notice about these types of lights but I have not seen one. Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.
A. There are a number of types of LED combination lamps and it is important to recognise which are acceptable and which are not. Where two rear lamps are fitted, one on each side, that double as stop/tail lamps as well as direction indicators -like commonly fitted on some Harley Davidson models - these are type approved and perfectly acceptable.
However, the type that I believe you are referring to, where there is only one centrally mounted lamp that combines stop/tail and both direction indicators are not legal. This is primarily because they do not meet the minimum separation distance between the direction indicators and they should be failed if they are fitted at the time of test. Unfortunately, there is not a specific Reason for Rejection for this, so we require that you use - the illumination of the lamp is affected by the operation of another lamp. This can be applied to both the stop lamp and the rear position lamp.
Send in your questions to mattersoftesting@dvsa.gsi.gov.uk
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