DRLs

ofcork

Has anybody noticed some drivers with drls are driving at dusk/night and seem to be forgetting to actually turn their lights on thinking they can be seen,from the back you have NO lights on.

CiniO

ofcork wrote: »

Has anybody noticed some drivers with drls are driving at dusk/night and seem to be forgetting to actually turn their lights on thinking they can be seen,from the back you have NO lights on.

The worse ones the people driving at night even without DRL's. Purely no lights at all.

ofcork

Yeah plenty of them around too,just noticed recently the drl thing.

colm_mcm

The local Garda avensis never has rear lights on.

Mint Sauce

Ooooooooo. A thread about car lights.

(gets popcorn)

bazz26

Some drivers were dosy idots before they had DRLs and nothing has changed since they bought a car with DRLs.

CiniO

bazz26 wrote: »

Some drivers were dosy idots before they had DRLs and nothing has changed since they bought a car with DRLs.

Drivers being ignorant about vehicle lighting is one thing, but fact that there is nothing to tell those people they are doing wrong is the other, even worse thing.

AFAIR in Ireland it's not compulsory to use dipped lights even during the night, when driving in a lit area (like town centres, etc). Side light suffice according to the law. It's also allowed to use only sidelights for reasonable time after dusk and before dawn.
There are barely any campaigns promoting usage of lights.
People are just not aware.


Last year when I was doing truck licence, my instructor told me to turn on side lights, as it was heavy rain. I turned on full dipped lights, so he had objections that it's not necessary. According to him sidelights are more than enough, while according to me sidelights being used during the days on bad weather (front ones) are completely invisible. When car is approaching, you can first see the car outline, and then only when car is much closer, you can tell if it's got sidelights on or not. What's the point in turning them on then at all?

I never drive with side lights on, as it just doesn't make sense. They were not designed to be used for driving. They are designed to make car visible when parked at dark road.
In most countries in Europe, using sidelights when driving is prohibited.

Mister Jingles

Can't be as bad as the gob****es with badly fitted Xenons who drive around at night with both dipped and fogs on blinding everything and anything.

On the topic of DRL the new i40's do give some beam even in the day time :cool:

bazz26

CiniO wrote: »

Drivers being ignorant about vehicle lighting is one thing, but fact that there is nothing to tell those people they are doing wrong is the other, even worse thing.

AFAIR in Ireland it's not compulsory to use dipped lights even during the night, when driving in a lit area (like town centres, etc). Side light suffice according to the law. It's also allowed to use only sidelights for reasonable time after dusk and before dawn.
There are barely any campaigns promoting usage of lights.
People are just not aware.


Last year when I was doing truck licence, my instructor told me to turn on side lights, as it was heavy rain. I turned on full dipped lights, so he had objections that it's not necessary. According to him sidelights are more than enough, while according to me sidelights being used during the days on bad weather (front ones) are completely invisible. When car is approaching, you can first see the car outline, and then only when car is much closer, you can tell if it's got sidelights on or not. What's the point in turning them on then at all?

I never drive with side lights on, as it just doesn't make sense. They were not designed to be used for driving. They are designed to make car visible when parked at dark road.
In most countries in Europe, using sidelights when driving is prohibited.

Rules and regulations are all great but they need to enforced all the time. People who tend to drive oblivious to the fact they have little or no lights on especially in the dark are probably the same ones who don't check their bulbs are working regularly. The only way to get through to these thick people is to keep taking their money through on the spot fines but this involves investing time and resources in policing these regulations.

CiniO

Mister Jingles wrote: »

Can't be as bad as the gob****es with badly fitted Xenons who drive around at night with both dipped and fogs on blinding everything and anything.

On the topic of DRL the new i40's do give some beam even in the day time :cool:

You know - proper DRL's should give better beam during the day than dipped headlights.
Surely they are not that strong, but they are aimed centrally to the front, not pointing downwards like dipped lights.

I'll be retrofitting DRLs to my car soon - I'm trying to get Philips at good price.

