# I pit those who don't know when the fuck to turn on their headlights **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 21, 2013, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368 "2013-09-21T06:10:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/21 "2013-09-21T16:20:16Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#): > > Your license was suspended for 15 years? You must have been really wasted. Don’t be ridiculous 😛 It was suspended for 90 days. At the end of that time they gave me a list of BS I’d have to go through to get it back, and since I wasn’t ready at that time to quit drinking, I chose to quit driving. By the time I did actually quit drinking, I had discovered I rather liked not having the expense of gas and insurance, and walking/bicycling was actually getting me in pretty decent shape. Not to mention that my city had established a pretty decent public transit system by that time. But by the time I turned 40, I’d finally gotten tired of walking to work in the middle of winter (I’d been working mostly as a breakfast cook, which forced me to walk to work because the busses didn’t start running until 7AM), so I started working toward getting a car and my license back. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/22 "2013-09-21T16:37:26Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Speaking strictly from Washington State law, you’re supposed to turn on your car’s headlights at “sunset”, and keep them on until “sunrise”. Nitpick. Strictly speaking, it’s 30 minutes after sunset. From the Wasingon Stare Drivers Guide > [@](#): > > By law, your vehicle’s headlights must be turned on from a half hour after sunset until a half hour before sunrise. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/23 "2013-09-21T18:15:54Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I thought the federal government passed a law a few years ago that cars had to have “automatic-on” lights. IIRC, the law went into effect with 2012 cars, but I still see people driving around without their headlights on. No such law exists. > **[Daytime running lamp | United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytime_running_lamp#United_States)** > > Shortly after Canada mandated DRLs, General Motors, interested in reducing the build variations of cars for the North American market, petitioned the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 1990 to permit (but not require) US vehicles to be equipped with DRLs like those in Canada. NHTSA objected on grounds of the potential for high-intensity DRLs to cause problems, such as glare and turn signal masking, and issued a proposed rule in 1991 that specified a maximum intensity of 2,60 Pub... ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/24 "2013-09-21T18:29:01Z")
My lights are on regardless of the time of day. My car has the option of either/or, with auto shutoff when the engine is killed. I’d rather be seen than not, especially with these narrow streets and obstructed vision at intersections (cars park right up to the stop signs). I’m low enough to the ground that they don’t blind anybody. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/25 "2013-09-21T20:37:18Z")
I always leave my car headlights on “auto” which I think means that they turn on whenever it’s even a little bit dark or grey. I should probably pay closer attention to whether or not they are actually on if it’s a bit of bad weather or near dusk/dawn. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/26 "2013-09-22T20:12:14Z")
My car is foggy day silver, so unless it’s bright sunshine and blue skies my headlights are on. Even then I feel like sometimes other drivers don’t see me. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/27 "2013-09-22T22:04:17Z")
My last car at least had DRL come on when I turned it on. One of my few objections to my new car is that it doesn’t have DRL. So I trained myself into a new habit pattern: ignition on, seat belt buckled, headlights on…then and only then does the car go in gear. **Rik** has a legitimate bitch and I support it. I want to be able to see other cars on the road. And I want them to be able to see me. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/28 "2013-09-22T22:15:56Z")
> [@JuliaSqueezer](#): > > I’m sure there’s a statistic out there somewhere about the predominance of silver/grey cars on the road in the US, so there’s got to be a correlation, but I swear, 90% of the time when I see a car toddling along at dusk or daybreak or in the fog or rain without its lights on, it’s silver or some shade of grey. I drive a small silver Corolla that seems to be in stealth mode to all the larger vehicles anyway, so my headlights are ALWAYS on. I figure I want to take every opportunity I can for other vehicles to see me. Never mind the headlights; people don’t seem to realize that sometimes you need to see taillights, too, like when everyone is driving straight into the sun in the morning or afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/29 "2013-09-22T22:17:43Z")
Seeing as how everyone, including me, is in agreement with **Mister Rik** , I’m going to offer up a safety tip. If your windshield wipers are going, do not use your cruise control. They react badly to hydroplaning. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/30 "2013-09-22T23:59:11Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I got up early the morning and made the drive down to Carmel. There’s a section of Hwy 1 that is only two lanes as it goes through Moss Landing (one lane in each direction). It’s a designated “daylight headlights” section, although that’s not enforced by law. > > Anyway, it was dark outside, raining pretty steadily and this idiot in a big truck going north had no lights on at all. None. WTF? And I’ll give everyone three guesses as to what color the truck was, and the first two guesses don’t count! I know that stretch of highway. I cannot imagine why anyone would not put their lights on. My headlights are set to go on when I start the car and go off when I turn off the engine. If I’m driving, they’re on. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/31 "2013-09-23T01:15:35Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > Seeing as how everyone, including me, is in agreement with **Mister Rik** , I’m going to offer up a safety tip. If your windshield wipers are going, do not use your cruise control. They react badly to hydroplaning. OG not this one again. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/32 "2013-09-23T01:22:20Z")
The dumbest thing of all is those people who turn on their parking lights at dusk instead of their headlights. I guess because they only need a little illumination because spinal injuries are only a little severe when it’s only a little dark. And while I’m ranting, stop fucking driving with your hazard flashers on. If you’re that hazardous, get the fuck off the fucking road and call a fucking tow truck, don’t drive on the interstate all “Ooh, I’ve got a problem, best stay away from me.” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/33 "2013-09-23T01:30:33Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > Seeing as how everyone, including me, is in agreement with **Mister Rik** , I’m going to offer up a safety tip. If your windshield wipers are going, do not use your cruise control. They react badly to hydroplaning. > [@Rick](#): > > OG not this one again. Why? Everything reacts badly to hydroplaning. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/34 "2013-09-23T01:37:11Z")
