Penalty for driving without lights on

Ddrago

Like a total idiot I just drove with no lights on, my partial excuse is that the headlights are always in auto but yesterday I got a service done and they must have got turned off.

I must have drove around a mile or so tonight down a deal carriageway and a tesco car park, had 2 people flash at me but didn't realise why at the time. 
My question is, what is the punishment for this? I'd hope that on the off chance I get caught/ reported it would be a fine

scrappy_returns

DRL's are to blame for this. It winds me up, and the drivers getting flashed still don't cotton on, as evidenced above.

Aretnap

A lighting offence is a £50 fixed penalty, with no points. But it's not something that's routinely enforced by cameras; if you didn't get stopped at the time there's at least a 99% probability that you'll never hear of it again. 

Ant555

scrappy_returns said:

DRL's are to blame for this. It winds me up, and the drivers getting flashed still don't cotton on, as evidenced above.

DRL's and the fact that many dashboards light up brightly at all times so at night, DRL's and the brightly lit dashboard can give the impression to a driver all bright at the front.

EssexExile

The usual penalty is having to grovel most apologetically to the nice policeman who stops you.

GunJack

Ant555 said:

scrappy_returns said:

DRL's are to blame for this. It winds me up, and the drivers getting flashed still don't cotton on, as evidenced above.

DRL's and the fact that many dashboards light up brightly at all times so at night, DRL's and the brightly lit dashboard can give the impression to a driver all bright at the front.

DRL and Auto light settings annoy me, the number of people around here that don't use them properly is barking.

What I don't understand is why, with DRL, they don't switch on the rear lights as well, a la volvo/saab used to for the scandinavian market - far more sensible than the equivalent of sidelights minus the back end 

forgotmyname

My DRL's are brighter than the headlamps at close range, dash lights up whether its night or day also
so can understand why some people do it.

DRL's don't have a great range though, if its a bright well lit built up area you not not notice.

caprikid1

Got to to be covered by Driving without undue care and attention, maximum penalty 9 points ?

We automate too much in cars these days, people don't feel they need to do anything , god help us when driverless electric cars are here... silent killers.

chrisw

It's happened to me a few times, always after a service,

I can't understand why garages always turn the auto lights off. They all seem to do it whether it's main dealer or smaller garage. They always ask whether the mirrors are set to fold or not, it would be helpful if they also turned the lights back on again afterwards.

Bigphil1474

If you were on a street with lit street lighting, then the headlights aren't a problem - number plate and side lights would be though. 

Car_54

Bigphil1474 said:

If you were on a street with lit street lighting, then the headlights aren't a problem - number plate and side lights would be though. 

Only if it's a restricted road, i.e. subject to a 30mphlimit.