Driving with your lights off... at night

"Nibby" (nibby68)
11/15/2014 at 23:28 • Filed to: None

Why people do this, I don't know. Especially if your brake lights are working and your day times are on.

DISCUSSION (48)

Forgetful > Nibby
11/15/2014 at 23:31

Alway drive with your headlights on. Always.

scoob > Nibby
11/15/2014 at 23:32

I don't get it. So what I do is high beam them forever and ever.

Nibby > scoob
11/15/2014 at 23:33

Yeah I do that too... but not so aggressively :P

Nibby > Forgetful
11/15/2014 at 23:34

In case you... forget?

whoarder is tellurium > Nibby
11/15/2014 at 23:35

This is weird because in the last week, I can count at least 3 times I've seen people driving at night (winter) without headlights on.

scoob > Nibby
11/15/2014 at 23:36

Sometimes I flash them obnoxiously. But then again, I barely drive, let alone at night.

Nibby > whoarder is tellurium
11/15/2014 at 23:37

I see it occasionally, about once every two weeks.

lone_liberal > Nibby
11/15/2014 at 23:37

My wife and I were discussing this very question as we drove home last night and saw multiple cars running dark. We came to the conclusion that their headlights take an enormous amount of energy to turn on. We assume that the same cars take the same amount of effort to turn the turn signals on.

Nibby > scoob
11/15/2014 at 23:37

something something joke about flashing drivers

Big Bubba Ray > Nibby
11/15/2014 at 23:38

Nic Cage gifs are the best gifs.

whoarder is tellurium > Nibby
11/15/2014 at 23:41

Oh and probably 3-4 people driving with high beams on tonight too.

scoob > Nibby
11/15/2014 at 23:41

Kinja'd!!!

aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe > Forgetful
11/15/2014 at 23:41

S10's actually do this from the factory for some reason

Nibby > whoarder is tellurium
11/15/2014 at 23:42

Those piss me off.

gergey - Wishes vette was Datsun > Nibby
11/15/2014 at 23:42

Coincidentally I just did this for the first time a couple days ago. Went to get groceries after work, got them and went to drive home after and forgot to turn my lights on. To be fair I got less than a block before someone flashed their lights, I went " DERP" , and turned them on.
In my defence there's lots of bright street lights in that part of town so I didn't notice the lack of light.

Nibby > lone_liberal
11/15/2014 at 23:42

IT'S ENOUGH EFFORT TO CRANK THE KEY/PRESS THE START BUTTON

Vicente Esteve > Nibby
11/15/2014 at 23:43

Once a friend got stopped at 1 AM and fined 100 dollars for having his headlights off

The police officer came to him and said "Why were you driving with your headlights off?"

He: "No sir, they are on Auto (The car he was in didn't have Auto). You just move the switch and " *headlights turn on"

Officer: "Are you trying to be funny"

He: "How much I owe you?"

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Nibby
11/15/2014 at 23:44

I've seen the occasional driver with them off, I remember seeing a trucker turning their lights off and back on again a few times to warn the driver with them off in the middle of the night on a non-illuminated highway the other week. I did the same with my Hi-beams until they eventually turned them on and passed them with my father waving out the window. lol.

GTI MkVII > Nibby
11/15/2014 at 23:46

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Same goes for idiots riding around with their high beams on.

I highly suspect modern dashboards and gauge clusters are to blame with their always-on backlights etc. could be pitch black outside, but people can still read their instruments and think nothing of it. (VW fits their fiber optic LED gauge clusters with a light sensor to avoid this problem altogether. If it senses littleto no ambient light, the cluster lights go dim or completely dark, prompting the driver to turn on their lights).

Nibby > GTI MkVII
11/15/2014 at 23:50

I guess that's why... or people whose cars have auto headlights but they insist on never using that feature...

shop-teacher > Nibby
11/16/2014 at 00:03

I accidentally did this for a few blocks last night. I was in an unfamiliar car, and had to pull over to find the headlight switch. Twas embarrassing.

Fookin' Prawns > Nibby
11/16/2014 at 00:30

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH

Brian, The Life of > Nibby
11/16/2014 at 01:09

I blame DRLs. 10/10, whenever I see someone without their lights on they have those damnable things on and think their headlights are on.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Nibby
11/16/2014 at 03:43

I was following someone in a charger with no lights on a couple nights ago in the city and in a fairly heavy snow. People were flashing coming the opposite direction, and he didn't seem to notice/care. After I flashed him from behind (not going dim-bright, going on-off) for the third time (in about a mile of driving), I got brake checked. On the slippery melty-freezy-slushyness of snow that developed out of rain. Idiot.
Sure, I've occasionally forgotten to turn my headlights on after parking in a well-lit area, but the propagation of automatic headlights has lead to some drivers forgetting to think to turn them on in poor-visibility but not very dark settings. Last Christmas I found myself driving a van though the Rockies in a pretty severe snow storm, and very nearly pushed several vehicles off the road (down cliffs!) when changing lanes to pass because I couldn't see them, and only just noticed their dim/non-existant parking lights in time to avoid moving into their path before they blew past me at speeds far exceeding what weather conditions called for.

