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I know weve discussed this before but like in the old days where youd see ads such as "clunk click every trip". The fog like some of the drivers was dense round our way this morning and the amount of drivers with zero lights on was ridiculous. Am I also right in thinking that some drl's on cars put just the fronts on so nothing on the rears?
The daytime running light thing is a problem, as a lot of people assume they have rear lights on too. Wouldn't it be easier to have all the lights on with this feature, or none at all?
Am I also right in thinking that some drl’s on cars put just the fronts on so nothing on the rears?
Yep, blinding lights at the front and nothing at the rear is pretty common around here. Whoever came up with the DRL arrangement really didn't think through how it would be used by the average idiot.
Would also go for a National "turn your **** engine off" ad campaign.
Doesn't help the dashboard automatically lights up, either. "Back in the day" if you couldn't see the speedometer it was a pretty clear indication that the lights weren't on...
Love that Alan clip! 😀
I spotted a car last night with front lights on but no rear. It was a Fiat though so I just assumed it was a typical Italian wiring issue
Yep. Joined the A46 south of Coventry this morning (at 6:50am - still very much dark) followed by a woman in an S-Max. Could see in the mirror that she only had DRLs as it was just a couple of strips of LEDs.
She was flashed by someone further back - nothing. She over took me and I flashed her - still nothing. Took about another 4 cars to flash her before she finally realised that she was the common denominator in the related disco of flashing lights. Thing is, she must have come at least a mile before reaching me without them on and people flashing her as it was well away from any houses by this point.
For some there is just no hope.
I think the regs state the DRL are supposed to be front only, I think it's only early implementations that pre-date the regs which also light the rears.
Makes no sense to me. Shirley if the aim is to make the car more visible, then why not light up the rear too?
I leave mine on auto. Sometimes fog confuses the car and it thinks it's bright outside and doesn't switch any lights on. I usually notice and switch them on manually but I guess a lot of people don't think about lights anymore and just assume the car will sort it all out for them.
The trouble is you are signalling - with a friendly flash - to someone who's head is so far up their arse that they are driving around with their lights off in the dark!
I've actually turned my lights on and off behind someone (in the middle lane, natch) driving on the motorway with no lights when its completely dark. After a minute I gave up and just went past them.
Frankly a campaign to check you have a least one working light at the front would help.
Also, Fog lights are not rain lights, the clue is in the title
And when foggy, high beam is not the correct choice.
The daytime running light thing is a problem
plus
Doesn’t help the dashboard automatically lights up
Yup
Had to take part in the Glasgow - Falkirk -Forth bridge commute route on Monday morning.
Very heavy rain and spray all the way,really hard to see drivers with just running/side lights coming up behind at speed.Would hate having to do that every day.
Aye the DRL regs are stupid. I had a 2009 car that pre-dated them and it (quite sensibly) lit up front and rear. As above, the speedo/rev-counter always being back lit is an issue also because that's one further indicator removed for people.
Thing is though, people just don't give a shit about their cars and how they actually function. Take people parking on the wrong side against oncoming traffic with their headlights on. I'd hazard that a good chunk of people wouldn't even recognise why this is an issue.
I'm not even going to get started on the absolute shower of prats that put Xenon/LED style bulbs into halogen units.. or the pops and bangs remap dickhead brigade who go past my house at 50 (in a 20 zone) every. ****. night.
And how to use your indicators not just leave it to guess work.
always assumed that any drivers without lights are cyclists proving the statement "most cyclists also drive" is a fact
(not really true but on my early evening sports commutes we count unlit cars versus unlit cyclists - car drivers usually "win" - cyclist modal share is too small)
I just leave my lights on all the time over the winter months. It's useful to have them on even during daylight hours as the low sun at this time of year causes problems and having lights on makes me slightly more visible.
And if they're on permanently then I won't forget!
Can we also have a "Please defrost your windscreen properly before driving" campaign too?
The number of people i see doing the school run with either an A4 sized scraped hole or with most of the ice still remaining having done a shit job is terrifying.
The thing is, the vast majority of drivers on the road at rush hour do nothing but that journey. School drop off, drive to work. Reverse in the evening.
DRLs are automatic so zero thought required (plus the fact that most drivers don't check their car from one MOT to the next) so when the clocks go back that same automatic thought process - in fact it's not even thought, it's ingrained behaviour - just continues. They haven't had to turn the lights on for 6 months!
No concept of turning lights on or checking them or actually thinking about anything outside the windscreen.
Doesn’t help the dashboard automatically lights up, either.
