DRLs only at night

bear1

More and more I've noticed dosy bastards here in Warsaw driving at night time with just the drls.
The other night a car in front had no lights on at the back so at the next lights I'll pulled up, slight tap of the horn and showed the sign to turn on the lights.
The woman just stared at me as if I were mad.
Not a single light or hint of a light around the dash and just the leds lighting up the 5cm of the road under her bumper.
Off she went again with still no proper lights on and again at the next lights I tried to get her to turn them on.
Now she's ignoring me and speeds off to which I just gave up.
Surely to Christ you'd know if you have no lights on?
Is it a case that maybe there were disadvantages to the drls that manufacturers hadn't realised? (That idiocy in members of the public is strong)
Would it be more beneficial at this stage to simply have lights on no matter what?
Only noticed this here so no idea if it's an issue also in Ireland.

Personally I think it's daft that lights don't all come on automatically.

colm_mcm

Yes, it's been discussed heavily here in the last few years.

K.Flyer

The amount if occurrences is getting ridiculous, and like you say, you try to tell them, but they just think you're some nutter.
Great idea, poorly executed.

bear1

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Personally I think it's daft that lights don't all come on automatically.

One thing I liked about my old s40 was that you couldn't switch the lights off.
Even if you set the switch to 0 the lights were still on.

K.Flyer

K.Flyer wrote: »

The amount if occurrences is getting ridiculous, and like you say, you try to tell them, but they just think you're some nutter.
Great idea, poorly executed.

That's what I find funniest. Like do those people who blank everyone just get so much abuse in general that someone letting them know about their lights is just background noise? I've forgotten to switch on my lights a few times and if I see someone flashing their lights at me the first thing I check is my lights.

bear1

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That's what I find funniest. Like do those people who blank everyone just get so much abuse in general that someone letting them know about their lights is just background noise? I've forgotten to switch on my lights a few times and if I see someone flashing their lights at me the first thing I check is my lights.

It's not just that but some people can get proper thick about it.
I must see it everyday here and some close calls too.
If you don't know if you're lights are on or not you shouldn't be anywhere near a car.

homer90

I think part of the issue is, in some cars the instrument cluster is illuminated regardless if lights are on or not.

Just have them on auto where possible, not that hard.

Isambard

not all cars by any means have auto lights, mine does and they are great.

Autosport

Had a car behind me tonight with no lights on and thank god the gardai were behind them and stopped them. Hopefully they got a ticket for being so stupid

bear1

bear1 wrote: »

It's not just that but some people can get proper thick about it.
I must see it everyday here and some close calls too.
If you don't know if you're lights are on or not you shouldn't be anywhere near a car.

Ah now, mistakes happen. If someone flashing at you and pointing doesn't make ya wonder though. :P

lawred2

See it pretty much every night. Dozy pr!cks.

Voodoomelon

I flash anyone that is driving with just DRLs or parking lights on after dark. I'd say one in 20 gets the message. The rest have no clue, don't care, or are purposelessly driving with defective lights.

padyjoe

It's the same in Ireland. Not even worth the effort talk about it. It's common frigging sense: see and be seen. If there's a limited visibility, switch your light on. Setting off or on the move. Especially in this country.
I've seen folks first moving off in the dark then flicking the lights on or not. They must have very good eyesight. They could hit anything in those few meters without the lights on.
And the drl's are blinding when it's getting dark. They're called daylight rl's for a reason. Some people just don't care. While there's a gadget galore in cars these days and drivers are capable of using them and still they're clueless about the basics! The mind boggles...

bear1

homer90 wrote: »

I think part of the issue is, in some cars the instrument cluster is illuminated regardless if lights are on or not.

Just have them on auto where possible, not that hard.

The cluster may indeed light up but surely the centre console would be darkened?
In ours they are.

James Bond Junior

Hyundai drivers are the worst. Gardai are notable culprits in particular.

Eric Cartman

rather than front drl's, it should be a legal mandate that the rear lights of a car are on at all times.

Zoney

homer90 wrote: »

I think part of the issue is, in some cars the instrument cluster is illuminated regardless if lights are on or not.

