Position lights and public roads: what the rules say

The position lights on a light bar (white forward, orange to the side, red rearward) make a machine visible long before its outline is. But visibility hardware and road law are two different things, and the manufacturer is refreshingly direct about it in its documentation.

The manufacturer's note, translated

Every product sheet carries the same regulatory note. We quote it in full, translated from the Swedish original (which is archived):

In accordance with VVFS 2003:27 (Swedish regulation), the product's position lighting must not be used while the vehicle is travelling in traffic on public roads. If the product is fitted to a class 1 motorised implement, it must be installed with a switch for the position lights.

What that means in practice

Two things follow. First: the extra position lights are work-site lighting, not road lighting. On Swedish public roads, the cited rule says they must be off while the machine travels in traffic; a machine covered in extra lights does not fit the lighting picture other road users are trained to read. Second: the switch requirement. A class 1 motorised implement (in Sweden, the faster class of self-propelled work machines) must have its bar position lights wired through a switch, so the operator can actually turn them off for the road. The bars are pre-wired with a separately labelled position light lead precisely so an installer can meet this requirement cleanly; see why pre-wired matters.

Outside Sweden: check your own rules

VVFS 2003:27 is Swedish regulation, cited by a Swedish manufacturer. It does not automatically describe the law in the Netherlands, Germany, Poland or anywhere else. Vehicle lighting rules are national, and they differ in what they allow, what they require and how they classify work machines. We are not going to pretend to summarise every EU member state's rules here, and you should treat any web page that does with suspicion. The honest advice: before running extra lighting on public roads, check the rules that apply to your vehicle class in your country, or ask the authority or inspection body that certifies your machines.

The safe default

Wire the position lights through a switch regardless of where you operate: it is required in the manufacturer's home market, and with the pre-wired lead it is quickly done. Use the full position lighting on site, where it earns its keep. And for the flashlights, use the EU-approved R65 pattern; the manufacturer recommends it, and we explain it in R65 and the flash patterns.