Daytime Running Lights

I must admit to being in two minds about having headlights on at all times. Some European countries already require headlights to be switched on by the driver whenever the car is being used. While other countries are soon to mandate that lights come on automatically with the ignition on all new cars.

Some car makers are taking an active interest in these lights-on campaigns, so are building cars that have ‘daytime running lights’. These lights are less bright than headlights, but certainly make the cars stand out in low light conditions. And some of the car designers love the idea and are enjoying some fascinating ideas in shapes, size and locations of these lights. As a bonus, these daytime lights are often LEDs so use significantly less power than the normal headlights. Thus saving fuel and limiting carbon dioxide production.

However, I feel there's a danger that some road safety advocates in Australia, who often like to jump instantly onto bandwagons without thinking things through properly, may require Australians to do the same thing. Just because something works in Europe doesn't necessarily mean it will work here. That has been discovered many times over the years. First there were the Sydney famines in 1788, then there was the importation of rabbits, not to forget the cane toad debacle – and more.

There are major differences between the light in Europe and Australia. Over there they have very long hours of twilight and darkness in winter, particularly in the northern areas, so cars can be much more difficult to see. Over here, and I know this is a big country and things are vastly different between, say, Hobart and Darwin, making your car visible is seldom a problem.

Personally I like to get my car’s headlights on early, as soon as being visible is in any way doubtful either due to bad weather or daylight coming to an end. That's in the suburbs - in the bush I generally keep them on all the time.

The problem with having headlights on in Australian suburban driving is that they create a lot of glare, something that can actually be counterproductive; the more vehicles the greater the glare, all the more so when headlights aren't adjusted properly – which is far too often. Things are exacerbated by the clowns who drive with all their foglights on all the time. The light in our Aussie sky is already famously bright and I’m not sure we want any more of it.

Before the politicians and bureaucrats jump, knee-jerk fashion, into daytime headlights I would like to see some proper, independent research done in Australian conditions.

If the aforementioned politicians and bureaucrats do want something to copy from the Europeans, may I suggest that they could give Australian car drivers a 130 km/h speed limit on inter-city motorways, as is pretty well the norm throughout Europe? That would certainly sharpen up driving habits and in all likelihood reduce the number of crashes as a result.

ewan@marque.com.au