Just have them on auto where possible, not that hard.

I've the problem that if I deliberately override the auto lights in daytime, cause they are sticking to DRLs only in variable visibility (e.g. low sun, rainy but a bit brighter ambient), the screen for the instrument panel dims, even though it's then hard to read.

Maybe just have to give in to the computer's decision that it's bright enough for no rear lights. LEDs at front are perfectly adequate in this situation, it's just being seen from the rear that bothers me.

It's not clear why I would want to use the off position rather than auto though. I have seen cars that must have auto lights (new with LED DRLs) and yet people driving with no rear lights truly after dark (not dusk, actual night time).

CiniO

bear1 wrote: »

Would it be more beneficial at this stage to simply have lights on no matter what?

But you do anyway in Warsaw. Either DRLs or dipped lights at daytime and dipped lights at night.

Look at it that way, that person who you've seen with DRL's only at night, would be driving with no lights at all if car was not equipped with DRL's.

bear1

CiniO wrote: »

But you do anyway in Warsaw. Either DRLs or dipped lights at daytime and dipped lights at night.

Look at it that way, that person who you've seen with DRL's only at night, would be driving with no lights at all if car was not equipped with DRL's.

Yes and No, from the rear the person has no lights on at all.
If the car isn't equipped at all with drls and the person goes for a drive at night time and isn't questioning why the can't see the road or any instrument lights within the car then this is more a question of how intellectually challenged the person is.

Alanstrainor

homer90 wrote: »

I think part of the issue is, in some cars the instrument cluster is illuminated regardless if lights are on or not.

Just have them on auto where possible, not that hard.

Yeah I can see where the confusion comes from tbh. When you consider that most people just get in and go, and have little care about anything to do with their cars, perhaps it's not surprising so many drive without any lights at all.

Voodoomelon wrote: »

I flash anyone that is driving with just DRLs or parking lights on after dark. I'd say one in 20 gets the message. The rest have no clue, don't care, or are purposelessly driving with defective lights.

I used to do this. But then I just end up looking like the mad one. So I'll only do it every so often now. Chances of successfully getting someone to turn on their lights is very slim.

Tonight in north Dublin there was ridiculous fog on the coast, I'd say visibility was down to 20M, and I saw 3 cars with no lights on at all. I was cycling so there was no signalling I could do, but it was bonkers. I was also partially surprised to see so many rear fog lights on too... I often think most don't even know such a light exists, clearly I was wrong!

ednwireland

Was driving behind someone in a brand new tuscon last night no rear lights on . Country roads obviously didnt have a clue that front drls don't mean rear lights on.

jsd1004

ednwireland wrote: »

Was driving behind someone in a brand new tuscon last night no rear lights on . Country roads obviously didnt have a clue that front drls don't mean rear lights on.

The use or non use of lights in this country is comical. At night you have total langers with every light they can override or switch on illuminated. DRLs front fogs, no lights.. just drls, no main lights just fogs. Its amazing they dont drive with the glove box down or the sun visors open to get a few more watts on the road. DRLs dazzle at night and dusk as do fogs. Turn them off please. If in doubt refer to the light description from the manufacturers manual. Fog-for fog. DRLS -Daytime only

neilthefunkeone

Driving home tonight behind traffic corps jeep with no lights on. Bit torn on should i flash the lights while behind or not. Decided against it!

I thought i was just noticing it more but seems to be a common thing.

K.Flyer

I do laugh at the irony that so many drivers can't figure out that their rear fog lights are on while so many others driving on drls don't realise that their rears lights are off... aaarrrggh!

Voodoomelon

jsd1004 wrote: »

The use or non use of lights in this country is comical. At night you have total langers with every light they can override or switch on illuminated. DRLs front fogs, no lights.. just drls, no main lights just fogs. Its amazing they dont drive with the glove box down or the sun visors open to get a few more watts on the road. DRLs dazzle at night and dusk as do fogs. Turn them off please. If in doubt refer to the light description from the manufacturers manual. Fog-for fog. DRLS -Daytime only

I wasn't aware you could turn DRLs off? What models allow this aside from dealer programming?

