Heavy rain, poor visabilty - no lights

Inactive

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

my dads old citroen c5's lights would come on in the dark and in poor visibility

That happens in every car that I have ever driven..;)

I think that it comes under the term, driver control.. :rolleyes:

thescouselander

aliasojo wrote: »

My OH has to undergo regular driving refresher courses in conection with his work. Last time they had some safety expert over from somewhere (Sweden maybe...can't remember exactly.) Anyway the expert told them that they should drive with lights on ALL the time, through rain, hail, snow, sun.

The tutorial material that was shown to them made perfect sense to OH and now he drives everywhere with his lights on. Tbh I felt a bit embarrassed being in the car on a sunny day with the lights on, but I can see the point.

I know this is what they do in Sweeden but sometimes turning your lights on can make you less visible - for example in bright conditions where the sun is behind the car. Also it is a waste of petrol to use your lights in good conditions.

mattymoo

Although I have auto lights on my car, to my mind the test is this -
If I look in my rear view mirror and find it harder to spot an unlit car than one with lights on, I will put my lights on.

Unfortunately, the rear view mirror is an optional accessory to a lot of motorists.

joegw

thescouselander wrote: »

I know this is what they do in Sweeden but sometimes turning your lights on can make you less visible - for example in bright conditions where the sun is behind the car. Also it is a waste of petrol to use your lights in good conditions.

Don't Volvo's as standard have the lights on all the time?

davetrousers

savemoney wrote: »

If its a dark day like today and raining I will drive with lights on usually dipped but tonight when I went out at 8pm it was full lights

Blimey you go around Main Beaming everyone???

pulliptears

I went out on Monday, hammering rain, very poor visibility. Flipped the lights on the TR7 (which only usually goes out on dry, sunny days) and only one light popped up. Cue a very wet me fiddling around with the headlight for the next 20 minutes.... GRRRRRR

thescouselander

joegw wrote: »

Don't Volvo's as standard have the lights on all the time?

Yes, you could be right there.

00ec25

thescouselander wrote: »

Yes, you could be right there.

its a Swedish car and therefore built to Swedish standards which are that sidelights should be permanently on whenever the ignition is switched on

what no one seems to have posted is that here in the UK the Highway code tells you exactly when to use lights at para 226 here

personally I think we should have consistency, I do not like Swedish lights being on because it is not the norm in the UK and thus can confuse you if, for example, glimpsed them through other traffic... is the car in front of the one directly in front of me braking? So I unnecessarily hit the brakes causing concertinering

much like the rear foglight question...

goldspanners

thescouselander wrote: »

I know this is what they do in Sweeden but sometimes turning your lights on can make you less visible - for example in bright conditions where the sun is behind the car. Also it is a waste of petrol to use your lights in good conditions.

i find it easier to see a car with its headlights on when its sunny, sometimes the sun can make it hard to see anything,so having your lights on helps,i do it.

Ms_Chocaholic

I was following a car home from work yesterday in the pouring rain, it was one of the only cars without lights on and it was a driving school car with a learner driver driving

Says it all really