Millions of cars on UK roads with defective headlights, study suggests

More than 4.6 million road users are breaking the law and risking being hit with penalties

Millions of cars on UK roads with defective headlights, study suggests

Millions of motorists are thought to be driving their car illegally with defective headlights, according to research from Halfords.

The study revealed that 12 per cent of road users admit to having driven with broken or damaged headlights.

What’s more, 60 per cent of drivers say they don’t know how to change a headlight bulb.

Related: UK drivers lack awareness of basic car maintenance, survey findings show

Laura Walsh, a spokeswoman for Halfords, said: “Cars with defective lights can cause a danger on the roads, so it is important that if you cannot change the bulb yourself you have an expert do it for you.

“We know motorists have delayed essential repairs and many wait for their MOT but this is a false economy and such drivers risk falling foul of the law.”

Halfords analysis revealed that seven per cent of road users had never checked their car’s headlights at all.

Meanwhile, 12 per cent admitted to only checking their lights once in the past six months meaning many could have unknown faults.

Drivers from Belfast were the worst in the study with a massive 24 per cent of road users having defective lights on their vehicles.

Gloucester was the second-worst offending area with 18 per cent of vehicles not up to the correct standards.

Related: Consultation launched into future of Block Exemption

Norwich was the best-maintained area with just five per cent of drivers suffering from faulty lights.

Police can issue drivers with a £100 on-the-spot fine and three penalty points for the offence.

In extreme cases, where a charge is taken to court, road users could face a £1,000 charge.

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Opinion: A black hole is set to follow autumn’s increased MOT demand

Home Page Forums Millions of cars on UK roads with defective headlights, study suggests

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  • #202535 Reply

    Millions of motorists are thought to be driving their car illegally with defective headlight, according to research from Halfords. The study revealed
    [See the full post at: Millions of cars on UK roads with defective headlights, study suggests]

    #202547 Reply
    Meat-Head
    Blocked

    Interesting considering a standard bulb is nothing more than a dead short piece of wire which glows

    Bulbs can blow anytime had folks before drop off steel plates at roadworks and pop

    #202552 Reply
    Keith bol
    Guest

    The server was carried out by Halfords! It’s those idiots working there who can’t put bulbs in correctly to save their lives

    #202553 Reply
    Brian Spratt
    Guest

    A lot of headlight bulbs are replaced incorrectly, leading to misalignment and dazzling other road users. Independent garages should advertise quick headlight checks to counter this growing problem. And, while we’re at it; why do so many motorists drive with fog lights on when there’s no fog or snow (which, of course, are the only conditions when they’re supposed to be used – see Highway Code)?

    #202554 Reply
    michael cleary
    Guest

    Halfords are having a laugh not one of their so called fitters can fit a bulb correctly over 90% are left just pushed in with damaged fittings and no beam pattern just a white blob of light to glare oncoming traffic

    #202555 Reply
    Chris Angus
    Guest

    I wouldn’t expect any motorist to know, or even be able to change a headlight bulb these days, even us teckies struggle!

    #202556 Reply
    Paul Sayer
    Guest

    Not to mention lights that have lenses that are so cloudy that light output is drastically reduced . I see many that you can’t even see the chrome of the reflectors .

    #202557 Reply
    Alastair Mayne
    Guest

    Interesting to see that this post is from Halfords. We have had a number of cars in our workshops with incorrectly fitted headlamp bulbs (giving an incorrect beam pattern and so, and MOT failure), bulbs that have actually been fitted by ‘Halfords experts’! We even had one where the headlamp bulb fitting in the lamp unit had been broken, and they’d wedged the bulb in place using the (Halfords orange) bulb packaging! (This required a very expensive complete headlamp replacement to rectify)

    #202558 Reply
    Ste
    Guest

    Halford doesn’t know how to change a headlight bulb

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)

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