There are some rules on reversing lamps. You're only allowed two and a maximum wattage of 21 Watts each. I'm not sure there are any rules on where they have to be fitted (distance from ground, from side of vehicle etc), none that I can find anyway.
Curiously, on a car, they don't have to be tested as part of the MOT. So your car shouldn't fail if they don't work. I've been stopped by "plod" in the past for a reversing light not working and when I told them it didn't need to, as it wasn't part of the MOT they relied on the "if it's fitted, it should work" argument. this is NOT the case with reversing lights though!
I had the reversing lights on my car on a switch for 3 years (until the car died)
back OT, cant see why it would be any different to loading lights on the back of pickups/vans etc.
just make sure you turn them off when you are going forwards.
how are you going to power these? driving lights are 55W each, so will need a bit more power from somwhere.
you could steal it from the battery charging connection on the 12S, and run this via a relay from the reversing lights
You would need a warning light on the dashboard to indicate that the lights were in use, an illuminated switch would be the easiest answer to that. As far as I can see, and I have checked several sources, there are no specific regs covering positioning, although common sense says that they shouldn't dazzle people. The wattage is a bit of a grey area, max on the highway is, as stated 21w and no more than two. It could be argued that your proposed lights are for off.road use only, and the regs don't apply, equally plod might say that they are capable of being used on the highway and therefore are illegal. A tip I was given many years ago, from a HGV driver, was to use your hazard lights when reversing in the dark. Combined with normal reversing lights I have found that this does give a pretty good view to the rear.
Hope this is of some help.
Pete
------------- Don't panic!
Hit it with a pointed stick!
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Topic: Additional reverse lighting
