Reply With QuoteThose same drivers would've been happily tooling around with no lights at all before the DLRs were a thing, I suspect.
Just arrived in London after a 4 hour drive much of it in quite thick fog . What struck me was the amount of cars using their daytime running lights, do they not realise that only the front lights are on in this mode, absolutely no rear lights whatsoever.
Bit of a dodgy new fangled fad in me thinks.
Those same drivers would've been happily tooling around with no lights at all before the DLRs were a thing, I suspect.
Probably too much reliance on auto headlights. Fog in daylight sometimes isn't enough to trigger the headlights to come on and the driver might not notice as they think they're on due to the daylight running lights being on
I think that the prevalence of all time illuminated dash boards is a big contributing factor, to drivers used to older cars, the fact that the dash is lit up makes them think all the lights are on.
That’ll be the oneOriginally Posted by Brighty
Auto headlights is another example of solving a problem that didn`t need solving, its a feature I never rely on. Driver should know to use judgement and decide whether lights are needed or not....if in doubt put 'em on! These so-called driver aids prevent drivers from thinking for themselves.
My car's too old to have daylight running lights, but since they've become almost universal I deliberately put side lights on earlier if the weather's overcast or the light is starting to deteriorate.
This. SWMBO's Honda has this and we've both been caught out by it.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
My car has daytime running lights on the front and auto headlights. When it's foggy or raining hard I switch them on manually. Same as I always did. So I don't see it as a problem.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I’ve always wondered why the UK authorities thought this was a good idea. Other countries have front and rear as DRLs, which seems to much more sensible when some drivers don’t even know the rear lights are active without actually turning them on.
I had an incident a few years ago, where a grey car in front of me was heading along the M77 outside Glasgow in one of these horrible “dreach” nights where visibility was very poor. Despite flashing them from behind, there was no reaction from the driver. As chance would have it, they took the same junction as me and we ended up side by side at the traffic lights. When I attracted their attention, I told them they had no back lights on and the response was, “well the fronts are on and the dash lights are on”. That was the end of the conversation.
The inability of people to switch lights on is across the board, the amount of people that don’t put them on in heavy rain is frightening especially on motorways. In a wagon you just can’t see them as they blend in with the spray, and they wonder why they get a wagon pulling across into them.
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I don't see why so many new cars with daytime running lights are front only. Or that auto headlights seem to only do fronts? Surely a design flaw.
Seems illogical.
Our pretty old W221 S Class has auto lights and it always does front AND rear at the same time. Further if you set daytime running lights on via the in car menu it immediately defaults to full headlights and tail lights. The only way to turn off headlights in the S Class is to turn the physical knob to "off". Otherwise all lights are on.
And when they enter a tunnel the rear lights switch on ... and it looks like they are braking and scare me shipless!
I miss the old days.
Men waving a red flag, walking in front of the vehicle and stuff.
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Definitely that. Auto lights are great in day/night but rubbish in fog. I always have to manually switch them on.
I remember being pulled over by a cop and being given a ticket for having my front fogs on my Astra GTE at night because it looked cool.
Thes days there's all kinds of lights on new cars and most of them are stupidly blinding.
Yep, I got a ticket for the exact same thing 20 years ago.
Must of been so much less crime going on back then.
I re-coded the ECU on my BMW to operate the headlights and taillights as soon as the engine starts, plus side markers too (low output of the front indicators which then cycle fully when indicating).
Here in Norfolk the standard of driving is shockingly lax and lame. Lights not on or not working, mirrors folded in or broken, no indication, and lane discipline is something that doesn't exist. I figured I'd give myself every chance to be seen.
I followed a car from Dereham to Burnham Market last week with only 1 rear light cluster working. He turned off as I was near my destination, and a car cut in front of me - with only 1 rear light working! Quite posh cars too, as you say it’s a challenging place to drive!
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Pretty sure this isn’t right regarding auto lights. I’ve had a number of cars with auto headlights and they always switch on all lights, front and rear.
That's what he said...
"Our pretty old W221 S Class has auto lights and it always does front AND rear at the same time"
Why did you completely ignore the first part of his post?
Not always the case, most do, some dont
I know this is the case with DRL’s but auto headlights? Doesn’t that defeat the object and you have to turn them on anyway if that were the case?
Yup, people still have fog lights and spot lights on when they shouldn't be, which are stupidly blinding, or have incorrectly adjusted headlights which are also stupidly blinding. Some things never change.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Sidelights are better than nothing when light levels are low however why not go straight to dipped? If the purpose of turning your lights on is to increase your visibility to others (as opposed to being able to see where you're going) then surely brighter, therefore more obvious, lights are a better option?
Sorry. I read your post incorrectly
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Was a right of passage! I had a 106 at one point that didn’t have them, so fitted rectangular driving lights in the same position.
Conversation with the police about them being driving lights and I’m driving vs fog lights and not foggy went as well as you could imagine.
I've never understood this, side-lights are very hard to make out for other road users compared to dipped headlights so why not go direct to dipped which to me seem to be far more visible and therefore safer?
I remember in the '80s there was a big campaign to have something called dim-dips which were something between dips and side-lights and an interlock to prevent driving on side-lights but the EU made it go away as it was UK only.
I remember regularly seeing a police Rover P6’s being driven around the local streets during the hours of darkness with just side lights on.
For you younglings - one of these -
IMG_5517.jpg
You can see how small the side lights are……not the ones that are on but the tiny ones on top of the wings!
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Last edited by Eddiex; 15th December 2022 at 16:38.
With the little ears sticking up so you could see if they were on?
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I was always under the impression that ‘side lights’ were only marker lights, ie only to be used when the vehicle was stationaryand parked.
Also I don’t know if the fog light rule of only being used in fog or falling snow has been changed, many cars use fog lamps as cornering assistance lights.
I had a Renault that applied reduced power to the dipped headlight bulb whenever the ignition was on, an early form of drls? Circa 1989 I think.
Last edited by Pitfitter; 15th December 2022 at 17:50.
It was called Dim-Dip. Volvo had it on many of their cars from the 80s, and they partnered with Renault (and Peugeot) around that time.
Fog lights in the rain, Grrr!
from the Highway Code - Rule 226
You MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet). You may also use front or rear fog lights but you MUST switch them off when visibility improves (see Rule 236).
but how many people measure the visibility and just carry on regardless, even though the hazard is gone.it’s not exactly specific is it?
This, I reckon. My auto headlights often don’t come on in fog, have to switch them to manual.
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100m visibility is rare, I reckon, and consequently too many people leave their lights and fog lights on when they are not needed.
There was a debate about DRL’s when they came in as it made motorbikes more vulnerable since previously only bikes had lights on.
Also, with lights on I reckon it makes it harder to judge distance, whereas without lights it’s much easier.
As with everything the answer is to use common sense. In bad visibility use lights, switch them off when not required- this might also solve the issue of idiots driving round in the daytime with lights on full beam
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