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Why do people drive with their sidelights on? If visibility is reduced enough that you think you need lights to be visible (like this morning, when it was foggy), just put your funking headlights on. Having the equivalent of a candle in a jamjar at each corner of you car does not really cut it.
That will be all. I said it was mild.
If I remeber correctly from my learning to drive days, sidelights aren't for driving with.
better sidelights than bloody driving/fog lights
there's a fashion round here to drive with sidelights and driving/fog lights - thats much more worthy of a rant IMO
This also annoys me but more the fact that they put them on during the day or at twilight when the amount of ambient light (due to it being day time, duh) is actually brighter than the sidelights.
Additionally I find dimmed headlights more bright than they need to be these day. especially the really focused ones: I had a Boxter behind my the other day and was convinced he had his full beams on but no they were just overly bright and focused and blinding me. Bah!
The police do it down here. They usually have a pretty good answer for stuff like that: I'm sure one of the stw policepersons will come along soon and tell us why.
Or glupton.
My sidelights go on when it's a little dark, headlights go on when it gets dark enough. I'm capable of more than just binary operation and I can judge light in a greyscale fashion too, why should I just stick my headlights on at the slightest hint of darkness? Headlights are for seeing WITH, not primarily for being seen.
Rant worthy - people who dont dip, lets just call them all Merc drivers. Stupid xenon headlights that blind you even when dipped.
[i]I had a Boxter behind my the other day and was convinced he had his full beams on but no they were just overly bright and focused and blinding me. Bah! [/i]
Maybe they were misaligned?
"they put them on during the day or at twilight when the amount of ambient light (due to it being day time, duh) is actually brighter than the sidelights"
How do you manage to spot that they're on then? Duh.
I'm pretty sure Volvo and Saabs' sidelights come on with the ignition so there ain't a lot you can do about it.
Must be all the dark in Sweden 8)
Volvo conducted research which indicated a substantial fall in 'didn't see you mate' accidents where vehicles had sidelights on - hence all the old 240's and 740's had them permanently on.
Nothing wrong with side lights if as long as you switch to dipped when it gets dark.
you can be seen but it doens't look like you're saying 'get out of my way'.
I'm pretty sure Volvo and Saabs' sidelights come on with the ignition so there ain't a lot you can do about it.
It's the law in Scandinavia, I believe.
I use my sidelights primarily when I do not need/want my headlights on (because I can see well enough), but because I like to have my rear lights on so that any dosy fool can clearly see me from behind - especially as I have a silver car which can 'disappear' when the sky is full of grey/silver coloured cloud. As rear lights are only on or off, you have no choice with them.
Oohh, the blue light - its so beautiful
[two mosquitoes fly near a bug zapper; one flies towards it, as if in a trance]
Mosquito #1: Harry, no! Don't look at the light!
Mosquito #2: [entranced] I-can't-help-it. It's-so-beautiful.
[Harry gets zapped, falls]
Mosquito #2: Woo hoo!
miketually - MemberI'm pretty sure Volvo and Saabs' sidelights come on with the ignition so there ain't a lot you can do about it.
It's the law in Scandinavia, I believe.
Certainly is. Headlights to be used at all times.
Volvo lights are on dipped all the time, not side lights
[i]Headlights are for seeing WITH, not primarily for being seen. [/i]
I'd say usually it's for both purposes, in equal measure. In fog, it's for being seen.
harry hill did a version of that where the fly has a heart attack just prior to hitting the zapper and is revived by the shock - "what are the chances of that happening"
Sidelights don't bother me. Sidelights combined with foglights when it's actually properly dark are incredibly annoying.
Yes, thats headlights, not sidelights. And it is due to the fact that they spend a large amount of the year in dark (being further north etc). This is also why canada, IIRC, has started using them. DRL's they call it, daylight running lights.
all the old ones used to be sidelights only (when cars had proper sidelights and sidburns were cool).
I'd say usually it's for both purposes, in equal measure. In fog, it's for being seen.
In fog, sure, its a different situation entirely. You can see a cars sidelights a mile off in the normal dark, if everyone else behind didnt have 100w burning your retina out. Problem is where do you stop. Now people have HID headlights, do we start adding extra lights, enforcing HID 1kw lighting systems because everyone else uses them.... And where do bikes get left behind, masked by the sea of light...
why dont car manufacturers just do away with sidelights and use proper lighting instead ? parking lights could be wired so that they only come on if the handbrake is used ?
The law:
Motorists must use sidelights between sunset and sunrise and headlights at night (between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise) on all roads without street lighting and on roads where the street lights are more than 185m apart or are not lit. Motorists must;use headlights or front and rear fog lights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally to less than 100 m,
use dipped headlights at night in built-up areas unless the road is well lit,
use headlights at night on lit motorways and roads with a speed limit in excess of 30 mph.
