Do headlights that are clouded and oxidized fail PA safety inspection?

• • The short answer is no, in most cases clouded/oxidized headlights do not fail inspection. There are really only two cases where they could be rejected as per the PA safety inspection regulations: If the clouding or discoloration is so extreme that the light no longer shines white but shines yellow or some other color.

  • If the light is so dim that headlight aim cannot be checked on the stations headlight aimer.

    • This is not so much failing for the clouded lens as it is the inability to verify passing headlight aim.

Those are really the only two cases where dim headlights will fail inspection. In the vehicle equipment requirements there are specifications for minimum candlepower (7,500 cp for low beam/10,000cp for high beam) however, nowhere in the inspection procedure does it require the inspector to use a candlepower meter to check the headlights. That being said, a vehicle cannot fail for candlepower alone, however it is still illegal to operate it on PA roadways with less than the minimum candlepower. Considering that, it would be good to fix a clouded/oxidized light as soon as possible.