Discussion
Thread resurrection - "DRL-disease" has started again now the morning and evening commutes are in the dim or dark. It'll get far worse in late October when the hour comes off
Being charitable, I can almost understand how someone can jump into a car at night, see a fully-lit dashboard and the ground lit up in front of them, causing them to trundle off into the night with no headlights and rear lights.
What I really fail to understand is how they can then ignore the multiple flashing of lights, honking of horns and various hand gestures trying to inform them that they have no lights on.
As I said in the OP, eventually somebody is going to die because of these infernal devices.
and breathe....
Being charitable, I can almost understand how someone can jump into a car at night, see a fully-lit dashboard and the ground lit up in front of them, causing them to trundle off into the night with no headlights and rear lights.
What I really fail to understand is how they can then ignore the multiple flashing of lights, honking of horns and various hand gestures trying to inform them that they have no lights on.
As I said in the OP, eventually somebody is going to die because of these infernal devices.
and breathe....
OGR4M said:
This is part of European legislation introduced in 2008, and implemented in Britain for passenger vehicles and vans in February of 2011 (HGVs and PCVs in 2012) which requires the use of DRLs for every new car made/sold in this country after those dates.
AFAIK this all started in sweden with Volvos - presumably because of the stereotypical Scandinavian inclement conditions.
But... realistically... it's unlikely that conditions in our mighty nation are so adverse that we cannot see another car in the middle of the day - and if that were the case, they should have their standard headlights on anyway!!
Hopefully a craze that will die out in time, just like big grills and chrome wheels.
We in UK had dim-dip headlights in the 1980s but these were outlawed by the EU I believe. I liked them and used mine all the time except in full dark of course.AFAIK this all started in sweden with Volvos - presumably because of the stereotypical Scandinavian inclement conditions.
But... realistically... it's unlikely that conditions in our mighty nation are so adverse that we cannot see another car in the middle of the day - and if that were the case, they should have their standard headlights on anyway!!
Hopefully a craze that will die out in time, just like big grills and chrome wheels.
Debaser said:
Automatic lights will soon be compulsory, which should help.
Maybe. Last time I took my car in for service they put the lights back to 'off' instead of 'auto'. Much to my great shame it was quite a while of driving in the dark (in London so always lit streets) before I realised they weren't on. So yeah, all too easy to not realise for a while if someone else changes them, because you never have to manually put them on and off you just don't think about it.
Far prefer dim dip headlights than the increasingly ostentatious toys some DRLs have become. I know it doesn't matter a damn in the global scheme of things but my especial vitriol is reserved for those DRLs which so cleverly turn themselves off when the indicators come on and then - look, just look at how clever my car is- they come back on again when the indicator goes off!! It's a 'surprise and delight ' feature for some I'm sure but I find the whole overwrought performance deeply irksome.
leglessAlex said:
Debaser said:
Automatic lights will soon be compulsory, which should help.
Maybe. Last time I took my car in for service they put the lights back to 'off' instead of 'auto'. Much to my great shame it was quite a while of driving in the dark (in London so always lit streets) before I realised they weren't on. So yeah, all too easy to not realise for a while if someone else changes them, because you never have to manually put them on and off you just don't think about it.
Debaser said:
Automatic lights will soon be compulsory, which should help.
You'd think but I've been caught out a few times wondering why my lights hadn't come on.......because the car had come back from a service and the tech had switched them to the 'off' position. This happens every time, they always seem to turn the lights off so they don't come on in the workshop and never switch them back to auto. So people drive off, not thinking about it because hey, it's set to auto, and only realise when its getting really quite dark because the stupid dash is lit up even with the lights off.
Auto lights are not a full answer....
BMW's auto system on mine is slow to respond I complained and it turned out that going through dark areas they were turning on and off so much people thought they were flashing them - and now reduced therefore lowered their sensitivity, although with large trees overhanging it is nice to turn them on anyway manually.
The latest set of angel eye DRL's are generally nice, but I would like my rear lights on with DRL's anyway in honesty.DO not mention the latest audi indicators...
BMW's auto system on mine is slow to respond I complained and it turned out that going through dark areas they were turning on and off so much people thought they were flashing them - and now reduced therefore lowered their sensitivity, although with large trees overhanging it is nice to turn them on anyway manually.
The latest set of angel eye DRL's are generally nice, but I would like my rear lights on with DRL's anyway in honesty.DO not mention the latest audi indicators...
Debaser said:
Automatic lights will soon be compulsory, which should help.
