Daytime running lights

[Roger6730]

Driving today in fairly heavy fog, I came up behind an ambulance (local fire company). The ambulance had no lights on the rear. As I pulled up beside him I could see their headlights were on. I told him of the lights and he immediately turned the headlights on ( I could see the clearance lights were now on). He thanked me and went on.
I have noticed lots of people driving after dark with only Daytime Running Lights. I think people who developed these missed something.

[NevadaNick]

What is missed is the operator turning the light switch to automatic. I take issue with service centers that turn the lights off of auto and not turn it back, which is one of the reasons for your observation.

[TB673]

I have to disagree with your issue with the service center. Don't blame them
because the drivers don't check to make sure that all systems are operational before driving off.
And if checking the position of the head light switch needs to be done, so be it.

And in this specific case, it's my contention that ANY emergency vehicle should have all running and headlights on whenever it is on the road as SOP.
But again this is my opinion.

Tim

[NevadaNick]

I had to deal with it when my mother was still alive and though she probably should not have been driving the lights were off everytime her car was serviced. I am pretty attentive and its happened to me a couple of times well by not checking as soon as i get in the vehicle. We rely on too much easy in life.

[RonandDeb]

I agree that the lights on an emergency vehicle should be on at all times. There shouldn't even be a switch to shut them off.

Sometimes the automatic lights don't turn them on when they should be on. During heavy rain is a good example. Some states require you to have the lights on when the wipers are necessary.

People need to stop relying on their vehicles to do the work for them and start paying attention. There's just no excuse now that our roadways are so crowded.

[ArtJoyce]

I was driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway and it went from clear to very heavy fog driving in the skyy. Maybe 50 TO 70 yards of any visability. The car ahead had on the DTRL. We drove into dusk when it was getting very hard to see him.

[George Schweikle]

Agree. In my area I see lots of people driving at night with only their fog/driving lights on and they are probably oblivious to the fact that this condition doesn't activate the rear lights. These fog/driving lights are either poorly aimed, have no upper beam cutoff so blind oncoming cars, or only illuminate the ground right in front of the vehicle when the driver should be looking down the road. In my mind these lights are for the most part useless.

Adding to this are the dangerous number of people who drive at night with no lights at all. I see 1 or 2 almost every night (I guess their eyesight if much better than mine).

As is often said, you can't cure stupid.


Edit. I'm not complaining about DRL's (daytime running lights) Way back in the last century when these first appeared as accessories, we used to make fun of these as Indiana idiot lights but I think this is a good concept.

Originally Posted by RonandDeb

....People need to stop relying on their vehicles to do the work for them and start paying attention. There's just no excuse now that our roadways are so crowded.

[MichaelBarb]

I would like to use my running lights all the time. But I can't. Turning them on also dims the dashboard lights. In bright sunlight I can't see anything on the dash. Same thing happens on my E-150 van. Is this a Ford thing or are others smarter about it?

[Mudfrog]

Originally Posted by MichaelBarb

I would like to use my running lights all the time. But I can't. Turning them on also dims the dashboard lights. In bright sunlight I can't see anything on the dash. Same thing happens on my E-150 van. Is this a Ford thing or are others smarter about it?

It's not supposed to work that way. The brightness level of the instrument cluster should be at its highest when DRLs are on by themselves.

The dash lights will definitely dim when the main headlights are switched on. You can adjust the brightness of them when the headlights are on but I'm not sure they'll come up to the same brightness as when the headlights are off.

[Argosy]

Originally Posted by TB673

I have to disagree with your issue with the service center. Don't blame them
because the drivers don't check to make sure that all systems are operational before driving off.

Any outfit that makes changes in set and forget or automatic safety related devices and doesn’t return them to the as found setting or notify the operator is wrong- it’s not the CUSTOMER’S JOB to review work performed by any service tech.

[kmac7800]

Originally Posted by MichaelBarb

I would like to use my running lights all the time. But I can't. Turning them on also dims the dashboard lights. In bright sunlight I can't see anything on the dash. Same thing happens on my E-150 van. Is this a Ford thing or are others smarter about it?

I did not think that Ford or Dodge had daytime running lights (DRL). Only GM did (from US automakers).

//KMac

[glwinger]

Originally Posted by George Schweikle

Agree. In my area I see lots of people driving at night with only their fog/driving lights on and they are probably oblivious to the fact that this condition doesn't activate the rear lights. These fog/driving lights are either poorly aimed, have no upper beam cutoff so blind oncoming cars, or only illuminate the ground right in front of the vehicle when the driver should be looking down the road. In my mind these lights are for the most part useless.

Adding to this are the dangerous number of people who drive at night with no lights at all. I see 1 or 2 almost every night (I guess their eyesight if much better than mine).

As is often said, you can't cure stupid.






Edit. I'm not complaining about DRL's (daytime running lights) Way back in the last century when these first appeared as accessories, we used to make fun of these as Indiana idiot lights but I think this is a good concept.

It's hard to remember to turn on the lights when they are on their phone.
All lights should be on all all times.

Canada requires all lights to be on all the time. In the states, most, if not all requires all lights t be on in the rain. Car manufactures should design this into the wiper controls.

[MichaelBarb]

Ford call them parking lights but I think of them as running lights.

[jleonard]

Originally Posted by kmac7800

I did not think that Ford or Dodge had daytime running lights (DRL). Only GM did (from US automakers).

//KMac

My Ram has daytime running lights.