I think that is far from universal. On many cars they are a completely different set of lamps, or a strip of LEDs. On my car, the DRLs are the high beams running at reduced brightness (more like 30%, not 90%) and the regular headlights are a different set of bulbs.
I just turn my headlights on every time I start the engine (and turn them off every time I park and turn it off).
I have noticed that older cars only lit up the gauges when the headlights are on. Most modern cars have them illuminated all the time. Someone adjusting to a newer car may see the gauges lit up at night and assume the headlights are already on, especially if they are in a well lit area.
I have little reason to complain: my 20-year-old headlights are hovering between too dim to illuminate what’s 30 yards in front of me and bright enough to make me visible to surrounding traffic. Cleaning the covers accomplishes little. If I want to keep the car I’ll have to have one or both replaced.
One thing I do hate is the combination of aftermarket halogen/LED lamps with the height conferred by modern SUVs and other vehicles. Even dimmed, I’m getting hit with way-too-bright light at eye level, which is discourteous and dangerous.
One thing I miss about a manual. You could push in the clutch, and then just move the stick to right before it goes into reverse (it will never actually go in, but your start scraping your synchronizers), and your reverse lights come on.
People usually back off my bumper when they think I just threw the car into reverse on the interstate.
I rented a car like that once. Seemed as thought he headlights were on, so I thought I was good. Wasn’t until I was at an intersection and the driver next to me got my attention to tell me I had no rear lights.
My current car has an overhead “picture” of my car, along with what lights are active. Much easier to tell if the rear lights are not on.
I leave for work at %:45 AM, daily.
I see it constantly.
I can’t fathom it.
And hate it.
Nowadays my headlights turn on with the car, and that’s a good thing, because between streetlights and my night vision the only difference between “headlights on” and “headlights off” is whether the super-reflective things like streetsigns light up. Everything else, my eyes adapt to and I don’t see the difference.
And yes, once when I was a kid I got pulled over for driving a short way lights-off. It was a major well-lit road, and I honestly didn’t notice - I could see just fine.
Yep. The height at which they’re placed in some SUVs and pickups, combined with the blue-white LED glare, is massively annoying. I was being bothered by the glare from one such pickup behind me once, and had to flip the mirror to the low-reflection position, and in all seriousness it was mid-afternoon broad daylight! At night those horrors would have been deadly blinding! I find myself flipping that mirror a lot these days.
My new truck has one of those electro-optic auto-dimming rear-view mirrors (With extra hyphens!) and I have to say, even though it’s only been two weeks, I’m Loving It! I haven’t been blinded by anything so far. Cars, Trucks, the Sun on the horizon? No Problem!
I don’t got none of that there newfangled stuff. And pardon me, but “my new truck”? I bet it has blue-white LED headlights mounted directly at eye level for a driver sitting in a normal car in front of you, with a brightness designed to be visible from Neptune. Sounds like you’re part of the problem, pal! 
:eek:
I’ve heard of defensive driving. Sometimes I feel like playing offense. 
Had a friend with an old Army-style jeep, he could pull up the emergency brake enough to get smoke and a godawful squeal from the back tires. Scared a lot of people who were tailgating.
???
How do you tun them off? Mine come on an soon as I turn the switch on unless the parking brake is set. And even then they come on when you release the brake. There’s no switch to turn them completely off.
Those are Daytime Running Lights, not auto-on headlights. DRLs are not user-controllable, although on some cars you can pull a fuse to turn them off. They do illuminate somewhat in front of you but most implementations don’t turn on the tail lights. They typically aren’t as powerful as headlights. These don’t qualify as headlights when driving at night.
Auto-on Headlights are a user setting. Instead of turning your headlights on and off manually, a sensor determines if it is dark out and turns them on. That includes your tail lights and full power front lights.
No, when it’s daylight just the DRLs come on, but the headlights come on automatically when it gets dark. On both of my vehicles that have auto-on lights the switch only has two positions, one that turns the headlights on regardless of daylight (even if the car is switched off), and one that only turns them on when it gets dark. My pickup, on the other hand, has no automatic lights. The switch on that has three positions - off, DRLs and headlights on.
What make and models are you driving? I’ve never seen what you describe in any of the cars I’ve owned or rented.
to am seeing a lot more vehicles with the riding lights on, no tail lights. I’m assuming that it means that the console lights aren’t indicative.
In my own car (which is not one of the large, tall, expensive vehicles subject to this problem), the console is continuously illuminated. It is well shaded, and in normal daylight you can’t read it at all when it is not illuminated. I know this because if I turn the headlights on for some other reason, the console light dims, and I can’t read the speedometer.
I just checked in my wife’s 2016 Kia, and, indeed, that is the case. The console is lit up even if the lights are in the OFF position (this car has four positions for lights: AUTO, normal, parking light, and OFF). In all positions, the console stays lit.
In my 2014 Mazda 3, though, the console does not light up if the lights are off.
In my Kia Soul the console displays are brighter while the headlights are off, presumably to make them more visible/readable in daylight conditions. They only time they’re off is when the ignition is off. I recall one day I was flabbergasted at how bright my console was, and looking through menus and manuals trying to figure out how to dim it back to normal, before I realized that what had happened was the guys at the shop had turned my headlights off while they changed my oil. I normally leave them ‘on’ all the time - on that setting they turn themselves off a short time after the ignition is turned off and turn themselves back on when the car starts.
I was actually just about to post this after driving my wife’s car around at night. The console lights on the Kia dim when you put the headlights on and it’s dark outside.