Car automatic lights

So nearly all cars now have headlights that can switch on when the car senses the lighting level is too low .................. but they don't seem able to deal with fog, mist or heavy rain ........... so many people end up driving around without lights on when they are required ............ this is often made worse as dashboards are lit all the time .

I was out earlier in heavy fog and the number of drivers without lights on was scary....

Murdoch said:

this is often made worse as dashboards are lit all the time .

Click to expand...

pretty much sums up the problem. dash is lit, streetlights are on so driver too thick to turn on side / headlights because they can see, they dont realise that you need lights so you can be seen

People are lazy, sometimes they need a throat punch to wake them up and see sense.

It all smacks of this general attitude towards over legislation , over protection ,  removing responsibility from the individual .

Same goes for those cars that park themselves ,  have sensors all round ,  and that nonsense about  driverless cars  .  

Although people can be strange ...I recall the  " Dipped headlight campaign "    which started in Birmingham  in the '60s    .  So we are all driving round the city with dipped on  which is fine until ,  as I remember , driving through Wales   where everyone is driving on sidelights  and flashing angrily  at us . 

An odd one I saw in a car park.  A car was reversing into a space.  There were these lights below the headlights.  As she turned the wheel to the right, the right hand light illuminated more.  As she turned the wheel to the left, the right one dimmed and the left one got brighter.

I was left wondering "why"?  probably "because we can". And wondering that's just more to go wrong and totally pointless.

You can tell I don't do modern cars.

ProDave said:

An odd one I saw in a car park.  A car was reversing into a space.  There were these lights below the headlights.  As she turned the wheel to the right, the right hand light illuminated more.  As she turned the wheel to the left, the right one dimmed and the left one got brighter.

I was left wondering "why"?  probably "because we can". And wondering that's just more to go wrong and totally pointless.

You can tell I don't do modern cars.

Click to expand...

They'll be cornering lamps. I have them on my works van and they are very handy at night as they illuminate the road in the direction you're turning in so it makes it easier to see kerbs and obstructions etc.

Sidney said:

They'll be cornering lamps. I have them on my works van and they are very handy at night as they illuminate the road in the direction you're turning in so it makes it easier to see kerbs and obstructions etc.

Click to expand...

Got them on our XC90

drive between about 5-15MPH and they move with steering wheel. Any faster or in reverse and they do not move

not a new idea, my dad had them on his Citroen DS25 Pallas back in 1972/3

ProDave said:

You can tell I don't do modern cars.

Click to expand...

You are not alone  Dave .   One of the most stupid design ideas I heard was when working at a garage  ,   they'd had a guy bring a Mercedes in with the indicators not working .     They found out that the  indicators were controlled from the big kick - ass engine management  Herr Fuhrer control board which has to be replaced  by surgeons at the main dealers  costing  about  £5 million  quid   .      Back in the day  it was a  little Lucas canister with three terminals  costing about  £1  . 

kerching said:

Got them on our XC90

drive between about 5-15MPH and they move with steering wheel. Any faster or in reverse and they do not move

not a new idea, my dad had them on his Citroen DS25 Pallas back in 1972/3

Click to expand...

A car that was very much ahead of its time.

I see now from 2020 all cars are going to be equipped with a speed limiter

Sidney said:

People are lazy, sometimes they need a throat punch to wake them up and see sense.

Click to expand...

How will that help?

rapparee said:

I see now from 2020 all cars are going to be equipped with a speed limiter

Click to expand...

So this means all new cars will need GPS and sat navs as standard .....

if if you want to speed , then keep an older car 

Murdoch said:

So this means all new cars will need GPS and sat navs as standard .....

if if you want to speed , then keep an older car 

Click to expand...

I was actually thinking that.

It won't affect me until 2030 

rapparee said:

I was actually thinking that.

It won't affect me until 2030 

Click to expand...

Likewise ..... the best way to waste money is buying new cars ...

This city council will, shortly,  be banning my car & van  from entering the centre ,  I guess that qualifies as old .   Apparently I can drive around the Inner Ring Road  but won't be allowed to turn off into the central area.  

Rumour has it they will build a wall  and hire  ex East Berlin  German armed  guards to patrol  it .     Main gateway in will be called Checkpoint Brian .  

I feel deprived now ,  wonder if I could get state benefit as  a driver who has to switch on his own headlights.?  

Evans Electric said:

This city council will, shortly,  be banning my car & van  from entering the centre ,  I guess that qualifies as old .   Apparently I can drive around the Inner Ring Road  but won't be allowed to turn off into the central area.  

Rumour has it they will build a wall  and hire  ex East Berlin  German armed  guards to patrol  it .     Main gateway in will be called Checkpoint Brian .  

Click to expand...

You are missing the point,  they don't want to stop you entering, they want to CHARGE you for entering, There will be at least one ANPR camera on each road into "the zone" so they can photograph you and send you the invoice.

These camera things are more clever than  you think.  A friend got a ticket from the A9 average speed cameras.  They were fining him for doing 62mph which he thought was a bit close to the 60mph limit, so he contested it.  Back came both a front and back view of his car towing a trailer, advising that with the trailer he should only have been doing 50.  Fair cop.

fortunately they don't seem clever enough to work out if vans are 3 ton or not.

binky said:

fortunately they don't seem clever enough to work out if vans are 3 ton or not.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't bet on that!  From your registration number  they can access manufacturer's databases which can tell them the part number of your floor mats!

I'm sure it's only a matter of time! 

binky said:

I'm sure it's only a matter of time! 

Click to expand...

technology is already in existance. weight in motion sensors do exist and are used on motorways / dual carriageways etc. normally used for a different purpose (weight trucks to pull over), but it would be very easy to link them to a camera to determine speed limit for the vehicle passing