Not such a stupid idea...
Discussion
Lots of posts moaning about driving standards today, and also about the curse of the DRL/auto headlights , especially when folks are driving around without lights on in crappy weather.
Well Skoda (possibly other VAG cars?) are approaching it a bit differently, they've labelled their headlight switch 'poor weather lights', ok all it does is turn the headlights and rear lights on but hopefully at least some folks will now think a bit more about putting these on when the weathers crap....
To be fair, took me a while to suss as was looking for how i put the headlights on.... now if we can only stop people putting fog lights on in the same conditions!
Well Skoda (possibly other VAG cars?) are approaching it a bit differently, they've labelled their headlight switch 'poor weather lights', ok all it does is turn the headlights and rear lights on but hopefully at least some folks will now think a bit more about putting these on when the weathers crap....
To be fair, took me a while to suss as was looking for how i put the headlights on.... now if we can only stop people putting fog lights on in the same conditions!
I think, and I m happy to be corrected, that is VAG version of front fogs, in that it adds in an additional light do the dipped beam, however it s contained within the main headlight housing, so other drivers don t notice it, and adds a bit of extra light in rainy conditions.
I will add, I used to drive a lot of hire cars, and found VAG auto lights excellent, really good at picking up low light conditions, and the dipped beams come on with the wipers, as most new cars do.
I will add, I used to drive a lot of hire cars, and found VAG auto lights excellent, really good at picking up low light conditions, and the dipped beams come on with the wipers, as most new cars do.
Edited by carlove on Tuesday 20th January 11:40
I've got a 10 plate Golf, with the lights set to auto the car will turn dipped beam etc on if the wipers trigger more than three times in a set period--I wonder if they still work the same.
Either way, as long they don't put a rain symbol on the FOG light switch......
Either way, as long they don't put a rain symbol on the FOG light switch......
Edited by MikeGTi on Tuesday 20th January 11:49
I still think we should bring back Government made 30 sec to 1 min safety videos (like Xmas drink driving, green-cross-code etc) to be shown on every UK channel which covers different road driving safety things that people forget, aren't aware of etc.
So for example one week it's this bad weather use your lights issue, next week it's how to use a slip road, week after it's what speed does the national speed limit symbol mean for cars, then a week of how to use multiple lanes at roadworks using the scientifically proven to be faster "zipper" method, then a week about middle lane morons etc etc etc.
You could also use them to keep aware of highway code changes too. Sadly it'll never happen and we'll all be worse off for in as yet another "death by a thousand cuts" that makes life just a tiny bit worse day after day.
So for example one week it's this bad weather use your lights issue, next week it's how to use a slip road, week after it's what speed does the national speed limit symbol mean for cars, then a week of how to use multiple lanes at roadworks using the scientifically proven to be faster "zipper" method, then a week about middle lane morons etc etc etc.
You could also use them to keep aware of highway code changes too. Sadly it'll never happen and we'll all be worse off for in as yet another "death by a thousand cuts" that makes life just a tiny bit worse day after day.
IanH755 said:
I still think we should bring back Government made 30 sec to 1 min safety videos (like Xmas drink driving, green-cross-code etc) to be shown on every UK channel which covers different road driving safety things that people forget, aren't aware of etc.
So for example one week it's this bad weather use your lights issue, next week it's how to use a slip road, week after it's what speed does the national speed limit symbol mean for cars, then a week of how to use multiple lanes at roadworks using the scientifically proven to be faster "zipper" method, then a week about middle lane morons etc etc etc.
You could also use them to keep aware of highway code changes too. Sadly it'll never happen and we'll all be worse off for in as yet another "death by a thousand cuts" that makes life just a tiny bit worse day after day.
With you on this one; but i expect the majority of the offenders don't watch an awful lot of terrestrial TV..... even the recent change to effectively give pedestrians the right of way at junctions has hardly landed successfully.....So for example one week it's this bad weather use your lights issue, next week it's how to use a slip road, week after it's what speed does the national speed limit symbol mean for cars, then a week of how to use multiple lanes at roadworks using the scientifically proven to be faster "zipper" method, then a week about middle lane morons etc etc etc.
You could also use them to keep aware of highway code changes too. Sadly it'll never happen and we'll all be worse off for in as yet another "death by a thousand cuts" that makes life just a tiny bit worse day after day.
MikeGTi said:
I've got a 10 plate Golf, with the lights set to auto the car will turn dipped beam etc on if the wipers trigger more than three times in a set period--I wonder if they still work the same.
Either way, as long they don't put a rain symbol on the FOG light switch......
Your 10 plate Golf will also put your lights on if they’re on auto if you exceed 85 or 90 even on a dry bright day.and stay on until you’ve been driving at less than 10mph for 5 minutes.Either way, as long they don't put a rain symbol on the FOG light switch......
Edited by MikeGTi on Tuesday 20th January 11:49
Why do some cars have only front DRLs? Surely if lights are needed at the front then it would be helpful to have the rear one son at the same time?
