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About the Parking lights/Front position lights Function

Front position lights (known as parking lights in North America and front sidelights in the UK) provide nighttime standing-vehicle conspicuity. They are designed to use little electricity so they can be left on when parked for prolonged periods of time. Despite the UK term, these are not the same as the side marker lights described below. The front position lights on any vehicle must emit white light, with the exception of motorcycles, which may have amber front position lights.

In Germany, the StVZO (Road Traffic Licensing Regulations) calls for a different function provided by these lights: with the vehicle's ignition switched off, the operator may activate a low-intensity white light at the front and red light at the rear on either the left or right side. This function is used when parking in narrow unlit streets to provide parked-vehicle conspicuity to approaching drivers. This function, which is optional under UN and US regulations, is served passively in the United States by mandatory side marker retroreflectors.

Note: Some vland headlights/tail lights do not have Parking lights/position lights, dashboard warning lights may appear, You can disable this feature when your vehicle shows parking lights dashboard warning lights. ("side marker retroreflectors" can replace this feature.)

Reference sources:

  1.  "FMVSS No. 108: Lamps and Reflective Devices"
  2.  "UN Regulation 48"
  3.  "Sidelight definition"
  4. "J2442: Harmonized Provisions for Installation of Exterior Lamps and Retro-Reflecting Devices on Road Vehicles Except Motorcycles"
  5.  "UN Regulation 53, "Installation of lighting and light-signalling devices for L3 vehicles"
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