- Most states have a “turn the headlights on when you use your wipers” law now. What about a simple electronic circuit that does the damn job for you? Turn on the wipers, the lights come on. They have moisture sensing wipers, how hard can this one be?
I believe some high end cars do have that feature.
It wouldn’t take much more than a relay in parallel with the headlights switch. I guess 5 bucks for the thingy plus installation should be a fair price (more than a nickel, no matter how shiny it may be)
Come to Canada. Our headlights stay on all the time.
Nebraska doesn’t require this, AFIAK.
In states that have this law, daytime running lights count or do you need to put on the regular lights?
IMO, the more-useful wiper-related device would be a return to separated washer and wiper switches. On all of my pre-1973 cars, you could really slop-down a filthy windshield and THEN start the wipers, resulting in better cleaning and fewer scratches caused by dry wipers dragging across the glass.
How about a Ford?
DTR’s are a pain in the ass when it comes to insuring cars from away. grumble
My headlights and windshield wipers turn on automatically. But I don’t think they’re coordinated to turn on at the same time. So, if the sun is shining, and its raining - hey - I’m in Colorado, it happens here -
This question lost us a valuable point at Pub Quiz one night.
What is the point behind it; it it to ensure you’re illumating the road ahead of you on a dark, rainy day, or is it more to ensure other cars can see you?
Mostly I find it’s so other cars see you. I can see far enough ahead on a gray rainy day as long as everyone uses their lights. it’s hard to judge distance with the dirty, gray car coming at you isn’t using head lights.
Why is it that cars that are closest to the color of the road are the least likely to use lights in dim conditions? Ok, not really, but it sure feels like it some days. Medium blue cars need lights! Thank you.
My 2008 Saturn Aura SE has this feature.
My 12-year-old car has a setting for headlights to be on whenever the engine is running. Don’t most cars have this now?
The problem with the wipers-on-lights-on feature is the question of what happens when the wipers go off. Say you use the wipers to clear the bugs off your windshield. Lights go on. Now turn off the wipers–do the lights go off? Even if it happens to be nighttime? Oops. Or do the lights stay on in the daytime and you leave the car not realizing they’re on (because you didn’t turn them on) and they drain the battery. Oops.
Having the lights go on and off with the car has not caused me any problems, and the bulbs don’t seem to need changing any more often. Another idea would be for the lights to come on automatically whenever daylight dropped below a certain level, which means automatically when you enter a tunnel or a parking garage as well as cloudy or rainy days
Many cars have this, just leave the switch on “auto” on my Sentra and I get that. My wife’s '97 Camry will automatically turn the headlights off when the ignition is switched off, and a door opens, even in the “on” position - I loved that.
That’s a good point though about if the wipers are just used to clean the windows.
What happens when the wipers are on intermittent; do the headlights just flash once every three seconds or so?
My 2001 Grand Marquis does this already. Send your nickel to Ford/Mercury’s accessories design team.
I think it’s more so other cars (or rather, their drivers) can see you. I find that a car with its lights on is much more visible than a car with its lights off, even in early twilight. And I turn my lights on when it’s raining or overcast or any time when I feel that the natural lighting is not sufficient. If I have even the slightest difficulty seeing other cars, I assume that the other drivers also have a hard time seeing me. I’ve had a couple of accidents already in my life, thank you, I don’t ever want another one.
I have gotten into the habit of driving with my lights on all the time. We just brought a Prius, and it makes this easier by allowing you to just keep the lights on. They switch off by themselves when you open the door after switching off the car, and switch back on when you start the car again.
I know I’m tired, but I can’t make head or tail out of what you’re saying here. I get that DTR stands for DayTime Running lights. I know what “pain in the ass” means, and I know what is involved in “insuring cars,” at least from the customer’s point of view. Putting it all together and tossing in “from away” leaves me puzzled though.
I would really hope not. What a waste of petrol. Certainly no cars made here do.
‘Round these parts, if you import a car from elsewhere, you can’t insure it (or drive it, natch,) until you’ve paid to have it modified so that it complies with the requirement to have Daytime Running Lights. There are exceptions for collectors’ vehicles where such modifications would depreciate the vehicle, but otherwise you have to have the work done - and depending on the model of your car, it can sometimes put you out of pocket more than you might think is reasonable.