Do Learner drivers get shown what lights to use by their instructors?

LordSutch · 28-02-2013 12:52pm #1

I am always amazed at the amount of drivers on Irish roads who don't seem to have the foggiest idea (excuse the pun) as to which fog lights to turn on at dusk, at night, or in driving rain/fog! So I am curious, do modern day driving instructors teach learner drivers which lights they should be using in various situations? Are lights (use of) part of the instructors brief to the learner driver?

Curious.

loobylou · 28-02-2013 2:18pm

LordSutch wrote: »

Are lights (use of) part of the instructors brief to the learner driver?

Short answer is yes, as part of the relatively recent EDT programme.
Prior to EDT though the brief given to instructors was usually to "get me through a driving test in as quick and cheap a manner as possible." Learning anything extra to that was superfluous.

MascotDec85 · 01-03-2013 1:42am

Yes, even prior to EDT.

Dingle_berry · 01-03-2013 1:46am

Recently yes but can't answer for those drivers who got their license without a test a few decades ago.

fasttalkerchat · 01-03-2013 1:57am

What confuses me is why when lights are used for daytime driving, the advice is to use headlights and not sidelights i.e. 2 clicks and not 1.

ManMade · 01-03-2013 2:04am

LordSutch wrote: »

I am always amazed at the amount of drivers on Irish roads who don't seem to have the foggiest idea (excuse the pun) as to which fog lights to turn on at dusk, at night, or in driving rain/fog! So I am curious, do modern day driving instructors teach learner drivers which lights they should be using in various situations? Are lights (use of) part of the instructors brief to the learner driver?

Curious.

I've ten edts done now. In theory yes but it's takes ten seconds in the first edt when your nervous to show and two seconds to forget.
Luckily my car has automatic lights. I'll probably cram in the theory before the test. But no your never shown when to use lights, you're told.

What's surprised me is how few drivers use indicators on roundabouts and in general.

twowheelsonly · 01-03-2013 2:19am

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

What confuses me is why when lights are used for daytime driving, the advice is to use headlights and not sidelights i.e. 2 clicks and not 1.

2 reasons.
Sidelights are for parking and are not bright enough to be used as driving lights. i.e. Not visible enough from any sort of distance.
Come dusk/nightfall a significant amount of people fail to switch from sidelights to headlights or leave it until the very last minute to do so and are therefore practically invisible for a portion of their journey.

Remember, just because you can see doesn't mean that you can be seen !

fasttalkerchat · 01-03-2013 2:37am

twowheelsonly wrote: »

2 reasons.
Sidelights are for parking and are not bright enough to be used as driving lights. i.e. Not visible enough from any sort of distance.
Come dusk/nightfall a significant amount of people fail to switch from sidelights to headlights or leave it until the very last minute to do so and are therefore practically invisible for a portion of their journey.

Remember, just because you can see doesn't mean that you can be seen !

But its perfectly fine to use no lights, surely sidelights are a happy medium.

The_Nipper_One · 01-03-2013 3:45am

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

But its perfectly fine to use no lights, surely sidelights are a happy medium.

Due to their brightness, the sidelights would be redundant in daylight. If you're just going to use those, you may aswell leave lights off all together.

As for what I do myself as a learner:

Dipped lights all times of day.
Headlights at night when no traffic infront and not in a built up area.

No Headlights in Heavy fog.

Fog lights if Visibility is reduced behind me to the point where a car would be closer than the safe following distance behind me before it saw me. Adjusted for the speed limit at the time of course. I would treat them like headlights though in that I would turn them off as soon as I feel a following car has observed me.

Not sure if that is the "correct" thing to do, but it seems to be the most sensible. Someone correct me if I shoud be doing otherwise.

fasttalkerchat · 01-03-2013 4:21am

The_Nipper_One wrote: »

Due to their brightness, the sidelights would be redundant in daylight. If you're just going to use those, you may aswell leave lights off all together.

I don't see any difference at all but my vision is very good and I have been told that to others lights on cars make a difference so I go with sidelights. My reasoning was that if you need dipped headlights to see a car in daytime you shouldn't be driving.
I suppose you have to account for pedestrians with poor vision but I think it distracts drivers and makes it harder to judge distances more than anything else.

Del2005 · 01-03-2013 5:00am

LordSutch wrote: »

I am always amazed at the amount of drivers on Irish roads who don't seem to have the foggiest idea (excuse the pun) as to which fog lights to turn on at dusk, at night, or in driving rain/fog! So I am curious, do modern day driving instructors teach learner drivers which lights they should be using in various situations? Are lights (use of) part of the instructors brief to the learner driver?

Curious.

Why do instructors need to tell people when every motorist is supposed to read the ROTR?

When to use headlights

If conditions require you to use headlights to drive safely, you must use them. Use dipped headlights at night or main beam headlights as appropriate. When in doubt, turn them on. Make sure that the red lights and number plate lighting at the back of your vehicle are working.

Use dipped headlights:
just after the beginning (dusk) and before the end (dawn) of lightingup hours,
as long as they are needed to let you see clearly,
when stopped in traffic,
when meeting other traffic,
in built-up areas where there is good street lighting,
on continuously lit roads outside built-up areas,
when following behind another vehicle,
where there is dense fog, falling snow or heavy rain,
when daylight is fading, and
generally to avoid inconveniencing other traffic.
It is good practice to use dipped headlights or dim/dip lights, where fitted, instead of only sidelights in built-up areas where there is good street lighting.

