[Closed] People driving cars with sidelights on - why?

I think it used to be the recommendation in the highway code for those conditions, may still be.

Saves petrol...

Probably day running lights rather than sidelights on newer cars.
They come on automatically so you don't get the option of sidelights. If that's the case, they're probably the people who didn't bother putting their lights on at all!

You noticed they had their sidelights on? So they were more visible than if they didn't have them on? Sidelights are for dull conditions, headlights for dark.

End of thread?

Sidelights seem to be an outdated logic. Not sure what the highway codes says about them these days, but they used to be recommended dawn and dusk, in lit up areas and parked up? Something like that.

They're a waste of space really.

double post 😳

113
You MUST

•ensure all sidelights and rear registration plate lights are lit between sunset and sunrise
•use headlights at night, except on a road which has lit street lighting. These roads are generally restricted to a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h) unless otherwise specified

115
You should also

•use dipped headlights, or dim-dip if fitted, at night in built-up areas and in dull daytime weather, to ensure that you can be seen

That's clear then, you can drive at night with no lights on street lit areas (generally 30 zones, so that'll be a built up area) except in built-up areas where you have to have your lights on at night...

Anyway, dull daytime weather = headlights.

Rain will generally have me with headlights on and 'a bit dull' (dimpsy was the word my driving instructor made up) will have me with side lights

(i now have DLR's anyway so its pretty acedemic!)

If you're 18 and drive a Citroen Saxo or Vauxhall Corsa, driving around with your sidelights and front foglights on (but no headlights, big no no) apparently makes you look cooler than a polar bear's paw, impresses womenfolk everywhere and adds at least 50BHP to your car's power.

I have to admit I do this by accident sometimes. I drive pretty much everywhere with my lights on it's just a habit, and the switch is a bit sticky so sometimes not all the way on.

[i]You noticed they had their sidelights on? So they were more visible than if they didn't have them on?[/i]

No, generally I noticed that they didn't seem to have any lights on at all, and then realised, on closer inspection, the pathetic glow of the sidelights.

[i]Sidelights are for dull conditions, headlights for dark.[/i]

Not, it would seem, according to the Highway Code.

Sidelights are for when yo are parked. If you need lights then it shlould be headlights

As ever ( 😉 ) TJ is right.

The highway code changes, how many people have actually read it since passing their tests?

I am more worried about drivers sat in their cars seething about the minor discrepancies of others than sidelight users.

anyway acording to the AA

Motorists must use sidelights between sunset and sunrise and headlights at night (between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise) on all roads without street lighting and on roads where the street lights are more than 185m apart or are not lit. Motorists must;

use headlights or front and rear fog lights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally to less than 100 m,
use dipped headlights at night in built-up areas unless the road is well lit,
use headlights at night on lit motorways and roads with a speed limit in excess of 30 mph.

Sidelights are for dull conditions, headlights for dark.

End of thread?

If a completely incorrect statement signifies the end of a thread.

Then, yes.

End of thread

People probably don't do it for this reason but loads of people who drive about really are very blind indeed, especially around dusk and dawn. Side lights provide enough light in these circumstances to be able to see the cars.

All extra visibility is good

[i]I am more worried about drivers sat in their cars seething about the minor discrepancies of others than sidelight users[/i]

Not seething, just wondering. It justs seems to be a really strange decision; to consciously choose to be a little bit less lit up than you could be, when there's no disadvantage to being as lit up as you could be.

What always amazes me is that if its foggy 7/10* cars/vans without lights on will be white

[i]* based on official statistics[/i]

It's a lot easier to see vans stationery in the outside lane alongside a lane of queueing traffic if they have their sidelights on

I tend to leave my sidelights on most of the time as it also lights up my dash which can be quite hard to make out when shaded and not lit. The dials are recessed at the bottom of some cylinders so are often shaded.

While they may lack practicality they make up for it in aesthetics 😕

dimpsy was the word my driving instructor made up

dimpsy was the word my driving instructor made up

Did he also spend much time slaying Jabberwockies whilst "`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe"?