Is that actually the case? That's a terrible design decision if so.
Also, Fog lights are not rain lights, the clue is in the title
They really need to be rebranded as "reduced visibility lights."
A wisp of light ground mist, everyone goes "ooh, I can use my fog lights!" and then forgets to switch them off again for the next month. Yet driving rain / snow and visibility of a foot, everyone drives around in the dark.
There's times I wonder how we ever survived this far as a species.
Can we also have a “Please defrost your windscreen properly before driving” campaign too?
The number of people i see doing the school run with either an A4 sized scraped hole or with most of the ice still remaining having done a shit job is terrifying.
Tru dat
What on earth is an 'early evening sports commute' ..?
I'm all in favour of a Turn Your Effing Lights On campaign but also want it followed up with a Turn Your Effing Fog Lights Off campaign.
It seems that around these parts the favoured illumination mode for the
pops and bangs remap dickhead brigade
(I like that description) is side lights and fog lights. Couple that with the ****wits who didn't bother to turn their fog lights off after their last foggy drive and night driving becomes an exercise in squinting against the glare of oncoming cars, especially when it is raining.
People are dicks!
also some education on the bulb icon on the dash means your headlight bulbs have blown and to replace them, not drive around with fog on cos headlights are so s**t, amount of cars driving round with one working headlight is becoming ridiculous!
highlandman
What on earth is an ‘early evening sports commute’ ..?
I take younger teen antigee to ice hockey with her big bag of kit...we drive there and back in dark usually after peak get home to urgently watch TV commute has finished
Frankly a campaign to check you have a least one working light at the front would help.
amount of cars driving round with one working headlight is becoming ridiculous
I've a colleague in my last job who I commented on a bulb being out. She asked me to change it / show her how. which I did from the spares I carry. I commented that as a 40+year old who had owned that car for a decade from new, she should already know.
Apparently that's what the annual 'service' (aka MOT) was for!
A growing number of folk have not the basic maintenance skills for a house, car, bike, life even.
You say that, but it's not always that simple.
Years ago a co-worker asked me for help replacing a headlight bulb on something exotic like an Astra van. I couldn't for the life of me work it out either so looked it up, step 1 was "remove the radiator." You'd then to remove the entire headlamp assembly, replace the bulb, put it all back together and go through an alignment process.
I can't remember exactly which ones offhand now, but I've seen some more modern cars where bulb replacement was a "dealer service only" job.
Adequate resourcing of roads policing is probably the answer to all these, and other, issues.
LOL @ the Astra Van bulb replacement procedure! Madness isn't it? I think it was the Renault Megane where you had to remove the front wheel first to gain access.. FFS, not exactly built for maintenance when step 1 of replacing headlight bulb reads "remove wheel".
Even though most people know them as "fog lights" can they please be informed they do not need them on at the slightest whif of a bit of mist!
And once a vehicle is behind them and has not crashed into their rear the approaching vehicle has seen them and they can turn the bloody things off - even in thick fog!!
LOL @ the Astra Van bulb replacement procedure! Madness isn’t it? I think it was the Renault Megane where you had to remove the front wheel first to gain access.. FFS, not exactly built for maintenance when step 1 of replacing headlight bulb reads “remove wheel”.
Getting a bit off-topic, but this isn't necessarily a new phenomenon either. I was once talking with my mechanic who at the time had a classic E-type Jag (IIRC) in for some work. Apparently to change the brake pads you'd first to remove the entire rear axle assembly...
Educate drivers? We/they are all perfect.
Three times in past week in Lincoln - cars being driven after dark without lights.
Flash, beep horn, indicate L & R repeatedly in quick session - anything to get their attention.
Response - nothing.
Accidents waiting to happen.
As stated above, reduced police mumbers isn't helping but - wait, 20000 more on their way so problem soon to be solved.
Johnson ahead of the curve - again......
Years ago a co-worker asked me for help replacing a headlight bulb on something exotic like an Astra van. I couldn’t for the life of me work it out either so looked it up, step 1 was “remove the radiator.” You’d then to remove the entire headlamp assembly, replace the bulb, put it all back together and go through an alignment process.
My Vauxhall is similar. One light, I can do (with some fiddling around). The other light is a garage job as it needs part of the engine removing.
If cars are driving at night without lights, I rather approve of Boris being ahead of the curve.
My car has a dashboard light which comes on when the DLRs are lit (and the whole dashboard lights up) and a different light for full beam. There is absolutely no indication other than looking at the stork that you are running on DLR only. Ridiculous.
