Headlights?

[hnrys69]

To get our night pass do we have to have headlights? My mv will be easily spotted at night and should put out enough light to see in front of me. It's based off a golf cart so it's pretty small.

What about tail lights?

[Sham]

Light it up as much as you can. You LEDs and as much creativity to make it stand out.

[moltensteelman]

You need at least one headlight and tail lights, The lights don't have to be very bright but, you still need them. I've known people who use a small headlamp flashlight as there headlights. Tail lights can be red leds.

[Jackass]

To get our night pass do we have to have headlights? My mv will be easily spotted at night and should put out enough light to see in front of me. It's based off a golf cart so it's pretty small.

What about tail lights?

Yes, you need head and tail lights. Did you even register the MV yet?

[hnrys69]

Yeah it's registered. Just don't remember seeing anything about headlight tail light requirements. The thing is super bright already, just no "headlight" "tail light".

[ygmir]

To get our night pass do we have to have headlights? My mv will be easily spotted at night and should put out enough light to see in front of me. It's based off a golf cart so it's pretty small.

What about tail lights?

did you not get all that info when you registered/applied?
no, no, don't look it up on the website or google it.

I do hope, though, you get an answer.

[moonrise]

Are you okay? Do you need medical attention?

YES YOU NEED, YOU MUST HAVE HEADLIGHTS AND TAIL LIGHTS if you expect to even come close to driving your "lit up" MV at night. What do you think this is Burning Man???? Hurry!! go back and re-read the rules

You can get away with AA battery powered bicycle type head and tails lights if you're in a pinch.

[inthecolumbiagorge]

Actually the criteria for MV lighting is a bit vague on the faq page.

Lighting
For vehicles seeking a night license, basic requirements must be met: The rear, front AND sides must be lit. All vehicle extremities must be lit. Any trailer hitch or dangerous area of the vehicle must be lit. Anywhere someone would walk, step, or climb on your vehicle should be lit, especially stairs and ladders.

It really does not say actual head lights and certainly does not say red tail lights are required, just that all sides are lit....but not the driver!

[moonrise]

Actually the criteria for MV lighting is a bit vague on the faq page.

Lighting
For vehicles seeking a night license, basic requirements must be met: The rear, front AND sides must be lit. All vehicle extremities must be lit. Any trailer hitch or dangerous area of the vehicle must be lit. Anywhere someone would walk, step, or climb on your vehicle should be lit, especially stairs and ladders.

It really does not say actual head lights and certainly does not say red tail lights are required, just that all sides are lit....but not the driver!

Correct me if I'm wrong BUT...there is a difference between the LLC's requirements (BRC DMV) and the LEO's (state and federal cops) requirements. I was pulled over for NOT having my headlights and tail lights on, even though I have assorted decorative lighting front, back, both sides and under body. The LEO's were polite (they let me go with a verbal warning) and recognized it was a simple oversight on my part. I'm sure it helped when I turned my head and tail lights on just as they red lighted me. I DO strongly suggest at least bike head lights and red tail lights.

[inthecolumbiagorge]

Our MV has the original headlights and tail lights of the vehicle so I am not worried but for a first time MV owner the "written" rules are a bit vague nonetheless and I could see plenty of first timers MV's arriving without specific head and tail lights because it is not exactly clear what is expected. I hope that is not the case:-)

[Canoe]

This is pretty clear.

Burning Man Update: The Jack Rabbit Speaks
Volume 16, Issue #30 LAW ENFORCEMENT
August 6, 2012

SPECIFIC LAWS TO BE AWARE OF IN 2012

... Headlights and taillights on art cars will also be monitored while on playa.

[BetaBox]

The only way i found out about the headlight thing last year was through a comment on ePlaya. For virgin MV owners, this is not so explicit.

[stew]

Common sense would say head lights. Even at 5pmh, you want to see where you're going. Just because you're bright and loud doesn't mean everyone will notice you - sometimes there are unlit couples out in the deep (or even not so deep) playa, doing what couples do and therefore distracted.

[Canoe]

The only way i found out about the headlight thing last year was through a comment on ePlaya. For virgin MV owners, this is not so explicit.

Many things are obvious or make sense to those writing them, but for those reading it without knowledge of the subject matter...

[ZaphodBurner]

Common sense would say head lights. Even at 5pmh, you want to see where you're going.

Cthulu would say psychic apocalypse dimension lights. Even at 5 galaxies per hour, you want to destroy where you're going.

The reason you need headlights and tail lights is so the police can figure out which end of you to pull over. Seriously, though, it's hard to get out of the way of something if you can't figure out which way it's going, which is why boats and airplanes have running lights. Plus, in my expert opinion, and this is truth, drunked-up raver hippie college girl e-tards will ride their bike right the fuck into something if their psyche doesn't have some basis of normality upon which to stake itself down.

In 2010 I was screwing around on Aemma, my electric MV, and some precious little sweetheart rode, as above, right the fuck into the bright red 52" wagon wheel on my ride. Broad daylight. I was sitting on top of it my best psychedelic bell-bottom disco stripper unitard and a copper Darth Vader helmet gleaming in the sun, driving a fraction of a mile per hour, and I hear the chatter and squeal of playa-bike breaks, and a thud. Which is funny in retrospect because it's the only time in her life she has seen or will ever see Donna Summer Darth Vader on a steampunk artillery wagon with bright red wheels--the only one in the desert--and she rode right into it; she could have, however, gotten pinned under the wagon wheel.

Remember that the police are hippie-fishing on Lake Lohantan. If your trailer tail-light is out on the way in, they can pull you over. If they pull you over and they feel like it, they can question your sobriety, sniff your shit, fine you for the light, kick you off the playa if they want or let you go and pop you later on in the week for something else. Catch and release... The easiest way not to deal with it is to have headlights and taillights whenever you're moving a vehicle on the playa.

[Chiroptera]

Headlights are a definite! Go to the auto store and pick up a cheap pack of halogens or LEDs. You can run them off a car battery and they put out a ton of light. We also have red LEDs in the back- and we have a golfcart too. You want big art cars to see you and you definitely want to spot people that you may or may not run over. Good Luck!

[inthecolumbiagorge]

Headlights were not required by DMV hotties and there were no stops by leo's without them on our MV. I specifically asked the DMV hotties when I got my MV permitted if headlights and tail lights were required and the answer was NO.

[ZaphodBurner]

Crazy not to have 'em, though.

A fellow camper donated a dozen blue Harbor Freight LED shop lights with a magnetic back, and we stuck them on the front of the airplane (MV.) I had a bunch of clear plastic gel from a craft store that I cut up to make red ones.

Not only were the $4 Harbor Freight lights as bright and visible as the cart's incandescent headlights (which were moved out onto the wings), they cast a cooler blueish-white that made it look like playa art instead of a vehicle headlights. With 6 of them, we could see everything in front of us without blinding everybody but the only problem is, some burners have that moth-like quality where they see something bright and they steer right into it, or they fail to realize it's moving toward them.

We had a strobing flashlight and a Spandau machine gun sample for that, which ended up working brilliantly.