Sidelights are for being seen by, headlights are for seeing with. If you don't need lights to see where you're going just put your sides on. But then if all the morons put on their headlights your sidelights get drowned out in a sea of light.

when there's no disadvantage to being as lit up as you could be.

There's a few disadvantages. It makes cyclists harder to see as they can't lump around 55w spotlights too easily and it wastes fuel. On my car it also pops up the headlights which spoils the lines of the car 😀

It would save a lot of this if they were referred to, as in other countries, as "parking lights" rather than "sidelights".

I agree with the logic that if you think the conditions warrant lights, then it should be dipped headlights if you're moving.

Coffeeeking - sorry - headlights are to be seen by as well. Sidelights are for parking not for use in poor visibility when driving

I agree with the logic that if you think the conditions warrant lights, then it should be dipped headlights if you're moving.

Doesn't make any sense. You're not less visible because you're moving - so if you just want to be seen rather than need to see the floor, use your sides.

Coffeeeking - sorry - headlights are to be seen by as well. Sidelights are for parking not for use in poor visibility when driving

Disagree, no need to be sorry.

This thread is the pinnacle of Wednesday excitement.

[i]Sidelights are for being seen by[/i]

Yes, when parked at night.

On the road, on a dull, drizzly, dimpsy (apparently) morning, you might as well light two candles and stick one on the dashboard and one on the parcel shelf for all the use sidelights are.

I do tend to agree with the OP - there is no real need for side lights and dipped main beams - if you need to be seen then you may as well put on your dipped beam and be sure people can see you.

[i]This thread is the pinnacle of Wednesday excitement. [/i]

Don't get carried away, it's still warming up 🙂

My car's the same colour as the road, sidelights always on.

And putting the lights on makes the dashboard/buttons light up so I can pretend I'm a pilot.

If cars were all in high viz vellow we'd have to have a lot less of this driving around with sidelights crap

I was going to put something similar to coffeeking, along with the same people who can't see side-lights probably campaign for badgers and hedgehogs to be issued with appropriately sized hi-viz jackets, so that there reflections are more visible in the black mirror of the iphone that they're gawping at rather than looking out the windows for potential hazzards.
Then I imagined the resulting interminably long and dull thread with people getting really shouty about when does drizzle become rain, how dull is dull and numerous other points of tedious pedantry.
So I deleted it 😀

"deleted" in the sense of "posted it"?

[i]Then I imagined the resulting interminably long and dull thread [/i]

We're way ahead of you man

Yes, when parked at night.

On the road, on a dull, drizzly, dimpsy (apparently) morning, you might as well light two candles and stick one on the dashboard and one on the parcel shelf for all the use sidelights are.

I'll take the "blind drivers" tack a little further.

Why is a car parked on a road (30, maybe 40 limit road) and you driving at it [the point where you think it's right to use only sides] any diffent to a car driving along the road at 30-40? It's no less visible and weather affects it no differently to the moving vehicle.

If you struggle to see cars with sidelights on I suggest you may wish to inform the DVLA.

Coffeeking - highway code disagrees with you

You MUST

ensure all sidelights and rear registration plate lights are lit between sunset and sunrise
use headlights at night, except on a road which has lit street lighting. These roads are generally restricted to a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h) unless otherwise specified

You should also

[b]use dipped headlights,[/b] or dim-dip if fitted, at night in built-up areas and in dull daytime weather, [b]to ensure that you can be seen[/b]

I can't disagree with that evidence, but I still think it's nonsense (and probably added to nod towards the EU who wanted DRLs to be compulsory), however I still don't see the point - if sides are visible on a stopped car in dull light they're visible on a moving car in the same light.

ensure all [b]sidelights[/b] and rear registration plate lights are lit between sunset and sunrise

use headlights at [b]night[/b]

as explained on the AA wenbsite night is deemed half an hour different to sunset/sunrise.

