# Why did they move the location of the headlight dimmer switch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 11, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563 "2015-01-11T19:25:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/61 "2015-03-19T17:36:49Z")
Ford did that on T-birds for a few years. Mercury Capris (the early German ones) had them too. Consumer Reports used to bitch incessantly about such things. They finally gave up complaining about SAAB’s ignition key location. I find such things amusing, and would quickly adapt to them if it was in my car. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/62 "2015-03-19T20:02:21Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > IIRC, my 1959 Renault Dauphine had that. There was also a rocker switch on top of the steering column that allowed me to switch the horn’s volume from “Town” to “Country.” Not a bad idea. The horn button in my Prius is easy to find but a pain to use. This would make it easier, not that people probably want to encourage honking. I knew a guy who gave up his horn for Lent. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/63 "2015-03-19T22:08:35Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > They know it exists. They rest it on the footrest, which is the pedal next to the accelerator. I need to pull my left foot up, toward me. Otherwise my lower leg blocks the speaker in the door. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/64 "2015-03-20T18:01:55Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Mercury Capris (the early German ones) had them too. I had a '74 with the horn on the stalk along with the dimmer. The spot on the floor where all my previous cars had the dimmer was a switch to pulse the wiper/wash the windshield. Yes, I did unexpectedly wash my windshield at night a few times. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/65 "2015-03-20T19:16:12Z")
I always had one of [these](https://www.google.com/search?q=foot+dimmer+switch+cover&espv=2&biw=1486&bih=989&tbm=isch&imgil=AkaihuViRRsBuM%253A%253BXlBrdDSwp9inTM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.amazon.com%25252FJEGS-Performance-Products-Dimmer-Switch%25252Fdp%25252FB007VRDF84&source=iu&pf=m&fir=AkaihuViRRsBuM%253A%252CXlBrdDSwp9inTM%252C_&usg=__Kvn2U4sa_1eJmCpe4UdvL6HYCYc%3D&ved=0CGQQyjc&ei=BHAMVbD1CtGqyATR_4CYBg#imgrc=AkaihuViRRsBuM%253A%3BXlBrdDSwp9inTM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fecx.images-amazon.com%252Fimages%252FI%252F31BnQHneo9L.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.amazon.com%252FJEGS-Performance-Products-Dimmer-Switch%252Fdp%252FB007VRDF84%3B258%3B300) on my dimmer switch. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/66 "2015-03-20T19:43:35Z")
I miss the floor switch. When I was a child, for awhile there I thought my father was switching to high-beams and back by a form of magic (he wasn’t touching anything!). ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/67 "2015-03-20T21:53:49Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Never happened to me. But what does happen on occasion is I’ll be using the turn signal and accidentally flash my brights. Or I’ll be using the lever to dim and may accidentally activate the signal light in lane change mode. When I was first driving I got confused and when trying to flash the hgih beams to signal someone to go, and sprayed my windshield washer fluid instead. 🙂 I never knew the switch was ever on the floor, and I never heard the term dimmer switch. Of course I only learned to drive in 1998. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > When I was a child, for awhile there I thought my father was switching to high-beams and back by a form of magic (he wasn’t touching anything!). I was always amazed when Pop would know just before the light turned green, and hit the clutch or whatever to go. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/69 "2017-01-20T16:17:32Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Never, ever heard it called the dimmer switch in 50 years of driving. > > Driving in an area where you need to switch back and forth between regular and high-beam was bad enough. Having to try to find the switch with a foot, especially when the left foot might be needed to put the clutch in at the same time, was a hazard. Of course they needed to improve that. I’ve never heard it called anything else other than the dimmer switch. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/70 "2017-01-20T16:21:08Z")
'robable spam 'ported ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/72 "2017-01-20T16:27:09Z")
When I was a teenager I drove vans with the floor switch. They were often to be found rolling around the passenger footwell because a driver wearing boots could easily kick them free of their mounting. Not unknown either, to put a foot on one and have it vanish through a rusty hole in the floor. My current car does it all automatically; dim, bright as required by a sensor at the front. There is a stalk to flash or do it manually if needed as well though. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/73 "2017-01-20T16:36:09Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > I’ve never heard it called anything else other than the dimmer switch. British cars used the term “dip switch”. The Triumph parts catalog calls it the “Headlamp dipping switch”. which is more accurate then dimming anyway. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/74 "2017-01-20T16:38:25Z")
**Moderator Note** This thread was revived by a spammer who has since been wished away to the cornfield. ---
**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 20, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/75 "2017-01-20T16:42:10Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > British cars used the term “dip switch”. The Triumph parts catalog calls it the “Headlamp dipping switch”. which is more accurate then dimming anyway. > > Dennis Lucas called it the “off” switch. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/76 "2017-01-20T17:53:29Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Lucas called it the “off” switch. > > 😃 I thought it was the 3 position Lucas switch - Dim, Flicker, and Off. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/77 "2017-01-20T18:40:33Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I thought it was the 3 position Lucas switch - Dim, Flicker, and Off. > > 😛 I think the headlight current went through the switch, making it Dim, Flicker, Smoke and Off Dennis ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/78 "2017-01-20T19:14:44Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > My '66 MGB has it on the floor. I think it was on the floor in my '58 Volvo. I think maybe the first car I had with a column dimmer was a '66 Rover. I always hated the floor button in Canada, where sometimes it would be frozen solid in a block of ice. The floor boards never thawed, and you’d be tracking snow on your boots up onto the dimmer switch area, and it would freeze up. My '48 Chev had the step-on starter switch right next to the dimmer switch on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/79 "2017-01-20T20:26:10Z")
I drive a Toyota Echo. It has a dimmer switch, and it’s a separate thing from my high beams switch. [http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mOnChhQDPrLEPJG3oDPHj6Q.jpg](http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mOnChhQDPrLEPJG3oDPHj6Q.jpg) It dims the interior lights. I’ve never heard the high beam called a “dimmer switch”; it doesn’t function like a dimmer (allowing you to fine tune brightness) and it makes your lights brighter than usual so that would be a ridiculous name for it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/80 "2017-01-20T20:32:50Z")
Did you read the thread? The switch got its name in the Olden Dayes when running high beams was normal and you turned your headlights down on the rare occasion you encountered another car. Sheesh, kids these days. I never !! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/81 "2017-01-20T20:35:28Z")
So it’s a term that old people use, no wonder I haven’t heard it before (I’m 40 by the way). ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563/82 "2017-01-20T21:20:27Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Easier to reach without taking your eyes off the road. But presents a new problem, my feet keep getting caught in the steering wheel. My vote for the wider utilization of domestics to headlight relays. That’s why the switch was on the floor to begin with, I expect, in pre-relay harness. The headlight wiring takes a long, circuitous (heh) path from the battery to the dash, down to the floor, back out to the front of the car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-move-the-location-of-the-headlight-dimmer-switch/709563.md?page=5)