Put Your flippin' Lights On! Is it time daytime running lights are introduced in UK?

[The Beard]

Have you ever had to turn onto a dual carrage way (70MPH and thats if they're sticking to the speed limit) from a junction which dosen't have a slip on of off, in thick fog or even just poor conditions in which it seems people 'forget' their lights?

Not very nice or safe. Having DRLs will prevent accidents and help those who seem to forget to put their lights on, or can't judge if theyre needed or not and so decided to leave them off!

View attachment 36062
Above is a pic of the junction I have to use daily to get to work. I have to drive over the 1st carrageway and turn right. This is a nightmare when its foggy or theres poor visability and people have little or no lights on. Hopefully everyone can now see why I'm making a fuss. I've nearly had people go into the side of me to many times in fog! and at 70MPH its turns out to be deadly combination.

We've had this topic on here before, and my opinion has only shifted slightly since then, in as much as having seen more and more Audis with LED lights I think they could be acceptable.

With regard to the above scenario, this is another example of driving being reduced to the level of operating a domestic appliance.

I live in Norway where you have to have your lights on all the time, it is illegal to have your lights off at any time, even if your car is just warming up on your personal drive.
It is a very good idea becouse you can see cars coming on the road ahead of you, even in broad daylight, and if you walk past a parked car and the lights are on you know the engine is running and to BEWARE.

After all it costs nothing to have your lights on so why the hell not.

It should also become law for motorcycles...
How many times have you only seen a bike at the last minute due to its lack of lights !!!!

Bring on the lights worldwide !!!!

Never having been to Scandinavia, I'm not speaking from experience, however, is it not the case that parts of Norway are in, or close to, the Arctic
Circle, which means for much of the year you have anywhere up to 23 hours of darkness. Admittedly, this is ameliorated by having 23 hours of daylight for part of the year. Do you not also have, as was mentioned earlier, a lot of tunnels? Norway also has much more lightly inhabited countryside that the UK
which means more unlit roads.

and were on the side of the Germans in the war.

I'm hoping that was meant tongue in cheek.

 

[The Beard]

And you would need to know whether a car is 5 miles away because?

I find that really hard to believe as well, especially in daylight. 5 Miles is a LONG way, especially for some **** tastic bulbs to be travelling in perfect daylight.

And when do you ever get a stretch of road you can see 5 miles down? If the conditions are that good I bet you can see the car as well.

There really is no advantage to using your lights in the Day. Me Needs SOLID Evidence and links to half worthy sites that show me how it benefits me.

If you had an unlimited view, ie looking out to sea, you could only see 3 miles
which is the horizon.

 

[Eklipze3k]

If you had an unlimited view, ie looking out to sea, you could only see 3 miles
which is the horizon.

Somebody was watching QI the other day

 

[The Beard]

Somebody was watching QI the other day

Bugger! That'll teach me to pretend to be cleverer than I really am.

When I first saw this thread a few hours ago, I thought it was a re-hash of a previous one. I guess the dates of posts should have alerted me. Doh! Anyone who was driving in the late '80s may remember 2 laws that the Government of the day brought in. The first was spray suppression on trucks the reduction of spray was dramatic. The second was dim/dip headlights. This was influenced by Police cars, many of which were fitted with a rheostat (dimmer) to the headlights and could take them from sidelight intensity to full lights. On production cars this consisted of having normal sidelights when parked, but became (a bit) brighter when the ignition was turned on. Both these important safety devices fell victim to EU standardisation rules. Yet here we are, 20 years later with Europe now wanting improved lighting standards all this time after they reduced ours.

Just a thought, I wonder how many drivers with DRL will just assume no-one will pull out in front. Personally, I think they are in for a nasty surprise.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

its day time
some **** comes over brow of a hill with high beam on
even main beam can distract you a little

Why would they have high beam on

If you had an unlimited view, ie looking out to sea, you could only see 3 miles
which is the horizon.

I was lead to believe it was 25-30 miles by certain local sailors

Somebody was watching QI the other day

Could be wrong

On production cars this consisted of having normal sidelights when parked, but became (a bit) brighter when the ignition was turned on. Both these important safety devices fell victim to EU standardisation rules.

All the mk2 Panda's have this, and it's a bloody good thing! Really handy

Just a thought, I wonder how many drivers with DRL will just assume no-one will pull out in front. Personally, I think they are in for a nasty surprise.

