Parking lights are for being PARKED

GSBellew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119971609#Comment_119971609

Don't know about the 3 Series, but in the W213 E Class the symbol you posted denotes the DRL / Side Lights, the standard green dipped beam light will come on when the dipped beam is on, the blue main beam light comes on with the main beam, the orange rear fog light symbol comes on with the rear fog light.

I can get pictures no problem to show what I mean.

GreeBo

Dash should only light up when your headlights are on.

if its dark enough to need the dash light its dark enough for headlights.

DRL + Dash makes no sense and its the cause of most of the issues imo.

Burt Renaults

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119971076#Comment_119971076

Same here. It's just something that I automatically do when I start the car, like putting a seatbelt on. It helped me recently, when I noticed (at around 3pm, when it was still bright out) that I'd blown a headlamp bulb. A quick pit-stop at an Applegreen and it was all sorted before dusk.

Driving with inadequate lighting should be treated the same way as suspected drink-driving. If you blow a bulb at night, you shouldn't be allowed drive any further until it's fixed. If you forget to turn your lights on, you should get an automatic ban. The roads would be infinitely better without these people anyway.

FishOnABike

Driving with inadequate lighting should be treated the same way as suspected drink-driving. If you blow a bulb at night, you shouldn't be allowed drive any further until it's fixed.

One problem with that is the number of cars where a headlight or tail light bulb cannot be easily replaced at the side of the road.

I've seen cars where the recommended procedure for replacing a headlight bulb involves removing part of the wheel arch lining!

I don't consider my car the worst but it needs a torx bit screwdriver to release the headlight assemby and slide it forward to replace a headlight bulb. Tail lights need a socket or wrench to unscrew three tail light retaining bolts and remove the tail light assembly.

A previous car I had both headight and tail light bulbs could be changed without any tools by removing a snap on cover within the engine compartment or boot respectively. This should be the standard.

magicbastarder

Yeah, look at the old megane - 45 minutes to change a bulb, and you'd to go up through the wheel arch. Impossible at night in the rain, I'd bet.

Brian Scan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119970222#Comment_119970222

I often disagree with ButtersSuki, but I can't see why you have a problem with his original post. He described a close encounter with a car being badly driven by a very elderly woman. It may be wrong to assume that she was driving badly because she was elderly, it is possible that she was always a poor driver, but the likelihood is that her age was a factor. If I am not mistaken ButtersSuki himself is around fifty and if so will probably have parents in the their seventies or eighties and will thus be unlikely to make ageist generalisations. I think you are being overly sensitive.

Flinty997

It reinforces stereotypes and assumptions. Without realizing it we fall into the same bad habits.

Xander10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119978807#Comment_119978807

Is Suki not an old woman?

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119977989#Comment_119977989

It is not that they come on automatically - it is that they do not turn off automatically.

When the ignition is turned off, the fog light should turn off and require driver intervention to turn it back on.

Brian Scan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119979013#Comment_119979013

I'm not sure that I understand your question?

Xander10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119979093#Comment_119979093

I believe the poster is an old woman. You have said they are an old man.

Simple enough.

Brian Scan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119979107#Comment_119979107

I said I thought he was fifty.

spakman

Jesus, there a lot of angry people in this thread!

God help anyone who has to have a conversation with them in person

elperello

I think an EU standard should be developed for both the light switches and bulb replacement.

Spook_ie

Re Bulbs and ability to change them at roadside

Gards should be able to issue some kind of form/computer log that says get the bulb replaced by the same time tomorrow, if you're caught again without having fixed it then you get charged with driving a defective vehicle. As not having them working for an NCT results in a fail then I would consider the same penalty as appropriate

Using vehicle (car) without valid test certificate (NCT) 3 points and a fine

My own vehicle is a Toyota CH-R hybrid, which is quite automated in most respects, including lights. I start the system, the lights go on, computer works out a lot of safety settings, and many cannot be overridden. Increasingly, cars come with a lot of automation baked-in , which loads on start-up. Typically bulbs cant be changed at the roadside as in car models I’ve previously owned.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119979300#Comment_119979300

In the UK, they had a system whereby you got a warning, so you had to show up at your local station within a couple of days with the light fixed. If you showed up and the light was fixed, there was no penalty. If you didn't, you got a fine and points. Seems like a sensible approach.