And once a vehicle is behind them and has not crashed into their rear the approaching vehicle has seen them and they can turn the bloody things off – even in thick fog!!
This is so true. Almost every time it is a bit misty I seem to have to sit at a traffic light with the vehicle in front with it's rear fog light on.
As for bulb changing, I was very pleasantly surprised when I put new (legal) dipped units into my partner's Polo yesterday, two torx screws and a connector and the whole unit pulls out. Both bulbs done in 10 minutes.
but – wait, 20000 more on their way so problem soon to be solved.
Johnson ahead of the curve – again……
Ahh, just filling the spots maybot took away then.. and yeah, like he's a committed liar so don't believe a word of it.
As is, I do think DRL's a very good thing, irrespective whether the user turns their lights "on" in dimly lit environments. Cars these days are so much easier to see than 10 years ago... and the modern LED's are brilliant (natch) so you can actually see a vehicle from a loooong way aways these days.
It's now becoming difficult to see vehicles that don't have DRL I'm so accustomed to them.
Maybe they should be retro fitted to all at MOT time?
And how to use your indicators not just leave it to guess work.
I didn't realise quite how bad it was until I was teaching my nephew to cycle on roads in Cambridge. As a cyclist you get very good at guessing who will turn right / left by speed / positioning and rely less on indicators. For a 12 year old new to the roads, it's a complete nightmare.
Don't most (all?) modern cars turn off lights with the ignition these days anyway? Why not just switch them on and leave them on permanently? Job jobbed.
I think everything I've driven in the last decade has had an "auto" setting too. The only time I touch the light switch is when it's been in the garage and for some inexplicable reason they'd switched them off.
Aye, that's what we do with both our cars. Both have an 'auto' setting but they're permanently in the 'on' position year round. You only get a beep/warning when turning off ignition when you leave them in sidelight mode.
Frank Conway said:
Frankly a campaign to check you have a least one working Brain cell...
Fixed
I also like the way that when the dip beam bulb fails, very often the side light bulb does as well and the remaining light goes out of adjustment.
Don’t most (all?) modern cars turn off lights with the ignition these days anyway? Why not just switch them on and leave them on permanently? Job jobbed.
I think everything I’ve driven in the last decade has had an “auto” setting too. The only time I touch the light switch is when it’s been in the garage and for some inexplicable reason they’d switched them off.
my car has the auto position, its generally good in fog but I can easily check by pointing it at the wall as I pull away in the morning. Leave the lights in "on" and turn off the ignition and the warning tone is so painfully insistent that you turn the lights off you worry the car is screaming in pain.
bizarrely by better half's car, same brand, same year; different "better" model but poverty spec has no "auto" setting. You can leave the lights on no issue and they shut off with the ignition.
I've had Vespas on one off since before I was old enough to drive them. One of the best things about them was how repairable they were: If you had a screwdriver, an adjustable spanner and a mallet you could fix just about anything. With the modern Vespas I have no idea how to do anything - it's special tools and weird access points all round.
I don't really like daytime lights. I get all the arguments about making cars more visible, but it seems to me that if cars grab more attention by being lit everything else - people, bikes, pushchairs, dogs - is duller by comparison. If your attention is grabbed by the lights on a vehicle coming towards you, you might not notice the cyclist just ahead of you.
Just changes both dipped bulbs on my wifes 2006 Smart ForFour.
Access via a panel in the wheel arch liner - excessively grim at this time of year.
And then, you can see a thing so have to do it all blind and just by feel of what is there. Got there in the end but it was flipping awkward and guesswork half the time.
Was changing them both because they seemed a bit rubbish. Put some fancy Philips things in. They're still pretty pants. Need to de-haze the covers really.
bsims - thanks but wrongly attributed.
It was P-Jay, saw the word frankly and thought of you😉
I don't understand the whole fog light thing, both our Mondeo and C8 automatically turn them off and reset them when you turn the ignition off, the last car I had a hard switch in was my old Civic which would be 16 now.
Off aim lights are probably idiots ordering replacement units from the continent to save money.
With an ageing population and increased uptake of quiet electric cars, a focus on pedestrian safety has become paramount.
I think it's time that cars are also fitted with some kind of front light that flashes, according to the speed of the car.
We've got flashing led's on bikes, so why not on cars?
Cue the 'knight rider' jokes...
I ****ing hate the bright white LED lights some cars have now. Had to drive home squinting tonight because the car behind me had them. Thought it was an alien abduction attempt at first. There’s being seen and there’s taking the piss.
