Are you a driver that doesn't use your headlights, if yes why?

[Bonzo77 13]

Your right but on a short journey the battery doesn't get much charge so the battery in turn takes the work load.

 

That's what I thought. I can remember my radio cutting out while driving with a flat battery.

[EASTWOOD141 10]

That's what I thought. I can remember my radio cutting out while driving with a flat battery.

 

One frosty morning last year I had to get a jump start from the AA and he said now it's going, give it a good run and don't turn on anything because if you do you will be calling me in the morning again, then he explained the reasons I have given previously and then he said it's always a good habit to start the car with nothing on, and for the clever cloggs on this forum, I don't mean start the car in the nude.

[Garbo 10]

Well it does seem that there is a lot of confusion as to what car lights are for, not surprising considering what i see people doing.

 

Anyway,

 

sidelights, officially known as parking lights or position lights, only to be used when parked, at the side of a road, they remain lit with dipped headlights in case one fails and then it becomes a position light so other road users can see the width of the vehicle.

 

there is no circumstance where you should drive with sidelights on.

 

Dipped lights, obviously for use when driving when visibility is low whether it be dark, raining, foggy

 

Main beam is for when its very dark, and there are no other vehicles approaching you or when you can see a vehicle in front.

 

Sidelights arent suitable to be used as daytime running lights. in most cases, sidelights are 5w lamps, daytime running lights are usually 21w lamps, and for vehicles type approved after 7th February 2011 are mandatory, and are lit all the time the engine is running, they turn off when the dipped lights are turned on because at night, they can dazzle other drivers.

 

I have automatic lights, which come on when its raining, but when its misty, or only raining lightly they dont, and depending on the road, i put my dipped lights on.

 

With rear fog lights, which people seem to confuse most of all are for use when visibility is severely reduced, so not when its raining, or a bit misty, or snowing. basically, if you can see the car ahead, you dont need them on, if you really think they are needed, turn them off once a car has caught up with you as rear fogs mask brake lights. I have never seen rear fogs needed driving on the motorway in traffic, which seems to be when people like to use them

 

as for front fogs, i dont care what you do, they dont dazzle.

 

oh, and people who get flashed a lot with their headlights on, get them checked for alignment, it might be that one is pointing up in the air.

 

moan over

[maxmaximus 10]

I drive with dipped headlights all the time. I see no reason not to do so, and plenty to do so.

 

My car saves fuel when I stop by turning the engine off, but with the lights on this fuel saving function doesn’t work. Your lights also draw more power from the engine which affects fuel efficiency which increasing CO2 emissions.

Cars running with the head lights on during the day also make other more vulnerable road users less visible.

Edited November 28, 2012 by maxmaximus

[Cyclone 10]

My car engine turn off when I stop to save fuel, but with the lights on this fuel saving function doesn’t work. Your lights also draw more power from the engine which affects fuel efficiency which increasing CO2 emissions.

Cars running with the head lights on during the day also make other more vulnerable road users less visible.

 

I fail to see how this is supposed to happen...

[Cyclone 10]

Well it does seem that there is a lot of confusion as to what car lights are for, not surprising considering what i see people doing.

 

Anyway,

 

sidelights, officially known as parking lights or position lights, only to be used when parked, at the side of a road, they remain lit with dipped headlights in case one fails and then it becomes a position light so other road users can see the width of the vehicle.

 

there is no circumstance where you should drive with sidelights on.

According to the highway code dipped headlights are not required in a streetlit area, where sidelights alone are sufficient.

 

Dipped lights, obviously for use when driving when visibility is low whether it be dark, raining, foggy

 

Main beam is for when its very dark, and there are no other vehicles approaching you or when you can see a vehicle in front.

 

Sidelights arent suitable to be used as daytime running lights. in most cases, sidelights are 5w lamps, daytime running lights are usually 21w lamps, and for vehicles type approved after 7th February 2011 are mandatory, and are lit all the time the engine is running, they turn off when the dipped lights are turned on because at night, they can dazzle other drivers.

 

I have automatic lights, which come on when its raining, but when its misty, or only raining lightly they dont, and depending on the road, i put my dipped lights on.

 

With rear fog lights, which people seem to confuse most of all are for use when visibility is severely reduced, so not when its raining, or a bit misty, or snowing. basically, if you can see the car ahead, you dont need them on,

If you can't see the car ahead, how do you know that there is a car ahead?

if you really think they are needed, turn them off once a car has caught up with you as rear fogs mask brake lights. I have never seen rear fogs needed driving on the motorway in traffic, which seems to be when people like to use them

I have, but then it wasn't safe to do more than 20 mph because visibility was so poor.

[Cyclone 10]

One frosty morning last year I had to get a jump start from the AA and he said now it's going, give it a good run and don't turn on anything because if you do you will be calling me in the morning again, then he explained the reasons I have given previously and then he said it's always a good habit to start the car with nothing on, and for the clever cloggs on this forum, I don't mean start the car in the nude.

 

When you are starting it, the engine isn't yet running. So if you already have the lights and the radio on then the battery is having to start the engine and supply power to those other things. This does not contradict the fact that once running the battery does NOT supply power to anything, the alternator does.

[maxmaximus 10]

I fail to see how this is supposed to happen...

 

Cars are big and easy to see during the day, pedestrians and bikes are much smaller and more difficult to see during the day. By making the car brighter and much more visible, the pedestrians become less visible because they don't have lights. If every driver as there lights on but one, the one that doesn't have their lights on stands out the least, the same principle applies to pedestrian and bikes, because they don’t have lights on them, they now stand out significantly less than the cars that do have lights on them.

[Cyclone 10]

I agree that pedestrians are smaller than cars, but I'm not convinced that they are difficult to see.

Nor am I convinced that on a normal day a car with headlights on becomes any 'easier' to see, and without that there is no change in how visible smaller things are.

 

Maybe the moral is that as a cyclist you should have your lights on all the time, and as a pedestrian you should avoid walking in the road.

[alchresearch 215]

All car electrical operations are taken direct from the battery, the alternator just tops it up.

 

AFAIK there are no cars wired with dual electrics that take power from the battery when the engine is off and switched to the alternator when running.

 

That's why on some modern cars I've seen people report their radios and heaters are not working and its been found to be a duff battery and the car is operating in "economy mode" where the BSI has disabled operation of them - leading to frantic checking of fuses. Cars with an information display may report "Economy Mode"

[maxmaximus 10]

When you are starting it, the engine isn't yet running. So if you already have the lights and the radio on then the battery is having to start the engine and supply power to those other things. This does not contradict the fact that once running the battery does NOT supply power to anything, the alternator does.

 

Not always, some of the old cars that chavs drive, in which that have increased their cars electrical requirements with silly lights and sound systems that belong in a night club will use more power than the alternator can supply so the battery is drained.

Edited November 28, 2012 by maxmaximus

[maxmaximus 10]

I agree that pedestrians are smaller than cars, but I'm not convinced that they are difficult to see.

I didn't say they were, I said they are less visible than the vehicles.

 

 

 

Nor am I convinced that on a normal day a car with headlights on becomes any 'easier' to see, and without that there is no change in how visible smaller things are.

 

I find cars are more visible when they have their head lamps on, the down side is that when I’m confronted with a queue of traffic with their headlamps on during the day, the pedestrians and cyclists become more difficult to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe the moral is that as a cyclist you should have your lights on all the time, and as a pedestrian you should avoid walking in the road.

They are road users and are entitled to use the roads and the law doesn't require cyclists, pedestrians lights during the day.