When you’re a tradie, chances are there will be jobs that require you to work late or through the night.
This means, you might have to mount work lights at the back of your work ute. While other road users might not generally care if the lights are on at a work site, this one Ford Ranger driver has sparked a heated online debate.
In a photo posted to the Cars Australia Reddit thread, the Ford Ranger driver can be seen driving on an unspecified road with their rear-mounted work lights illuminating the back of their vehicle, leading some commenters to slam the driver’s behaviour.
“Defect magnet. Moron,” one Reddit user said, while another remarked: “Seen it a couple of times on the [Gold Coast] now, mostly rear mounted and too bright, had a word with one guy at the lights about it and words like another here ‘have a sook’ got thrown at me”.
“What goes through their little mind to spend $ and mount a light bar in the face of a car behind. Room temperature IQ thinking,” they added.
However, not everyone agreed, with some commenters coming to the defence of the Ford Ranger driver’s actions.
“More than likely accident [sic] put it on,” one user said, while a different commenter stated, “We have rear work lights on our work vehicles since 2007. You shouldn’t use them while driving, but it can accidentally happen”.
Are LED work lights legal in Australia?
Yes and no, it depends on where you live. In states like Queensland and Victoria, road authorities said additional lighting like work or search lights can be installed.
However, these lights “must only be used while the vehicle is stationary” and be used for the temporary purpose of reading signs, working on the vehicle or its load, and in off-road situations where lighting is required.
This means you can technically install rear mounted light bars, provided the driver is adhering to temporary purposes and not using the lights when driving on local roads.
In New South Wales and South Australia, there are no specific road rules surrounding the installation of work lights on a vehicle.
However, additional lights, which can include LED light bars used at a work site, are legal in these states provided they are forward-facing and don't obstruct the front or side view of the driver.
In Tasmania, drivers are prohibited from mounting additional lights that are facing rearward of their vehicle.
It's worth noting that while additional lights either used for work or general driving are legal in some states and territories, drivers must be careful not to install lighting that can dazzle or distract other road users.
Depending on where you live, dazzling another driver with your car's lights can incur fines worth hundreds of dollars.
Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