Use main beam headlights in situations, places and times outside of those listed above.
Use fog lights only during dense fog and falling snow. You must turn them off at all other times.

If people are old enough to drive they are old enough to not be spoon fed everything, it's called being responsible for your own actions and not blaming others for something you should know.

MascotDec85 · 01-03-2013 9:00am

Sidelights are as much use as a chocolate fire guard. I'm driving 20 years and have never used them. If the lights need to go on put them on properly.

johnmcdnl · 01-03-2013 12:05pm

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

What confuses me is why when lights are used for daytime driving, the advice is to use headlights and not sidelights i.e. 2 clicks and not 1.

Rules of the Road

Daytime running lights

Daytime running lights refers to driving with dipped head lights during daytime, The use of dipped headlights can help reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads.

And the RSA's campaign

fasttalkerchat · 01-03-2013 1:47pm

johnmcdnl wrote: »

Rules of the Road

And the RSA's campaign

Neither of these study the difference between sidelights and dipped headlights for daytime driving.

LordSutch · 01-03-2013 2:38pm

Well I must confess to driving with my sidelights on at Dusk, then when it gets a bit darker I turn on my Dipped headlights . . .

I only use my full beams (Headlights) on country lanes and on stretches of unlit motorway (always dipping when oncoming traffic approaches), and the only time I would use my front fog lights would be to supplement my full beams in a very dark situation, like on a narrow country lane, or in fog.

dudara · 01-03-2013 2:41pm

I think most drivers mush at their switches until they see a headlight indicator appear on the dashboard. Nothing else can explain the amount of idiotic lighting I see. Sidelights (parking) lights which are as useful as sticking two fireflies on a car, fog lights and even full beams.

For me, standard operating procedure is dipped lights at ALL times, only switching to full beams at night in non-built up areas with no oncoming traffic. Fog lights only get used about once or twice a year.

For those who think no lights are acceptable, I have found it quite hard to make out grey (mid-dark) cars on the horizon, particularly when the weather is a little murky. If those cars had lights on, I would see them sooner. This would be the case for even someone with perfect eyesight.

johnmcdnl · 01-03-2013 4:11pm

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Neither of these study the difference between sidelights and dipped headlights for daytime driving.

Sorry I was half asleep when I seen the post I quoted and completely misread it as saying that you shouldn't need lights at all during the day..

The_Nipper_One · 01-03-2013 7:49pm

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I don't see any difference at all but my vision is very good and I have been told that to others lights on cars make a difference so I go with sidelights. My reasoning was that if you need dipped headlights to see a car in daytime you shouldn't be driving.
I suppose you have to account for pedestrians with poor vision but I think it distracts drivers and makes it harder to judge distances more than anything else.

People don't need to see dips to notice a car, just as people working on building sites don't need to wear hi-vis jackets to be seen.

The idea is that you make it as difficult as possible to not notice someone in those 1 in a million situations where accidents happen.

I'm a bit confused by you saying you find it distracting too. Distracting is someone messing with the car controls; distracting is using a mobile phone.
Being "distracted" into paying more attention to other cars, your primary area of focus as a driver, is a distraction I think more people could do with.

Del2005 · 01-03-2013 10:24pm

dudara wrote: »

For those who think no lights are acceptable, I have found it quite hard to make out grey (mid-dark) cars on the horizon, particularly when the weather is a little murky. If those cars had lights on, I would see them sooner. This would be the case for even someone with perfect eyesight.

Why do you need to see cars on the horizon?

dudara · 02-03-2013 9:16pm

Del2005 wrote: »

Why do you need to see cars on the horizon?

Because I watch all the road, from the cars directly in front of me, to the cars that will be in front of me soon.

CiniO · 05-03-2013 8:17pm

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I don't see any difference at all but my vision is very good and I have been told that to others lights on cars make a difference so I go with sidelights. My reasoning was that if you need dipped headlights to see a car in daytime you shouldn't be driving.
I suppose you have to account for pedestrians with poor vision but I think it distracts drivers and makes it harder to judge distances more than anything else.

Side light at daytime are completely useless (no matter if weather is sunny and good or poor and rainy or foggy).
They can't be seen at all from any bigger distance, and it's this bigger distance which lights during the day are meant to help.
Surely during nice weather you will see a car which is 10 metres away, but you might not see a car which is 300 metres away coming towards you - and that's what you need to see when you are planning f.e. to overtake.

In general then using sidelights is nonsense.
First of all they use half of the power which is used for dipped headlights.
Secondly, they don't increase visibility at all during the day.
And thirdly they were designed to be used for parking only. In many countries using sidelights when driving is illegal. For some reason they allowed to be used when driving by Law in Ireland and UK (surprisingly even at night or bad visibility), but using them is pure nonsense.
Just turn on your dipped headlights.
If you are using sidelights during the day, you are just wasting electricity.
If you don't want to waste electricity, buy DRLs for your car to use during the day

Do Learner drivers get shown what lights to use by their instructors?

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