side lights

Jackmydad

Winter 1977, the wife was going to work in the 1960s Mini estate we had then. It had a genny rather than an alternator. It was snowing, and the traffic was very start-stop. The headlights, blower, and wipers flattened the battery, and the engine just stopped and wouldn't start again.
Jump started it in the evening and it was fine.

Ectophile

I regularly use sidelights when it's a bit gloomy, but I can see where I'm going perfectly well. That's most mornings when driving to work at the moment.

I don't see any point in driving around with the headlights on all the time. It just dazzles everyone else.

I may also be one of the few people who ever uses the headlight dip control that all modern cars seem to have. If I'm driving around town, I normally set the headlamps dipped further downwards.

AdrianC

societys_child wrote: »

Anyway, I have a dodgy generator which is probably why my battery's a bit iffy.

An alternator is a generator, as are the old dynamos...

Apodemus

Well, having been a Saab driver in the distant past and more recently a Volvo driver, I am on the side of always-on dipped headlights. Supposing there is a one-in-a-million chance of a child seeing a light out of the corner of his eye before running out in front of me, then it is worth it. I reckon I will probably cover a bit over a million miles in my driving career, so one in a million chances do start to come into play.

trailingspouse

I've been driving for nigh-on 35 years, and have never driven with just the side lights on.

In fact, after years with a Volvo where the always-on dipped headlights came as standard, followed by several years with an MX5 which was apparently invisible unless lit up like a Christmas tree (and sometimes even then...), I generally drive with the headlights on all the time.

Gloomendoom

trailingspouse wrote: »

I've been driving for nigh-on 35 years, and have never driven with just the side lights on.

I once drove 15 miles home down country lanes at one in the morning on just sidelights.

The headlights had mysteriously packed up and it seemed like a good idea at the time.

societys_child

AdrianC wrote: »

An alternator is a generator, as are the old dynamos...

Ohh, there are some differences, but I won't bore you.

Anyway, I've learnt how to tell 'em apart now, ones green and er' . . . one isn't



(I have refurb'd a few in my time )

Apodemus

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I once drove 15 miles home down country lanes at one in the morning on just sidelights.

The headlights had mysteriously packed up and it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Although in the dipped-headlights always on camp, I have driven cross-country off-road, by moonlight. In that scenario, headlights reduce your vision to just the narrow confines of the beam, so while you can see the ground in front of you, you really can't see where you are!

NBLondon

Hedgehog99 wrote: »

The Highway Code says sidelights should be lit between sunset and sunrise, with headlights used in addition at night (defined as 30 mins after sunset until 30 mins before sunrise).

The only circumstances I can think of are when dusk approaches, I might go to sides and then to dipped but it's usually only a matter of 10-15 minutes between the two. If I leave the lights on auto, the car goes straight to dips when it reaches the threshold. Ditto with the auto wipers - they go on at a level when I would be manually doing a single flick-wipe when I need one. I guess the manufacturers err on the side of caution.