Auto lights

Baldytyke88

My present works vehicle has auto lights or side/head lights, but it does not have a green light on the dashboard showing when the headlights are on.

Do autolights switch headlights on when its poor weather, its a VW Crafter around 10 years old.

How are drivers meant to follow the law if they don't know what lights are on.

I also have a similar issue when vehicles are limited to 56 mph etc. should drivers know if a vehicle has a speed limiter?

But it's the auto lights that will affect more people, some people are just driving around with DRL on, thinking it's ok.

Goudy

As far as I'm aware, there is no need for a dashboard warning for Daylight Running Lights (DRL's).

But there should be some warning or other way of letting you know the Side and/or Headlights are on.
Modern vehicles dashboards are usually always lit up in some way (which is why d'heads drive around in the dark thinking their lights are on) so have a Side/Headlight warning sign, a green coloured light symbol or two.

But older cars didn't have this. You knew the lights were on because clocks, dials and switches on the dash lit up when the head or sides were on and these went off again when the headlights were turned off.
Is this how your van works?

The only mandatory warning dash lights for the lights are for full beam (blue) and the rear fogs (orange).

facade

Auto lights switch the side & headlights on when it is dark.

(or when a high flying albatross casts a shadow on the car/it goes under a tree/there is a total eclipse of the sun/you are just about to exit a long tunnel etc.)

In general* they have no idea what the weather is doing- they may come on in torrential rain if the light level drops low enough, but unlikely to come on in daytime fog.

Best is to imagine it was made in the 1970s, and turn the lights on when you think they should be, and off when they shouldn't.

If you turn the headlights on with the switch there ought to be a green light of sorts on the dash that comes on, the same one should come on if the auto lights come on when on auto. You might also notice the dash dim with the lights on.

(* my Suzuki has some inkling, as if it puts the autolights on in the daytime, the satnav stays in day mode, manually operating the lights puts it into night mode)

fwor

Goudy said:

Modern vehicles dashboards are usually always lit up in some way (which is why d'heads drive around in the dark thinking their lights are on)

True of many modern cars, but if the Crafter is like my 12 year old VW Transporter, it should have a clever (IMO) feature that dims the dashboard backlight to nothing in dim ambient light. So if you try to drive after dark with just the DRLs lit, you can't see any of the dash instruments - which is hopefully enough to make you realise that you only have DRLs on (and no lights at the back).

Arunmor

Baldytyke88 said:

I also have a similar issue when vehicles are limited to 56 mph etc. should drivers know if a vehicle has a speed limiter?

.

What vehicle do you drive that is limited to 56mph?   

I know I have the 56mph limiter when the wagon can't go any faster.  This is a very "dark matter" but a quick google search will tell you. 

user1977

Goudy said:

But older cars didn't have this. You knew the lights were on because clocks, dials and switches on the dash lit up when the head or sides were on and these went off again when the headlights were turned off.

How old? I can't remember anything which didn't also have a warning light.

I did also drive something (think it was the Seat Ibiza) which counter-intuitively had the dashboard lit up all the time, and dimmed it when the headlights were on.

Mildly_Miffed

user1977 said:

How old? I can't remember anything which didn't also have a warning light.

There were cars for sale in the 1990s with just one single bulb backlighting the speedo, zero other internal indication of the headlights being on.

Dip and sides do not legally require a dash warning light, even now. Main beam only required one from 1986 on.
Those same dates are reflected by MOT testability.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/4-lamps-reflectors-and-electrical-equipment#section-4-9

I did also drive something (think it was the Seat Ibiza) which counter-intuitively had the dashboard lit up all the time, and dimmed it when the headlights were on.

I'm not sure that is that "counter-intuitive".

It's exactly what many other displays do, all the way from built-in satnav and dash info screens to your phone or many laptops. Backlight brightly in strong ambient light, dim in lower ambient light. With more and more dashboards being digital displays alone, it's pretty much what you'd expect.

paul_c123

Baldytyke88 said:

I also have a similar issue when vehicles are limited to 56 mph etc. should drivers know if a vehicle has a speed limiter?

Simple answer - no.

Are you driving it for work? Is this < 3.5t van/truck, or over?

There are plenty of requirements for an HGV (ie over 3.5t) information inside the cab, eg no smoking sticker, tacho calibration certificate, tacho seal, weight plate, height indication, etc but none of these are distinctly required in a >3.5t and not allowed in a < 3.5t. For example, a < 3.5t could have a tacho because it tows.

And >3.5t are legally required to have a speed limiter; where a < 3.5t isn't, but some employers spec them (and it could be 70mph, 60mph, 56mph etc limit.

Baldytyke88

facade said:

Auto lights switch the side & headlights on when it is dark.

But what about in poor weather conditions when your headlights are required, but you have it on auto, and you don't know if the side lights or the headlights are on?

Okell

facade said:

... Best is to imagine it was made in the 1970s, and turn the lights on when you think they should be, and off when they shouldn't...

Surely this ^?

I wouldn't rely on auto lights just as I wouldn't rely on satnav or Waze or some phone app to tell me what the current speed limit was.

Another 20 years and nobody will know how to drive a car any more...

facade

Baldytyke88 said:

facade said:

Auto lights switch the side & headlights on when it is dark.

But what about in poor weather conditions when your headlights are required, but you have it on auto, and you don't know if the side lights or the headlights are on?

You rotate the switch from AUTO round to HEAD or whatever hieroglyph represents headlights. (just like we did in The Olden Days.....)

They only come on "by themselves" when it is dark. So not in daytime fog, spray on the motorway or pouring rain unless it has gone dark enough due to the clouds.

Btw, I'm happy to be corrected, but I don't know of any "auto light" systems that put only the sidelights on, (even though you only need sidelights in a 30mph road with streetlights) they all put both the headlights and sidelights on together.