It's winter: Qs on 3.5t reflectors + headtorches

flat3

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 April 2011
Messages
277
Location
Midlands
Visit site
I've a couple of darkness-related questions for the HHO hivemind please

1. I've a number of headtorches spread across home (dog walking on country lanes), car and horsebox. I find myself in need of a couple of additional ones. My current ones are cheapies (probs Amazon) but I've recently moved to a new yard and the lights for the outdoor can be unreliable so I rode in the dark just with a headtorch the other night and pony was surprisingly well behaved. I now want to make sure I'm buying the best option to enable that. I'm after the feel of being in a 'large bubble of light' rather than a powerful focused beam (if that makes any sense) and I'm still not in the market for big bucks (£30+). Which do people recommend for maximum 'light bubble size'?

2. I've an old (solid and well-built!) 3.5t horsebox that is dark grey and I do regular local trips in the dark on country lanes in a very horsy area. Particularly from the front, I think drivers don't realise I'm a horsebox and not a normal car until they're right upon us, and consequently don't slow down as much / give us as much room as they might be in the light when they can see us coming. Obviously I drive sensibly and cautiously, but if knowing we're a little lorry means drivers would give us extra courtesy then I'm all for it! As such, I'm wondering about adding white reflectors to the top corners of the luton and red reflectors to the top corners on the back wall - has anyone done similar?
 
On reflectors, I keep meaning to add some to my black trailer.

But there are regulations on what (shape & colour) you can put where so definitely worth checking, what is allowed first.
 
Perhaps have a word with the garage that MOTs your lorry to check they will be legal. We have red reflector tape on the back of our 7.5 tonne as well as top lights. The reflector tape is apparently slightly too near the number plate but they have passed it. I think only one year out of about the 10 it has been on was it mentioned.

Checked with OH and apparently the man at the test station said our reflecting tape would be a fail on a 17 tonne but as ours is 7.5 it was fine!
 
Last edited:
I remember taking our lorry to be tested (many years ago) - we had put reflective triangles on the back so that when the ramp was down (obviously covering the lights) oncoming cars on the track would see us - The test centre made me take them off there and then!
 
Top