I never have been because I've never assumed this. After all, assumptions are the mother of all ****-up's, especially when driving, as I learn't when I rearended a Transit about a year ago

 

[The Beard]

I was with one of my (oh alright, only) pupil yesterday. I'm only taking him to keep my hand in and as he drove down a busy main road with parked cars down the left hand side I pointed out a gap in the buildings that was visible above the parked cars and told the lad to check his mirrors and cover the brake and clutch. Through the windows of the parked cars I could just see something metallic green. I pointed it out to the pupil and as I spoke, a Focus
pulled out in front of the BMW ahead of us. Oops, that must have been expensive

 

[Eklipze3k]

I was lead to believe it was 25-30 miles by certain local sailors


Could be wrong

Remember the episode of Top Gear when James May was maxxing the Veyron? That track wasn't more than 3 miles and he couldn't see the end because of the curvature of the earth

That's quite OT tho

 

[Big Black Stilo]

i think i posted on here that in winter i never turn my lights off in the stilo, which has now gone but i do the same with the bravo. and before anyone goes on about wasting bulbs life, the stilo was 5 years old and still had original sidelight bulbs in it and 1 head light bulb.

in the saxo i have to remember to put them on tho!

in summer i used to leave the stilo set on sides all the time as rarely drove it in the dark

 

[imthejoker]

Is it me or do more and more ignornt people seem to be driving around in poor driving conditions with just side/parking lights, or even worse none?

Lights are an essential must have in bad weather conditions just like they are at night, so why do people still drive around without them on.

I always have mine on, and never turn them off. I leave them to go on and off with the ignition even on the brightest of days like Volvos and others cars because I believe it does help other people to see me!

Should day time running lights become law in the UK just like it is in Sweden and other countries?

Hello all , with reagrds to the above , the ex-Mrs joker and i were in Sweeden about 15yrs ago and the tour guide said since the mandatory useage of side/head lights all the time its helped reduce the accident rate by something like 65% in the firts 3yrs alone , a shocking statistic you'l agree but a lesson WELL worth taking on board , so as a forum should'nt we take the lead by following their example???
jOKER

 

[imthejoker]

Is it me or do more and more ignornt people seem to be driving around in poor driving conditions with just side/parking lights, or even worse none?

Lights are an essential must have in bad weather conditions just like they are at night, so why do people still drive around without them on.

I always have mine on, and never turn them off. I leave them to go on and off with the ignition even on the brightest of days like Volvos and others cars because I believe it does help other people to see me!

Should day time running lights become law in the UK just like it is in Sweden and other countries?

Mrs Joker and i were in Sweden around 15yrs ago and since the introduction of driving with lights on its reduced the accident rate by around 65% in the first 2yrs , a shocking statistic you'l agree,but a lesson WELL worth listerning too , should we as a forum start to do the same?? i will from now on.
Joker

 

[sludgeguts]

If you had an unlimited view, ie looking out to sea, you could only see 3 miles
which is the horizon.

I'm 6'4" tall. At sea level the horizon, for me, is a shade over 3 miles away.
To see further, you would need to be standing on something.

 

[sludgeguts]

If you had an unlimited view, ie looking out to sea, you could only see 3 miles
which is the horizon.

I'm 6'4, for me the horizon is a shade over 3 miles away.
To sse further you'd need to be standing on something taller.

 

[The Beard]

I'm 6'4, for me the horizon is a shade over 3 miles away.
To sse further you'd need to be standing on something taller.

I'm 8" shorter than you. Is there a formula, for instance 100 yards per inch?

 

[5abr3]

I'm 8" shorter than you. Is there a formula, for instance 100 yards per inch?

Yes there is a formula, but it isn't linear. You have to start playing around with trigonometry and I haven't a clue what the angles would be (1 will be 90 degrees and another VERY similar). It's too late to embark on such maths here so if someone else fancies having a crack at it?

 

[The Beard]

Yes there is a formula, but it isn't linear. You have to start playing around with trigonometry and I haven't a clue what the angles would be (1 will be 90 degrees and another VERY similar). It's too late to embark on such maths here so if someone else fancies having a crack at it?

30 years too late for me mate, so thanks for not trying it would make me feel as dense as a very dense thing.

 

[StevenRB45]

Surely your sitting in a car not six foot up either...so horizon is closer than 3 miles if you were 6'4.

 

[Hellcat]

Around 3 miles for a human.

http://www.boatsafe.com/tools/horizon.htm

 

[sludgeguts]

Surely your sitting in a car not six foot up either...so horizon is closer than 3 miles if you were 6'4.

I drive a doblo so my eye height is about the same as if I was stood by the car

 

[Renegade_8]

There are issues about bikers safety if everyone has lights on all the time bikes dont stand out so much. Also it would add about 1% to the nations fuel bill, thats a lot of carbon dioxide, and money! As usual the answer is more traffic police and fewer speed cameras.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

There are issues about bikers safety if everyone has lights on all the time bikes dont stand out so much. Also it would add about 1% to the nations fuel bill, thats a lot of carbon dioxide, and money! As usual the answer is more traffic police and fewer speed cameras.

But as has already been said. LED DRL's use next to no power and wouldn't affect MPG or emmissions, and I can't see it affecting motorcyclists. It will mean that everyone is visable, and not just motorcyclists.