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View Full Version : Vehicle Safety: Lights on during the day, is that really necessary?


Big Booger
May 13th, 2006, 09:32 AM
This question is currently the subject of intense discussion. The fact is that, in principle, driving with lights on during the day offers a clear plus in terms of safety.
Lights on during the day, is that really necessary?

Among other aspects, this is shown by a study carried out by the Dutch "SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research" on behalf of the European Commission.

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8409/0605120067en.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The result of the study: in half of all accidents during the day, one contributing factor was that other vehicles were either not seen or were seen too late. Compulsory in many other countries already, in Germany the decision in relation to requiring daytime running light has yet to be made.

However, according to a DEKRA survey, the readiness to drive with lights on during the day is high in the case of German car drivers. The survey shows that three out of four car drivers are open-minded with regard to the introduction of daytime running light. 59.3 percent approve of a corresponding legal requirement. As many as 67. 5 percent of the car drivers asked support the idea of new vehicles being equipped with economical daytime running lights.

The automotive supplier and lighting specialist Hella has developed such special daytime running lights for retrofitting. These lights are designed for warning effectiveness during daylight and switch on automatically when the engine is started.

The rest of the vehicle lighting is then not in operation and, with a power consumption of about 16 watts, additional fuel consumption is therefore not measurable. The daytime running lights carry out their task much better than normal low beam, which provides effective illumination of the road in the dark. In addition, their service life is up to ten times higher than that of a halogen bulb for low beam.

Motor-vehicle garages are now starting a daytime-running-light campaign together with Hella. This campaign is intended to offer more safety on the roads during the day. Interested car drivers can have vehicle-specific or universal Hella daytime running lights retrofitted for a reasonable price at a garage.

http://www.automotoportal.com/article/Lights_on_during_the_day_is_that_really_necessary

In Japan this is unheard of except on imported American vehicles.... I rarely see lights on in the day time. Even on rainy, overcast days you seldom see people with their headlights on...

But in the US this was becoming a huge trend since the mid 90s... Do you drive with your headlights on in the day?

PIPER
May 13th, 2006, 09:41 AM
With the 350z I do all of the time...mostly due to the color and the size...silver is an easy color to miss if your not paying attention.....too many cell phone users with their heads in their butts talking while driving.....I have already had people pull out in front of me, cut me off etc.etc.etc :mad: ....hence the headlights stay on......now the Titan is a different story....hard to miss that or so you would think....lmao....not so....people still drive with heads in butt...:eek: .....so now I leave those on.....ounce of prevention thingy don't ya know.:)

rik
May 13th, 2006, 18:02 PM
Agreed^

Mine come on automatically, but even if it doesn't help that much, it sure can't hurt.

zipp51
May 13th, 2006, 21:42 PM
Anything to be more visable for 4 wheel as well as 2 wheel vehicles.I remember when I drove my Honda and Suzuki crotch rockets(1980 and 1977),and strobe type headlights were used during the day.The way I see it is that some eyes are perfect but most aren't.Also,it is good to assume that the other driver doesn't see you,especially with everybody driving around and talking on their cell phones.:D

cash_site
May 16th, 2006, 03:47 AM
An increasing trend in Australia too... i definitely notice cars with lights on, so i should drive with lights on too! However, soon people will get all used to seeing headlights and not bother... which will be bad at night time!

But for now it is a good idea... What's next though, high-powered LED whites ;)

Fenalaar
May 16th, 2006, 13:31 PM
My car has a system that'll automatically turn on driving lights as soon as the engine is running. The system turns on the lights when the alternator provides high enough voltage. This gives a delayed action in the winter. When the engine is cold and idles at lower than normal rpms, the driving lights will not turn on immediately.

Johan-Kr