Yep we've had daytime running lights for 15 years or so, I think the States is going to mandate it in a couple of years, anybody know when?

tobra
I see that too, first indication is no dash lights but there is a lot of brain dead drivers out there.

Stay on your own damn side of the road, (not you personally Ian). That might actually work also.

I think it's a good law. Anyone thats ever driven a truck that relies on their side mirrors for changing lanes i think would agree. When your mirrors get wet your vision is reduced dramaticly and it's hard to see cars that may be in the lane you want to enter. This is especialy true when your mirrors are covered with winter salt spray.

I totally agree. I think the penalty should be stiffer.

True. actually, they should make the whole car light up, not only the 2 tiny spots in front nose of the car.

Guess you never had some a-hole with his lights off fly up alongside of you in a torrential downpour at dawn or dusk, while you are changing lanes and almost nail you because you couldnt see him. as pete stated above??

I will agree with you if in that situation, but that is different from what we are talking about now.

We have that law here in NJ. I don't think Ive ever seen it enforced. Most cops I know say they don't bother unless it causes an accident.

I guess i just don't see what the big deal is to turn on your headlights. Its a major pet peeve of mine , same the people who only drive with marker lights in low vis.

You guys ever driven at night in Mexico? i.e. the Yucatan? People drive all the time with the lights off at night. FAST. Talking 60 mph with their lights off. Scare the snot out of you when they pass.

On a busy roadway, you can drive early in the morning and see the broken glass and blood smears from those who are perhaps now re-thinking the drive-without-the-headlights-on process.

As far as DRL's, they really do work well. I don't like them being mandated, but as we tend to hand out driver's licenses to completely inept people, I guess this goes with the territory.

As far as driving alongside a truck - that's a nincompoop move. Get ahead, get behind or just flat get out of the way. Those who don't get a one time lesson in physics.

angela

Markers as is flashers? In a snow whiteout or a good torrential Florida downpour, flashers are the only way to see where anybody is. Trucks are often above the spray but us mere mortals in a sedan need the guidance.

Ian

I've seen signs several times as I crossed the state line. GA and SC maybe.

I keep my lights on all the time with the auto feature. I've placed a custom sized piece of business card over the sensor to keep them on all the time.

Always kept my lights on the 930 at the track as well. This way, the rolling chicanes don't have an excuse as to why they didn't see me coming...

I got a ticket in San Fransisco for a headlight out.

It was about 4:30-5:00pm and the sun hadn't set. Only a quarter of the cars had headlights on. I had just replaced a radiator that day, and needed to unplug a light to get to the radiator. In my absent-mindedness I had forgotten to plug the headlight back in.

I explained the situation, then showed the cop how it it worked after plugging it in.
Too bad. The ticket was already written.

I then spent several hours having another officer(a supervisor....finally) sign off that it was fixed.

I then spent several hours in line at the DMV to finally receive(in order to pay) the $10 fix-it ticket.

I usually bill at $500/hr for my time, but was glad there wasn't a garnishment of wages, credit reporting, and/or arrest warrent issued upon my person.

Was it raining enough to need your wipers?

Of course this kind of begs a question, if wipers on is the acid test: What if you use Rain-X?

It's been the law in CA for a year and a half. Now you know. And so do all the other CA folks here who weren't paying attention.

Parking lights, no flashers

rnln... Where were you today??? I saw 98% blue sky today.

Up here in the frozen North, as it was pointed out earlier, DRLs are mandatory. It helps too, in low visibility conditions, meeting someone when they have the low sun behind them, etc.

Having said that, you do see people driving at dusk and know they have forgotten to turn on their headlights (no side markers or tail lights) A co-worker got a ticket for this last summer.

The solution, as far as the completely brain-dead go, would be the set-up on the Chev Venture vans the company had me driving 10 years ago. Turn on the vehicle through the day: DRLs were on. When it got darker, a sensor would turn on the rest of the lights. I don't know why the darn thing had a switch.

Funny thing, the first time I drove it in semi-dark conditions, the dash lights were dimming whenever I drove into a hollow. Took me a few seconds to realize the computer was turning the main lights on when conditions seemed darker (and dimming the dash lights too).

Ain't technology grand? Of course, before all these gadgets designed to protect us, I used to turn on the headlights whenever I moved the car, but that's an old habit from Driver Education days 40 years ago.

As for failing to have your headlights on in the rain/reduced visibility conditions: the line the judge gives around here is "Ignorance of the law is not an excuse."

Les