Lights help you see, and other drivers see you. Basic, right?
The driver’s manual says, “when driving, you must turn your headlights on anytime there is not enough light to clearly see at least 1,000 feet ahead of your vehicle.” I don’t know about you, but I have no idea how far 1,000 feet is.
Key times to use headlights are at night, in stormy weather or with fog. Duh.
Some states require by law that you turn on your lights when your windshield wipers are on. ‘Wipers on. Lights on.’
Check AAA’s brilliant Digest of Motor Laws to see what your state’s law is.
The rules for use of low beam lights – your normal old regular head lights – are night driving, driving in fog, rain, snow, etc., or when entering a tunnel or construction area.
Too often, if you ask me, people forget to turn their lights on – say during the transition from light to dusk to dark. Like, the nightly rush hour. You are virtually INVISIBLE in my rearview mirror if your lights aren’t on.
With a lot of newer cars these days, you can set your lights to automatic. So, they come on on their own when it gets dark enough.
But, the other thing I have noticed A TON lately is cars who appear from behind to not have headlights on because their taillights aren’t on.
READ: If your car lights are set to automatic, there are certain features that don’t activate. For example, in my car, if my lights are set to automatic, my taillights don’t come on, nor do the defrosters to my side mirrors. I have to manually flip my lights to ‘ON’ in order for those features to work.
I can’t tell you how many times I have been behind someone in the dark and it appears as though they don’t have their headlights on – no tail lights. But, when I get up next to them, I see that their lights ARE on. It’s because they haven’t flipped to manual lights.
How many people have read their car manual and know this?!
Check out this from carbibles:
“…This problem is confounded by people’s lack of understanding of how automatic headlights work. … With most new vehicles, in an increasing number of countries, even with the headlights turned to the “off” position, the vehicle shows daytime running lights (DRLs). These are either LED lights or small bulbs in the headlights that are always on. Importantly, in this state, the rear lights are always OFF. This is bad because people become used to thinking their headlights are on all the time, (they’re not – DRL’s are not headlights), which means when you get into heavy rain, spray, bad visibility and poor weather, the drivers think they’re lit up but from the rear, they’re completely invisible.
“With headlights in the ON position, it’s what you’d expect – headlights and tail lights – but now you’re relying on people manually turning their headlights on and off in varying weather conditions and at different times of day.”
Read your car manual and know how your lights work, people! And, just as importantly, make sure you turn on your darn lights at night!
Resources:
Watch out in Puerto Rico! Apparently no headlights required.
After all these years, I don’t think I could change my habits……If I didn’t use auto, I would never rem to turn them on. But then again, maybe it’s best if I don’t drive at night. Or in the rain.
I never knew that the “Auto” lights setting didn’t activate the taillights. I’ve got to believe that plenty of people aren’t aware of that either. Thanks for pointing that out!
Good piece Michelle and one if my biggest pet peeves.
I was recently driving on 95 and several drivers were trying to alert another driver that their headlights were not on. It was dark. The person didn’t get the message as I saw them exit.
I wish there was an automatic lights on feature in all cars that they just went on and off…without having to set it. If they can create cars that park themselves…why can’t they build them like this from the beginning?