Why do people drive with their sidelights on? If visibility is reduced enough that you think you need lights to be visible (like this morning, when it was foggy), just put your funking headlights on. Having the equivalent of a candle in a jamjar at each corner of you car does not really cut it.

That will be all. I said it was mild.

If I remeber correctly from my learning to drive days, sidelights aren’t for driving with.

better sidelights than bloody driving/fog lights
there’s a fashion round here to drive with sidelights and driving/fog lights – thats much more worthy of a rant IMO

This also annoys me but more the fact that they put them on during the day or at twilight when the amount of ambient light (due to it being day time, duh) is actually brighter than the sidelights.
Additionally I find dimmed headlights more bright than they need to be these day. especially the really focused ones: I had a Boxter behind my the other day and was convinced he had his full beams on but no they were just overly bright and focused and blinding me. Bah!

The police do it down here. They usually have a pretty good answer for stuff like that: I’m sure one of the stw policepersons will come along soon and tell us why.

Or glupton.

My sidelights go on when it’s a little dark, headlights go on when it gets dark enough. I’m capable of more than just binary operation and I can judge light in a greyscale fashion too, why should I just stick my headlights on at the slightest hint of darkness? Headlights are for seeing WITH, not primarily for being seen.

Rant worthy – people who dont dip, lets just call them all Merc drivers. Stupid xenon headlights that blind you even when dipped.

I had a Boxter behind my the other day and was convinced he had his full beams on but no they were just overly bright and focused and blinding me. Bah!

Maybe they were misaligned?

“they put them on during the day or at twilight when the amount of ambient light (due to it being day time, duh) is actually brighter than the sidelights”

How do you manage to spot that they’re on then? Duh.

I’m pretty sure Volvo and Saabs’ sidelights come on with the ignition so there ain’t a lot you can do about it.
Must be all the dark in Sweden 8)

Volvo conducted research which indicated a substantial fall in ‘didn’t see you mate’ accidents where vehicles had sidelights on – hence all the old 240’s and 740’s had them permanently on.

Nothing wrong with side lights if as long as you switch to dipped when it gets dark.

you can be seen but it doens’t look like you’re saying ‘get out of my way’.

I’m pretty sure Volvo and Saabs’ sidelights come on with the ignition so there ain’t a lot you can do about it.

It’s the law in Scandinavia, I believe.

I use my sidelights primarily when I do not need/want my headlights on (because I can see well enough), but because I like to have my rear lights on so that any dosy fool can clearly see me from behind – especially as I have a silver car which can ‘disappear’ when the sky is full of grey/silver coloured cloud. As rear lights are only on or off, you have no choice with them.

Oohh, the blue light – its so beautiful

[two mosquitoes fly near a bug zapper; one flies towards it, as if in a trance]
Mosquito #1: Harry, no! Don’t look at the light!
Mosquito #2: [entranced] I-can’t-help-it. It’s-so-beautiful.
[Harry gets zapped, falls]
Mosquito #2: Woo hoo!

miketually – Member

I’m pretty sure Volvo and Saabs’ sidelights come on with the ignition so there ain’t a lot you can do about it.

It’s the law in Scandinavia, I believe.

Certainly is. Headlights to be used at all times.

Volvo lights are on dipped all the time, not side lights

Headlights are for seeing WITH, not primarily for being seen.

I’d say usually it’s for both purposes, in equal measure. In fog, it’s for being seen.

harry hill did a version of that where the fly has a heart attack just prior to hitting the zapper and is revived by the shock – “what are the chances of that happening”

Sidelights don’t bother me. Sidelights combined with foglights when it’s actually properly dark are incredibly annoying.

Yes, thats headlights, not sidelights. And it is due to the fact that they spend a large amount of the year in dark (being further north etc). This is also why canada, IIRC, has started using them. DRL’s they call it, daylight running lights.

all the old ones used to be sidelights only (when cars had proper sidelights and sidburns were cool).

I’d say usually it’s for both purposes, in equal measure. In fog, it’s for being seen.

In fog, sure, its a different situation entirely. You can see a cars sidelights a mile off in the normal dark, if everyone else behind didnt have 100w burning your retina out. Problem is where do you stop. Now people have HID headlights, do we start adding extra lights, enforcing HID 1kw lighting systems because everyone else uses them…. And where do bikes get left behind, masked by the sea of light…

why dont car manufacturers just do away with sidelights and use proper lighting instead ? parking lights could be wired so that they only come on if the handbrake is used ?

The law:

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.

I use only sidelights sometimes, if I want to be more visible from the erm, rear……my car is fairly dark grey and so there are times when I want people to have early warning I am there. Drivers coming towards me don’t perhaps require the same level of ‘me’ visibility as they are normally in their own lane.

Generally I just stick the headlights on and be done with it though….

And nothing annoys me more than ****ts who drive with fogs on when it is not necessary – particularly as someone said up the page, when it’s proper dark, but they think sidelights and fogs are acceptable.

driving lights should be wired in with main beam, otherwise they’re fog lights and shouldn’t be on unless the visibility drops below 100m.

why people drive round with front fog lights on when it’s not foggy is beyond me (and indeed rear fog lights – but that’s another matter). maybe since they paid extra for them they feel they have the right to use them when ever they like?

I have a theory that the **** who drive with their rear fogs on all the time think that the button on the dash is for their rear lights, so they think that they have to turn the front lights on with the stalk/dial/whatever and then their ‘rear lights’ with the other button.

IHN – why do they put these sidelights on cars then? surely they’re there for a reason, are they not?

So in a well lit, built up area, you can drive with just your sidelights on legally, even after dark.

They are really “parking” lights ……. for when you are … parked.

Saab headlights go off with the ignition, so you can leave the switch on all the time. The sidelights don’t (there’s a buzzer) so I don’t know what they are for and that is the most boring thing I have ever typed on this forum

Foglights on and not foggy = woman/twunt/chav

/pensioner

How many of you moaning about drivers leaving their fog lights on are happy to shine your HIDs in car driver’s faces?

All lights are set to automatic on my Merc so I don;t need to worry about switching them on or off.

I seem to remember that there were less crashes involving cars with sidelights on.

…/WorldClassAccident

You could ask why do motorcycles usually have their lights on in the middle of the day?

Any extra way of being noticed is worthwhile IMO.

WorldClassAccident – Member
All lights are set to automatic on my Merc so I don;t need to worry about switching them on or off.

Does that include automatically dipping? If it does, it doesnt bloody work. And if it doesnt then it seems all merc owners are under the mistaken impression that it does automatically dip.

Sidelights combined with foglights when it’s actually properly dark are incredibly annoying

crazylegs also doesn’t like people using their rear LEDs off road 🙂

simonfbarnes – Member

Sidelights combined with foglights when it’s actually properly dark are incredibly annoying

crazylegs also doesn’t like people using their rear LEDs off road [:-)]

Well that I can understand, especially a blinking one!