Has VW forgotten something?

[sidepod]

Recall many years ago doing just that on the A1 in freezing fog, following the verge as that's all I could see, next thing a set of Petrol pumps went by about a foot away. Definitely a white knuckle drive and urgent need for clothing change.

Excellent.
Competing in s night rally back in the 80’s over Lakeland fells in proper pea soup fog. The navigator was calling the shots and I was Harry Flatters. Genuinely scary!

 

[westfalia]

The navigator was calling the shots and I was Harry Flatters.

Right 3 300 crest left 4 200 cut. Lol.

 

[sidepod]

Right 3 300 crest left 4 200 cut. Lol.

More like “why are you driving like a w@**er?”

 

[Hans.F]

You can have your dealer to code the rear light on when the ignition is on. I have got this.

 

[Deskman]

Front fog lights are meant to throw their beam below the fog without reflecting in the cloud in front of you. In heavy fog it makes sense: you can still see the side of the road even if the visibility is almost zero.

Back foglights are in NL only allowed when the visibility is below 50meters and out of town - so almost never... Most annoyingly people sometimes have two back foglights and forget about them (foggy minds) so you think they are braking constantly. (that's where the 3rd brake light comes in handy)

DRL was meant to be used without backlights switched on up to 2015. There was some failing theory behind it about the visibility of upcoming traffic. Since then it is common to have DRL and backlights combined.

Most cars that are built between 2011 (start mandatory DRL) and 2015 can have it adjusted in the software but not all.

The biggest problem is that the dash illumination is also switched on so some people think they drive with the lights switched on while the back is still covered in darkness. These people are very hard to convince that they should turn a switch in the right position.

It is the biggest problem of the modern world: all actions that have been taken over by some kind of automation are switched off in our brains forever. (Who can still write the phone numbers of the people they call every day on a piece of paper? I don't even know the number of my wife...)

 

[Tony Crawford]

Absolutely agree - see so many cars with front DRLs on with no rear lights in dusk / dark which is so dangerous!

 

[BikerGran]

I think DRLs are unneccessary anyway but perhaps being the age I am, I grew up when we expected to do things for ourselves, not have machines make decisions for us. But accepting that DRLs exist I think it's ridiculous that the rear lights don't come on as well as the front and I don't understand at all why someone should think they aren't needed.
That said, I'm always complaining that people don't put lights on when necessary, when dark clouds make visibility poor, in rain, fog, and even in bright sunshine when you go into a road through a dark forest - in all these case REAR lights ARE important so that you can see the car in front - you don't want to get too close in any of those situations! (unless of course your vehicle does the braking for you! )

 

[WelshGas]

I think many people misunderstand the purpose of DRLs.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytime_running_lamp

Any vehicle in front of you is an obstruction and if you believe it must have rear lights on for you to see it and avoid it then I would suggest a visit to Specsavers.... other opticians are available.
Front DRLs indicate that the vehicle is “ alive “ ie: Ignition On, engine possibly running. If you cannot see the Vehicle without the DRLs being On then a visit to the opticians is again warranted.

 

[BikerGran]

I think many people misunderstand the purpose of DRLs.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daytime_running_lamp

Any vehicle in front of you is an obstruction and if you believe it must have rear lights on for you to see it and avoid it then I would suggest a visit to Specsavers.... other opticians are available.
Front DRLs indicate that the vehicle is “ alive “ ie: Ignition On, engine possibly running. If you cannot see the Vehicle without the DRLs being On then a visit to the opticians is again warranted.

Thank you, the optician and I are well acquainted but the vehicle has rear lights for a reason, so that it shall be seen in conditions of poor light which is when I believe the rear lights should be on.

Front lights on a stationary vehicle could simply indicate that the lights have been left on. I tend to prefer to make sure that ANY vehicle that's pointing at me with or without lights on, is not about to move before putting myself in its path!

 

[WelshGas]

Thank you, the optician and I are well acquainted but the vehicle has rear lights for a reason, so that it shall be seen in conditions of poor light which is when I believe the rear lights should be on.

Front lights on a stationary vehicle could simply indicate that the lights have been left on. I tend to prefer to make sure that ANY vehicle that's pointing at me with or without lights on, is not about to move before putting myself in its path!

I suggest you read the Wikipedia article. I am talking about DRLs. Obviously in conditions of poor lighting then headlights and rear lights should be on. That is upto the driver to switch them on. Nothing to do with front facing DRLs.

 

[B J G]

DRL's are a good thing in making vehicles visible from a distance or in shadow.

One problem that is becoming more common is that older vehicles without DRL's become 'invisible' in the same way as vehicles without lights in poor visibility. There could be a case for legislation in future to have them fitted.

Auto lights can't be relied on to bring the headlights on in poor light or fog conditions. This has been discussed on here previously.
DRL's could potentially prevent an accident in that scenario.

I see no need for rear lights permanently on, closing speed 5-20MPH giving adequate time to see a vehicle. DRL's on the front deal with 120MPH closing speed on British single carriageways.

Incidentally our Citroen does illuminate the rear lights (dimmer than normal) in conjunction with the DRL's. Gave the Towbar fitter an initial puzzle to solve when testing the lights.

 

[Loz]

One issue I see more and more these days is drivers without auto lights driving about in the evening with nothing but DRLs..
They are so bright (not in dimmed mode) that they think their lights are on..

 

[Roger Boeken]

Using carista customisation on my T6.1 i discovered you can turn on “Scandinavian DLR” . This will turn on the rear lights toghether with front Day light running. If not you must not forget to turn on lights manually whenever you hit the road in denmark,sweden or norway. with DLR scandinavian way you can leave the headlight switch on “auto”.
If you do not have something like carista obd2 dongle yoy can ask garage to do it for you.
could not find anyone mentioning this yet on this forum.