Mister Jingles

CiniO wrote: »

You know - proper DRL's should give better beam during the day than dipped headlights.
Surely they are not that strong, but they are aimed centrally to the front, not pointing downwards like dipped lights.

I'll be retrofitting DRLs to my car soon - I'm trying to get Philips at good price.

I know that yeah, but the i40 to me always seems to give of more light then others

bazz26

The i40 like some others has LED DRLs which are more effective than standard halogen DRLs which some cars come with.

miller50841

colm_mcm wrote: »

The local Garda avensis never has rear lights on.

It has something to do with the retro fitting of the extra lights and fittings as all of the new Avensis have front dipped beams on as the DRL's are also on full.

Iv'e noticed this when they took in 2006-2007 vectras where the rear brake lights wouold be on full on the outside 2 and only work on middle or 3rd brake light.

Dipped beams should be used day or night as it makes you stand out more and that is a good thing. It annoys me when I see motorbikes or cyclists not using lights.

Voodoomelon

colm_mcm wrote: »

The local Garda avensis never has rear lights on.

Have seen the same in Dundalk too.

Toyotafanboi

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Have seen the same in Dundalk too.

and the samein Wicklow, garda avensis estate, no tail lights

biko

Unfortunately a lot of cars will light up the instrument cluster inside with only parking lights/DRLs on.
The means the driver can see the instruments and their attention to safety stops there for some reason.

The regulation should be that instruments will only light up with proper lights on. This way people would drive with sufficient lighting on at dawn/dusk.

tossy

I may be wrong but i think a lot of cases of drivers driving with only LED DRl's on at night is down to the 'poser' factor - look at how cool my car is,it was the same on BMW's when the twin halo lights came on the scene.

zilog_jones

How come my 11 year old car has automatic dipped beams and all these fancy new yokes with DRLs don't?

biko

Is your car a Volvo or a Saab?

miller50841

zilog_jones wrote: »

How come my 11 year old car has automatic dipped beams and all these fancy new yokes with DRLs don't?

most Saab and Volvo had this and other makes as an extra which you paid for

bazz26

Car manufacturers assume that a driver has a certain level of intelegence to know when to switch from DRL's to dipped headlights when it starts getting dark. Car manufacturer's obviously do not know your typical Irish driver that well.

maidhc

I would have thought most of these cars with DRLs would also have automatic lights (it is 2013 and the technology would surely cost less than €5), but presumably not!

zilog_jones

biko wrote: »

Is your car a Volvo or a Saab?

It's a Peugeot 406. They're not always on like old Volvos/Saabs, but turn on when it gets dark (there's a sensor behind the rear-view mirror). It works well about 90% of the time. It can be a bit indecisive at dusk or heavy clouds but always works at night time, going into car parks, tunnels, etc.

The automatic wipers are not so dependable

I don't think it was on all 406's but mine's not top of the range either.

It's not exactly high-tech stuff though - just some photodiodes and basic logic.

CiniO

maidhc wrote: »

I would have thought most of these cars with DRLs would also have automatic lights (it is 2013 and the technology would surely cost less than €5), but presumably not!

Automatic lights are not great.
I have them in my car, but they don't turn on always when needed.
F.e. in the evening, they only turn on when it gets too dark IMO, so I need to turn them on manunally before.
Also during heavy rain during the day, they wouldn't turn on.

So automatic lights don't release driver from using the brain.

dgt

zilog_jones wrote: »

It's a Peugeot 406. They're not always on like old Volvos/Saabs, but turn on when it gets dark (there's a sensor behind the rear-view mirror). It works well about 90% of the time. It can be a bit indecisive at dusk or heavy clouds but always works at night time, going into car parks, tunnels, etc.

The automatic wipers are not so dependable

I don't think it was on all 406's but mine's not top of the range either.

It's not exactly high-tech stuff though - just some photodiodes and basic logic.

A unit beside the rearview mirror? I take it yours is a D9....

My 166 has auto wipers too, not sure about auto dipping

ofcork

The drls on the new clio look like some aftermarket fitted ones situated in the grille.