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Daytime Running Lights

13K views 29 replies 24 participants last post by  Egz 
#1 ·
I was wondering what you guys think about DRL. It seems I pretty frequently see someone driving at night without their lights on. Almost without fail, their headlights are somewhat dimly on though, leading me to DRL.

With the headlights being on, and many cars having electronic dashes that are backlit regardless of headlight setting, many people may assume they have automatic lights, when in fact, they have daytime running lights. The whole thing seems pretty unsafe to me, and rather pointless. I can see you during the day without your headlights, but it's hard to see you at night without your taillights.
 
#2 ·
I hate DRLs and always have for pretty much the same reasons you just listed :thumbdown

-Brian
 
#4 ·
I like DRLs. Although daytime you should be seeing "everything", there are the times where maybe you aren't paying attention or the sun is in your eyes, and having lights on gives a little bit of visibility that someone is there.

As for the nighttime dilemma, I blame the idiot behind the wheel that makes the assumption the lights are automatic, or they are too busy gabbing on their phone or talking with people in the car to realize they haven't turned on their lights.
 
#6 ·
DRL are a MUST on a motorcycle! It's dangerous enough. I see cars running without DRL's and it's dangerous imo. I think ALL cars and motorcycles should have them! It's a safety feature, and people need to be educated about using their lights. I have Xenon's on my MINI, so the look is completely different.

Even if cars are running with DRL's at night, it's still much more safe than no lights.

-Cody
 
#7 ·
Motorcycles don't have daytime running lights, they have "all lights always on" lights, including the rears.

polizei said:
Even if cars are running with DRL's at night, it's still much more safe than no lights.
True, but if there were no lights on, it would be obvious to the idiot driver and they could turn their lights on. DRL makes the idiot drivers think that their lights are on (again, when coupled with electronic dashes that are always backlit), so they don't think to use their lights, leaving the rear and side lamps dark.
 
#8 ·
I agree about DRL's on a bike, they really help spot them during the day. For a car, I don't care for them. I like to be able to turn them on when I see fit to do so. Dawn, dusk, fog, cloudy conditions, rain, or on 2-lane roads I turn mine on manualy and turn them back off when I don't want them on. I don't see a reason to have them on at all times. There are many drivers who don't use headlights at all when they should, so perhaps they need DRL's. Automatic headlights are ok, but I would rather not have them. Our Escape has them, and the lights turn on and off when we drive if it is cloudy and it can't figure out what it wants to do. My wife loves them, but I like to be in control of what is turning on and off when I drive.
 
#10 ·
I've got DRLs on my Yaris, and I don't mind 'em. Yes, I think the car looks cooler w/o the headlights on during the day, but for the average Joe Schmoe, it's probably a good idea. However, there is that "forgetting-to-turn-your-headlights-on-so-your-taillights-turn-on" thing, as mentioned. I'm with Egz on the automatic lights thing.
 
#11 ·
I see people drive at night with no lights on at all....it's like, how stupid can you be!? Duh!

-Cody
 
#12 ·
DRLs are a terrible idea for all the reasons mentioned above. I'd be pro-DRL if the lights were also automatic. My mom's car (Saturn) is this way, and I like it.

I think lights on during the daytime is a good idea, you're just that much more visible.... maybe just enough to prevent an accident. :thumbup:
 
#13 ·
KonaZXIII said:
DRL's are lame.

If you want your lights on during the day, (gasp), turn them on.
X2

I have driven plenty of times with the sun in my eye, and DRL's only give me more lights to squint at. The best thing I did was, went and got a good pair of sunglasses.

:thumbup:
 
#14 ·
My '08 MINI Cooper S came standard with DRL but I ended up turning them off.Personally I don't like DRL at all.
 
#15 ·
If everyone has their headlights off during the day, the person with their headlights on sticks out.

If everyone has their headlights on during the day, the person with their headlights off sticks out.

Its common sense.

If DRLs are law, then all you see are a sea of headlights. It does not improve conspicuity. The human brain very quickly just tunes it out. Many motorcycles install headlight modulators on their bikes which makes the headlights flash, and it really does make you stick out.... but if you had a sea of cars with flashing headlights, it would blend in with the background and wouldn't help at all. Legislators rarely use common sense though.
 
#17 ·
Because some governments want to take away your ability to use your own noodle, as you're assumed to be too much of a dumb****, and they are surprised you can even feed yourself.

They want to decide whether or not you have the right to turn your headlights on or not during the day when they arent needed, forgoing common sense in citing that its safer.
 
#18 ·
orionlion82 said:
must have for liquid grey.
I'm beginging to think they are a must for Egg Yolk Yellow too. I've had people look straight at me then pull out in front of me where I had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting them.
 
#19 ·
i turned my DRL off on my VW. although before they were off the dash lighting wouldnt be lit only the needles would be red so at night you know the DRL was on. there was also a bulb on the speedo that would light up DRL when they were on.
 
#20 ·
I like em... good for $35 off my insurance premium each year. I run with the headlights on over the DRL in order to have my running lights at the same time. As a veteran motorcyclist I know being seen is critical to safety. If you drive aggressively it's even more important that people know you're there when you weren't there a second ago when they last looked over their shoulder... "where did HE come from?" is no good.

More facts....

Insurance Discounts for Daytime Lights

By BETSY WADE
Published: April 14, 1996

New York State now requires that auto insurance companies reduce their premiums by 2.5 to 3 percent for residents who own cars with factory-installed daytime running lights, which have been shown to reduce head-on and side-impact collisions.

Daytime running lights -- headlights activated by the ignition, at a lower intensity than the night beam, and stay on -- are standard on many 1995 and '96 models. Chuck Hurley, senior vice president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, says 21.3 percent of the 1996 models registered in the United States have the running lights, up from 5.2 percent of '95 models.

Connecticut has not taken a similar action, nor has New Jersey, although the New Jersey Insurance Department said that so far two insurance companies had voluntarily given their policyholders a 5 percent reduction in the collision premium for cars with daytime running lights.

All three states require that headlights be on while windshield wipers are running, but Canada went a step further, making daytime running lights mandatory with the 1990 model year. Avis Rent a Car conducted a test in eight northern cities in the United States in 1993, keeping records on 1,500 cars equipped with the lights, plus 1,500 control cars. The results showed that accidents involving the unequipped cars cost 69 percent more to repair said Demetria Mudar, an Avis spokeswoman. Accidents involving damage greater than $15,000 involved only the unequipped cars, she said. Two-thirds of the Avis fleet is equipped with daytime running lights. BETSY WADE
 
#21 ·
With the creation of twinned highways, DRLs are kind of pointless as there s no longer any incoming traffic that needs to see you.

I still turn on my headlights when I'm on a highway with two-way traffic so passing vehicles can better guage how far away I am, but other than that in daylight I don't need them.

The added benefit of romoving my DRLs is that with liquid grey, my car becomes invisible at dusk, so if I'm driving out to the lake after dinner and it's just starting to get dark, I am running invisible to the cars on the other side of the median on the twin highway headed out there. I can guarantee I've avoided being seen by police a few times during the tax collection period of the month where we are pulled over for doing 115 in a 110 zone.

The other added bonus with DRLs is that all police cruisers up here have them as well, so a late night speed trap in the dead of winter (Police keep thier cruisers running in -20C to -50C) is very easy to spot by the dim headlights sitting in the median between the highway lanes.
 
#24 ·
The wrx came with drl. I really don't like them, but oh well. Plus here in Norway the law requires your front and rear lights to be on all day, so drl are kind of pointless for me. Maybe because it rains every frickin day, or during the winter we only get about 7 hours of daylight.
 
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