What the fuck is wrong with some drivers!! At this time of the year with it getting dark earlier why do some idiots think they will not switch their headlights on when everyone has already done it? I was coming back on the Motorway from Portsmouth the other evening and there were several cars with no lights on, one being a black van which on the unlit sections was almost invisible!! Are they just stupid or do they still have the old fashioned idea that somehow they are "saving the battery"? Also others with just the parking lights on. That is what they are - parking lights for when you are not driving!

 

Its newer cars with drl lamps, with the faint glow coming from the front, they just presume their headlights are on. The fact that most dash boards light up like a Christmas tree when you turn the ignition on doesn't help either!

See a lot more cars these days with fog lights on in the dark, think the fines should be higher for misuse of lights etc.

People who also leave their wipers on full speed when the rain stopped 10 minutes ago, do them for lack of due care and attention!

 

Or the rear wipers on estates that look to have been on for days.

Like a lot of modern cars 1 of mine has Auto headlights.
But just a note to people, YOU STILL HAVE TO TURN THEM ON TO AUTO

 

How did you know!, I just had one in front of me tonight, slow moving traffic, no lights on, but they kept their brake lights on when stopped, dazzling me, so all was good.

Also some our streets have brighter LED street lights, which although much better than the old ones, do give some people false sense of when to put their car lights on.

 

The standard of driving these days is just terrible.

Why do these fookers use there front fog lights for.

 

 

I agree with you about modern cars, people are getting so lazy they expect the car to do everything for them automatically!

 

But you can't blame the technology for that, when its the driver at fault. Would you rather get in a state of the art 787 to go on holiday, or something from the vintage era?

DRIVER AIDS should be there to make you a better driver, not to do everything for you! Use of mobile phones behind the wheel should be an instant 6 month ban, misuse of lights should be a bigger fine. Its all very well having the technology there to make your car safer, but if you can't use it properly then it's pointless.

 

my daughters car reads warnings like text messages and suggests use of lights may help her drive in twilight hours if turned off, whatever next

 

Had to tell a lady the other night about driving in pitch black ..she looked at me gone out.

 

It must be to do with the dash lighting up all the time nowadays, used to be a dead giveaway to anyone with 2 brain cells when you look down and can't see any of the dials.

Walking to my car last night saw a little Peugeot thing with no lights on, woman driving ridiculously slow, thought about gesturing to her to let her know but then figured, what's the point?

 

It really annoys me when I see the idiots driving with no lights on and the time when I would love to see a Police patrol car behind them it never happens!!!

 

It's also the fault of police not enforcing road safety laws. If you're caught not using lighting appropriately, especially things like that through sheer incompetence, then you should be charged with dangerous driving, as if you cannot operate a simple light switch, clearly you cannot be trusted with any other car controls !
Even worse are arseholes during daylight, but conditions of reduced visibility who refuse to put their lights on. These too need charged with dangerous driving.

If the police refuse to remove these dangers from the roads, then they are also to blame for the carnage they can cause.

 

Cossynut2 , you did this thread last year... https://passionford.com/forum/genera...no-lights.html

 

Still pisses him off eh!

 

It seems nothing has changed from last year and it still pisses me off !!! Sorry for a repeat rant but it winds me up!!!

 

victor meldrew

 

I'll be sure to update my calendar for repeating events;

- Halloween
- Bonfire night
- Black Friday
- Cossynut2 moaning about headlights
- Xmas
- New Year

 

Ha Ha!!

 

So we've had the not switching on lights thread, the fog lights thread, road rage and bloody xmas threads. At least the forum won't be running out of topics anytime soon

 

Bollocks, I forgot to start the "This isn't America, why the fuck do we have Black Friday???" thread 

 

The Highway code

• ensure all sidelights and rear registration plate lights are lit between sunset and sunrise
• use headlights at night, except on a road which has lit street lighting. These roads are generally restricted to a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h) unless otherwise specified
• use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226).

So, headlights not required at night, in built up areas. Let alone just a little overcast. Pisses me of people turning full headlights on as soon as the level of light drops slightly below "surface of the sun" level.

It's actually dangerous because on bumpy roads it can look to someone joining that they're being flashed out. I think because the contrast between the ambient light and the headlight is smaller that bit looking directly at the bulb stands out more and looks like a flash. When it's actually dark it doesn't stand out so much.