SBPhoto

DRLs can't be turned of by the Driver but they do reduce brightness when the lights are turned on.

Gwynston

Zoney wrote: »

I've the problem that if I deliberately override the auto lights in daytime, cause they are sticking to DRLs only in variable visibility (e.g. low sun, rainy but a bit brighter ambient), the screen for the instrument panel dims, even though it's then hard to read.

My car (top of the range S-Max with adaptive LED headlights) seems to have 2 or 3 different brightness levels for the instruments which cleverly adjusts based on an external light sensor. So it is set to a readable brightness independently of whether I switch the headlights from DRLs to always on myself, or if the Auto setting decides to switch them on. :cool:

Zoney wrote: »

Maybe just have to give in to the computer's decision that it's bright enough for no rear lights. LEDs at front are perfectly adequate in this situation, it's just being seen from the rear that bothers me.

Yes, I'd like rears always on withe DRLs too - I think some cars do have them.
I haven't found a way to force it on my car - I did try switching from Auto to "sidelights" position because the front LED strips used are the same for the sidelights as the DRLs. But while the rears were indeed on, while in sidelights mode the front LEDs weren't as bright as when in DRL mode.

StereoSound

bear1 wrote: »

One thing I liked about my old s40 was that you couldn't switch the lights off.
Even if you set the switch to 0 the lights were still on.

How often were you replacing head light bulbs on it?

dolallyoh

Noticed this for first time yesterday morning in dark.

Some hyundai or audi suv- no rear lights, leds on at front. Driver glaring at me when I flashed him.

Zith

Gwynston wrote: »

Yes, I'd like rears always on withe DRLs too - I think some cars do have them.

On my car I had to change the country to Sweden to get the rear lights on with DRLs. This was done with vagcom cable though and not through any menus unfortunately.

Gwynston

Zith wrote: »

On my car I had to change the country to Sweden to get the rear lights on with DRLs. This was done with vagcom cable though and not through any menus unfortunately.

Neat trick!
What kind of car is it?

Zith

An A6, the cable is a very useful thing to have.

Zubeneschamali

My Octavia has several anti-idiot features:

The rears come on with the DRLs.

There is an Auto setting which turns on the dips when it gets darker.

If you manually switch to sidelights setting (DRLs) ignoring Auto, the dash illumination basically goes out, so you know as it gets dark, because all you can see are the needles, not the dials.

bear1

StereoSound wrote: »

How often were you replacing head light bulbs on it?

Once I think.

zilog_jones

bear1 wrote: »

slight tap of the horn and showed the sign to turn on the lights.

What the hell is "the sign to turn on the lights"?

I think that's the big problem here. You can flash, or beep, or make some sort of mystery hand gestures - but they probably won't understand anything.

DaveyDave

Reversing cameras are mandatory in the US for 2018, it would be great if auto lights were mandatory in the EU! Surely it can't be that expensive to implement such a feature?

Out of curiosity I switched my lights off outside the car park at work and could barely see anything. How do people not notice their lights are off from the fact they can't see a bloody thing?

At the very least an ambient light sensor and a ping sound to tell you to turn your lights on.

milltown

zilog_jones wrote: »

What the hell is "the sign to turn on the lights"?

I couldn't believe the thread went three pages without somebody asking that!

bear1

zilog_jones wrote: »

What the hell is "the sign to turn on the lights"?

I think that's the big problem here. You can flash, or beep, or make some sort of mystery hand gestures - but they probably won't understand anything.

Well open and closing the fingers.
Like hitting your index finger, middle finger and thumb together.
Can't really describe it but here it's a sign for turning on your lights.

Isambard

secret sign that only you know I reckon.

DaveyDave

bear1 wrote: »

Well open and closing the fingers.
Like hitting your index finger, middle finger and thumb together.
Can't really describe it but here it's a sign for turning on your lights.

That's what I do and it works about 50/50. The other half probably being the kind of driver that would be oblivious to you flashing them when you're the only ones on the road.

