Lights and Glass

You need to see, and others need to see you and read what you are about to do. This is stop 2 of the check, a slow walk round the vehicle with someone working the switches if you can.

Do the lights work?

Section 3 of Annex 2 prohibits operating a vehicle if:

• External lights don’t work in the prescribed mode.
• External lights or reflectors are dirty.
• Bulbs or diffusers are missing.
• Bulbs or diffusers don’t match the type of that light.
• Rear fog lamps are connected to the brake lights.

Wired to the brakes, fog lamps light up at every brake application, and the driver behind can’t tell the signals apart.

Common trap: The fault is rear fog lamps that are connected to the brake lights. Lamps that are not connected are fine. Dirty front and rear protective devices are fine too: only dirty lights and reflectors are on the list.

Are the colors right?

Colors tell other drivers which way you are facing, so remember the two ends of the car.

Circles show the light colors allowed. Squares show the only reflector color allowed. Front is on the right, rear is on the left.

Device	Front	Rear
Lights	White, yellow or orange	Red, yellow or orange
Reflectors	White only	Red only

White at the rear has only two proper places: reversing lamps and the number plate light.

So these are faults: red turn indicators at the front, white turn indicators at the rear, red reversing lamps, yellow reflectors at either end, and white reflectors at the rear.

These are not faults: yellow or orange turn indicators at the front, yellow front fog lamps, white reversing lamps, white number plate lights, white reflectors at the front and red reflectors at the rear.

Remember: Lamps give you three colors at each end. Reflectors give you one: white in front, red behind.

Lamps from another make fitted to a vehicle that is out of production aren’t a fault in themselves.

Can you see out?

Now look at the glass:

• The windows provided by the design must be there.
• The windscreen washers provided by the design must work.
• The window heating and blowing devices provided by the design must work.
• Nothing may be fitted that restricts your view from the driver’s seat.

Curtains depend on which window you mean.

Window	Curtains allowed?
Windscreen or front side windows	No
Rear window or rear side windows	Only if both side mirrors are there

While you are in the seat, press the horn. It must work.

Extra: Checking lights on your own

Not from the question bank.

Reverse up to a wall or a shop window at dusk and you can see your brake and reversing lamps reflected in it. Keep a cloth in the door pocket for lamps and number plates, since road spray covers them quickly on wet days. Replace worn wiper blades before the first autumn rain, not after it.

Try it yourself

Your bus has white reflectors at the rear and two chocks on board. Does this prohibit operation? Yes, because of the reflectors. Rear reflectors must be red.

Key points

• Faulty or dirty lights and reflectors prohibit operation, as do missing or wrong bulbs and diffusers.
• Rear fog lamps must not be connected to the brake lights.
• Front lights: white, yellow or orange. Rear lights: red, yellow or orange.
• Reflectors: white in front, red behind.
• Front windows may never be curtained. Rear windows may be, if both side mirrors are there.

Practice questions

Question 939. The operation of vehicles is prohibited if:

1. The rear fog lamps are connected to the light devices signalling the braking of the vehicle.
2. The engine coolant temperature indicator does not work.
3. In both cases.

Show answer

Correct: 1. The rear fog lamps are connected to the light devices signalling the braking of the vehicle.

Annex N 2 to the Road Traffic Rules (the list of malfunctions) prohibits operation under section 3, “faults of external lighting devices”, when “The rear fog lamps are connected to the light devices signalling the braking of the vehicle”: wired that way they light up at every brake application, and the driver behind cannot tell one signal from the other. The case “The engine coolant temperature indicator does not work.” is not a prohibiting condition - the closed list in section 6 covers the speedometer, the tachograph, the anti-theft and glass-heating devices and the like, but not the coolant temperature gauge. So only the fog-lamp wiring prohibits operation, and “In both cases.” is wrong.

