Legality of HID headlights

[CrystalJean]

I've been contemplating changing the headlights on my 2008 Toyota Yaris - but I want to know the in's and outs of all the laws in regards to it, and color shades.

Most states defer to Federal regs, with a few of their own things added in (I reside in Texas) but I can't find the actual code itself.

There are things out there saying you can't modify your headlights to HID unless the car has factory HID (which I also CAN'T find a general list of such cars - as there are 2004 Mazda's that have HID's factory installed)

Also, there are some general provisions saying lights can only be white or amber in color in the front headlight. The only color named as blatantly illegal is red, and in addition red, white or blue that are "beacons" because that's reserved for emergency vehicles, obviously.

That being said, I wanted a light that would classify as a "SHADE" of white, but higher on the color temp scale more towards pinkish (30,000k).

I don't want to be one of those people that just plugs a bright light into their car and screams around blinding everyone, I want to have the head light meet distancing requirements, ect.

I feel like the shade and maybe the "After market modification" would be my only big issues if I follow all the other regulations set - because shade and color is purely the officers discretion.

Can anyone clarify all of this for me, or if they have the codes that I can break apart and classify it on my own?

Any and all help would be appreciated. Thanks!