Tohru > Nibby
11/16/2014 at 12:39

I do this intentionally and occasionally on lonely backroads as practice for the times where I've had no choice but to do it. My Ford cars left me with no charging system 3 times (twice the alternator packed up, once the belt just snapped) and each time it was dusk/dark and I had 30-50 miles to get home to safety.

davedave1111 > Nibby
11/16/2014 at 13:30

You see people without their lights on pretty much nightly here in London. I've even done it briefly myself once or twice. The thing is that the streetlights are so bright that you won't actually notice the lack of headlights.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Nibby
11/16/2014 at 15:55

I think people do this mainly out of absentmindedness. These are the same types who will keep driving with the oil, temperature or some other critical light on.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > whoarder is tellurium
11/16/2014 at 15:56

I've seen at least 3 people doing that just this past weekend.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > lone_liberal
11/16/2014 at 15:58

Headlights use about 60-70 watts of power. And if they're those new LED headlights, then it's only around 10-15 watts.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > davedave1111
11/16/2014 at 15:59

The point behind regular driving lights is so others can easily see you... not for you to see others.

davedave1111 > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
11/16/2014 at 16:00

Yes, I'm well aware of that, thanks. What I said is that it's easy not to notice you don't have your lights on.

lone_liberal > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
11/16/2014 at 17:30

You're a very literal person, aren't you?

Buick Mackane > davedave1111
11/16/2014 at 17:43

My car here in the USA has DRL's (daytime running lights). I believe they prevent many accidents where the other guy says "I did not see him coming". When I was driving in London and Central England in my rental car I turned on my headlights during the day for added visibility and safety. Every car approaching me honked their horn or waved their arms at me like I had a brain tumor sticking out of my head. What is wrong with the British and their aversion to turning headlights on during the daylight hours?

davedave1111 > Buick Mackane
11/16/2014 at 18:54

Are you sure you didn't have full-beams or foglights on by mistake? And, just to check, you know we drive on the other side of the road, right? :)

Buick Mackane > davedave1111
11/16/2014 at 19:49

If you meant 'full beams" as in high beams, then no, I did not have my high beam lights on. And yes, I have driven all over England and Europe, and know which side of the road to stay on. Another thing I learned while in England, you only need to say one of the following phrases for any situation. 1. Cheers! 2. Lovely! 3. Brilliant! . Also, if you want to eat well while in the UK, stick with the full English breakfast, it is great.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > lone_liberal
11/16/2014 at 20:59

I knew you were being sarcastic. But relative to other things in the car, the headlights use far more energy than any other bulbs and things like the OEM radio unless it's a high-powered unit with a subwoofer.

I'm not always literal... I'm just a token_literal...

;-)

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > davedave1111
11/16/2014 at 21:01

Only in the day. At night it should be obvious. If your lights aren't on, the dashboard lights wouldn't be on either on most cars.

lone_liberal > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
11/16/2014 at 21:06

Just pulling your leg :). I was actually meaning turning them on took too much physical effort but for some reason I couldn't manage to write that when I made the original comment. I've done some wiring, including completely redoing my Camaro, but on old cars like I've done nothing really draws serious amps except the starter, but the headlights definitely do take more than anything else that's used for any length of time.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > lone_liberal
11/16/2014 at 21:15

I used to have a 900W stereo in a Ford Festiva. When I had it cranked up, with every BOOM from the two 300W 12" subwoofers, it would cause the headlights to dim (if I had them on.. I don't think it drew as much as the starter, but it wasn't too far behind.

When doing the tailgate party thing, even with the engine running and everything else off, the battery would drain gradually. So I was careful not to run the thing loud for more than 60 minutes. And then I'd let the thing run with everything off for at least 30 min. And I'd keep the hood open so the engine bay/alternator would stay cooler.

That was almost 20 years ago... *sigh*

lone_liberal > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
11/16/2014 at 21:23

I redid the Camaro's wiring partly because it was 40+ years old and partly to eliminate the external voltage regulator and be able to install an alternator larger than the 60 amp stock one. With an electric fan and headlights on that thing would struggle to keep even a very modest sound system going.

Bad72AMX > Nibby
11/16/2014 at 23:30

A lot has to do with always illuminated interior lamps, automatic lamps, and bright as fuck DRLs. My dad's Fusion has all the above and I once drove it a few miles on lighted town streets before I realized someone had switched the auto lamps off. It's really hard to tell in that case and I rarely drive the car to be familiar. In fact, I think I was still DD'ing my Scout at the time, so the DRL's were probably still brighter than the ancient sealed beams I was used to.

Bad72AMX > whoarder is tellurium
11/16/2014 at 23:33

I see this constantly. A few flashes of the highs in my Ram usually get car drivers to notice since it's eye level, but everyone else keeps going. Makes me wish a pillar spot lights were still common so I could just fire it up to remind them how annoying bright ass lights in your face is.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > whoarder is tellurium
11/17/2014 at 09:58

I had this happen friday night, I just moved my rearview mirror so that they got a taste of their own medicine. They promptly switched off their brights.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Nibby
11/17/2014 at 10:00

Auto headlights are pretty much standard on new cars, I don't understand how this still happens?

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe
11/17/2014 at 13:17

In canada, (where I don't live) every car is required to have daytime running lamps, which are like cars headlights, except they are always on.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > lone_liberal
11/17/2014 at 13:20

I try to alwawys remember to manually turn my headlights on during the day, I don't always remember , but I'm relatively consistent, I just know my headlights will always be on at night becuase my car has an automatic headlight on system (and this car was built in 1999 (its a 2000 mercury mountaineer))

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
11/17/2014 at 13:21

its weird to me because my car is a model year 2000, and it has automatic headlights.

davedave1111 > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
11/17/2014 at 16:09

The street lights are often bright enough that you won't notice immediately.