# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/61 "2013-09-24T05:44:21Z")
The mass of the car is several thousand lbs. the tires and axles a couple of hundred. Think about it… ---
**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 24, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/62 "2013-09-24T06:15:47Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > The mass of the car is several thousand lbs. the tires and axles a couple of hundred. > Think about it… Hmmmm… I can almost grasp that now. Thanks. ETA: I wonder what would happen if the car was driven onto a treadmill? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/63 "2013-09-24T14:34:39Z")
While we’re at it, let’s add the dipshits that don’t dim their high beams when there are cars oncoming. The other day, I met up with one of those dipshits as people were crossing the street after dark. All I saw of the people crossing the street was a black outline in what was otherwise blindness due to his high beams. If I had been someone older, with eyes not so good, I might not have seen them at all, and that dipshit’s discourtesy could have resulted in a real tragedy! ---
**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 24, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/64 "2013-09-24T15:49:42Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > While we’re at it, let’s add the dipshits that don’t dim their high beams when there are cars oncoming. > > The other day, I met up with one of those dipshits as people were crossing the street after dark. All I saw of the people crossing the street was a black outline in what was otherwise blindness due to his high beams. If I had been someone older, with eyes not so good, I might not have seen them at all, and that dipshit’s discourtesy could have resulted in a real tragedy! Close one eye, you’ll preserve the night vision in that eye. ---
**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 24, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/65 "2013-09-24T15:53:41Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > While we’re at it, let’s add the dipshits that don’t dim their high beams when there are cars oncoming.\ And dipshits who put extra-bright headlights in as their regular lights - if your regular-strength lights are as bright as brights, you ARE a dipshit. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/66 "2013-09-24T15:54:30Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Close one eye, you’ll preserve the night vision in that eye. Even better, close them both. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/67 "2013-09-24T16:50:05Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Well in a word, no. Want proof? Here you go > [@Rick](#): > > ``` > The mass of the car is several thousand lbs. the tires and axles a couple of hundred. > > ``` > > Think about it… The difference there is that in order to do that stunt you coast into the truck, in which case yes the inertia of the wheels and axles is the only potential source of forward momentum. With what we’re talking about where the wheels are spinning because you’re doing a burnout or the CC is trying to accellerate on a poor surface, as soon as the wheels get traction again you not only have the inertia of the wheels, but the engine keeps producing power until either you or the CC computer realizes “oops, time to let off the throttle”. > [@Rick](#): > > First off in all of my years of driving, I don’t think I have ever gone from hydroplaning, or potential hydroplaning to flat dry and perfectly dry with great traction in the blink of an eye. Have you? Not perfectly dry, but most all-season tires do fine on wet pavement and not so well in standing water. Driving out of a puddle and going from standing water to wet pavement is a pretty big difference in traction. > [@Rick](#): > > Next those cars you are describing have very stone age CC units. A modern CC on a modern car has several safety disconnects that prevent this from happening. > Also go back and read the original email, they state the wheels were off the ground, but the car accelerated. That is flat impossible unless you are using a jet engine in your car. NO traction = no acceleration. If by stone age you mean pre-1995 or so. Like I said, that is an OLD e-mail and back when it was written there were probably still a lot of cars on the road that had CC systems that would behave very badly in low traction. Yes, the “wheels off the road” business is plainly wrong along with most everything else in the e-mail, but there’s a kernel of truth there. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/68 "2013-09-24T19:03:55Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > [http://mister-rik.com/hosted/smoke.jpg](http://mister-rik.com/hosted/smoke.jpg) > [@Leaffan](#): > > Hey, at least you can walk to “Jack in the Box” for supper. And buy furniture and electronics without needing a truck! ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/69 "2013-09-24T22:57:19Z")
Move to British Columbia, where [• _Drivers are required to keep their vehicle headlights on whilst driving - day and night_.](http://www.vancouverisland.com/information/details.asp?id=6) ---
**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 25, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/70 "2013-09-25T02:14:54Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > And buy furniture and electronics without needing a truck! And I’m already pre-approved! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/71 "2013-09-25T12:33:58Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > This also applies to pedestrians walking in or just off the edge of the road. I am not psychic and you are not immune to the forces of physics. I refer to these apparently death-proof people as “Captain Midnight” I leave my lights on all the time, we had a national awareness campaign advocating it and my Renault is designed for it, but I must have been one of the 1% who actually noticed the ads :(. I do know DRLs are standard in the EU now. (ETA; and apparently Canada too) ---
**Author:** ![jb33sva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@jb33sva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb33sva)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/72 "2014-01-28T03:45:01Z")
Hey here’s an idea: you should really keep your mouth shut when you have broken a law that is in place to protect other people and even protect you from yourself when the effect of is much greater in magnitude. You have basically given up your right to comment and judge others when you yourself has committed a highly immoral act. You see, because not driving under the influence of drugs is actually in place for not you being hurt or killed, it’s others that could be injured or killed by your mistakes. We don’t want to pay your price by your decisions we had no part in! Very much a pot calling the kettle black here ---
