Driving at night with headlights off

[Birdster]

I always wondered how people managed this. I'm used to old cars, so at night the instrument cluster is dark and the road in front of you is dark. Like instinct you turn the lights on and drive away. Simples.

Only yesterday I couldn't believe that I see another driver doing the same. Tonight I jumped in a Hyundai i30 with daytime running lights. Thought to myself "great auto lights". Lights lit up the road, instrument cluster lit up. Then I realised it was only the DRL. Doh!

Guess it is easier to do on some cars.

Although to be fair, yesterday's culprit was an old Primera.

[Gdgd]

I've got an old Ford Ka and sometimes do this - the door ajar buzzer is broken and sounds constantly so i took the fuse out in the mean time, which, you guessed it - is the fuse that also runs the backlight for the cluster - must get that fixed come to think of it...

[the_lone_wolf]

Why would I need lights? I can see everybody else...

[Leins]

IIRC, the mk2 Seat Ibiza had dials that were constantly lit up, but only on Cupra models. Ridiculous idea for the above reason

[Hyperen]

Had a chuckle/fright a few months back seeing some young girls driving a Mk4 Fiesta in the dark with the headlights off but with the interior light on presumably so they could see the speedo!

[TheEnd]

It's a gang thing.

Don't flash!

[Talksteer]

I drove 110 miles of the M1 a few weeks ago with no dipped beams light in a TVR. I could put the main beams on but only by holding the stalk permanently.

On the lit sections is was no big deal, on the unlit sections you can't see the cats eyes and you get dazzled by the oncoming traffic.

I tried finding a slow person and using their lights but this was frustrating as hell as they slowed down :-) when followed.

Eventually I resorted to driving most of the unlit sections with main beams on most of the time.

[ging84]

people should still be reasonably safe, you've got lights on the front and reflectors on the rear, should be enough to be seen, unless you get 2 people who forget then there's not enough to light up the reflectors

[oldcynic]

I've had a couple of hire cars where the dash is illuminated irrespective of the state of the headlights (and this was before DRL's). I normally drive a Volvo so it never occured to me that I needed to turn anything on at night, and the dashboard was consistent with this point of view.

What a fking stupid idea

[Glosphil]

oldcynic said:

I've had a couple of hire cars where the dash is illuminated irrespective of the state of the headlights (and this was before DRL's). I normally drive a Volvo so it never occured to me that I needed to turn anything on at night, and the dashboard was consistent with this point of view.

What a fking stupid idea

My car has a permanently illuminated instrumernt cluster. Great idea - I can actually read the speedo when wearing sunglasses in bright sunlight. Can also set two levels of illumination - one is used when headlights are on and the other when headlights off. So high level of illumination during daylight and lower level at night.

[Pints]

Range Rover driver on the M4 managed this last night in dark, misty conditions. And, to top it off, it was a not so visible grey in colour.

No amount of reverse flashing would get him to realise the error of his ways.
It's just that time of year again, chaps. We have to think just that much harder for those drivers who don't turn their lights on, and ignore those who refuse to extinguish their fog lights.

[james280779]

Talksteer said:

I drove 110 miles of the M1 a few weeks ago with no dipped beams light in a TVR. I could put the main beams on but only by holding the stalk permanently.

On the lit sections is was no big deal, on the unlit sections you can't see the cats eyes and you get dazzled by the oncoming traffic.

I tried finding a slow person and using their lights but this was frustrating as hell as they slowed down :-) when followed.

Eventually I resorted to driving most of the unlit sections with main beams on most of the time.

had exact same problem in an old Jeep - luckily lights were so old they couldnt blind anyone if I tried

[james280779]

worked really well for Jackie Chan in the cannonball run

[AreOut]

police interceptors here turn off the lights to catch speeders unnoticed...

[Captain Muppet]

Pints said:

Range Rover driver on the M4 managed this last night in dark, misty conditions. And, to top it off, it was a not so visible grey in colour.

No amount of reverse flashing would get him to realise the error of his ways.

[PH]
How could you see him to flash him?
[/PH]

[Triumph Man]

On a deserted quiet road, that I knew, I turned the Passat's lights off, just briefly, and to see what it was like. Lights fully off, so no instrumentation either. Weird is how I would describe it.

[AREA]

The first car I had with automatic lights (i.e. car decided when they were needed) had the slightly unnerving tendency to switch them off if it was a clear night with a bright full moon. Made for interesting driving when making progress down country lanes at night!

[PumpkinSteve]

oldcynic said:

I've had a couple of hire cars where the dash is illuminated irrespective of the state of the headlights (and this was before DRL's). I normally drive a Volvo so it never occured to me that I needed to turn anything on at night, and the dashboard was consistent with this point of view.

What a fking stupid idea

I've done that with a new car. I had loads of people flashing their lights after work one day, so I'm sticking my fingers up at them and telling them to fk off, only to realise that I'd assumed the lights were automatic because the dash was illuminated.

[Otispunkmeyer]

Glosphil said:

oldcynic said:

I've had a couple of hire cars where the dash is illuminated irrespective of the state of the headlights (and this was before DRL's). I normally drive a Volvo so it never occured to me that I needed to turn anything on at night, and the dashboard was consistent with this point of view.

What a fking stupid idea

My car has a permanently illuminated instrumernt cluster. Great idea - I can actually read the speedo when wearing sunglasses in bright sunlight. Can also set two levels of illumination - one is used when headlights are on and the other when headlights off. So high level of illumination during daylight and lower level at night.

Same here, the panel is always lit, but I have it on maximum during the day and so at night, it's way too in your face to not notice it. Lights on and the dash dims to the setting I chose.... The only issue now is sometimes it can be little too dark to see the rev counter during the day when you need your lights on like in motorway spray or fog. Additionally the auto lights feature on my car seems to work pretty well 98% of the time... As well as the auto wipers. Only car I have had where these two gimmicks actually work and are useful!

[the_lone_wolf]

oldcynic said:

...I normally drive a Volvo so it never occured to me that I needed to turn anything on at night...

What year V70 do you drive? My 2006 model won't let you engage the high beam unless the headlight switch is in the on position, you can flash but it won't latch on...