I was recently on a trip in the US and both my wife and I were amazed at the difference it made to drive in an area where the daytime running lights were not used. I am Canadian and we have had these as law since 1990 (I belive). I was researching how to update my American 300D to be equiped with these and found myself surprised by the negative comments directed towards the use of these. I have heard concerns that they blind people during the day ( well they must be terrible at night then), that it is a case of Big Brother telling you what to do, and that it is an implication that individuals can not handle the responsibility of driving.
My thoughts, This is just another tool to assist drivers in having a safer enviroment, no different then seatbelts, ABS, Air Bags, Structural impact cages, safety glass, break-away steering columns, and numerous other features that have been on cars for years. DTRL's to not impair vision, they enhance it. I viewed a study where they compared the use of them to non-use and it was immediately obvious that the car with the lights was visable much earlier then the other car. The fact is not only do they help you see others sooner, they also help "the other car" see you sooner. Remember the other car that runs the stop sign, turns unsafely, passes recklessly, ect.. ect... My point is try to keep an open mind on this topic and maybe you will have an opportunity to drive in a country that mandates the use of DTRL's and who knows you may actually like them, as for me I won't drive without them. I'll be seeing you (I hope!), I know you will see me.

for those with dark colored cars ie. black/brown/blue etc they should be convinced if they saw with/without drl's pics of their cars passing beneath trees or the like on a very sunny day. it is amazing the difference how much more quickly you can see the car with drl's. i am not for making drl's mandatory. then again everyone has the choice to flip their lights on in the daytime in the interest of safety, which i do with increased frequency.

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

I don't like DRL's for several reasons.

First of all, if you lose your alternator, they significantly shorten your range before your battery is dead.

Second, as a former truck driver, I use my headlights to communicate with other drivers. DRL's take away this ability.

Third, in thick fog situations, I like to actually shut OFF the headlights, and use only the foglights. This reduces the glare from the fog, and improves the distance that I can see into it. Other drivers can still see me with the foglights as well.

I pay attention to the responsibility of driving. I've had no problems seeing other cars on the road, regardless of colour.

I like them, I think they are a good idea and a proven (as long as you believe the data) to be safer. I believe it.

On older cars it's a good idea to also run headlights on during the day. But everything I have now is DRL, except the Sprite, and not much of a chance of that thing seeing the road anytime soon.

Diesel Power, I drive bus (both school bus and motorcoach) and run headlights-on during the day and have no problem "talking to the truckers with my lights", usually of course just a flash to "come on over, bigtruck" when passing, and lots of them do the same for me, which results in a couple flashes from the hazards to say "thanks". Not sure if the semi's are getting into DRL's or not, there are those new slick-looking Volvo's I think to have them, but still seem to be able to "flash brights" during the day if they want to. At night of course everyone has headlights on anyways, so DRL's don't really matter, and this is when the extra communication really helps, during the day it's mainly just a courtesy, unless you got yourself into a tight spot.

Ummm, what about from BEHIND??!! No headlights, no taillights, and if you have rear foglights like lot's of MB's have, they work only when the taillights are also on, at least on the newer ones.

Gilly

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I've found that drivers here in the US have a much harder time telling when you are flashing your brights when the DRL's are on.

As for the rear of the car, the running lights are still on. I only cut off the headlights.

i kinda wish my 300d had the option to run just the parking lights and the fogs.

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

I don't know why it wouldn't. Every one of mine could. Just turn on the running lights, and pull out the knob.

Ditto. You can even choose one of either sides are both.

DRL make sense, probably why motorcycles always have the lights on. You can always see them coming for miles.

I started driving with our full headlights on, not just the running lights. We've been cut off and nearly run off the road just one too many times. Fortunately, we don't have those HIDs.

wrt mandating running light use, i'm ambivalent now.

Can't choose one side or the other when the ignition is on, this feature only works with the key off.

Gilly

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I usually just run around with the fog lights on all day. That way I have lights on in the front and back, and they're not annoying like the "dim" high-beam DRLs like Lexus and others use. Actually, the yellow lights probably increase my visibility during the day more than white headlights. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Howdy All,
I run during the day with my headlights on. The Cruiser is dirt colored and I have seen other dirt colored cars and they are a little tough to see.

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Frank X. Morris
17 Kia Niro
08 Jeep Wrangler 4 door unlimited

They are used in many nations, and they have been shown to work very well in raising the visibility of vehicles.

We in Canada have had them as mandatory since 1990, and there are some problems...

Most vehicles run the high beam at a 40% voltage level to avoid burning out the low beam bulbs. However, this has a HUGE problem in that people don't seem to understand that they really don't have their lights on. So, they drive around with their high beams on at 40% and NO taillights or running lights. This is mucho dangerous. There is talk of making a light sensitive headlamp activiation system mandatory.

Mercedes has an elegant, if bulb intensive, solution. The DRL's turn ALL the lights on, save the instrument lights. This means you can drive at any time without engaging the lights, and you're fine, except for not having any instrument lights. However, it means you must stay on top of your bulbs. Since most MB owners are FOPS that don't know what the bulb-out-indicator light means, I see no shortage of late model MB's with one headlamp out.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

i can choose alternate side parking lights when the ignition is off. otherwise the low beam head lights must be on in order to pull the switch out to turn on the fog lights. then switching to high beam head lights automaticaly turns the fogs off.

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

I think it's mandatory in Holland as well, but I'm not sure anymore. But I remember the discussion 15 years ago, environmentalist were arguing against it; saying it was bad for the environment, never understood that thought process.

In Sweden they already had there lights on during the day in the early 70's. Here in the states people would flash there high beams at me to warn me that I had my lights on....

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).