A question about fog lights, if you don't mind.
Mine and The Wife's last two cars each, Golf, Passat, Polo, and an Up! (Yes, there's a pattern) all have the fog light switch incorporated in to the headlight switch. Off, sides, main beam, then pull one click for front and two clicks for front and rear fogs. You can't turn the lights off if the fogs have been pulled on, you have to push the fogs in to turn off. Are other makes of modern* car similar or are the fog lights on a separate switch.
* Modern as in less than 5 years old.
To change a headlight/sidelight/indicator bulb on my Puma took 3/4 of an hour, and needed a large Torx wrench, which of course every motorist carries, or has kicking around in *that* drawer in the kitchen, to remove the grill, undo headlamp unit retaining straps, a drainpipe, wiggle the entire unit out of the car, take it apart, replace the bulb, reverse process.
The instructions came under the heading ‘roadside repairs’! 🤣🤬
Bigblackshed - my 2015 1 series is a button next to the dial, not a toggle/rocker type but a push-button type. Once you turn ignition off and on again it'll reset and fogs will be off next time you drive (you can still leave headlights in the 'auto' or 'on' position for next time without any warnings).
I’m just waiting for the cost of a failure on the complete LED set on my car. It doesn’t have front fogs though.
Cycling home from work at 7:45 on Monday I met a Prius murdered out on a back road. He didn’t like it when he got the sweary audible warning I gave him.
What kind of mentalist has a murdered-out Prius? I don't even know where to begin with that, it's like owning a gimp Furby.
Honda Civic 2009 - need to remove the coolant reservoir and washer fluid filler to change the offside bulb. Its not actually that bad once you've done it a few times, but the bottle doesn't really come out of the gap properly, and of course you can't do it when the coolant is hot.
Dashboard is lit up like a Christmas tree all the time, the only clue your lights are off is the sidelight lamp is off and generally the display is too bright in the dark as it hasn't dimmed. I'm pretty sure there isn't a lamp for dipped beam at all, its sidelights for both side and dipped, and a full beam lamp!
For all the construction and use requirements churned out of the EU I cannot for the life of me understand why someone has not put in the following...
-------
Bulbs
The following critical vehicle bulbs must be capable of roadside replacement without tools.
- head beam
- dipped headlight
- rear tail light
- brake light (sides)
- rear fog light
- reversing light
- front and rear indicators
- side indicators
---------
The idea that you need a £300 garage bill to replace a bulb is a threat to vehicle roadworthiness and public safety.
And yes whoever posted it above the Mégane has a special place in the museum of diseased imaginings for its wheel arch bulb access. The early manuals cheerfully suggested you could just turn the front wheels.
I cannot for the life of me understand why someone has not put in the following…
Because that assumes traditional incandescent bulbs. I'd have to carry about 200 LEDs and don't fancy my chances of replacing them at the roadside.
Full beam on the motorway anyone?
When did that become a thing.
I've seen it a couple of times recently, no points for guessing what lane they were in at them time.
Are other makes of modern* car similar or are the fog lights on a separate switch
2003 CR-V, headlights off/side/on by twisting the end of the indicator. Loud warning buzzer if side or headlights left on, with ignition off. Fogs, twist a band on the same stalk, spring loaded, so twist (and spring back) they go on, twist again and they're off, and are reset with ignition off. Incidentally, the underbonnet area is large and has empty space in it - all bulbs are a cinch to replace. Access to a lot of stuff is pretty simple, as it goes - quite a decent bus to do home repairs on.
Other car, Passat, twist control, have to have normal main beams before you can pull it out for fog lights, you can't leave it on 'auto' and have fogs. Same scheme as the 2006 Focus I had, the 1994 mondeo sometime before that and the 2005 A4.
One of my cars had a good feature where you could only have the front fog lights on once the rears were on, stopped you driving around with the front ones on for the sake of it.
My other half learnt to drive about 10 years ago, at least twice in the last few years she's come home from work. Can you look at my car its got a warning light come on...ok, once was her fog lights on, the second was her lights on main beam.... I shit you not. She rarely drives at night on unlit roads so its slightly understandable, but **** me it worries me.she almost pathologically refuses to listen to anything I tell her about driving, as her driving instructor never told her to change down gears, just jab your foot on the clutch and roll to a stop. I had an auto car for a while, she wouldnt drive it as it felt unsafe, even though she is almost always in the wrong gear.
She's the same on her bike too but luckily has ridden for the last few years with a club that obviously has some women to tell her what to do!!!!