Lights in the daytime

[D-Type]

When driving in daytime (In Britain) and it's very dull, raining or foggy I generally put dipped lights on, as do many other drivers. The Highway code recommends this, but you still see situations where 95% of drivers have lights on but the other 5% seem to be totally oblivious to the fact that all the cars they can see have their lights on.

Someone told me that in some countries this is mandatory in winter (say November-February) - is this the case? I know that Volvos have their sidelights wired to come on with the ignition so presumably this is a Swedish requirement.

The military seem to use their lights the year round (I think this originated with the US Army or the Wermacht) . I was wondering if any countries require everyone to drive with lights on all year round?

[schmenke]

"Daytime running lights" are mandatory in Canada. All vehicles sold in Canada must be so equipped. Headlights switch on automatically when the car is put in gear.

[Mintexmemory]

Dual carriageway and higher level roads in Italy require lights in all conditions IIRC

[Firstgear]

"Daytime running lights" are mandatory in Canada. All vehicles sold in Canada must be so equipped. Headlights switch on automatically when the car is put in gear.

This only applies to cars sold after ???? (I don't know which year). So it's not law that ALL cars have their lights on, as older cars would be exempt.

[Gregor-y]

My Subaru would turn on the headlights when the car was started but it wasn't too hard to track down the relay and unplug it. I don't like automated systems as I see a lot of cars at night with their 'daytime running lights' on up front and no lights at the back. Subarus also are nice in that the lights turn off when the ignition is off so you can't drain the battery if you leave the headlights on. There's a switch that will let you do it if you must...

Every military convoy I've ever seen drives with their lights on and I've seen a few two lane highways out west where lights are required because the environment is so desolate you may not notice an oncoming car through the heat waves. And I guess in case one of you is on the wrong side of the road for some reason.

[Starter]

Some states in the US have requirements that headlights be on when the windshield wipers are on. It's not required in all states or necessarily enforced in the states which do have it. There is no requirement here for constant lights.

[Dave B]

A brief snapshot of anecdotal evidence: on Monday afternoon I drove from Kent to Teesside (SE to NE england, about 300 miles) in pretty crappy conditions and I'd say that around 98% of cars were lit for the conditions. Of the 2% who weren't about half had no lights on whatsoever, the other half were lit up like Blackpool illuminations with fog lights and full beam.

[schmenke]

This only applies to cars sold after ???? (I don't know which year). So it's not law that ALL cars have their lights on, as older cars would be exempt.

True, but I think the year is sometime in the late 1980s (I can't be bothered to google) so a car would have to be over 20 years old to be exempt.

[Rollo]

Some local government areas within NSW require you to keep your lights on.


The City of Blue Mountains Council posts signs on the highway telling you to put your lights on in the daytime, but the City of Lithgow to the west and the City of Penrith to the east of it do not.
It's weird because the road laws are administered by the state of NSW. You won't be fined by the state of NSW and so you don't lose any points from your licence but you will be fined by the local council in question.

[J4MIE]

The only time in my life I was stopped by police (who were standing at the side of the road) was in the Czech Republic and it was because I didn't have my lights on - the hire car I had was Austrian so guess the rules are different there. It was sunny and 35C so I hadn't thought to put them on.

Personally I tend to try to drive with my headlights on at all times anyway. But the amount of people that I see driving in the dark with sidelights on or with one light not working is ridiculous :\