Institutionalised ****** lights. Why?????

[Kermit power]

I know I'm not the only person on here who reserves a special degree of loathing for tossers who drive around with their front fog lights on when it's not foggy, but at least it was only the occasional tosser.

Nowadays, however, it seems every other manufacturer is fitting their cars with stupid strips of LED lights designed to dazzle motorists driving towards them. Why on earth do they do this????? We managed to drive around for decades without crashing into each other for want of "datytime running lights", so why the hell do we need them now?

Just to make things worse, I've just worked out too late to change my order that the S-Max family bus I've got coming on our company car scheme is going to have the loathsome things! I just hope to god there's an easy way of switching them off (although given the huge number of people who have them switched on I'm not hopeful), as I'm sure the lease company would frown on me getting underneath the thing with a pair of wire cutters!

[S10GTA]

Is it not something to do with the EU?

[pidsy]

Isn't it european legislation that all new cars have DRL's now?

[24lemons]

Yeah I'm pretty sure it's new eu legislation. When I was in Poland and the Czech republic earlier this year you would get flashed at if you didn't have lights on during the day and almost every car old enough not to have factory fitted drl's was wearing those awful halfords DIY led style lights. It was far to many for it to be simply fashion related.

I'm afraid you'll have to get used to them
as they are here to stay.

[Kermit power]

It seems you are correct, chaps. They just can't stop themselves from meddling, can they?

I shall now move my cursing from the car manufacturers (although do they really need to make them so bright?) to the EU.

[jbi]

yup... introduced I think because it was already law in several Scandinavian countries?

I know volvo made them standard on their cars long before it became law as their research showed it was safer.

[PumpkinSteve]

Are you really dazzled by LED lights? Because I never have been, they don't bother me at all. My car has DRLs but they are not LEDs, dipped beam is just always on (VW).

EDIT: As mentioned below, HIDs on the other hand are fking annoying.

Edited by PumpkinSteve on Sunday 9th September 19:14

[kambites]

I've never really seen a problem with DRLs. HIDs on the other hand, are bloody awful.

[Perd Hapley]

With any luck they'll fall out of fashion and become a lot more subdued (like VW ones).

[Kermit power]

PumpkinSteve said:

Are you really dazzled by LED lights? Because I never have been, they don't bother me at all. My car has DRLs but they are not LEDs, dipped beam is just always on (VW).

I suppose distracted would probably be a better word than dazzled, but I do find them exceptionally annoying. No different to fog lights, really. If they have to do it, I can't see why they couldn't just do what VW have done on yours.

It seems some people find them even more annoying than I do!

[TheEnd]

Distracting maybe, but they won't be dazzling.

They look bright as they have a high colour temperature, ie, white, not yellowish, which people will assume must be bright as a filament bulb would be very bright to get to the same level of whiteness.

[24lemons]

I have to say that whilst i have no problem with front fog lights being used and cant ever claim to have been dazzled by them, I have been dazzled by some of the drl's. Audi and Citroen seem to have quite bright ones.

My initial thought regarding drl's was this, until a couple of years ago if you saw lights approaching in the daytime chances were that it was a bike or a Volvo, Hence bikers stood out. Now, you can have a sea of drl's approaching which makes the biker less visible so their one advantage over cars (visibility wise) has been lost.

[Magic919]

I hate the ones on DRLs when they ought to put on their sidelights. The DRLs stay at the daytime brightness and it's bait excessive.

[nadger]

As a previous poster mentioned, it is law in all Scandinavian countries (I think!) to have DDLs. It's been the law in Denmark for about 20 years, and even longer in Sweden and Norway I think? (not sure about Finland tbh).
Personally I think it's a good idea. It makes other cars far more visible IMHO! (prepares to be shot down in flames over this one!)

[peter8171]

As already mentioned, they are now mandatory. However, have a DS3 as a courtesy car at the moment (due to the Hinckley hail storm) and there is an option in the menus to switch them off.

May well be possible in the Ford too.

[TheHeretic]

kambites said:

I've never really seen a problem with DRLs. HIDs on the other hand, are bloody awful.

This.

[Chicane-UK]

Yep - my Fiat 500 had DRL's and you could deactivate them in the menu system.

[telecat]

I do see them causing more than a few accidents. The Reason for them in Scandinavian countries does work. Low sun during the day means that they need them to pick up cars in the distance. Unfortunately it's a problem where that does not occur. Distance perception is thrown off by lights being on. That already being the blame in a few accidents where people had Main or fog lamps on in conditions where lights would not normally be needed. In Bright countries they are also distracting as you look to see why they are on.

[Funk]

What seems to be a bit silly is that I've noticed many cars don't turn the rear lights on when they are on DRLs (as opposed to sidelights). I've seen many drivers driving around in dusk with just DRLs (and hence no tail lights).

[Baryonyx]

kambites said:

I've never really seen a problem with DRLs. HIDs on the other hand, are bloody awful.

They are. I prefer the old fashioned bulbs. But the 'light war' has gone one for too long now. If it's not improperly adjusted HID's, it's a French car with improperly adjusted headlights blinding you as you approach. Or a taxi driver with a bulb out, so he has the other light on full beam to compensate.

I say this having Xenons on my car, that are great when you're on your own but I've already been out and checked they aren't going to blind other road users. But then, most people with HID's probably haven't thought of what anyone else on the road is thinking.