Zoney

Gwynston wrote: »

My car (top of the range S-Max with adaptive LED headlights) seems to have 2 or 3 different brightness levels for the instruments which cleverly adjusts based on an external light sensor. So it is set to a readable brightness independently of whether I switch the headlights from DRLs to always on myself, or if the Auto setting decides to switch them on. :cool:

Yeah, the touch screen and instrument screen in my C4 grand Picasso are similarly adaptive to ambient light normally, multiple levels, but lights set to on overrides to dimmest.

Interestingly, lights off by contrast overrides to brightest. So if I was ever blinded by the screens at night it actually means I've the lights set to off.

Although it's handy the way the screen adapts independently to the lights setting in your car, I guess the other way makes sense too. i.e. if car wasn't responding to changes in ambient light, necessitating manual override, then it makes sense not to leave you stuck with a possibly incorrect screen brightness.

bear1

Isambard wrote: »

secret sign that only you know I reckon.

Fail to see of what benefit you being sarcastic/patronising is but go on ahead.
The fact that I said it's something widely used where I am and another poster saying they also do it shows that you aren't exactly correct coupled with the fact that I don't particularly care if you thinking I'm making it up or not.

Isambard

my point i that if someone made that sign to me ,I and most people would have no idea what they meant. Unofficial signs are, like flashing the lights to say stop or go ahead or whatever, confusing and not helpful.

bear1

Isambard wrote: »

my point i that if someone made that sign to me ,I and most people would have no idea what they meant. Unofficial signs are, like flashing the lights to say stop or go ahead or whatever, confusing and not helpful.

Do you speak for the majority?
I said twice already that where I am this is the sign for it.
And I and from the many instances I've seen here know exactly what that sign means.
And if you were driving at night with the wrong lights and saw people flashing and beeping at you, you'd be confused as to what the problem Is?

Isambard

it isn't the sign for anything, it's useless unless it's universal.

bear1

Good lad.

lawred2

Isambard wrote: »

my point i that if someone made that sign to me ,I and most people would have no idea what they meant. Unofficial signs are, like flashing the lights to say stop or go ahead or whatever, confusing and not helpful.

Jeez

zilog_jones

bear1 wrote: »

Well open and closing the fingers.
Like hitting your index finger, middle finger and thumb together.
Can't really describe it but here it's a sign for turning on your lights.

Is this some Galway thing, or a Polish thing? Never heard of this. Also, it's quite unlikely you'll be able to see another driver's hands while driving in the dark, so is there really much point?

I usually flash people with no lights on (like 2-3 times) and it often works. Flashing people with rear fogs on much less so. People who drive with front fogs and parking lights are a lost cause...

I have also successfully waved someone down (no lights) when cycling.

bear1

zilog_jones wrote: »

Is this some Galway thing, or a Polish thing? Never heard of this. Also, it's quite unlikely you'll be able to see another driver's hands while driving in the dark, so is there really much point?

I usually flash people with no lights on (like 2-3 times) and it often works. Flashing people with rear fogs on much less so. People who drive with front fogs and parking lights are a lost cause...

I have also successfully waved someone down (no lights) when cycling.

Polish but doesn't mean it's restricted to here only.
I'm amazed people seem more focused on the gesture I used rather than the actual problem.
For a start, I wasn't showing the gesture in pitch darkness, we were stopped at a traffic light in the city centre.
I flashed, i beeped, I gestured. Twice.
There was nothing more for me to do.
If after all that someone still hasn't a clue what you mean and still is driving with no lights on apart from LEDs then that says more about the driver than the person trying to get them to turn their lights on and avoid a crash/fine whatever.

Tzardine

I think there needs to be some enforcement by the traffic corps relating to lights. I would suggest something like a €40 fine and one penalty point for the following. Just small enough to raise awareness.

*Driving with no lights during darkness
*Light bulbs out.
*Using fog lamps when no fog.
*Not dipping lights when approaching traffic.

I was in Spain a while back in a hire car. I was driving in the fog on the motorway. I was pulled by the police and given a serious b0llicking for not having my fog lamps on. I didnt even realise the car had them.