**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:** [January 28, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/73 "2014-01-28T03:53:30Z")
**jb33sva,** lets see _your_ halo. it’s also a good idea to indicate who you’re responding to. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/74 "2014-01-28T05:11:58Z")
> [@jb33sva](#): > > Hey here’s an idea: you should really keep your mouth shut… That IS a good idea… > [@](#): > > Very much a pot calling the kettle black here Brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/75 "2014-01-28T05:39:14Z")
Those who fail to use their headlights properly are only half of the problem. The other half is the police who don’t appear to be doing traffic enforcement anymore. Right turn on red without stopping, right turn at a stop sign without stopping, driving without headlights on after dark, excessive speed regardless of conditions, etc. I’ve seen it all with a local cop near me traveling in the same direction and the cop does nothing. He must of been busy driving to his local doughnut shop. I can clearly recall from several years ago coming upon a controlled traffic intersection during rush hour. All power was out for several blocks (a kid hit a main power transformer several blocks away). The traffic signals were out completely. As a result someone wasn’t paying attention, managed to travel through the intersection unscathed only to submarine under a stopped vehicle ahead of them that was stopped because of the line generated by another traffic signal that was out. Despite more than nine cops at this accident (yes, I counted!), an ambulance and a fire truck, not one cop could be bothered to hand direct traffic at the intersection. So not only do we have drivers inching thru the intersection in some semblance of you first, then me, then you, then me, etc., they all then gawked at the accident just passed the intersection, with most of these nine cops standing around watching the paramedics and firefighters doing their jobs. My later phone call complaint to the police department went nowhere. Drivers without headlights on are a menace. Observing local police doing nothing about it makes it so much worse. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2014, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/76 "2014-01-28T06:07:55Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Those who fail to use their headlights properly are only half of the problem. > > The other half is the police who don’t appear to be doing traffic enforcement anymore. Right turn on red without stopping, right turn at a stop sign without stopping, driving without headlights on after dark, excessive speed regardless of conditions, etc. I’ve seen it all with a local cop near me traveling in the same direction and the cop does nothing. He must of been busy driving to his local doughnut shop.\ We’re seeing that all the time here, too. I walk all the time; I could probably run up a list of about 20 drivers breaking laws in one half-hour walk, and the police do nothing. Every time we drive somewhere, we see people breaking laws everywhere, and the police do nothing. Driving a car covered with snow or driving a car with your license plate obscured by snow is against the law here; maybe a quarter of all the cars on the road this winter were doing one or both, and the police do nothing. Talking on cellphones/texting while driving? The police do nothing. Turn right on red or stop sign without stopping? The police do nothing. Drive through a four-way stop without stopping? The police do nothing. Bikes on the sidewalk or breaking other laws? The police do nothing (even when cyclists do it right in front of cops). Drive too fast through an active school or playground zone? You guessed it. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/77 "2014-01-28T07:13:18Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **jb33sva**. Out of curiosity, would the substance of the original post have been valid (in your opinion), had it been submitted by someone who did not have a DUI in his past? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/78 "2014-01-28T07:42:54Z")
It seems to me whenever it is pouring rain and visibility is poor the cars that are most likely to have their lights off are the ones that are hardest to see, generally grey or black. I mentioned this once at work on a wet day and we looked out the window and for several minutes the only cars going past with no headlights were all grey or black. ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/79 "2014-01-28T16:18:36Z")
If you hydroplane with the cruise on, the problem is not that your car will accelerate wildly, but that power is being applied to the wheels at all. During a skid, your best chance to regain traction is to keep your foot off both the gas and the brakes and allow the static friction of your wheels to grab the road. By continuously applying power during the skid, the cruise-enabled car is relying on kinetic friction to try to regain control, which is a lot less likely to happen since a moving tire has a lot less friction than a still tire. “Still” is not 0 mph in this case, still would be the tire’s rotational velocity matching the forward velocity of the car – so where the rubber meets the road, there is no sliding. However, this seems like an easy problem to overcome for the car manufacturers. Any car with traction control should be able to detect as soon as traction is lost at any wheel, and automatically disable the cruise control. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368/80 "2014-01-28T16:34:23Z")
> [@jb33sva](#): > > Hey here’s an idea: you should really keep your mouth shut when you have broken a law that is in place to protect other people and even protect you from yourself when the effect of is much greater in magnitude. You have basically given up your right to comment and judge others when you yourself has committed a highly immoral act. You see, because not driving under the influence of drugs is actually in place for not you being hurt or killed, it’s others that could be injured or killed by your mistakes. We don’t want to pay your price by your decisions we had no part in! Very much a pot calling the kettle black here No sin in your past? Ever? No speeding? No rolling through a stop sign? No right turn on red where prohibited? :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-those-who-dont-know-when-the-fuck-to-turn-on-their-headlights/669368.md?page=5)