We can all help by just telling drivers with dodgy lights that they need to get them sorted. Make it socially unacceptable to drive with dodgy lights.

DaveyDave

If they just say come back to the station within say 2 weeks for an inspection otherwise you're getting a fine then it's fair, most people can't change a bulb on the side of the road.

kirving

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119978271#Comment_119978271

I know that yep (had an S212), but in the F30 3 series, the "sidelight" symbol denotes that the dipped beams are on.

So if you drove the BMW and got into the Merc, and it showed just the "sidelight" symbol, you would reasonably believe that the dipped beams are on.

blackbox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119979237#Comment_119979237

Totally agree with this. Changing bulbs should not require any dismantling with tools and should not require hands thes size of a four year old's but the strength of a concert pianist.

It should only be possible to operate parking lights when the ignition is off.

Tail lamps and DRLs or headlamps should be on all the time the car is operating.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119979840#Comment_119979840

Why? Cars and vehicle generally are perfectly visible in normal daylight conditions. Unless a driver has deficient eyesight.

ednwireland

drls plus taillights for regular driving full lights all the rest of the time . fog light s when it's foggy ( ie thurs night about 1am with a frozen washer bottle total 'mare)

magicbastarder

I can change the headlight bulb in my Octavia in a couple of minutes. A friend had the old megane about 15 years ago, and bought a replacement bulb in Halfords but paid for it to be fitted. The chap there groaned when he realised what car it was, and told my friend he'd need 45 minutes. He says to my friend 'I've helped cows give birth in difficult situations and that was easier than doing this bulb is'.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119979881#Comment_119979881

The safety benefits of daylight running lights are well established.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242659732_The_Safety_Effects_of_Daytime_Running_Lights

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119979881#Comment_119979881

A reduction in accidents of between 5% and 15% for cars with daylight running lights / using headlights in daylight is a fairly good reason.

https://www.stoneacre.co.uk/blog/daytime-running-lights-what-you-need-know

Burt Renaults

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119978396#Comment_119978396

Mine wasn't easy to change, but if I couldn't manage to do it myself, I'd've brought it somewhere that day, before dark. There is not a hope that I would get into a car at night and knowingly drive it without properly functioning lights, whatever inconvenience that might cause me. At the very least, the threat of having your car towed should be there. If someone's driving around with a blown bulb, there's a massive chance that they're oblivious (or turn a blind eye) to loads of other defects.

JoyPad

On my Hyundai i10, if I leave the switch to Auto, the car will decide between DRLs and dipped headlights depending on outside light. I find this very annoying, and I assume it can be annoying or confusing for other drivers. It changes if I drive from direct sunlight into the shadow of a house, then change back if I go into sunlight again. Because of this, I keep the switch to dipped headlights at all times. The car is smart enough to turn them off when I leave the car, so I don't risk draining the battery.

NOTE: more than half of European countries have mandatory use of dipped headlights.

The Management drives a 2021 VW Tiguan, which is annoying in different ways: for example, she keeps the switch on Auto, but there's no indication in the dash what lights are on, if any. How hard would it be to put a lamp on the screen to show if DRLs are on, or dipped headlights, or none?! But sure, if the lights are off and the light outside is low, the car is smart and tells her to turn on the lights. Which is a good thing as she sometimes accidentally moves the switch from Auto to OFF while climbing in or out of the car :)

DaveyDave

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119983444#Comment_119983444

Auto lights are very common these days so I don't think anyone would be confused about lights going on and off. I see it happen at a bridge I walk past.

She can just set her auto lights to come on early, that way she won't need to see what lights are on, they will be on as needed. Even the slightest overcast/dull day or shadows from a house, trees etc. VW's auto lights work very well.