I use only sidelights sometimes, if I want to be more visible from the erm, rear......my car is fairly dark grey and so there are times when I want people to have early warning I am there. Drivers coming towards me don't perhaps require the same level of 'me' visibility as they are normally in their own lane.
Generally I just stick the headlights on and be done with it though....
And nothing annoys me more than ****ts who drive with fogs on when it is not necessary - particularly as someone said up the page, when it's proper dark, but they think sidelights and fogs are acceptable.
driving lights should be wired in with main beam, otherwise they're fog lights and shouldn't be on unless the visibility drops below 100m.
why people drive round with front fog lights on when it's not foggy is beyond me (and indeed rear fog lights - but that's another matter). maybe since they paid extra for them they feel they have the right to use them when ever they like?
I have a theory that the ****tards who drive with their rear fogs on all the time think that the button on the dash is for their rear lights, so they think that they have to turn the front lights on with the stalk/dial/whatever and then their 'rear lights' with the other button.
IHN - why do they put these sidelights on cars then? surely they're there for a reason, are they not?
So in a well lit, built up area, you can drive with just your sidelights on legally, even after dark.
[b][u][/b]
They are really "parking" lights ....... for when you are ... parked.
Saab headlights go off with the ignition, so you can leave the switch on all the time. The sidelights don't (there's a buzzer) so I don't know what they are for and that is the most boring thing I have ever typed on this forum
Foglights on and not foggy = woman/twunt/chav
/pensioner
How many of you moaning about drivers leaving their fog lights on are happy to shine your HIDs in car driver's faces?
All lights are set to automatic on my Merc so I don;t need to worry about switching them on or off.
I seem to remember that there were less crashes involving cars with sidelights on.
.../WorldClassAccident
You could ask why do motorcycles usually have their lights on in the middle of the day?
Any extra way of being noticed is worthwhile IMO.
WorldClassAccident - Member
All lights are set to automatic on my Merc so I don;t need to worry about switching them on or off.
Does that include automatically dipping? If it does, it doesnt bloody work. And if it doesnt then it seems all merc owners are under the mistaken impression that it does automatically dip.
Sidelights combined with foglights when it's actually properly dark are incredibly annoying
crazylegs also doesn't like people using their rear LEDs off road 🙂
simonfbarnes - MemberSidelights combined with foglights when it's actually properly dark are incredibly annoying
crazylegs also doesn't like people using their rear LEDs off road [:-)]
Well that I can understand, especially a blinking one!
You lot are lucky other cars have any lights at all, round here at least 25% have one or other headlights out. Some even have the whole corner's lights out.
Ah, that's a motorbike, whoops no, it's a car.
"round here at least 25% have one or other headlights out. Some even have the whole corner's lights out"
that's Peckham for you, though.
Peckham?
You mean Peckham Beckham? What's it got to do with him?
I know he isn't the brightest light but be polite!
I have never seen th epoint of side lights really, bit daft really.
motorbikes are increacingly hardwired to have the lights on permentantly.
thisisnotaspoon - Member
motorbikes are increacingly hardwired to have the lights on permentantly.
Makes sence that...makes them easier to see and stuff.
i heard somewhere that it will become compulsary for all cars to have at least their side lights on all the time. its something to do with being noticed more and that can only be a good thing IMO.
Motorbikes have their lights on to make themselves noticed more and i can see why they do it. i can also understand why some car drivers do it to make themselves noticed more.
It's likely to become a European directive at the very least soon as numerous studies have shown that the increased visibility reduces accidents.
Obviously that's open to conjecture and counter study, but I have a volvo so the lights are on when the ignition is on unless you request the engine management system to be configured differently.
Yeah that was my point regarding motorcycles.
I have never seen th epoint of side lights really, bit daft really.
They are for leaving on when you are parked at night. On German cars at least you can make them only come on the road side using the indicator stalk.
They're not for driving with - my driving instructor always called them parking lights.
DRL are to be compulsory on new cars from 2011. CTC is against this because the lights divert attention fro vulnerable road users.
http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=4681
Cyclists will end up having to have lights on all the time to make them stand out against the background of all the car lights. Also failure to use a light during the day when all the other vehicles have them could be considered as negligent in the event of an accident.
I have a REALLY REALLY LOUD exhuast on the motorcycle which works a lot better than any light in getting other road users to be aware of me.
Legal too (because it's old)
Most models of Volvo can have their 'day running lights' (thats what the book calls them) turned off by a simple, once only combination of pulling the light stalk whilst turning the ignition to the second position with the light selector set to main beams.
