People driving cars with sidelights on – why?

ensure all sidelights and rear registration plate lights are lit between sunset and sunrise

use headlights at night

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.

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

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 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 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’.

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 awesome hairdressers car.

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

Mmmm, side lights you say……..

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 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

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

Conversely they could help a cyclist see me

wasting fuel

Straws anyone?

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 both 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

Daytime running lights are only a ‘trend’ because they are about to become law for all new vehicles so it makes no sense for manufacturers not to be designing with them in mind.

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 not use their dipped headlights in preference to their position(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.

Some of us drive large, powerful cars with large, powerful LED sidelights 🙂

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.