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Re: Daytime running lights



In article <40cj7b$ar5@news.ios.com>, plogan@village.ios.com says...

[snip]

>One of the major reasons for mandating DRL's is because loads of drivers 
>are idiots who won't switch on their headlights at all in conditions 
>where they radically improve visibility. 

   Driving in Canada, where most card have DRL now, I can assure you that
they increase visibility even on the most beautiful day, not only in
some conditions. The problem with DRL is that some idiot forget to turn
on their headlights when it's getting darker, so they run on DRL at
dusk, dawn and even at night. Since DRL often run from hi beams, that's
really annoying.

   I think there's more to DRL than just increase visibility in some
conditions. The problem currently is that DRL are often badly designed
(eg, running of hi beam). There should also be some kind of warning
in the car for all idiots who run on DRL when it's getting dark.

>In general, I see no major objection to DRL's but good drivers see it 
>as an unnecessary law, and they are rightly concerned about glare in 
>SPECIFIC driving conditions.

   I have to agree with you on this one, but glare could be greatly
reduced and even eliminated if DRL were designed better. I'll mention
again the Saturn, which uses hi-power parking lights as DRL. I've
found it's the best system so far. Since DRL don't run from hi-beam,
they're not as annoying as many other systems. Since they run from
the parking lights, they emit a yellowish light, which I find to be
as visible, but less annoying (glare, etc) than normal DRL.

>If your experience suggests that there are NO conditions where this is a 
>mattter of concern, then the burden of proof is on you. While many 
>objections are laughable, don't rubbish genuine concern.

   Again you're right. But most concerns are due primarly to badly
designed DRL. Look at my description of the Saturn DRL system above,
you'll find that many incovenients od DRL are not present on this car.

>I, for one, find people who use those low-slung halogens during daylight 
>hours to be distracting. My eyes are drawn far too much to the rear-view 
>mirror. It's unconscious, but it's an unneccessary distraction. My 
>concern is that DRL's will be similarly distracting.

   I guess it's a matter of getting used to it. I too found DRL distracting
at first, but once they became more widespread, I got used to them and
mostly think they're a good thing. Of course, as I mentionned in this posts
and on other posts in this thread, there are still problems to be worked
out with DRL. They're not perfect :-)

-- 
Alain Southiere              | My employers couldn't care less about what
asouthie@volvox.qc.ca (work) | I write here. Even if they did, they'd
alsouth@cam.org (home)       | probably wouldn't share my views.
 



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