The highway code isn't law, and sometimes its advice can be confusing contradictory.

226

You MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet).

no decision to make, volvo decided for me!

Legal minimunm is headlights outside of town, sidelights in town but advided to use headlights at all times. have an accident when you only have sidelights on in reduced visibility you could be found partly to blame for not following highway code advice

Assuming that you're parked on the right (left) side of the road, your front doesn't really present much of a hazard to traffic, you'll notice that the rear lights are still full brightness, we don't have a "sidelight setting" of weak candle like at the front. How you can suggest that the front end of a moving car and the front end of a car parked by the roadside don't differ in how noticeable they need to be seems a bit silly to me.

[i]If you struggle to see cars with sidelights on I suggest you may wish to inform the DVLA. [/i]

That's not what I said. My point is that, because they're so dim, having sidelights on doesn't really make a car any easier to see than not having them on. Having headlights on does make a car more easily seen.

So, if, say, the weather conditions dictate that you think that the car you're driving needs to be seen more clearly by other road users, why would you choose sidelights over headlights?

have an accident when you only have sidelights on in reduced visibility you could be found partly to blame for not following highway code advice

Someone really needs to tell that to all of the police vehicles in our area then.

If you struggle to see cars with sidelights on I suggest you may wish to inform the DVLA.

I think what the OP is trying to say. Is that you can often see the car before you can make out that their side lights are on. And I agree.

That's not what I said. My point is that, because they're so dim, having sidelights on doesn't really make a car any easier to see than not having them on. Having headlights on does make a car more easily seen.

It is what you said, as you think they're so dim they make the car as visible as not having them on at all, which is quite frankly nonsense to me as I think it makes them vastly more visible. Each to his own I guess.

I'd love to stay and argue but I've got stuff to get on with, enjoy your day folks.

If you struggle to see cars with sidelights on I suggest you may wish to inform the DVLA.

[i]I think the point is that it seems an odd decision to make 'I am sure I am suitably visible with just side lights on, there is no need to go to that extra effort clicking the light switch round a little bit more to the dipped setting'. [/i]

eggs act lee

Yeah, but that's the same logic that's made the country full of fatties.

'I am sure I am suitably full with just that one slice of cake, there is no need to go to that extra effort of picking up the rest of it which is just a little bit further round the plate'.

Sidelights in dull weather because it turns the rear lights on and popping up the headlights creates more drag because I have an [s]awesome[/s] hairdressers car.

a lot depends on how bright one's LED sidelights are

Mmmm, side lights you say........

[IMG] [/IMG]

eggs act lee

See above comments on masking cyclists, wasting fuel and other aesthetic issues. Personally I also see it as a waste of energy and fuel, but looking at the number of people on here who struggle to see any difference between cars with and without sidelights on maybe I should fear for my life and change my views.

Coffeeking - maybe you should accept you are wrong and drive in accordance with the highway code

You should also

use [b]dipped headlights,[/b] or dim-dip if fitted, at night in built-up areas and in dull daytime weather, [b]to ensure that you can be seen[/b]

Coffeeking - maybe you should accept you are wrong and drive in accordance with the highway code

Define dull?

Live and let live.

See above comments on masking cyclists

wasting fuel

aesthetic issues

Conversely they could help a cyclist see me

I find cyclists rarely fail to see cars, it's almost always the other way around.

Straws anyone?

Not really, perfectly reasonable point.

TJ, if you want to go down that path, then you have to accept that you're wrong, or a hypocrite 😀

59
Clothing. You should wear
a cycle helmet which conforms to current regulations, is the correct size and securely fastened

😀 I was wondering if anyone would bring that up

Seems to be a taxi-driver / minicab thing around Manchester. Generally it's sidelights only (presumably to save petrol) but if not they'll flick one headlight on. Sometimes they'll break the mould and put [i]both[/i] headlights on.

Though I'm beginning to think that a large proportion of cars driving around on sidelights only have simply had both headlight bulbs blow and not noticed.

