Driving with the lights on during the day
Discussion
Two problems with universal daylight running lights:
- it makes it more difficult to pick out vulnerable road users that really do need lights, such as bikers and slow-moving vehicles, or vehicles that are using their lights as they should do, to indicate or warn, and
- a road full of headlights during daylight is just as unpleasant as a row of billboards in every field, or people tooting their horns every few seconds.
Britain had better get used to it, though. There is a proposal in the EU, which may already have been made a binding regulation for '07 or '08, that all cars sold in the EU must come with automatic DRLs.
- it makes it more difficult to pick out vulnerable road users that really do need lights, such as bikers and slow-moving vehicles, or vehicles that are using their lights as they should do, to indicate or warn, and
- a road full of headlights during daylight is just as unpleasant as a row of billboards in every field, or people tooting their horns every few seconds.
Britain had better get used to it, though. There is a proposal in the EU, which may already have been made a binding regulation for '07 or '08, that all cars sold in the EU must come with automatic DRLs.
flemke said:
Two problems with universal daylight running lights:
- it makes it more difficult to pick out vulnerable road users that really do need lights, such as bikers and slow-moving vehicles, or vehicles that are using their lights as they should do, to indicate or warn, and
- a road full of headlights during daylight is just as unpleasant as a row of billboards in every field, or people tooting their horns every few seconds.
Britain had better get used to it, though. There is a proposal in the EU, which may already have been made a binding regulation for '07 or '08, that all cars sold in the EU must come with automatic DRLs.
- it makes it more difficult to pick out vulnerable road users that really do need lights, such as bikers and slow-moving vehicles, or vehicles that are using their lights as they should do, to indicate or warn, and
- a road full of headlights during daylight is just as unpleasant as a row of billboards in every field, or people tooting their horns every few seconds.
Britain had better get used to it, though. There is a proposal in the EU, which may already have been made a binding regulation for '07 or '08, that all cars sold in the EU must come with automatic DRLs.
I agree with what you say about use of lights. If everybody has them on all the time it will do more harm than good IMHO. It seems to be yet another load of rubbish from an organisation that should be downgraded to a Common Market, and nothing more than that, and quickly too.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
flemke said:
Two problems with universal daylight running lights:
- it makes it more difficult to pick out vulnerable road users that really do need lights, such as bikers and slow-moving vehicles, or vehicles that are using their lights as they should do, to indicate or warn, and
- a road full of headlights during daylight is just as unpleasant as a row of billboards in every field, or people tooting their horns every few seconds.
Britain had better get used to it, though. There is a proposal in the EU, which may already have been made a binding regulation for '07 or '08, that all cars sold in the EU must come with automatic DRLs.
- it makes it more difficult to pick out vulnerable road users that really do need lights, such as bikers and slow-moving vehicles, or vehicles that are using their lights as they should do, to indicate or warn, and
- a road full of headlights during daylight is just as unpleasant as a row of billboards in every field, or people tooting their horns every few seconds.
Britain had better get used to it, though. There is a proposal in the EU, which may already have been made a binding regulation for '07 or '08, that all cars sold in the EU must come with automatic DRLs.
As for the first point... I'd say that point is negated by the fact that the same conditions occur at night. If bikers need to be seen, they should have lights as well. As for slow moving vehicles, flashing lights stand out quite a bit more than lights left on constantly. I can't really see a basis for this point... if a driver is too easily "confused" by all the vehicles being lit up, then they shouldn't be driving as they clearly lack the skills then to drive in darkness.
For the second point... due to ambient light, other lights are much less annoying during the day than at night. Though perhaps this may be more of a personal preference... but if one is irritated by headlights, how can they drive at night, then, when the lights seem even more intense?
I think its all a very silly idea except in Scandinavia in winter where daytime is nighttime anyway. Headlights on during the day are annoying and distracting, even on motorbikes, where they seem to be on main beam mostly. To my mind its just more dumbing down, like headlights and wipers that turn themselves on. Funny old world - if its raining, I know that and act accordingly, likewise darkness.
If you are going to do something like this and I can see some sense, then why not a running lights which are bright but quite small - blue at the front, red at the back - enough to notice but not distract.
If you are going to do something like this and I can see some sense, then why not a running lights which are bright but quite small - blue at the front, red at the back - enough to notice but not distract.
imperialism2024 said:
As for the first point... I'd say that point is negated by the fact that the same conditions occur at night. If bikers need to be seen, they should have lights as well. As for slow moving vehicles, flashing lights stand out quite a bit more than lights left on constantly. I can't really see a basis for this point... if a driver is too easily "confused" by all the vehicles being lit up, then they shouldn't be driving as they clearly lack the skills then to drive in darkness.
For the second point... due to ambient light, other lights are much less annoying during the day than at night. Though perhaps this may be more of a personal preference... but if one is irritated by headlights, how can they drive at night, then, when the lights seem even more intense?
You're trying to turn the question into a black-and-white dichotomy, which it is not. For the second point... due to ambient light, other lights are much less annoying during the day than at night. Though perhaps this may be more of a personal preference... but if one is irritated by headlights, how can they drive at night, then, when the lights seem even more intense?
Every human being is "confused", to use your term, constantly, by everything that is around him. It always takes the brain some amount of time to adjust to the moment and make sense of it. We should always want that time to be minimised.
Of course flashing lights are more noticable than steady lights are. The point is that flashing lights are even more noticable when the environment is not being polluted by loads of other superfluous, distracting lights.
Most people are not "irritated" by lights at night, but it's a fact of nature that all people are to varying degrees distracted by them.
Why make things worse by extending that distraction around the clock?
You raise a point about people who "lack the skills then to drive in darkness."
Shouldn't you first and foremost ask the question about people who lack the skills to see full-sized cars driving in broad daylight, and who supposedly need those cars to be illuminated in order to avoid hitting them?
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