Ohio Headlamps Bill Amended

The Ohio Senate Transportation Committee approved a SEMA Action Network (SAN) amendment to legislation (S.B. 161) that originally required headlights on motor vehicles to display a “white light” without defining the term.  The SAN amendment conforms the legislation to U.S. Department of Transportation standards regarding headlamp color, which all headlamps destined for on-road use must comply.  The Committee will take a final vote on the bill on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013.

We Urge You to Contact Members of the Senate Transportation Committee (Contact Info Below) to Support the Amended S.B. 161  

  • All headlamps are required to comply with the color requirements contained in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.  It is illegal for a state to enact a law that would conflict with a federal standard. 
     
  • Under the Federal standards, it is possible to design a headlamp that can be perceived as having a blue tint but which nevertheless remains within the federal boundaries that define "white."
     
  • The original S.B. 161 seemed to be targeting illegal high-intensity discharge (HID) conversion kits, which are already illegal under Federal law.  However, the original bill could have even banned factory-installed HID headlamps which emit a blue hue.

DON’T DELAY!  Please contact members of the Ohio Senate Transportation Committee by phone or e-mail to request their support for the amended version of S.B. 161   

Please e-mail a copy of your letter to Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org.  Also, please forward this Alert to your fellow car enthusiasts.  Urge them to join the SAN and help defend the hobby! Thank you for your assistance. 

Ohio Senate Transportation Committee

To e-mail all Committee members, copy and paste the email address block below:

manning@ohiosenate.gov; patton@ohiosenate.gov; cafaro@ohiosenate.gov; balderson@ohiosenate.gov; gardner@ohiosenate.gov; gentile@ohiosenate.gov; larose@ohiosenate.gov; seitz@ohiosenate.gov; turner@ohiosenate.gov

Senator Gayle Manning (Chair)
Phone: (614) 644-7613 
 
Senator Tom Patton (Vice Chair)
Phone: (614) 466-8056
 
Senator Capri Cafaro
Phone: (614) 466-7182
 
Senator Troy Balderson
Phone: (614) 466-8076
 
Senator Randy Gardner
Phone: (614) 466-8060
 
Senator Lou Gentile
Phone: (614) 466-6508
 
Senator Frank LaRose
Phone: (614) 466-4823
 
Senator Bill Seitz
Phone: (614) 466-8068
 
Senator Nina Turner
Phone: (614) 466-4583