Heavy rain, poor visabilty - no lights

thescouselander

goldspanners wrote: »

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.

It really depends on the situation but the military have been using a similar technique for decades to camouflage vehicles. The theory is that if you are on top of a hill with a bright sky behind, you put lights all over your vehicle to make it the same brightness as the sky behind (ie it stops the vehicle making a silhouette against the sky).

I've noticed a similar effect on some roads like the M4 - if you head west early in the morning with a low sun some cars can almost disappear if they have their lights on.

I do admit that this is unusual and most of the time headlights make you more visible.

flyingscotno1

Won't be a problem for much longer- all cars will have DRL from 2011. Hopefully you can turn them off like Audi at the mo.

hewhoisnotintheknow

Inactive wrote: »

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

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

and this thread is about people forgetting to turn their lights on in bad conditions, so is that drivers out of control?

Mark_Hewitt

My car has auto lights. I'm not sure if they come on at the same time as my auto wipers. But they certainly do come on when you get heavy rain, but it's usually a bit dark then too.

I find that they err on the side of caution and often they are on when they don't need to be.

Dave101t

simply drive at a reasonable speed for the road conditions, its all in the code!
when i get irate with slow drivers, i remind myself of all the accidents caused by reckless overtaking in conditions such as poor visibility, it soon curtails my need for speed

beaker141

I was using a Jetta as a pool car for a while, read snippets of the manual when I was a passenger and found that the auto lights come on and off in daylight conditions when the car is driven above a certain speed, i think it was 65kph for 3 minutes, if you then dropped below for a consistent 3 minutes they would turn off. When you knew the logic you could see them operating when stuck in traffic jams etc.

Inactive

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

and this thread is about people forgetting to turn their lights on in bad conditions, so is that drivers out of control?

....and if some drivers are not capable of switching their lights on when required, and in line with Highway Code guidance, perhaps they really shouldn't be driving at all.


We surely don't need cars to do our thinking for us, do we?..

cyclonebri1

wxmlad wrote: »

Noticed this today, chucked it down heavy all day, visibility was pretty poor, but people where driving with no lights on. I always find this quite dangerous, especially if someone is going for an overtake, ok most people aren't going to be knocking 60+ in the pouring rain on a NSL road, but passing a tractor for example? pulling out of a junction outside a town centre where traffic speeds are higher?

Should auto lights be standard on all cars? or should people think more?

You really know the answer to this question, and to be honest it was a bit tongue in cheek I'm sure.

They bloody well sure should think a bit more:mad::mad::mad:

I don't think I need anyone to tell me when I would be more visible with my lights on and niether do I think would anyone else..

Lets keep it asap, (as safe as possible);)

hewhoisnotintheknow

Inactive wrote: »

....and if some drivers are not capable of switching their lights on when required, and in line with Highway Code guidance, perhaps they really shouldn't be driving at all.


We surely don't need cars to do our thinking for us, do we?..

yup but sadly i dont have control over idiots driving along without them turned on when they should be, so auto lights would only reduce the problem of people not being seen, not add to it

Besides i would imagine DRL's will be along soon enough, which is a good idea, i think

Inactive

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

Besides i would imagine DRL's will be along soon enough, which is a good idea, i think

Sorry I disagee, it is just a gimmick IMO, a bit like auto wipers, surely it isn't asking too much to expect a driver to turn a small switch, when appropriate.

It removes the " thinking " part of driving, so a bad move.

Give drivers that do not switch on dipped headlights when required 3 points on their licences, then they may well get the message.;)