Daylight running lights

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

It would make more sense to have a rule that you need to have sidelights on all the time

 

One of the options mulled over while dreaming up DRL was to make driving with dipped beams mandatory. Mercifully they went with the much saner option of only applying the law to new cars.

[Negative Creep]

It would make more sense to have a rule that you need to have sidelights on all the time

 

One of the options mulled over while dreaming up DRL was to make driving with dipped beams mandatory. Mercifully they went with the much saner option of only applying the law to new cars.

 

I wouldn't have had a problem with that. I tend to have my sidelights on in all but the sunniest conditions anyway

[dollywobbler]

I would. The 2CV's sidelights regularly pack up and are near to invisible anyway. Sidelights generally do nowt to make you much more visible. Volvo 240/740s and Land Rovers excepted as they have the brightest sidelights known to man. In fact, I'm pretty sure that on a Series Landy, the sidelights are brighter than the headlamps.

[myglaren]

The Volvos and Saabs had a much brighter lamp for daylight running than a standard sidelight, deliberately matted to avoid glare.

I learned to always drive with dipped headlights there (Sweden), as it was mandatory if the car was not equipped with DLRs and always do now - I reckon sidelights are useless in daylight. Certainly mine are (C5) barely visible at night, never mind daylight or twilight.

 

ETA: I agree on the Audi/DS5, rubbish and far too bright. Extremely annoying, as are the silly single foglight thing.

[cms206]

First thing I do when I get into a bus at work is switch all the interior and exterior lights on and give the bus a check over. I've actually been pulled into the office before because even during the day I drive with dipped headlights, continental lights and marker lights on, as well as full interior lights. The reason given was "it ruins regulators"...

 

In the car I normally flick the sidelights on anyway, if it's raining dipped headlights. Force of habit more than anything I think.

[myglaren]

If it's raining dipped headlights I stay indoors.

[chaseracer]

If it's raining dipped headlights I stay indoors.

Better than hailing taxis...

[martybabes]

I think using side lights is pointless. You see the car before you see it has its sidelights on.

 

Dipped headlights FTW

 

 

 

 

How about that for a possible contraversial first post?

[Andrew353w]

I thought you'd all like to read a quote from "Car Driving as an Art" by S.C.H. Davis, published in 1955; it just goes to show how things have changed regarding car lighting:

 

(Quote)Now as to the matter of driving in fog. Mr. Punch once gave advice to those about to marry.... It was: "Don't". By no possible argument can anyone disprove that driving in fog is anything else than extremely dangerous, whatever one's experience or skill... the less light in front (of the car) the better, since the rays of the headlights are reflected back from mist, thus making it more difficult to see ahead." (Unquote)

 

The idea of using LESS light in fog must seem to all of us ridiculous today, yet this was the "wisdom of the day" in the 1950's. Maybe in 50 or so years daylight running lights will be viewed (oops!) with the same contempt.

 

If you see the book in a charity shop it's worth a couple of quid to see hew driving used to be......

[dieselnutjob]

I quite like DRLs. The wifes MPV has them, they have a 6W halogen bulb (Mercedes style side light bulb) which helps when she drives off at night without the lights on. I will admit that some of them are a bit too bright.

 

The newer VWs have a 21W bulb in them which I'm pretty sure is what my dad's old Saabs had, though the glass isn't frosted.

 

The problem with headlights during the day is that it also brings on the rear tails which masks the brake lights.

 

I'm not a fan of front fogs (unless it's foggy) but I don't think that there is a specific law against it. I'm sure that the offence is "dazzling other road users" or something. A properly adjusted front fog has a cut off beam the same as dipped beam so it shouldn't dazzle, and therefore you haven't committed the offence. As far as I know...

[John F]

I quite like DRLs. The wifes MPV has them, they have a 6W halogen bulb (Mercedes style side light bulb) which helps when she drives off at night without the lights on. I will admit that some of them are a bit too bright.

 

The newer VWs have a 21W bulb in them which I'm pretty sure is what my dad's old Saabs had, though the glass isn't frosted.

 

The problem with headlights during the day is that it also brings on the rear tails which masks the brake lights.

 

I'm not a fan of front fogs (unless it's foggy) but I don't think that there is a specific law against it. I'm sure that the offence is "dazzling other road users" or something. A properly adjusted front fog has a cut off beam the same as dipped beam so it shouldn't dazzle, and therefore you haven't committed the offence. As far as I know...

 

I'd actually like to see a new law passed against the use of fog lights in non-foggy conditions, worded thusly:

 

"Use of fog lights in conditions of good visibility shall incur branding of the word "wanker" on the perpetrator's forehead."

[clarkey]

they r ok until the relay burns out and slaps then on all night long in the garage and you wake up to a flat battery... also the newer type plastic lens and projector headlamps end up burning/smoke tinting the lens over a couple of years where they are constantly on which ends up an expensive mot fail on intensity and 2 new headlamps.

[flat4alfa]

It is illegal to drive with foglamps, there is a maximum fine of £400 & 3 points.

