Listen to the Law

Well I took my flare home and mounted it in pride of place, it actually took me longer to take a photo than it did to mount. Interestingly flares are not actually legal in the UK and although I can't claim to be expert on the law (I'm not a barrack room lawyer). It turns out that as they are an 'explosive' type device they fall under legislation, admittedly fuzzy legislation and not exactly specific as far as I can tell. It does appear that for the the Single Vehicle Approval scheme (SVA test for importing cars) most people have the flares removed and then quite simply pop them back in after the test.

Flare in place, looking suspiciously like an emergency 'sex toy'

As mine isn't for use as it were, I am happy just to have the cover itself in place, removing the offending 'explosive component' and stay on the right side of the law.
It's interesting my touching on the subject of law though, as whilst channel hopping I tuned into one of those 'cheap' reality (as in the sense they cost nothing to make) TV shows here the other day, where you have a 'D' list reporter tagging along with the long arm of the law. The basic idea of the show is to highlight bad drivers doing such naughty things as speeding, driving without insurance or having defective tires, lights, etc. You get it.
The show was dedicated to modified cars and naturally they focused on the Japanese scene, getting stuck into such horrors as small number plates and horror of horrors, loud exhausts! Whilst being relatively fair comment on the actual 'law' it was pretty unbalanced when looking at group meets, going from a static group of car owners to what was obviously a different piece of filming, showing more 'enthusiastic' driving. The film then flicked over to a group of younger drivers in small cars like Fiesta's and Focuses. Having a group meet and generally doing what 'young folk' of a certain age do. The presenter was actually outraged that one of them should 'moon' (bare his bottom) to the camera. The vibe of the piece was poor and presented to Mr and Mrs Joe Public as an underground culture almost akin to drug taking! I'm sure that elements of bad behaviour do exist (I have seen them) but then they exist everywhere, in business, in sports etc. Even I may have broken the speed limit on occasion. However TV programmes like this are unhelpful as all they do is create barriers, drive the culture underground and attract people to whom the rebel image is appealing.