Daytime running lights are a damned fine idea, and I don’t know why you don’t adopt the same system in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/35 "2013-09-23T02:17:17Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Why? Everything reacts badly to hydroplaning. 😃 Hydroplaning is bad, of this there is no doubt. Driving with your cruise on in the rain is maybe not the greatest idea in the world. What I object to is the scare e-mail that circulates about this. Anyway here is the scare e-mail: > [@some idiot on the net](#): > > I learned a lesson I’d like to pass on to you. You may know this already–but the highway patrolman told me that you should NEVER drive in the rain with your cruise control on. He said if you did and hydroplaned (which I did) that when your tires were off the road your car would accelerate to a high rate of speed (which it did). You don’t have much, if any control when you hydroplane, but you are totally in the hands of God when the car accelerates. I took off like I was in an airplane. The first two sentences are fine I have no objection to them. It’s the next three that have me going :smack: Here they are and we can talk about them > [@](#): > > He said if you did and hydroplaned (which I did) that when your tires were off the road your car would accelerate to a high rate of speed (which it did). Everything you do in driving a car has to do with the friction between the tires and the road. Stopping, starting, accelerating, and turning all require friction between the tire and the road surface. hydroplaning is when a layer of water gets between the tire and the road surface reducing that friction to essentially zero. So if your tires are off the ground and you have no traction, would somebody explain how your car can accelerate to a high rate of speed? If I took your car and put it on a hoist at my dealership and lifted the tires off the ground, started the car and put it into gear, just how fast could I make the car go? Answer? zero MPH, there would be no traction between the tires and the ground, so nothing to make the car accelerate. > [@](#): > > You don’t have much, if any control when you hydroplane, Correct but a mite dramatic > [@](#): > > but you are totally in the hands of God when the car accelerates. I took off like I was in an airplane. As I have said, when your tires aren’t on the ground, the car is not accelerating. The car did not take off like an airplane. Here is what really happened: So back when I was 18 or so, I was in an underground parking garage that had a very smooth concrete surface and had flooded to about 1" deep from rain. I goosed my parents Big Dodge V8 and broke the tires loose. My buddy was laughing his ass off and told me to stop so he could get a picture. I let him out and floored it. Engine revved up, tires broke loose, trans shifted and away we went at a walking pace. My buddy was walking next to the car talking to me as the speedo registered 120 MPH. The tires were spinning at 120MPH but since there was essentially no friction between the tires and the road, courtesy of the standing water, the car was going maybe 3 MPH. the person that wrote this (and everyone that has re-published it) think that the speed of the tires = the speed of the car. In reduced traction conditions, this is not a true statement. That is my objection to this piece of glurge. It also ignores the safeties built into modern cruise controls. Here is an [excellent discussion of hydroplaning](http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/accidents-hazardous-conditions/hydroplaning.htm) [Here is the standard (wrong) letter](http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-cruisecontrol.htm) about this ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/36 "2013-09-23T02:34:19Z")
I’ve never owned a vehicle with daytime running lights. I always put my lights on well before sunset and only after the sun is completely up as well as whenever it’s overcast, even if not raining. I absolutely can’t turn my lights on when it’s sunny out unless the vehicle has an idiot warning and until Friday I had never had this. Luckily for me, my wonderful stepfather gave me his old car and it dings annoyingly when I forget to turn the lights off so I can have them on all the time. Of course the car is also bright red and unlikely to disappear into the fog on a rainy day. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/37 "2013-09-23T03:00:11Z")
**Rick** , dude, I’m sorry. I wasn’t bringing up glurge, just offering some advice from my days living in the land of flash floods. Hitting a sudden localized storm at 50 mph can get all of the tires off the road and the car shimmies. In my experience, there was never any worries about being in god’s hands. It was just really unsetteling, so its something I do automatically now. Kinda like how I aways have my lights on and why I have flags mounted on my bike and wear fringe when I’m riding. I want people to see me. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/38 "2013-09-23T03:10:47Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Daytime running lights are a damned fine idea, and I don’t know why you don’t adopt the same system in the US. Same reason they don’t use metric or dollar coins. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/39 "2013-09-23T03:25:46Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > **Rick** , dude, I’m sorry. I wasn’t bringing up glurge, just offering some advice from my days living in the land of flash floods. Hitting a sudden localized storm at 50 mph can get all of the tires off the road and the car shimmies. In my experience, there was never any worries about being in god’s hands. It was just really unsetteling, so its something I do automatically now. > > Kinda like how I aways have my lights on and why I have flags mounted on my bike and wear fringe when I’m riding. I want people to see me. Get all four hydroplaning and things can get interesting. First time it happened to me car went from straight ahead to 90 degrees off the direction of travel in nothing flat. That was fun. Anyway, don’t sweat it, no big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/40 "2013-09-23T04:13:43Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > **Rick** , dude, I’m sorry. I wasn’t bringing up glurge, just offering some advice from my days living in the land of flash floods. Hitting a sudden localized storm at 50 mph can get all of the tires off the road and the car shimmies. In my experience, there was never any worries about being in god’s hands. It was just really unsetteling, so its something I do automatically now. > > Kinda like how I aways have my lights on and why I have flags mounted on my bike and wear fringe when I’m riding. I want people to see me. FWIW, a lot of my issues regarding visibility are related to my 15 years of walking/bicycling. Dammit, I want drivers to see me and I want to see them! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368.md?page=3)