Day light running lights

The Motor Vehicle Safety Act dictates all vehicles sold or imported into Canada after Dec. 1, 1989, must have automatic daytime running lights (DRLs). However, Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act doesn’t require the use of DRLs. Full lights must be on in darkness or poor visibility under S. 62 HTA.

Day light running lights are something that have been installed in vehicles since 1989 and yes I think they are great during the day because it does make a vehicle a little more visible. One thing I don’t like about the day light running lights is that some people figure that they can drive at any time with just those lights on.

When you are using your day light running lights you do not have any tail lights lite so that means that you aren’t as visible as you think. One thing that has been written about and the issue with people forgetting to turn their full headlights on at dusk or in poor weather is that with the modern cars the dashboard is fully illuminated all the time so that the driver isn’t aware they don’t have their full headlights on. I hope that this is something that is going to be looked into because there seems to be a lot of cars driving with only day light running lights on.

When I took my driving lessons it was pointed out that it is best to just turn on your full head lights at all times because then you are visible and you don’t have to worry about making sure that you turn your full head lights on at dusk. Also this means that if the weather changes or you don’t know what time dusk is you don’t have to worry about it. I know that in Ontario you are suppose to have your full head lights on 30 minutes before sunset and 30 minutes after sunrise but that means that you need to keep track of when sunset and sunrise. I like the idea of just turning on the full head lights and then you don’t have to worry about any of these issues.

The other issue with day light running lights is people figure that when the weather is bad they can just leave these lights on and been seen. In bad weather such as snow, rain or fog you aren’t as visible from behind without your full head lights on. In bad weather it is extremely important to ensure that you have your full head lights on so that people behind you can see you and people ahead of you can also see you a little easier. The full head lights also assist pedestrians in seeing cars approaching an intersection in the bad weather.

Sure day light running lights are a good idea in some ways but with the modern cars it means that more often than not people are forgetting to turn on their full head lights when they are needed. Next time you get into your vehicle even if you have day light running lights, turn on your full head lights even in the day time and know that you have just made yourself a little more visible.