 

Are you sure you were looking at the 2018 highway Code? If that is correct its about time the rules were updated!! So let's all start driving around with no lights on at night in built up area's regardless of how poor the street lighting is!!! Sounds like a safe idea!!! Why not try it the next time you are being followed by a Police car? Are you one of the drivers that don't switch their lights on at night until it's pitch black?

 

Always been the way, headlights only needed on unlit roads, sidelights fine otherwise. Use this at night when someone's alternator packed up, connect the jump pack cables with pack in passenger footwell and follow to garage/home down streets with street lights with sidelights on vehicle to conserve battery power. Perfectly legal

 

Even if it is legal that is a crazy rule, the street lighting is piss poor in many places so who would be driving around without their headlights on? Sidelights are for using if you park up in a dimly lit street to make your car more visible for a short time you may be away from it ? I would never be driving around at night without my headlights on but if others want to that's up to them!

 

straight off the HC website. Updated? Why? Has eyesight got worse in the last few years?

The only reason you can't see as well without headlights as it starts to fade is because you've been blinded by the Muppet coming towards you with headlights on. You've heard of night vision right?

I have a car that the dash doesn't light up unless the sidelights are on. They go on when I can't glance down and immediately read the gauges. Headlights a bit later, even in built up areas because of the blinding from other lights.

Bottom line is have a look up the road - if you can see , you don't need headlights lol

 

This thread popped up at just the wrong time for me. Some moron in a Hyundai 'SUV' was out at 8am this morning on the motorway with no lights on, the spray and visibility was so bad that most cars out there had rear fogs on, but this idiot was oblivious. An airbag to the face might have knocked some sense into them.

 

I hope you didn't have your rear fog lights on with all the spray around...

 

I don't understand why you are so against car drivers doing their best to make sure they are visible in all conditions. I don.t use my fog lights unless it is foggy but headlights on are a must in heavy rain and spray.

 

Because having rear fogs on with enormous amounts of spray just creates a huge red hue in the air - much to the same effect as using your high beams in fog - rather than pin points of light that regular tail lights give, making it not only harder to see where a car actually is, but it means the effect of brake lights is severely lessened, making it much more dangerous.

 

Whilst I do agree with you - so many people go from no lights to full lights, with nothing in between - I think one of the biggest problems now is because we've got into the DRL phase, people don't bother switching side lights on, and the problem with that is most car's DRL's don't include tail lights. So it gets past dusk and people think "well I've always got lights on the front anyway, I don't need my headlights" - correctly, as you've pointed out - but they don't factor in the fact their tail lights aren't on.

 

Utter nonsense.

Only a fool thinks headlights are only there to help you see.

Perhaps more important at times they are to help you to be seen by others. And given almost every accident out there is caused by some blind incompetent moron...anything that helps you be seen should be compulsory and strictly enforced.

 

Have you read the highway code?

Don't perpetuate a problem by switching all your lights on. If you're really bothered write to your mp/Take to Facebook/ whatever, but don't break the rules just because some other people are...

People who might be switching their headlights on because you have...

 

As I said, I've had people pull out on me because they thought I'd flashed them out on a bumpy road. It's even worse if you have a lowered car, like most of us do.

 

Completely agree.

 

This threads getting a bit tasty! So let me throw this in to the pot. Motorcycles don't even have side lights and the headlights are on all the time and can't be switched off! Only the main beam can be turned on and off. Well at least that's how it was on my GSXR1000 ten or so years ago.

 

That's because as already stated, from a safety perspective of being seen, it is perfectly normal and desirable to use dipped headlights when driving, especially when conditions may be less than ideal, with some scenarios already having been mentioned like mist/fog during daytime, low sun in the sky etc etc.

Only a fool things headlights are only to help you see....and usually the sort of people who pull out in front of others causing crashes.

Front only DRL's have to be one of the dumbest "safety" features on a car for the last few decades, and lack of rigorous police enforcement of assholes not turning their lights on when appropriate is second behind it. They need charged with dangerous driving if they cannot even perform a basic driving task of turning lights on.

Front and rear DRL's should be compulsory though.

 

I agree front and rear drl should be a must.

 

No doubt front only DRL's were some moronic EU legislation !

 

I think it's right bike have headlights on to stand out - they are often not spotted by car drivers. And there is the point - to stand out, they have to be different to the rest of the traffic. That's another reason why cars shouldn't have headlights until it's dark.