Day-time running lights

Pete

Pete

Site Supporter
People often ask me why i drive with my lights on all the time, tbh it's something i've done since i did my m/cycle CBT back in 2000, but I knew there was a reason for it, here's a link to an interesting article which describes the benifits of having low level lighting on your vehicle at all times.

Link to article

Using information from police accident reports and R. L. Polk registration data from 12 states, the study concluded that the reduction of relevant crashes was in excess of 5 percent, and the reduction in urban vehicle-to-pedestrian crashes was approximately 9 percent.
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significant

Scientific studies have clearly shown that the human eye will be able to recognize an object against its background when lighted in this manner. Scientific studies also demonstrate that oncoming drivers suffer no disabling glare at the levels of light intensity in these vehicles.
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so there you go... Thats why.


Pete
 
my grandpa learnt to drive "back in the day" and he has his on all the time too. and puts them on highbeam when he comes to corners and junctions *shrug*
 
only if your riding or driving with full beams on. Sidelights or dipped won't dazzle anyone.
 
I've always been amazed at how much difference lights make on a bike, in people's reactions and when I'm in the car & generally find that high beam isn't dazzling during the day but not the best idea at all times.

There is a school of thought however that suggests if you can't see a ton and a half of metal coming towards you, lights or not, maybe you shouldn't drive... :glance:
 
MA 12.5 :-p said:
but if it was sooo good wudnt they make everyone do it? :p
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Well they do in various parts of Europe and in Canada, in the States it's a norm to have your lights wired to come on all the time, even if it's your indicators and now practically all motorcycles sold have their dipped beams wired to come on with the ignition.
 
yet. They harp on about road safety speed camera this traffic calming that, when one easy way to reduce colisions would be to make it a requirement that new cars be fitted with side-lights that come on automatically. I think it'd be an especially good idea given the forever changing UK weather.
 
Yeah, i heard some plans over here to make people drive with their lights on all the time so as it gets dark, they will not forget to turn them on! It wud help reduce accidents, not by much but if it saves one poor f*cker a year, its all good, and it doesnt cost anytin!
I recon all new cars shud hav their lights wired up to come on with the engine, but also with the switch... imo
 
Volvos I dont think you can turn the lights off when engine is running. (not 100% sure on this) High beam in day time DOES dazzle. The only negative view in my eyes is the wasted fuel on the use of headlights etc during the day. This would be about 0.2Kw per hour or so. Multiply this by the lifetime of the car and the extra added wear and tear and it would add up to a surprising amount!!
 
It's something I've alway's done when riding a bike(powered obv :p ) and carried it on when I started driving. On the energy wastage that article reckons it's about a tank's worth of Gas over a car's lifetime but i'm not so sure. Still it helps in this weather at least.
 
Just think of all ICE you could be powering instead!! Like i say and Ed agrees, they do dazzle so il only be using mine when required ;)
 
recently i've been driving my k10 with dipped on a lot cuz one of my lights is rusted out and moisture gets in there, it helps it dry out
 
I always drive/ ride with low beam on during the day too.

As said earlier, alot of North American cars have their indicators wired by law, to act as bright sidelights, and when they indicate, they flash.
Some jap bikes have them as well (Mostly the 400's), so that, like volvos, as soon as the ignition is turned on, the lights are on, and cannot be turned off. A bit of a bugger if the battery goes flat...
 
lets get the opinions straight here dipped healights do not dazzle at daytime. so using dipped headlights all the time is only a good thing, apart from energy consumption. i sometimes turn my headlights on when no other cars have theirs on, and you can notice that they notice you more, and tend to give way more on narrow lanes/roads.
personally what i dont like are the modern lights on cars, sometimes they are a bluey colour sometimes clear, even when it seems they are dipped they dazzle me 100% of the time.
what happened to the infrared headlight system? it brings an end to nighttime dazzling. only problem is you need all cars on the road to be using it or there would be crashes all the time.
 
Personally never noticed a difference in the car, except it makes me feel better if vis is dodgy eg rain etc. :)

Always notice on the bike though. If I ever forget to switch my lights on I notice less people giving way and more people who don't seem to be able to see me. Over the past year or so I've started using my main beam when filtering through traffic and that's almost as good as Moses riding pillion! ;) This doesn't tend to dazzle as most people don't have their mirrors perfectly adjusted to their eyes.

Also, from seeing other bikes riding with main beams on I would say they don't dazzle because the background brightness of the daylight softens the effect. It's still noticeable but not distracting...
 
its called safety, my favourite cars are the old volvos and im shure youll all agree you allways see a volvo. Reason? they allways have sidelights on and i can honestly say i could have killed myself just about to pull out a blind junction cuz couldnt see anything coming but i saw this light through the hedge, sidelights on an S40 goin about 50mph that in the side of the micra wouldnt have been nice

also....i was in safeway carpark it was dark but becuz of the streetlamps it was bright enough for me to see so i forgot to switch my lghts on suddenly theres a laguna reversing straight at me going far to fast so i accelerated out his way quickly....now if the micra had sidelights that came on automatically he would have seen me

and i drive with the sidelights on prettty much all the time specially at this time of year
 
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