A Florida woman's headlights went out. She could've gone the conventional route to fix the BMW. Instead she figured out a low-cost hack.
But is it legal?
Gussie Roberts (@gussiedroberts) showed how she "fixed" the BMW in a recent TikTok.
“That time my headlights cut out on me but God made a way,” she wrote in a text overlay in her post.
“You see them headlights? Them high brights, them high beams?” she asks. Indeed, the car’s headlights do radiate an intense, albeit slightly muddled, light. Once her camera’s lens is within a few inches of the vehicle’s headlights, it becomes apparent that the glow isn't coming from her headlights at all.
Instead she's got battery powered switch-activated lights fastened to her vehicle.
“Straight from the dollar store!” she cackles. “Who gonna know, though, who gonna know?”
“If you gotta go home, it’s time to go, so,” she says.
Others Shared Their Own Headlight Rig Solutions
While plenty applauded her problem-solving skills, others pointed out it could bring trouble her way.
One wrote, “Girl same! I got mine from Walmart though and that bih bright,” they penned. They also added a picture of the light set up in question. Unlike Roberts’ clip, the item they used was a ball light that protruded from the headlamp cover. Another remarked that their own rigged lights worked well for a surprisingly long period of time. “Mine were smashed out. I put LED headlights in and saran wrapped them. Drove that [expletive] for two years,” they said.
Others were impressed by how convincing the lights looked. “I got tricked,” one wrote. “Fooled the [expletive] outta me,” another echoed.
Some shared cautionary advice for Roberts. One told her to be careful of her driving habits, as it may result in some or all of the lights flying off her vehicle. “Just make sure you swerve all them pot holes on your way home,” they said.
Someone else swore by the brightness of the lights but said they use theirs for a different purpose. “Bought these exact lights from the Dollar Tree before ‘just in case.’ And when our apartment complex had a blackout we were the only ones with lights because of these bright [expletive]," they said.
Is It Legal To Use The Wrong Lights On Your Car?
The product displayed in Roberts’s video is similar to a $5.99 unit Walmart sells. While it is low cost and, at least on camera, appears to resemble the same gleam from an actual headlight, are drivers allowed to use this these?
Legally, no. Florida law pertaining to “multiple-beam road lighting equipment” contains specific guidelines for headlights. Headlights must be visible from a distance of at least 450-feet for upper headlamps, and 150 feet from lower units.
It seems rather unlikely that Dollar Tree lights, while bright on camera, can shine that far.
Further, Florida law also states, “An object, material, or covering that alters the headlamp’s visibility from at least 450 feet for an uppermost distribution of light or at least 150 feet for a lowermost distribution or light may not be placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied over a headlamp.”
So if a police officer were to stop Roberts, she could easily get a ticket.
Another complication worth consideration is accident culpability. If a driver with slapdash, tacked-on headlights gets into a collision with someone whose headlights are working properly, they could be liable for the damages.
Motor1 has reached out to Dollar Tree via email and Roberts via TikTok direct message for further comment. We'll update this if either responds.
