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The fallacy of DRLs



On my way to work, I have to make a 0-60 left turn onto a 4 lane highway (2
each way) with a left turn lane in the middle (for waiting to turn off onto
the side roads). It is generally about half an hour to 45 minutes after dawn
when I make this turn, and everyone has their headlights on. So for the
Canadian fools who say we have never seen DRLs in the US, we're perfectly
familiar with people having headlights on in the daytime.

To the left, I have to see that there are no cars coming for about 500 feet.
To the right, I have to see about the same distance - but I also have to
know which lane the cars I am seeing are in. With the headlights on, besides
making it more difficult to judge the distance of the cars, it is also more
difficult to judge the lane position of the cars. I simply do not make the
turn until I am sure there will be no traffic coming. But I've seen people
obviously misjudge it, and end up having to accelerate in the turn lane -
often causing a near collision. (I'm sure there will eventually be a head-on
between two people doing the same thing in opposite directions).

After successfully making this turn, I am blessed with the pleasure of two
lanes of unnecessary, distracting light zooming by me for several minutes.

Luckily, I only have to deal with this for 15 minutes a day. But for those
15 minutes, I am able to imagine how horrible it must be to be a Canadian.
No wonder why they have to make up nonsense arguments and excuses about how
DRLs provide some imaginary amount of safety. Anything to ease the pain.


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