Question 948. Operation of vehicles is prohibited if:

1. The engine works with interruptions.
2. The rear fog lamps are not connected to the lighting devices signalling braking.
3. The windscreen washers provided by the vehicle’s design do not work.
4. In all the listed cases.

Show answer

Correct: 3. The windscreen washers provided by the vehicle’s design do not work.

Appendix No. 2 to the Traffic Rules, the list of malfunctions and conditions prohibiting operation, prohibits operation when the windscreen washers provided by the vehicle’s design do not work, so “The windscreen washers provided by the vehicle’s design do not work.” is the answer. An engine that works with interruptions is not in that list at all. The rear fog lamps entry is the reverse of the option offered: what the list prohibits is rear fog lamps that ARE connected to the devices signalling braking, not lamps that are unconnected. Since only one of the three listed situations prohibits operation, “In all the listed cases.” is wrong.

Question 970. Operation of vehicles is prohibited if:

1. The tightness of the hydraulic brake line is broken.
2. Turn indicators with white-coloured lights are installed at the rear.
3. In both cases.

Show answer

Correct: 3. In both cases.

Both faults appear in Appendix No. 2 to the Traffic Rules, the list of malfunctions prohibiting the operation of vehicles, but in different sections. A broken seal in the hydraulic brake line falls under section 1, “Malfunctions of braking systems”. Turn indicators showing white light at the rear break section 3, “Malfunctions of external lighting devices”, under which only red, yellow or orange lights are allowed at the rear - reversing lamps and the number-plate light aside - and white is prohibited there. Each fault is enough to prohibit operation on its own, so “In both cases.” is the correct answer.

Question 983. Operation of buses is prohibited if:

1. White-coloured light-reflecting devices are installed at the rear.
2. Red-coloured light-reflecting devices are installed at the rear.
3. In both cases.

Show answer

Correct: 1. White-coloured light-reflecting devices are installed at the rear.

Under sub-point “b” of point 3 of Appendix No. 2 to the Traffic Rules, light-reflecting devices of any colour other than red are prohibited at the rear, so “White-coloured light-reflecting devices are installed at the rear.” prohibits the operation of the bus. Red-coloured reflectors at the rear are exactly what that rule requires, so they are a serviceable condition rather than a fault. Only one of the two situations prohibits operation, so “In both cases.” is wrong.

Question 984. Operation of buses is prohibited if:

1. There are not fewer than two anti-roll chocks.
2. White-coloured light-reflecting devices are installed at the rear.
3. In both cases.

Show answer

Correct: 2. White-coloured light-reflecting devices are installed at the rear.

Under sub-point “b” of point 3 of Appendix No. 2 to the Traffic Rules, light-reflecting devices of any colour other than red are prohibited at the rear, so “White-coloured light-reflecting devices are installed at the rear.” prohibits the operation of the bus. Having not fewer than two anti-roll chocks is not a fault but a requirement: point 6, “Compulsory equipment”, obliges buses over 5 t to carry two such chocks, so their presence is the serviceable condition the Rules demand. “In both cases.” is therefore wrong.

Question 1001. Operation of vehicles is prohibited if

1. The rear side windows are curtained and the 2 side rear-view mirrors are missing
2. The window heating and blowing devices provided by the design do not work
3. In both cases

Show answer

Correct: 3. In both cases

point 6 of Appendix No. 2 to the Traffic Rules prohibits operation when the rear window or the rear side windows are curtained and the 2 side rear-view mirrors are missing, which is exactly the situation described: with the windows curtained and no side mirrors the driver has no view behind at all. The same item names the window heating and blowing devices among the parts that must work, so their failure is an independent ground. Each situation prohibits operation by itself, so “In both cases” is the correct answer.

Question 1003. Operation of vehicles is prohibited if:

1. The signal given by the audible signalling device does not work
2. The windows provided by the vehicle’s design are missing
3. In both cases

Show answer

Correct: 3. In both cases

point 6 of Appendix No. 2 to the Traffic Rules prohibits operation when the audible signalling device does not work, or when the device or the signal it gives does not conform to the standard, so a horn whose signal does not work is a ground for prohibition. The same item separately prohibits operation when the windows provided by the vehicle’s design are missing. Each situation prohibits operation by itself, so “In both cases” is the correct answer.