 

It comes under the 'misuse of lights'

 

Not that Plod ever seems to enforce it.

[R9UKE]

The one positive thing I can say about wanky DRLs is the rise in old shite being treated to a set from poundland to make it look EVEN more shite

 

 

There's a guy up the road with a pair on his 96 Pov Spec Clio - I must get a photo!

 

I saw the mention of the even more annoying "cornering lamps" that are gracing VAG piss these days. Turn on the right indicator and the right fog light comes on with it. Now how the hell is this legal? So I can take one bulb out of the fog lights on mine and get away with it??? It's the same bloody thing.

 

[M'coli]

I saw the mention of the even more annoying "cornering lamps" that are gracing VAG piss these days. Turn on the right indicator and the right fog light comes on with it. Now how the hell is this legal? So I can take one bulb out of the fog lights on mine and get away with it??? It's the same bloody thing.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tlckGKLdaSs

Relax, it's a feature that'll never get used!

[Pillock]

I honestly thought that VAG had bought a duff load of foglamp bulbs, the amount I'd seen with only one on at a junction.

I thought it was linked to steering and speed rather than indicator though, as I thought I'd seen some with one foglamp but no indicators, whilst turning.

 

I quite like DRLs. Anything that makes my car more visible is good, even if it saves one muppet pulling into my lane or pulling across in front of me. I don't like the Audi ones - they're too bright. Golf ones are quite good. Mind you, I find Audi headlamps far far too bright in normal use anyway.

[Pete-M]

I saw the mention of the even more annoying "cornering lamps" that are gracing VAG piss these days. Turn on the right indicator and the right fog light comes on with it. Now how the hell is this legal? So I can take one bulb out of the fog lights on mine and get away with it??? It's the same bloody thing.

 

It's got fuck all to do with the indicator switch. They're linked to the steering. Turn the wheel and the corner lamp comes on. They're to help you see into corners. Hence the name. Why anyone would be annoyed by it is a mystery to me.

 

Citroen did their version of it 40 years ago by making the headlamps of some DS's swivel with the steering. Thought of as a crap idea 40 years ago but now being hailed as "brilliant" by those who don't like anything that isn't 40 years old and fucked.

[Pillock]

Fucked fourty year olds? There's a website for that. Probably.

 

Corsas have swivelly headlamps too I believe - most likely as Xenons seem to be so directional and hard-edged that you can't actually see into a corner. I do find the drop-off of light in some newer cars irritating, they're great at illuminating the next 14 miles of dead straight road but no good for twisty turny roads, or spotting hazards in the verge.

 

Front fogs are used for illuminating the edge and centre of roads in seriously reduced visibility. They're not intended to make you more easily spotted as your headlamps are just as bright and have a longer throw beam. Rear fogs are meant to make you more easily spotted as they're the brightest lamp on the rear of the car. So front fogs that come on to illuminate corners would seem to be a fairly good idea...

[John F]

It does make me wonder how people ever managed in the past though.

 

I mean, how did a family of four ever manage to go on a week's holiday to the seaside in their Ford Anglia when fat mums now need a massive bulbous Shitroen Picasso AT LEAST to take their little dahlings and all of their associated shit to the shops?

 

And frankly, it's amazing that people survived the 1950s and 1960s with the unlit highways and non-swivelling headlights of everyone except smug (and rather louche) DS owners. It must have been carnage. ( I do take the point about xenons though... don't like 'em myself)

 

Not to mention daytime running lights. How on earth people managed to see unlit vehicles IN BROAD DAYLIGHT back then is a mystery to me.

 

On the other hand – and I realise I'm going out on a limb here – perhaps we don't really need all of this cossetting? I'm a firm believer that people should take responsibility for their own actions, and surrounding the country in a cocoon of undoubtedly well-meant but patronising & intensely frustrating nanny-state interference is not going to encourage people to think for themselves.

 

So there you have it. Daytime running lights will turn people into mindless idiots. You heard it here first.

[trigger]

I hate those daylight running lights too but not half as much as those bright Xenons that glare in your rear view mirror when on the motorway, Those cornering lights seem pretty pointless as well, I watched a 61 plate Citroen of some kind going around the roundabout the other day and couldn't work out why it's fog lights help flicking on and off.

[ashmicro]

I'd the devil's own job figuring out how to turn them off on this:

 

 

 

You have to go into the COMAND unit and faff about for longer than it took Microsoft to code Windows 8.

[John F]

I'd the devil's own job figuring out how to turn them off on this:

 

 

 

 

[Pillock]

It does make me wonder how people ever managed in the past though.

 

I mean, how did a family of four ever manage to go on a week's holiday to the seaside in their Ford Anglia when fat mums now need a massive bulbous Shitroen Picasso AT LEAST to take their little dahlings and all of their associated shit to the shops?

 

And frankly, it's amazing that people survived the 1950s and 1960s with the unlit highways and non-swivelling headlights of everyone except smug (and rather louche) DS owners. It must have been carnage. ( I do take the point about xenons though... don't like 'em myself)

 

Not to mention daytime running lights. How on earth people managed to see unlit vehicles IN BROAD DAYLIGHT back then is a mystery to me.