My new car has automatic lights so if they are on then its needed.
More/brighter lights on cars is bad news for cyclists.
Foglights front or rear in any situation other than on an empty country road in very thick fog is downright antisocial.
I had to drive from South Wales to Swindon this morning. If I looked in my mirror I could see a dozen cars stretched out behind me for maybe up to a mile. Cars in front of me kept switching rear fog lights ON every time there was a wisp of mist (Severn Bridge, A46 Bath turn off etc). What are these dicks thinking when they do this, or is their intention for me to arrive at work with a migraine?
Sidelights are a waste of ****ing time. never used them, don't intend to start now. don't get me started on the inconsiderate pricks that have their fog lights on on a beautiful clear sunny day. or the retards driving the black civic along the m8 tonight in the dark with no lights on - nobber.
The CTC is quite right to be concerned. Whilst legislative requirements for DRLs will make vehicle occupants safer, this will be to the detriment of cyclists and peddies who will fall off the radar of drivers only looking for light sources as they approach junctions and crossings. Cars already have umpteen primary (to avoid crashes) and secondary (to minimise injury if a crash occurs) safety aids. Make no mistake, making the safest road users safer at the expense of the most vulnerable is bad news for us lot and Mrs MacLumpha with her zip up furry boots and tartan shopping trolley.
One thing that fustrates me:
Early morning/early evening, if the sun is low behind you and following cars are just dark shapes, turn your lights on! Oncoming drivers will be blinded by the sun and you are practically invisible. Also helps stop people pulling out on you 🙂
On another note, had a motorbike following me recently in the dark, 40 limit, double white lines, he was tailgating me and either had a badly adjusted front light or full beam on, I could practically feel the heat from it! Tapped the brake pedal which he ignored and eventually slowed and kept left until he passed, flashed him and got a load of armwaving and abuse in return!
Guy at work drives with his dipped van lights deliberately set too high so he can see without full beam, when he gets flashed he takes pleasure in the fact he can flash back as he's already on dipped! Nob!
Motorcyclists have a perspex screen about 100mmx200mm to see out of. It gets dirty incredibly easy on the outside, and mists ups incredibly easy on the inside. A car using sidelights only in situations where all other car are on dipped beams makes the car look further away if your just doing a quick glance at a junction. Yes your rear lights are on to help people coming up behind you, but people waiting to pull out at junctions need to see YOU and accurately judge how far away you are.
If everyone drove sidelights only then it would be bearable, but for 1 in 20 to be doing it is stupid IME.
Oh, and the whole point of motorcyclists having their headlights on during the day is that it helps them stand out. If all vehicles have their lights on all the time as per the proposed legistation then they will no longer stand out!
i heard somewhere that it will become compulsary for all cars to have at least their side lights on all the time. its something to do with being noticed more and that can only be a good thing IMO.
That is correct - daytime runing lights are to become compulsory on all new cars [url= http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/36010/Now-Eurocrats-tell-drivers-to-keep-car-lights-on-all-day ]Says so here...[/url].
I really don't see why someone having them on can offend anyone.
Irritants:
Fog Lights, i have NO idea why people have them on, they proved no light and are disruptive. perhaps they think they look "Rallye"
Motorbikes headlights: sorry but 90% of motorcyclists, IME, seem to think having thier headlights on beam (in the rear view mirror level of a car) seems to give them the right to ride like ****s. i havent met a motorcyclist who dosent brag about thier ability to ride around at 150.
i watched a motorcyclist weaving up the traffic in my rear view mirror once, under taking as well as overtaking, basicly treating the busy 138 as a slalom course.
a brief pause as he sat behind me (in the right hand lane, but not hogging, both lanes were full and flowing nicely) and as he spotted a gap to undertake and dropped a gear, stuck my left indicator on.
MUHA, **** pooed himself.
Beemer Halo lights, perhaps im just jealous, but i get the feeling that drivers use them as a "look, ive got a beemer"
people flashing thier beams as a "let me past", its an aggressive action i think, we would all be much better off if the general population knew, or it was part of road law, that when on a Dual Carrigeway, or Motorway, in the outside lane, to indicate that you want to pass someone, you put your right indicator on (into the faster lane that dosent exist)
Then again, I like sidelights myself, as they bring on the rearsa without the headlights, useful for dusk, or mistyness, where light levels dont warrant a sea of distracting headlights
Olly - what the **** are you talking about?
I was learnt up that they are parking lights.
IMO when it's dark enough for any lights to be needed just use dipped. You can see and be seen far easier, so why any grey areas?