Bob

Well as I don't live in Canada, it's not really a issue, it's a 2000 saab...but even the newer ones have the same set up, inlaws have a '10....and it's not really a issue when you start the car, it's when you switch it off, it stays on till you yank the key.

It's still a really dumb law. There are plenty of dumb laws, so this isn't especially special, but it's still a dumb one.

MarkG

They thought that turning the lights off would save a significant amount of petrol; in the real world the lights use maybe 100-150W of power, which is probably about 1-2% of the power the engine is producing when rolling along at 30-40mph, and the energy required to accelerate a typical car from 0 to 30mph once would run those lights for several minutes.

The cost of lights is simply negligible in most cases, there are much better ways to save fuel than not turning them on, and DRLs take less power than the headlights do. I'll make a possible exception for my old car with flip-up headlights where the lights did increase fuel consumption by about 2mpg from increased drag.

DeadVim

Are they doing a World Tour or just the UK?

FlirtyKnickers

Steve_P

Bob, Bob, Bob...you're still digging.

scribe123

No! Keep digging, I'm enjoying this thread

iaink

Darwins "On the Origin of the Species" is an even older study isnt it, and yet the science involved is still valid, except in the states of course

Maybe you should study about Sweeden too, part of it are above the arctic circle and get 24hr daylight in the summer.

Last I checked Maine is farther north and get darker winters than the bits of Ontario that people actually live in. Thats the most populous part of Canada FWIW. If DRLs make sense here, the same would apply there.

Keep digging if you like, the view only gets better

Oakvillian

Do you regularly wait in the car, with the ignition on, for several hours at a time? What a pile of nonsense.

Two observations: 1. Daytime running lights turn on with the ignition, not in the "acc" position on the key. You can still sit in your car and listen to the radio without the running lights draining the battery.
2. Even despite the above and it you're for some reason not dextrous enough to let go of the key in the accessory position, the running lights will take around nine or ten hours to drain the battery. I doubt you're regularly waiting for your missus for that length of time.

ireland2canada

I dare say there are valid scientific reasons for having lights on your car whilst in broad daylight, but coming from a country where this is not standard, or even acceptable procedure, I do find it a little odd.

Having just enjoyed a lovely summer with many days of temperatures over 30c and blazing sunshine, I felt like a bit of a tool driving around with lights on. If you did that back home, you would be honked at, flashed at and gesticulated at.....because your lights are on in broad daylight.

As I said, I'm sure there is a scientific reason for it and I'm not that bothered really. However, I have to wonder, if the lights make such a positive impact on the road death toll, then why do other countires (using the UK or the US as examples) not have mandatory DRLs on their cars? Does Canada have a superior road death record when compared to places without mandatory DRLs?

dbd33

Absolutely not. Canadians routinely crash into each other, that's why car insurance here is so much more expensive than in countries with similar driving conditions. America, for example.

I don't see that ancient research about running down pedestrians in Scandinavia, at a time when having the lights on was a novelty, has any bearing on cars colliding in Canada today. I find having the lights on all the time to be embarassing and very Canadian. "I can't even work the lights properly so the government's taken the power away from me". It's an inconvenience from time-to-time and never a benefit.

I believe VWs have the lights on from the moment the key is inserted. When and if I next get the headlamps fixed, I'll check that.

Bob

And yet people are perfectly capable of deciding to put lights on when visibility is affected in Maine...

Are you really saying folks in Canada are not?

I'm not digging.

I'm not suggesting people don't use lights when visibility is affected....I mean seriously, WTF are you lot smoking to think that?

I'm just saying it's a dumb and pointless law. Which it is.

el_richo

It's because Canadian, and many stereotyped immigrants, need all the help they can get.

Bob

No, but when the fuse was in and after I'd stop the car, switch it off, if the key wasn't taken out first, the lights would stay on, the driving light being the same as the regular headlight, so a half hour wait in the winter could kill the battery.

MikeUK

DRL’s are to help really stupid people realize that the car in question has the engine on and might in fact be moving.

One look at the roads in Canada will show that it has an above average amount of really stupid people and needs all the help it can get, even red and blue flashing lights don’t help some of the idiots on the roads here

iaink

People in Canada are also perfectly able to turn lights on, but they dont, not all of them all the time. Are you saying youve never seen some bozo driving in the gloom with no lights on there?

Im an engineer with a scientific background, I dont argue in the face of scientific studies and valid statistical analysis of the data. Old science is just as valid as new science if its done correctly. The research found that the statistics validated the idea that DRLs prevent accidents, yes, even in the middle of the day.

Take my mums accident for example. middle of the day, but if the car she hit had lights maybe she might have avoided it. Multiply that by a million and someone somewhere is alive today who would not have been otherwise. Say the midday sun is reflecting off the windscreen of a parked car and dazzling you. DRLs may help you notice someone coming towards you.. just one hypothetical scenario where DRLs may help in otherwise perfect conditions. They certainly arent going to harm you, we are not talking dazzling high beams here.

Really, I dont see what the fuss is about. Having DRLs doesnt absolve you in any way from engaging your brain and turning your lights on in fog or heavy rain, its just an additional level of safety. Given that the down side is negligible its a bit like arguing that a seat belt might leave you trapped in a burning vehicle...