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"While as a minister I do not ask questions......."

Ministers do not ask questions in the House, they ask their opposite number in the ministry concerned. John will get an answer, but it may not be an answer that helps, much.

He is a good MP, I don't always agree with him, but he is accessible and responsive. He also has one of the largest majorities in the Country at 19,736 and almost 40% of thee vote.

Well no real surprise in the weasel worded response. Lets not think of the people lets just make it easy for us.
Anyway you have the contact details if you feel like ranting

Rt Hon Dr Thérèse Coffey MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
29 April 2021
Dear Thérèse,
Thank you for your email of 20 April, enclosing correspondence from your constituent, about changes to the MOT inspection manual and the use of light emitting diode (LED) bulbs.
The MOT inspection manual is periodically reviewed and updated to ensure that the MOT test keeps up to date with the evolving vehicle market and is an important part of ensuring motorists can keep their vehicle safe and roadworthy.
I understand that Mr Hayes’ vehicle is a model from 2014, and that the headlamp units are designed for use with halogen bulbs. As Mr Hayes notes, the recent changes prohibit the fitting of LED bulbs to an existing halogen headlamp unit. This is to ensure that aftermarket components fitted to a vehicle meet the required standards and are type approved. This type approval can only be granted to a lighting unit as a whole (i.e. the outer lens, reflector, and bulb), and not an LED bulb on its own.
The reason that these changes to the MOT inspection manual do not apply to vehicles first used before 1 April 1986 is to ensure that the MOT inspection manual aligns with the established requirements of the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations (1989) as amended. Vehicles first registered before 1 April 1986 are not required to have type approved dipped beam headlamps, therefore light sources can be used provided they do not cause undue dazzle or discomfort to other road users. Motor vehicles first registered after this date must have type approved headlamps and light sources.
I hope this clarification is helpful. Please extend my gratitude to Mr Hayes for writing in with his concerns.
From the Secretary of State
The Rt. Hon. Grant Shapps
Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London
SW1P 4DR
Tel: 0300 330 3000
E-Mail: grant.shapps@dft.gov.uk
Web site: www.gov.uk/dft
Our Ref: MC/339550
Yours ever,
Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TRANSPORT

All,

much the same reply...



So, prior to 1986 you can have any sort of headlight you like, as long as it doesn't dazzle anyone.

Exactly total BS

Not the response we wanted from our MP's I have put Night Breaker Halogens in my newest Plus 4 but my other Mogs have LED's this is due to these being dynamo charged cars and it saves the battery AND provides a much brighter light.

I found a massive improvement on the 1934 Morgan 3 wheeler with LED bulbs.

Looks like our cars after 1986 will need a full type approved headlamp assembly.

I have found as no doubt others have that the ALL cars fitted with these approved headlights do dazzle those driving Morgans purely because our Morgan cars sit lower to the ground...and also this is seen in the rear view mirror....need to fit an anti dazzle dimming rear view mirror to the Morgan!

Coming up to the top of a hill is worst as no matter how well adjusted their dipped beam is a car approaching from the brow of a hill will at some be point be shining headlamps directly into your eyes.

I had an unusual incident in broad daylight yesterday whilst walking the dog along a gentle upward sloping footpath. A new Mini topped the brow of slope ahead with extremely bright headlamps. Don't know whether they were focused DRL's or the owner hadn't discovered the auto headlamp switch yet but every light was illuminated including front fogs. It was the headlamps though that left me temporarily blinded. My eyes were way above the height of a Morgan or even SUV driver!

Richard ... oddly, I had a similar thing yesterday .... driving home there was a car towing a caravan coming towards me .... it was broad daylight on a sunny day and the LED headlights made me actually wince they were so bright .... couldn't believe how dazzled I was in the middle of a sunny day.

LEDs are another technology we've sleepwalked into using without the practicalities catching up ..... I'm really not sure they're actually needed on road cars .... unless your headlights were poorly maintained, halogens were perfectly adequate for legal speeds. Problem is car stuff is hugely suceptible to fashion and 'bragging rights' and we're now in an arms-race where merely having adequate headlights puts you at a disadvantage.

They're a big problem in rural areas too .... now the price is down, thoughtless householders and farmers have their places lit up like maximum security prisons ... and the cheapneess to run means they mostly stay on all night ... I know personally that looking out at night has gone from seeing the domestic glow of cottage windows to a heavy scattering of piercing alien incredibly bright and white floodlights .... very intrusive. There should be legislation through planning to cover LED outside lighting (eg that it is shaded so as to shine within the owner's boundaries and no further etc) but this is yet to come or not enforced.

K

New build sites have quite rigid lighting restrictions imposed on the developers.

Sadly, householders and farmers are responding to the increase in rural crime in the only legal way they understand.

There doesn't seem to have been a spike in rural crime locally .... it seems to be a response to the recent availability of cheap powerful leds that cost pennies to run, with an old fitting being replaced with an eye piercing led that can be seen from Mars .... offenders seem to be a minority of farmers who are oblivious to anything but their own convenience and probably don't realise everyone for 5 miles is 'enjoying' a direct view of their new led bulbs .... and newer residents, mostly from town, who seem scared of the dark (before the leds it wasn't uncommon for them to fit a couple of orange sodium streetlights round the place).... which would suggest rural life is not for them in the long run 🙂

Like a lot of intrusive behaviour, the authorities aren't interested ... leaving the only option direct personal intervention .... which most folk tend to shy away from for obvious reasons.

Yep, it's a bit of an 'old man moan' 🙂 .... but underlying it is the more general problem that the pace development of stuff is outstripping the ability of the authorities to ensure it's deployed responsibly .... there's some forward thinking needed that Councils etc don't seem up to.

K