Over the past few years I have noticed the growing number of new cars equipped with so-called Daytime Running Lights. Adding to the growing clutter of glare and distraction are those drivers who have decided that burning their headlights night AND day wards off evil spirits and makes their 4000 pound car more visible to the legally blind.
Do these Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) and perpetually burning headlights actually do anything positive? I doubt it, but here’s what I know for sure.
Headlights glaring in my eyes or bouncing off my rear-view mirror are darn annoying. It has become incredibly difficult to see directional lights blinking on oncoming cars. At night I see many cars with no taillights because their DRL systems light the headlights and not the taillights. Funeral processions have become invisible and emergency vehicles and traffic lights are harder to see. And, I know I am not the only person who resents the floodlight effect of a pickup truck or SUV melting my rear window!
How did this get this way? Why hasn’t the government done something to stop this nonsense? There are laws against blinding other drivers at night with bright lights, how come its OK to blind each other during daylight hours?
The hot buttons amongst the safety types are “road rage, aggressive driving” and “distraction.” Daytime use of headlights and DRLs contribute to all three of these government defined plagues, why isn’t anything being done to eliminate these dangerous and obnoxious practices?!