Question 1005. Operation of vehicles is prohibited if

1. The external lighting devices and the reflectors are dirty
2. The front and rear protective devices are dirty
3. In both cases

Show answer

Correct: 1. The external lighting devices and the reflectors are dirty

point 3 of Appendix No. 2 to the Traffic Rules prohibits operation when the external lighting devices and the reflectors do not work in the prescribed mode or are dirty - dirt on a lamp or a reflector stops it being seen. Dirty front and rear protective devices are not a ground: point 6 prohibits operation only where the rear protective device, the mudguards or the splash guards are MISSING, not where they are dirty. Only one of the two situations prohibits operation, so “In both cases” is wrong.

Question 1006. Operation of vehicles is prohibited if

1. The bulbs or diffusers are missing on the lighting devices
2. Diffusers or bulbs not corresponding to the type of the given lighting device are used
3. In both cases

Show answer

Correct: 3. In both cases

point 3 of Appendix No. 2 to the Traffic Rules prohibits operation when the bulbs or diffusers are missing from the lighting devices, and equally when diffusers or bulbs are used that do not correspond to the type of the given lighting device - a wrong bulb or a missing diffuser throws the beam where it was never meant to go. Both situations are named in that same entry, and each prohibits operation on its own, so “In both cases” is the correct answer.

Question 1007. Operation of vehicles is prohibited if

1. The external lighting devices and the reflectors are dirty
2. External lighting devices of a vehicle of another make are fitted on a vehicle taken out of production.
3. In both cases

Show answer

Correct: 1. The external lighting devices and the reflectors are dirty

point 3 of Appendix No. 2 to the Traffic Rules directly prohibits operation when the external lighting devices and the reflectors do not work in the prescribed mode or are dirty, so “The external lighting devices and the reflectors are dirty” is the prohibiting condition. Fitting external lighting devices from a vehicle of another make on a vehicle taken out of production is not itself in the closed list of Appendix No. 2; it would prohibit operation only if it produced a fault the list does name - a colour that is not permitted, or a number, type or arrangement that does not meet the design requirements - and the option states none of that. “In both cases” is therefore wrong.

Question 1009. Operation of vehicles is prohibited if:

1. The residual depth of the tread pattern of a truck’s tyre is 1.4 mm.
2. Reflecting devices of yellow colour are fitted at the front.
3. In both cases

Show answer

Correct: 2. Reflecting devices of yellow colour are fitted at the front.

Sub-point “a” of point 3 of Appendix No. 2 to the Traffic Rules prohibits light-reflecting devices of any colour other than white at the front, so “Reflecting devices of yellow colour are fitted at the front.” prohibits operation - front reflectors must be white, even though front lamps may show yellow. A residual tread depth of 1.4 mm on a truck tyre is not a fault: point 4 sets the minimum for lorries at 1.0 mm, and 1.4 mm is above it. Only one of the two situations prohibits operation, so “In both cases” is wrong.

Question 1010. Operation of vehicles is prohibited if:

1. reflecting devices of yellow colour are fitted at the rear.
2. reflecting devices of yellow colour are fitted at the front
3. in both cases

Show answer

Correct: 3. in both cases

Sub-point “b” of point 3 of Appendix No. 2 to the Traffic Rules prohibits light-reflecting devices of any colour other than red at the rear, so yellow reflectors fitted at the rear prohibit operation. Sub-point “a” of the same item prohibits reflectors of any colour other than white at the front, so yellow reflectors fitted at the front are an independent ground. Yellow is the wrong colour at either end - red behind and white in front is what tells another driver which way a vehicle is facing - so each situation prohibits operation by itself and “in both cases” is the correct answer.