How bright can a car’s LED lights be before it becomes illegal? What Texas law says

Brayden Garcia
·2 min read
5

New vehicles being built are increasingly made with brighter LED bulb headlights, but is that legal in Texas?

For decades, the auto industry has used halogen bulbs for vehicle headlights. Halogen bulbs have a tungsten filament inside and when an electric current passes through it, it heats up and generates light, according to Cars.com.

On the flip side, LED or light emitting diode, bulbs produce light when an electric current passes through its semiconductor, also known as diode. LED lights have proven to produce brighter light, while also generating less heat than halogen bulbs, according to Cars.com.

Because of the brighter and cooler offerings, many auto manufactures have switched to LED headlights. But by using brighter headlights for new vehicles, is that legal in Texas? Here’s what we know:

Are LED headlights legal in Texas?

Yes, vehicles with LED bulb headlights are legal in Texas.

Is there a limit to how bright headlights can be in Texas?

Yes, the Code of Federal Regulations outlines that headlights must have a luminous intensity between 500 to 3,000 candela.

Candela is a unit of luminous intensity under the International System of Units, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. A candela measures the intensity or amount of light people see directly from light sources.

For example, a headlight that produces an exceeding amount of candela could potentially stun drivers on the road, thus causing traffic accidents or disturbances.

Are multi-colored headlights allowed in Texas?

No, the Code of Federal Regulations states that all headlights must be white.

All bulbs also must have a “DOT” or appropriate SAE stamp on them to legally be used, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT has not approved any red-colored bulbs for headlight use.

Vehicles equipped from the manufacturer with approved clear lenses that are lighted by red LED lights will pass state inspection, according to TxDOT. But vehicles equipped with aftermarket lenses that are clear and lighted by a red bulb will not pass inspection.