Posted By JAMES MM
Yesterday I was dazzled by an oncoming eastern European registered car. I presume the reason this happened was because he had continental headlights. This made me ask the question do new entrants to this country have a specific time frame where they must change their headlight to UK lights (left hand dip)?

We have lots of these cars on our work car park, which also made me ask about insurance and MOT certificate.

I was wondering if there was any legal requirements that anyone knows of that new entrants to this country must have in place and what would be the outcome if we allowed these private vehicles into my work when they are not roadworthy or insured?

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Posted By John Webster
The Road Vehicles Lighting Regs 1989 would apply. Visitors are exempt for up to 12 months, provided that they comply with the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic. However, it is still a requirement that headlights do not cause dazzle, and so visitors must take appropriate steps, such as dip convertors or blacking out the part of the lens that gives the horizontal component to the beam deflection, on entry to the UK.

As far as I am aware, all vehicles, including visitors, must carry the minimum third party insurance valid for the UK or have lodged an equivalent insurance bond.

All vehicles must also comply with the same minimum standards of roadworthyness. An MoT certificate is merely a paper to show that yours did at the time it was tested. MoTs are actually not required in some parts of the UK, but the same standards of roadworthyness still (are supposed to) apply.

As the previous John says, your cop shop is probably the best source of advice. They may even be able to give you an idea of which offences they are currently actively trying to clamp down on, and which they don't really see as a significant problem.