Really? Just another step to dumbing down of drivers, or things in general. It infuriates me when the car decides it wants to do something I don't want it to do. You can't even drive out of the garage without the things coming on. Into a short tunnel, with no other traffic, still come on, usually just as you leave the tunnel. So you're now driving with headlights on in broad daylight.
Lane assist, vibrates the wheel if you don't indicate. Why indicate if there's no-one to benefit.
Wipers that set their own speed, no option to over-ride it.
The list goes on.
No wonder a lot of people can't think for themselves, 'it didn't say it was dangerous to jump off this cliff' etc.
Maybe regulators should concentrate on finding ways of removing distractions for drivers (whoever sat down at the planning meeting and thought touch screens, with some out of line of sight, was a 'great idea').
Still, just reduce urban speed limits to 10mph, rural to 20mph and reduce the risk that way - that sounds like a good idea
I wonder how long it'll take before a road safety charity or the government create adverts telling motorists about the hazards of driving with your DRLs in the evening... I have always wondered why cars with DRLs don't have default 'Auto' option... too many idiots see a backlit dash and think their lights are on... no amount of gesticulating gets them to turn there lights on... seriously, what do you think it means when all the cars behind you are flashing you... okay I guess they could get scared but its there own fault!
Why can't the motorway gantry signs say "Check your dripped lights are on and no your Daytime Running Lights" or something like that..
I was listening to Capital FM London the other day and an advert for SMART Motorways came on - the advert was warning those idiots who drive through lanes with the BIG RED X not to do so because they are not only endangering themselves but those that have broken down, the emergency services etc.
Too many foolish people on the road today who are in their own world and don't understand how to drive... why on earth aren't motorway lessons compulsory as part of the driving test? It could be a compulsory test after passing the first test or even incorporated... How is it a good idea not to teach a new driver how to drive on the fastest roads in the UK in a safe manner? They need to learn about lane discipline, braking distance, using lights on the motorway etc.
Why can't the motorway gantry signs say "Check your dripped lights are on and no your Daytime Running Lights" or something like that..
I was listening to Capital FM London the other day and an advert for SMART Motorways came on - the advert was warning those idiots who drive through lanes with the BIG RED X not to do so because they are not only endangering themselves but those that have broken down, the emergency services etc.
Too many foolish people on the road today who are in their own world and don't understand how to drive... why on earth aren't motorway lessons compulsory as part of the driving test? It could be a compulsory test after passing the first test or even incorporated... How is it a good idea not to teach a new driver how to drive on the fastest roads in the UK in a safe manner? They need to learn about lane discipline, braking distance, using lights on the motorway etc.
David87 said:
Certain new cars are now illuminating the rears as part of the DRLs.
Too little, too late... It should have started off like this! This + the Autolights as standard when the ignition is turned should help. Edited by EuroFighter on Tuesday 27th September 21:00
Fox- said:
EuroFighter said:
Too little, too late... It should have started off like this!
It did! The first F10 5 Series for example had rear lights as part of the DRL's the later ones do not. You can enable it but only by connecting your laptop to the diag port..Ninja59 said:
The latest set of angel eye DRL's are generally nice, but I would like my rear lights on with DRL's anyway in honesty.DO not mention the latest audi indicators...
Interesting as my E87 1-series had the rear lights on when the DRLs were active without me having to configure anything. Actually, thinking about it, that's also true for the MINI I had and the Focus I currently have.Chris
The issue here isn't the DRL's.
People will drive around without proper lights on with or without DRL's.
The issue here is the interior illumination. A lot of modern cars have light sensors inside the dash binnacle. This alters the brightness of the dials regardless of the operation of the exterior lights, here lies the problem.
If the dash is well illuminated then people are fooled into assuming their exterior lights are on.
DRL's can actually help, at least there is some exterior illumination, better than none.
DRL's only become an issue when the driver see's their reflection in other cars, shop windows etc. and think their lights are on.
If the manufacturer fits DRL's then auto headlights should be fitted too, they should come as a package.
People will drive around without proper lights on with or without DRL's.
The issue here is the interior illumination. A lot of modern cars have light sensors inside the dash binnacle. This alters the brightness of the dials regardless of the operation of the exterior lights, here lies the problem.
If the dash is well illuminated then people are fooled into assuming their exterior lights are on.
DRL's can actually help, at least there is some exterior illumination, better than none.
DRL's only become an issue when the driver see's their reflection in other cars, shop windows etc. and think their lights are on.
If the manufacturer fits DRL's then auto headlights should be fitted too, they should come as a package.
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