 

Thing is, thanks to YO! Car Credit and stuff, insane levels of depreciation and dubiously calculated benefits - fat mothers can now afford a massive car. And there are massive cars to afford, years ago there were very few models to choose from and your average family would have to make do. Combined with the dubious assumption that larger cars are safer, you're very unlikely to see kids crammed into anything smaller than a Focus.

 

The point about how they managed to see cars... I believe they didn't, and the aim is to make the roads safer. I've been knocked off my bike by a car I simply did not see, and a friend was run over and ended up with more titanium than the Terminator - silver car, broad daylight, looked but didn't see. And even yesterday, driving into town, came off a roundabout and very nearly hit a girl who had crossed right in front of us - I saw her look, and she stepped out anyway.

 

Driving is dangerous and you can be the best driver in the world but it doesn't stop others making mistakes. And whilst it's better to be able to say "I did everything I could", I'm sure the sight of an old dear with cataracts bouncing off your windscreen isn't pleasant.

[John F]

Thing is, thanks to YO! Car Credit and stuff, insane levels of depreciation and dubiously calculated benefits - fat mothers can now afford a massive car. And there are massive cars to afford, years ago there were very few models to choose from and your average family would have to make do. Combined with the dubious assumption that larger cars are safer, you're very unlikely to see kids crammed into anything smaller than a Focus.

 

The point about how they managed to see cars... I believe they didn't, and the aim is to make the roads safer. I've been knocked off my bike by a car I simply did not see, and a friend was run over and ended up with more titanium than the Terminator - silver car, broad daylight, looked but didn't see. And even yesterday, driving into town, came off a roundabout and very nearly hit a girl who had crossed right in front of us - I saw her look, and she stepped out anyway.

 

Driving is dangerous and you can be the best driver in the world but it doesn't stop others making mistakes. And whilst it's better to be able to say "I did everything I could", I'm sure the sight of an old dear with cataracts bouncing off your windscreen isn't pleasant.

 

I'm not really having a go at fat mums here... they're too far down the chain. It's the manufacturers and legislators that are forcing increasing levels of safety / luxury tat into vehicles, to the point where a modern small family car (Focus, etc) is roughly the same size and weight as the moon. There is no realistic equivalent of the Anglia anymore. And, since engines mustn't disturb nesting birds nowadays, modern cars can't be heard so easily by pedestrians - many of whom have their ears stuffed full of headphones anyway.

 

But IMO if someone can't see a car in daylight - especially one the size of the moon, as mentioned above - then that person should ask themelves serious questions about their attentiveness.

[Father Ted]

I hate LED DLR's with a passion.

I also hate flashing white light LED bulbs that many lycra clad twats on two wheels feel the need to sport these days.

 

People who use them should be transported to the colonies until they learn to use proper incandescent lights.

[Pete-M]

It's been law in Czech for at least five years that if you're driving your car then the headlamps must be on at all times. It's quite comical now as it has resulted in all kinds of old Eastern Eurotat being retro fitted with LED DRLs.

 

Old Skoda MB-1000s look frankly daft with 'em but the locals fit 'em as;

 

A: They're brighter than the factory headlamps,

B: They use less power and they can be run without all the other lights being on during the day

C: When everyone on the road always has their lights on it's surprisingly easy to not see a car that hasn't.

 

It does make sense in winter there to run with lights on all the time as it gets bloody dark at night and when it's snowy it is easier to spot something with DRLs when everything around is a shade of white.

 

Here, I'm not so sure, but I run with headlamps on on the motorways.

 

As for high level brake lights, I'm all for 'em. The Jag doesn't have 'em and it's surprising how many people brake late behind it.

[R9UKE]

 

It's got fuck all to do with the indicator switch. They're linked to the steering. Turn the wheel and the corner lamp comes on. They're to help you see into corners. Hence the name.

 

I think you'll find they're linked to both. Observe and correct yourself. 27 seconds onwards, indicator on, "cornering" light on, then wheel turns. They're actually MORE influenced by the indicators than the steering if you watch it.

 

 

And that's actually the main reason they piss me off. Cars approaching junctions, owner with indicator on miles before and the stupid light on the whole time

[Vin]

This Evening. 16.30. It was only reading this thread that I realised all the cars on the M62 with front lights on had no rear lights on

 

I had my side lights on, cos it was dusky/low cloud/low light.

 

Didn't realise everything else was DRLs...

[dieselnutjob]

Headlights have to be on all the time in Italy as well now, unless you have DRLs. I'm sure they will become compulsory on new cars at some point.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

How difficult would it be to make up your own custom DRLs to really fit a car? There's strip ones you can bend to fit, but they look shite. I'd really like some tiny triangular ones...

 

Headlights have to be on all the time in Italy as well now, unless you have DRLs. I'm sure they will become compulsory on new cars at some point.

From last year - I believe the requirement was EU-wide.