Why do people drive in broad daylight with their headlights on?

Are you sure it’s headlights? Or is it their “running lights”? Two of my lights are always on when my car is running.

I drive a 2006 Subaru Forester that has the front running lights on all the time. It’s a safety feature.

Why is it a waste?

And it certainly isn’t pointless- it makes you more visible.

I always drive with my headlights on.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says,
“Nearly all published reports indicate [Daytime Running Lights (DRLs)] reduce multiple-vehicle daytime crashes. A study examining the effect of Norway’s DRL law from 1980 to 1990 found a 10 percent decline in daytime multiple-vehicle crashes. A Danish study reported a 7 percent reduction in DRL-relevant crashes in the first 15 months after DRL use was required and a 37 percent decline in left-turn crashes. In a second study covering 2 years and 9 months of Denmark’s law, there was a 6 percent reduction in daytime multiple-vehicle crashes and a 34 percent reduction in left-turn crashes. A 1994 Transport Canada study comparing 1990 model year vehicles with DRLs to 1989 vehicles without them found that DRLs reduced relevant daytime multiple-vehicle crashes by 11 percent.”

Link

I drive with my actual low-beams on during the day. I believe that it increases visibility.

When you are hypnotized by driving down a long stretch of highway which is often what I find myself driving on I find that cars that drive with their headlights on in the day time catch your attention. That’s why I do it.

Interesting… I didn’t know it was a safety feature! I’d never heard of it.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard You’re right, the cars with running lights do catch my attention, which is what made me wonder. But that also raises the question: if all cars had running lights, would they still catch your attention? Or, would cars without running lights in the daylight then catch your attention more? Hmm!

What bugs me more than that is people driving after sundown with either no lights on or their parking lights. The purpose of headlights is not just ‘to see’ but ‘to be seen’. People Drivers should know that, and obviously not enough do.

I set mine on AUTO and they are on all or most of the time. I guess it’s for safety.

@ParaParaYukiko, well, it would still probably increase general visibility, even if all cars had them on.

I use my automatic settings, so I dont actually control when my lights come on. Sometimes, it will be kinda dark and raining, and my lights won’t turn on. Then, sometimes, it’ll be bright at around 4–5 pm and my lights will be on.

It makes you more visible, and gives you more visibility.
My car always has some lights on – I don’t have the option to be lightless. If it’s on, the lowbeams are on.

Pretty much any car made in the US in teh last ten years and quite a few before then have DRLs, and the US was pretty late in teh game when it came to requiring them.

As for those people who leave their headlights on automatic, all I have to say is that the controller on those things is generally pretty dumb; I don’t trust them. As long as they automatically turn off when I shut off my engine, that is automatic enough for me :p

I always have running lights on during the day, and I always turn my lights on when I’m driving on the highway. My driving instructor taught me to always have the lights on when driving on the highway, and it’s just become habit.

It mystifies me that so many people don’t turn their lights on when they ought to, like when it’s near sunset or when the weather is crappy.

My insurance agent told me that having a car with an automatic running lights feature would get me a very slight break on my insurance.

@Dr_Dredd Having a car that is lower in value will get you a bigger break than DRLs. I am pretty sure that my car which has no ABS, DRLs, airbags, or any other safety feature that has come out in the last 25 years is cheaper to insure at the same level of coverage than yours is despite it’s two-star crash-test rating.

These answers also explain why some people seemingly rudely do not turn off their headlights when in a drive-thru. They can’t.

@jerv I wouldn’t doubt it. I’m just willing to take any insurance break I can get! You know, to offset the speeding ticket.

Idiocy?

My understanding is that newer cars have systems that keep the lights on when the motor is running for safety reasons. Have you ever seen signs that ask you to turn on your lights on a highway for a test ? I wonder if that’s where they got the information that there are fewer accidents to cars with the lights on.

So that other drivers can see them easily in different kinds of weather and light. I think the lights should automatically come on when a car is started, day or night. I always drive with my lights on——and I drive a red car.

They are called DRLs or Day Running Lights.

Some vehicles come from the factory with these lights already installed. The driver has no choice, since these light come on automatically, when the engine is started.

Its a safety thing.

Where I come from, highway entrances have signs that say “Headlights on at all times for safety” or something. You haven’t seen one of these?

I do that. Out of habit. Good habit, at that. It’s just my choice that really has no affect of anyone else, so can’t see why anyone would get upset over that.

@12Oaks If you have certain types of headlights and/or they are aimed wrong then you will cause problems. An SUV with HID headlights will put enough candlepower straight into your retina that those lights may be the _only_thing you see; distracting during the day and deadly blinding at night. However, for a normal-height vehicle with regular headlight bulbs, which covers most rigs on the road, there is no problem.

@jerv I HATE those HID lights. To me, it always seems like people are driving with their high-beams on, especially if they don’t have the beam-levelling systems.

@Dr_Dredd 3 votes for HID lights being useless.

@jerv @Dr_Dredd @Moegitto Fourth vote; those things should be illegal.

Thank you for all your great answers, everyone! @sliceswiththings Interestingly, I’ve never seen signs like that, and I’m from the same state as you… weird!

Most of the cars now have daytime running lights which IMO is a waste of energy.
If I pass a radar trap during daylight hours I will drive with my high beams on for about a minute or so to warn the people in the opposite direction. Professional courtesy.