In the last, oh, 10 years or so, many carmakers have added a new “feature” to the dashboard, namely, a headlight switch that has the option of turning on just the headlights.
Why did they do this?
It seems to me that this has just led to some drivers driving around at night with their headlights on, but no taillights, which is just dangerous.
After all, a driver at night (or in fog, or in heavy rain, snow, etc.) sees his or her headlights on and assumes that all is well. But if the driver is not careful, the switch could be in the “headlights only” position … and be virtually invisible from behind.
This issue is compounded because some carmakers have made their vehicles so that the headlights are on all the time, as soon as the car is started. Yet, this “always on” feature is for the headlights only.
Joe or Jo Driver with such a car can easily get in the habit of never touching the headlight switch, because, after all, the headlights are always on, right?
So, my question (we’re in GQ after all) is this: Is there any valid safety reason for this feature?
Every car I’ve ever owned or driven has had a position that turns on just the parking/marker lights, but the next position on the switch is headlights and taillights on, with no way to have only headlights on.
The automatic Headlights on, taillights off is called (at least in my Saturn) Daytime Running Lights. The idea is not to replace the headlights (in fact the Daytime Running Lights are actually the Brights at half-power) but to increase visibility during times when the headlights aren’t needed. While I can’t speak for all drivers of such cars, I do in fact turn on my headlights when appropriate. The only time I might not is when using the windshield wipers–and even then, if its more than a swipe or two, I generally do turn on the headlights because it does increase my visibility, as well as make it easier for me to see (where appropriate).
Up until about ten years ago, DRLs were not allowed in the US, and have been somewhat of a minor fad, spearheaded by General Motors solely because they wanted to cut down on the number of model variations they had to produce. eg: They wanted to make a North America car, rather than a Canada car, a US car and a Mexico car.
The DOT eventually allowed their use in the 1995 model year, but American response to them seems to be more on the “They’re terrible, put the ban back in effect!” side than anything in favor of them.
FYI, I’ve encountered this feature, which I now have a name for (thanks, Eureka), in a friend’s Honda Civic that I drove for a week in 1995 and in my parents’ car, a Toyota Prius, which I am driving for six weeks while they are on vacation.
I do not have this feature on my 1995 Hona Prelude.
DRLs are required in Canada, so you see them on cars from the great frozen north. GM pretty much has them on all cars now as well, plus other makers use them.
Since the dash lights don’t come on with DRLs, it’s pretty easy to spot that you don’t have your headlights on at night.
Pointless and possibly dull anecdote - Mid 80’s sometime we were driving the coast from Seattle to San Francisco and happened upon a sign along the highway that said, IIRC, “Daylight test section next X miles. Please turn on headlights”
Seems we were near Berkley by that point and got a chuckle out of them wacky Berkley psychology students.
10 years later new cars start showing up with daytime running lights and I finally figured out what the sign was about. Supposed to reduce accidents, as it increases your visibility or some damn thing. Major PITA if you are near stargazers and have no way to leave without shining your Halogens in their dark-accustomed eyes (my Toyota has no “off” setting, so the headlights are on unless I put on the e-brake before starting the car).
“Any reason for this feature”? Safety, I’m told. Just like why motorcycle lights are always on.
Tail lights can be mistaken for brake lights, especially during the day when they’re not expected.
DRLs make it very easy to tell the difference between a car that is being driven, and a parked car. This also helps reduce head-on collisions, which are far more dangerous than rear-end collisions.
All of the '06 and '07 domestic cars I’ve driven (and in my line of work, I’ve driven almost all of them) have an auto-headlight feature, which has a photosensor that varies the brightness of the headlights depending on the darkness of the surrounding area. This is completely independent of the high-beam control, though, which still has to be activated manually.
Both of our Subaru Legacies (2002 AND 2005) have DRL, and I do routinely leave my light switch at the “on” position when shutting off the car. The DRL’s on a Subaru turn off when you engage the parking brake, BTW… I have no idea if this is normal for other cars.
So I now permanently run my FOG lamps when my lights are all the way on, just so that I have some sort of dashboard indicator that my lights are turned on. Depending on my seeing the (lack of) dashboard illumination isn’t enough of a failsafe for me.
It’s frustrating. I have to crank on the parking brake, turn off the car, and pull out my ceiling lamp bulb in order to have a silent, dark vehicle immediately.
I’m just retelling something some “friends” of mine told me back in the late 1960s ((cough cough))
Running an of/on switch to the tail lights wasn’t enough back then; one had to make sure the BRAKE lights were included in the circuit.
I would imagine that you would still have to do this yourself unless you plan on fleeing at night without ever using the brake lights…
P.S. Back then, maybe now, the cops sometimes would follow one without having THEIR headlights on, but you could usually tell this by looking for the dim reflection of your tail lights–or usually, brake lights-- in their headlight reflectors…which is why sometimes folk would lightly touch their brakes when running fast on a dark night…
Not that I know any of this from personal experience, I’m just repeating what some friends said…
I’m used to driving GM products that have automatic headlights AND taillights when the car is driven in the dark. Photosensors r.o.c.k!
Now I’m driving an 03 Taurus that has DRL… I don’t notice the low power when I start the car at night so I think my lights are on when indeed they’re only on reduced power and no taillights! yikes! When I’m driving in lighted urban areas, I don’t readily notice that the dash lights aren’t illuminated which is the only way I can tell if the lights are on.
AND, there’s no “off” switch. Surely they can make a headlight that can be turned off. It makes it impossible to make out with the engine running…
Pretty much all DRLs turn off when you pull the parking brake up one notch. If you want to turn the lights off, that’s how you do it. Or you can pull a fuse in many cars and that turns DRLs off.
Are these just the same as what we would call parking lights in the UK? My Dad’s two Volvos always had their parking lights on when the ignition was turned on and the wiki link mentions the Scandanavian requirement for DRLs on all cars.
dlrs are friggin dangerous, that is the lights that only turn on headlights no taillights or other parking lights. I cant tell you how many times I have seen some idiot driving down the freeway with only his dlrs going after full dark.
the reason for lights on at all times is indeed safety. Greyhound did a study with their busses and found that by running lights on at all times they reduced the number of colissions involving their busses dropped by 20% the first year.
the problem is that car makers are to stupid to grasp the concept and just put all the lights on all the time, and now with l.e.d. tech as good as it is there really isnt any reason not to have them on full time.