Our XC60 has auto lights so it's fine. However on my wife's Auris only the front lights some on with the ignition, to turn the rear lights on you need to put the front sidelights on (which annoyingly aren't as bright as the front DRLs)
Our XC60 has auto lights so it's fine. However on my wife's Auris only the front lights some on with the ignition, to turn the rear lights on you need to put the front sidelights on (which annoyingly aren't as bright as the front DRLs)
Yes on lower models without matrix it turns on another bulb which is also used as a cornering light and spreads the beam to the sides, useful in country lanes
In cars with matrix it shortens the throw of light and pushes it out to the side, and can adjust intensity for fog
It’s a requirement of all new cars to have auto lights, but not all brands have fitted their cars with the tech to turn on the lights when the wipers are on, the biggest culprits I notice for this are Hyundai and Kia and nissan and MG and strangely Volvo, its fitted to Volvos but isn’t on my default but at least most of those have rear DRLS
The biggest culprits for driving on DRL at night are defo the Nissan juke, Peugeot 108 trio and mk7 fiesta, they all have light up dials, the VW range is good, if you’ve got auto lights off or drive with no lights on it pings up a message on the dash telling you to put your dipped beams on, most with dials also only light up the needle at night
On another note, what is it with mk7 fiestas having 2 brake lights out?
In cars with matrix it shortens the throw of light and pushes it out to the side, and can adjust intensity for fog
It’s a requirement of all new cars to have auto lights, but not all brands have fitted their cars with the tech to turn on the lights when the wipers are on, the biggest culprits I notice for this are Hyundai and Kia and nissan and MG and strangely Volvo, its fitted to Volvos but isn’t on my default but at least most of those have rear DRLS
The biggest culprits for driving on DRL at night are defo the Nissan juke, Peugeot 108 trio and mk7 fiesta, they all have light up dials, the VW range is good, if you’ve got auto lights off or drive with no lights on it pings up a message on the dash telling you to put your dipped beams on, most with dials also only light up the needle at night
On another note, what is it with mk7 fiestas having 2 brake lights out?
Blib said:
Back in the 80s, my late mother's Toyota Starlet (in Lilac) had the fog lights on a rocker switch. They had to be engaged every foggy trip.
An excellent feature that I've not personally seen on another car.
Fiat Coupe had a similar feature. If the side-lights or ignition was turned off, the fog lamps would default to off.An excellent feature that I've not personally seen on another car.
So, you had to switch them back on everytime you wanted to use them.
None of the "...I must have forgotten to turn them off last time I used them" excuse. When it's mid August and there hasn't been a foggy day since March...
C69 said:
Trikster said:
...especially when folks are driving around without lights on in crappy weather.
The illumination of dashboard instruments without headlights being on should be banned. I suspect that'd solve the issue in the majority of cases.Actually, I’d rather see dipped headlights and rear tail lights just on by default if the engine is running. Or just make rear DRL’s mandatory.
Blib said:
Back in the 80s, my late mother's Toyota Starlet (in Lilac) had the fog lights on a rocker switch. They had to be engaged every foggy trip.
An excellent feature that I've not personally seen on another car.
W124 Mercs had something similar - the lights were on a rotary switch which you had to pull out to turn on the fogs. Turning off the lights automatically disengaged the fogs.An excellent feature that I've not personally seen on another car.
SweptVolume said:
The DRL's in my 2019 Seat Leon include the rear lights. This means that, even if the usually excellent auto lights are confused, as they may be in fog, I can still be confident I'll be seen from behind.
I don't know why this isn't mandatory by law when front DRL's are fitted..
And it’s strange how brands decide which models will get rear DRLS (vag cars you can code it on with a OBD reader)I don't know why this isn't mandatory by law when front DRL's are fitted..
For instance, mk3 facelift Leon is front and rears bit the mk4 is just fronts. Same with the Audi a3.
Trikster said:
Lots of posts moaning about driving standards today, and also about the curse of the DRL/auto headlights , especially when folks are driving around without lights on in crappy weather.
Well Skoda (possibly other VAG cars?) are approaching it a bit differently, they've labelled their headlight switch 'poor weather lights', ok all it does is turn the headlights and rear lights on but hopefully at least some folks will now think a bit more about putting these on when the weathers crap....
To be fair, took me a while to suss as was looking for how i put the headlights on.... now if we can only stop people putting fog lights on in the same conditions!
Which model and year is that? Had / have loads of VW Group cars, inc a couple of Skodas, in the family and I’ve never seen anything other than a rotary light switch,Well Skoda (possibly other VAG cars?) are approaching it a bit differently, they've labelled their headlight switch 'poor weather lights', ok all it does is turn the headlights and rear lights on but hopefully at least some folks will now think a bit more about putting these on when the weathers crap....
To be fair, took me a while to suss as was looking for how i put the headlights on.... now if we can only stop people putting fog lights on in the same conditions!
Lefty said:
C69 said:
Trikster said:
...especially when folks are driving around without lights on in crappy weather.
The illumination of dashboard instruments without headlights being on should be banned. I suspect that'd solve the issue in the majority of cases.Actually, I d rather see dipped headlights and rear tail lights just on by default if the engine is running. Or just make rear DRL s mandatory.
I wonder how many thousands were wasted on consultations that only managed to reach the wrong conclusion?
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