My driving instructor taught me that sidelights were never to be used. Headlights only. It must have resonated as I have not once in 22 years of driving ever used my sidelights. I recall his biggest issue was the fact that when it got dark people would forget to switch on headlights as the dashboard illumination was the same. This theory seems correct in my experience.

Have we done fog lights when its raining yet?

Rear fog lights are for when you are hogging the middle lane any time after the visibility has recovered from almost perfect to perfect.

Front fog lights are for looking like a gangsta

Any fool knows that

In dull weather I'd rather people used their sidelights than use their poorly adjusted dipped headlights which blind me as I ride/ walk/ drive around.

I don't understand what all the fuss is about with people "only" using sidelights when it's not dark or terrible visibility.

Dazzling headlights and always-on fog lights are what really boils my p1ss.

veedubba - if you're blinded in daylight by headlights (poorly adjusted or not) you might want to see an optometrist as it could be an early sign of cataracts. The only light that should dazzle you during the day is the sun. 🙂

i thought this thread might be about the modern trend to fit cars with day running led lights and weak as p!ss indicators which mean you can't see which way someone wants to go at a junction.

And breathe 😉

any time you do not need shades to drive or visibility has been reduced from the horizon to the horizon minus 5 foot it seems the majority of drivers use their lights

I dont see the point tbh as it does not make them easier to see as for the latest fad of keeping your fog lights on constantly FFS learn to use the controls on your car you dimwit.

Ok with bike having lights on all the time but FFS you are in an articulated lorry you are 12 foot high and 50 ft long the 10 watt bulb has not made me notice your presence on the road

I want to start shooting them from motorway bridges can i ?

My eyes are fine thanks.

A car driving straight towards me with its headlights on and adjusted too high, effectively shining them straight into my eyes does dazzle and annoy though.

When the weather is less than perfect I always but headlights on, I can see fine, but it helps idiots see me better, whats to loose?

Then you get the idiots in the rain who either put side lights on, or dont bother at all, then the idiots who put fog lights on in the rain. Then the idiots who put fog lights on in slight fog but don't slow down.

Then there are the idiots who buy Audi's that have LED side lights on all the time.

There are lots of idiots.

Just out of interest I find those new LED side lights way too bright, and when I look at them through a rear view mirror they appear to wobble, any one else get this??

Anyone who thinks sidelights are sufficient in poor conditions needs their head examining. even the old dim dip headlights were pretty useless. modern cars have a tiny bulb hidden in the depths of a huge light and they are practically invisible in daylight.

as far as i'm concerned they should configure cars so that lights are either on, or off, and sidelights can only be selected when the engine is off!

You probably have cataracts too FunkyDunc

Just out of interest I find those new LED side lights way too bright, and when I look at them through a rear view mirror they appear to wobble, any one else get this??

Yeah, the wobble is quite disconcerting, I think it's because they're pulsed rather than constantly on and it interferes with your peripheral vision's inherent high speed.

the modern trend to fit cars with day running led lights

And I assume manufacturers choose LEDs because they use less power than conventional bulbs and last longer.

And look well bling innit.

As it so easy to enable dipped headlights in low light or rain, often with the very same rotary switch, I can think of no reason whatsoever why a driver would [b]not[/b] use their dipped headlights in preference to their [b]position[/b](side) lights.

In dawn/dusk/rain conditions, cars (especially grey/dirty silver ones) are often not particularly visible. Position (side) lights are almost useless in such situations, although a significant minority of drivers seem to think that they are a good idea for use whilst driving, even whilst surrounded by people using their dippped headlights.

Is it mostly ignorance, low intelligence or just mis-guided stubbornness?

modern cars have a tiny bulb hidden in the depths of a huge light and they are practically invisible in daylight.

Seriously wonder how many people should be driving if they find cars with sidelights on difficult to see.

Some of us drive large, powerful cars with LED sidelights

Hateful, glare-producing things -and so are the LED sidelights.