Daytime running lights

[owainmpowell]

Are cars with daytime running lights e.g.Volvos allowed to use their headlights during the day?

[kempie]

When visibility is reduced in daytime (e.g. due to weather conditions) all cars are required to have their headlights on.

[twiglet4frog]

volvo's are meant to come on sidelights because of the long dark nights in sweden so unless the fuse is pulled on it they cant be turned off, at least not old volvos anyway

[KebabMeister]

Volvo's introduced side-lights switched on during day time when they switched from driving from the left-hand side of the road to the right hand side of the road.  Lights were to be kept on by law to increase visibility for those still not used to driving on the other side.  Can't remember which year this happened, either late 60s or early 70s.

[Tim Baxter]

None of the above explains why in this country Volvo kept their lights on.  Side lights are neither use nor ornament when it comes to making your car more distinguishable in the gloom.  The highway code says if anything it should be dipped headlights.  I think Volvo used it as a 'safety' feature and promoted it as such.  God alone knows how much extra fuel Volvo has wasted with this gimmick!

[KebabMeister]

"In Finland, researchers found that, during a six-year period, the use of daytime running lights in winter reduced daytime crashes by 21 percent. In Sweden, results were similar: crashes decreased by 11 percent."

Interesting US article here: http://www.usroads.com/journals/rmej/9912/rm991203.htm

and another link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8579694&dopt=Abstract

I was incorrect about Sweden introducing daytime lights when they swapped from driving from the left hand side to the right hand side of the road.  Although people were advised to use lights to increase vehicle visibility it wasn't law until 1977.

"In 1955, the Swedish government held a referendum on the introduction of right-hand driving. Although no less than 82.9% voted �no� to the plebiscite, the Swedish parliament passed a law on the conversion to right-hand driving in 1963. Finally, the change took place on Sunday, the 3rd of September 1967, at 5 o�clock in the morning.

All traffic with private motor-driven vehicles was prohibited four hours before and one hour after the conversion, in order to be able to rearrange all traffic signs. Even the army was called in to help. Also a very low speed limit was applied, which was raised in a number of steps. The whole process took about a month."

[twiglet4frog]

they probably use them in the uk still cos there cars would have to have a redesigned electric system and fuse to allow them to be turned off and they see it as A) a waste of money to alter it for one particular car market and B) the fact we have nightime just like all the rest of the world that they are including a safety feature that might safe lives and be promoted as such!

It is like the time when 4x4's had bull bars before they were banned, they were claimed that at the time they made the cars safer because they stoped damage hitting things when in the field but then everyone drove them on the school run, so did 4x4 makers then have to provide a non bull bar option for taking kids to school or just leave it like it is?

in the end they were banned from new cars anyway

[KebabMeister]

They ended up making bull bars out of plastic instead of metal.

[Tim Baxter]

Just a thought about the 'daytime running lights in winter'.  In Finland how much daylight is there in winter?  Not a lot!  So if they didn't use lights during their so called winter daylight (in reality darkness) it's no wonder safety improved when they switched their lights on!