Driving Light Legal: Western Australia
— May 15, 2020 | 2 min read
Making Sure Your Additional Spotlights or LED Light Bars are Legal Across Australia
One of the most practical and easiest upgrades for your 4WD or vehicle, especially if you do a lot of night driving in country and rural areas, would have to be fitting driving lights or LED light bars for increased visibility. But what you may not know is that there are laws on how many additional lights you can fit to your car, as well as where you mount them. There can be hefty fines if you do not adhere to these laws – and to add more complexity to the situation, these laws can differ depending on what part of the country you live in.
Interpreting and remembering these rules can be tricky, so we've created a series of blogs summarising each state's rules regarding the fitment and use of additional lighting. That way you can ensure wherever you are in Australia, your additional forward facing lights are legal. Please be aware though, that because the laws differ from state to state and can change from the time of us writing these blogs, it is always best to check official sources and stay up to date with the state or territory that you will be driving in/through. You can find links to respective traffic authority websites at the bottom of each article to assist you.
Crossing the Nulla' into our largest state (by area), here is a summary of the laws that apply in WESTERN AUSTRALIA:
Number of Lights
You can fit a maximum of four additional forward facing lamps to your vehicle in Western Australia. This can be a combination of Spotlights and LED Light Bars. Keep in mind that an LED Light Bar is considered as one lamp if all of the LEDs operate together – for example, are in one sealed unit and all sections in the unit turn on and off at the same time. If you have what can be called a “switchable” LED Light Bar where multiple sections can be independently turned on or off, then each section is considered as a lamp.
Fitting of Lights
The Western Australian Government states that lights must be fitted to the front of a vehicle, and must only be ‘front facing’. If they are being fitted to a bull bar or nudge bar, the lights cannot be higher than the front edge of the bonnet of the vehicle.
Lights can be fitted onto a roof rack and a roll bar of a ute/4WD as long as they do not interfere with the driver’s field of vision.
All light/s must be fitted to the front of your vehicle and fitted symmetrically to the centre of the vehicle. If you are only fitting one light (in the case of an LED light bar), it must be fitted in the exact centre of your car.
You must also take care in ensuring that mounting brackets are rounded and not have any sharp edges to ensure the risk to injury of pedestrians is minimised.
Finally, lights cannot interfere with any existing lighting on the vehicle (ie. Cannot be in front of headlights or indicators).
Operation of Lights
The additional lights must be installed in such a way that they only come on when the vehicle’s high beam (or main beam) headlights are activated, and must automatically turn off when the high beams are switched off. This can be on a separately switched circuit, but only powered when the high beam is activated.
Type of Lights
The Western Australian Government state that only white coloured lights can be fitted to your vehicle. NARVA stock a wide range of additional lighting, including L.E.D driving lights and light bars, plus work lamps suitable for a variety of applications and legal fitment. You can check out our full range here: NARVA Driving Light Range
The information provided by us is correct as of May 2020. As mentioned, it is worthwhile keeping up to date with local laws as they are subject to change. To check out the document compiled by the Western Australian Government on additional lights, click here:
https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/licensing/LBU_VS_IB_132.pdf