Why Daytime Running
Lights
are a GOOD Thing—
not a BAD Thing
Before you read any further, please note that
the author of a certain web site with
a bright yellow background
has criticized this web page for various reasons.
Please refer to this page for my
rebuttal. Thank you.
The American
automotive press is crying about Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) being introduced
on many new cars, namely ones built by General Motors; they claim that they
look stupid or are dangerous. Oh, wah! wah! wah!
In Canada, where I live, DRLs have been on cars since the late 80s, and now it
looks "stupid" to me when I see a late model car without any
headlights on during the daytime. 50% of the time it turns out to be a car
visiting from the United States, and the other 50% is typically on a late model
truck with Canadian plates where owner probably disabled the feature somehow.
Others cry
about all the glare from the bright lights during the daytime. Look at the
non-doctored photos above. Is the vehicle just entering the shaded area causing
a lot of glare during the daytime? No, but it is emphasizing its presence. But certain web sites exaggerate the
so-called "problem" of glare during the daytime right on their home
page! Give me a break! They are not so bright as cause blinding glare during
the daytime! Or at least if they are perceived by you as being bright, you
don't have to stare into DRLs to see the position of other cars—you can use
your peripheral vision! The friggin' sun is in the sky all the time, is FAR brighter
than DRLs, and people don't whine about it so much—because they don't stare
right into it.
Another great
thing about daytime running lights is that they add little cost to manufacturing
or running a vehicle, unlike airbags and ABS. And DRLs usually use the high
beam bulb and is less likely to burn out as it's burning at less than half
intensity. As for fuel costs? Probably a few more drops for every 100
kilometers (60 miles). I've even heard estimates of an extra tank or two beind
consumed during the life of a vehicle. Gee, the weight of the seatbelts in your
car probably cause a similar fuel economy penalty.
Another observation
that I have made is that when I see a late-model vehicle with Canadian plates with
disabled DRLs, nine times out of ten it's a full-size pickup truck. Oh great...
and it just happens to be on the vehicles that cause the most damage in a
collision!
Some people
claim that DRLs reduce only one or two types of accidents. Here are some other
situations I have come across in real life where daytime running lights are
beneficial:
When it's raining during the day and your
windows are fogged up, it's easy to see a vehicle next to yours if its lights
are on. This can prevent a driver from accidentally changing lanes into another
car. (Admit it, not everybody will turn on their headlights when it rains.)
After a cool, clear night, there may be dew
on your windows the next morning. When driving down the street, it's much
easier to see if someone is tailgating you if they have DRLs. The same goes for
side windows as well—even after squeegeeing your windows off, they usually fog
up again on the outside a minute later.
When the sun is low on the horizon and trees
shade part of a curvy road, it can be hard to see oncoming cars because of all
the glare from the sun. This situation is made even worse when the road is wet.
When you are checking for oncoming cars
before passing on a two-lane highway, cars with daytime running lights will
stand out clearly—even a kilometer (about half a mile) away. This is especially
useful on a hot day where there's the "water mirage" effect along the
road surface ahead; cars ahead with no lights can disappear in the mirage,
whereas a car with DRLs will likely show up at least in the form of a bright
blur.
When you're looking both ways for an opening in
traffic to make a turn onto a busy road, it's nice to have oncoming cars
emphasized with DRLs when you have parked cars or a chain link fence blocking
your view.
A while
back, the 21-year old son of an ex- co-worker had his car struck by a speeding
stolen car at night, and was killed. The driver of the stolen car thought that
by not having his headlights on, he would be able to lose the police. If the
stolen car had daytime running lights, the 21-year old may have seen it
approaching and could have avoided it. But who cares?!? As long as the
people at Car and Driver and Motor Trend magazines are happy!
That's more important, isn't it?
But even after
good reasons such as the ones above, there are still the people who think DRLs
are a bad idea since everything government and large business does is wrong.
Perhaps these same people can be eliminated from the human gene pool by having
the government require all people to breathe!
Anyway, please
refer to these pages as well:
My Rebuttals Against Anti-DRL
Web Sites
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