Headlights on during day - Annoying and Ridiculous!

[Ian Reid Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Reid]

I always drive with my headlights on and have since i bought my first Prado in 2000. It makes me more visible to other users out there and if they dont like it tough. Some people have no idea how hard it is to see cars in some lighting conditions like a car is in shadow or just a dark coloured car against a dark background. If having my lights on only saves me a minor bingle it is worth doing, if it saves a life it should be mandatory. My new VX has DRL and i am happy to have them.


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[Ozpat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ozpat]

Having driven emergency vehicles for years in the UK before moving here, let me assure you all that an awful lot of motorists, motorcyclists, pedal cyclists and pedestrians will not see you, regardless of how many lights you have visible. We generally had between 15 and 20 separate lights showing and/or flashing to the front along of course with the noise generators too, and many times have had to stand really heavy on the brakes because someone hasn't seen us and turns or crosses in front of us. Not to mention the retards that fail to yield anyway, but that's a separate issue.

DRLs do make you more visible so may just let you be seen by one person that isn't completely asleep.

On a recent driving holiday in UK I've had on a couple of occasions been nearly rear-ended by ambulances before I saw them in the mirror. Over there they only have blue lights and you just can't hear them like you can here where they can be heard a mile off. Maybe here they have highly directional sirens, I don't know. Combination of red and blue lights like we have here is far more effective at being seen.

Cheers Jim.

[macaroon1 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close macaroon1]

where Maybe here they have highly directional sirens, I don't know. Combination of red and blue lights like we have here is far more effective at being seen. Cheers Jim.

The Doppler effect should really have no difference in the UK or Aust!. Maybe Euro spec cars have better insulation as everything is more tightly knitted together. Personnel generally only put the flashing lights (one colour - blue) with no sirens on for non emergencies. Other colours (inc red) are most definitely there.

[maulbeagle Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close maulbeagle]

Hey Pazza,
if your headlight switch is turned off, then the lights are on but the dash lights aren't. So no issue there.
Once you turn the headlight switch on, the dash lights come on in mine, and the multimedia screen dims.

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

I've converted my 90 to run all the time at 9volts the moment my car shifts out of park.

In my wifes C180 Kompressor I have replaced the foglight bulb with a 15Watt led and used the Mercedes STAR/DAS to use the foglights as DRLs.

Having lived in countries where DRLs of some form where mandatory i can see their value.

[BlakMoth Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close BlakMoth]

I'm interested in maybe changing the ARB fogs to DRL's when I get my new bar on. Is it an easy operation?


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[Ozpat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ozpat]

The Doppler effect should really have no difference in the UK or Aust!. Maybe Euro spec cars have better insulation as everything is more tightly knitted together. Personnel generally only put the flashing lights (one colour - blue) with no sirens on for non emergencies. Other colours (inc red) are most definitely there.

Def only a blue light sticking up in UK, no other lights. I've been there often enough and notice these things and emergency vehicles always running around and I've never seen a red/blue combo. (wiki backs me up) Same in France. I don't know about the technology involved but you can't hear these things until they're on top of you, not like here. But I did notice they travel a lot faster than here or maybe it's the narrow winding streets that make it seem so.

Cheers Jim.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

The TJM fogs were pretty much the same size as the Narva DRLs and it was an easy job to make up a bracket and fit them. The ARB fogs are larger in diameter and also have a different mounting system. I have this to do on the C-ute and I have an idea of how I will go about it but I haven't done it yet.

[chappy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close chappy]

Lights on during the daylight are mandatory on site due to light vehicles being difficult to see by haul trucks and other heavy vehicles,mind in the pit flashing lights are mandatory aswell.

I personally run with my headlights on during the day and the same when running on dirt roads due to dusty conditions caused by other road users.

[AK7 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close AK7]

To the guys running fog lights in QLD, the cops normally turn a blind eye, but it's worth knowing that you can get pinged for it. I think it's a stupid law.

A driver can only use front or rear fog lights if it is difficult to see other vehicles or objects due to poor weather conditions (for example, heavy rain or fog). Fog lights cannot be used in clear weather conditions, whether it is day or night.

Link

[Peter SA Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Peter SA]

On a recent driving holiday in UK I've had on a couple of occasions been nearly rear-ended by ambulances before I saw them in the mirror. Over there they only have blue lights and you just can't hear them like you can here where they can be heard a mile off. Maybe here they have highly directional sirens, I don't know. Combination of red and blue lights like we have here is far more effective at being seen.

Cheers Jim.

Blue lights on their own aren't as effective as a blue/red combination. Problem with the UK is they are so fixated on the rule about no red light showing to the front. The first ambo I drove had only two rotating beacons on the roof and two blue repeater lamps on the front grille with 5 watt bulbs. Useless in daylight. It did however have two tone air horns which I think are much more effective in the traffic and road conditions of the UK. It was the headlights that really attracted attention.

Most of the warning lights now are strobes or LEDs which are much better.

My fave setup was our fast response car: strobe roof bar, strobe repeaters in the front grille, wig-wags on the high beams wired to the opposite front fog and take-down light on the roof bar and a strobe on the front dashboard. You could see the car coming over two miles away on the motorway.

When we switched to the electronic sirens, we weren't actually taught the best tones to use for different conditions. I learnt this on an EVOC course in the US. Unfortunately we were banned from using hyper yelp (the best in very heavy traffic) and the air horn, both of which were subsequently disabled on the units, because management considered them to be too bullying to other road users.

When travelling extremely fast, over 160k for example it's dubious whether the audible warnings are any use at all.

[drew_1 Find all posts View Profile Close drew_1]

Agree, my wife's outback has the light switch on full time, and we just click the instrument cluster brightness from day to night in lieu of the headlight switch. The cluster is backlit full time like the Prado anyway.

I used to flick my lights on in the patrol on long trips, but they had to be turned off at the other end, lucky there was an alarm when the drivers door opened with them on. So they weren't set and forget like the Subaru and Prado.

same, always leave the headlights on in both our cars, city or country driving, for safety reasons

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

Sometimes, having headlights on, is the only way us country people can tell that the dozing city folk in their Saabs or the international tourists in their Britz wagons are actually driving on the correct side of the road. Gives a little more warning time to take evasive action.

[croozza Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close croozza]

To the guys running fog lights in QLD, the cops normally turn a blind eye, but it's worth knowing that you can get pinged for it. I think it's a stupid law.


Link

That law has been changed, it now states you can use fog lights in conditions of reduced visibility. And night time is classed as reduced visibility. But that means you cant use them as DTRL.

[AK7 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close AK7]

That law has been changed, it now states you can use fog lights in conditions of reduced visibility. And night time is classed as reduced visibility. But that means you cant use them as DTRL.

Have you got a link? Would be interested to see that, as in the sticks they make night driving much better.