Who Is Driving What in the Dark without Headlights

"willkinton247" (willkinton247)
12/30/2015 at 13:24 • Filed to: None

Last week, during four of the darkest days of the year I did a small survey of who’s driving without lights on during my thirty mile commute to and from work through Maryland and Northern Virginia. Not only was it almost dark by 4:45 last week, but those days were all pretty rainy, and visibility was minimal. Bafflingly, I counted 28 people driving their cars without their lights on during this period of time. Here is what these people were driving:

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Toyota drivers blew this one out of the park with a solid lead of 36%, and if you add in the Lexus drivers (which are basically Toyota drivers with more money), you get 47%. Almost half of the people driving around the DC area without their lights on in the dark and in the rain are either behind the wheel of Toyota or a Lexus. Why?

My guess is that many people who drive Toyotas prioritize driving right below thinking about what they’re going to have for lunch next week. Driving matters so little to them, that they can’t be bothered by turning lights on. I would venture to say that having your lights off when it’s dark is probably the biggest sign of being a clueless and checked out driver. I would also venture to say that many people who buy Toyotas do so without even considering another brand. Their last car was a Toyota, and it was reliable, so why not another Toyota?

The other potential option is that Toyotas may not have dashboards that dim when it gets dark to remind you to turn on the lights. Can someone confirm if this is the case?

Of note, Honda came second in the list, but interestingly, five of those six Hondas were seen on Wednesday afternoon. I’m not sure why.

I plan on doing a longer survey soon, but considering this was the darkest work week of the year, I wanted to get this data out there.

DISCUSSION (46)

jkm7680 > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:33

Here’s my list in the past week of NOVA.

1. Toyota Corolla

2. Toyota Prius

3. Toyota Camry

4. Hyundai Santa Fe

5. Nissan Sentra, on the Baltimore-Washington Pkwy that doesn’t have streetlights, in the rain.

Urambo Tauro > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:35

All of my cars have been ones that would not illuminate the gauges until you turned on the headlamps (or at least the parking lamps). It was impossible to overlook the need to switch on the lights at night.

Future next gen S2000 owner > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:35

Honestly, in a city setting with lots of street lights, typical headlights don’t do much. I’ve noticed that when I turn on the lights in my car they barely make a difference. I could easily drive through a downtown area at night without headlights on.

I’m not saying it should be done, but it is understandable.

valsidalv, reminding you that infiniti is an option > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:36

I love what you’ve done here!

I think driving only needs three infractions, and if police routinely ticketed these people it would generate gobs of money to keep them happy and keep our roads in better condition:

1. Not signaling - this is a pet peeve but also a requirement for predictable driving. Massive fine for not signaling and a bullet in your left leg (if driving an automatic) or non-dominant arm.

2. Lights off at night - massive fine, car impounded, three hard hits to the body.

3. Falling asleep at an advance left turn - ridiculous fine plus you pay everyone in the line behind you $100 for wasting their time. I don’t even want to speak of the bodily harm this deserves.

macanamera > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:36

Toyotas are by far the best selling cars in the area, it makes sense you would see the most of them.

valsidalv, reminding you that infiniti is an option > Future next gen S2000 owner
12/30/2015 at 13:38

Headlights alert other drivers on the road that your car is live and not just parked. It lets people see you.

willkinton247 > Future next gen S2000 owner
12/30/2015 at 13:39

My commute actually doesn’t have a ton of streetlights on it. It’s pretty dark, through and through.

willkinton247 > Urambo Tauro
12/30/2015 at 13:41

My VWs illuminate the gauges during the day, but when it gets dark, it will dim them gradually. It’s a nice subtle reminder to turn your lights on.

Doug DeMuro > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:41

I have spent a ton of time researching this and I have figured out the problem.

In an older car, the gauge cluster and interior lights are only illuminated when the headlights are on. So you know IMMEDIATELY at night if your lights are off, because you can’t see the speedometer/radio controls/climate controls/etc.

In many newer cars, such as the Prius you’ve posted, the gauges are always illuminated, regardless of whether the lights are on, off,etc. This huge design flaw stops people from realizing that their lights are off.

Mark my words: you will ONLY see this issue on cars where the gauges are illuminated when the lights are off — like the Murano, Lexus RX, Prius, etc.

Future next gen S2000 owner > valsidalv, reminding you that infiniti is an option
12/30/2015 at 13:42

I know. I get all that. It is why DRLs are a good idea. I’m just pointing out, I can understand why it happens. It shouldn’t happen but it does.

Future next gen S2000 owner > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:42

Well that changes things.

Urambo Tauro > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:44

The only dimming happening on my cars has been the radio or clock, when the headlamps (or parking lamps) are switched on.

DrJohannVegas > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:45

Or there are simply more Toyotas on the road. It’s a fun little observation, but you are selecting your observations on the dependent variable, which is the short road to fallacious inference.

willkinton247 > Doug DeMuro
12/30/2015 at 13:45

I think you’re right about this. My VW will actually gradually dim the interior lights as it gets darker.

My question is, why isn’t Toyota doing that? It seems so simple.

boxrocket > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:46

Toyotas have several problems going for them in this area (as does Honda): Always-illuminated gauges, small indicators about the lights being on (also the high beams), and not many are equipped with Auto lights, and/or the user leaves it set to the DRL setting because ignorance. IMHO all cars with DRLs should have three settings: Auto (default), parking, and off. Perhaps also a manual-on for when the auto sensors don’t kick in Really, all cars should have this setup, because safety trumps laziness/ignorance. Also, lights should come on whenever the wipers are on for more than three seconds.

Urambo Tauro > Doug DeMuro
12/30/2015 at 13:47

Another part of the problem is automatic systems that activate forward running lights, but leave the rear of the vehicle completely dark.

That, and the general laziness that automatic systems perpetuate.

willkinton247 > DrJohannVegas
12/30/2015 at 13:47

Honestly, I’m not so sure that’s the case. I think it’s probably more to do with always illuminated dashes, like what Doug said.

I do plan on doing more research over a longer period, but these are my initial results.

The Ghost of Oppo > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:47

If I had a dollar for every time I saw someone driving in NoVA without headlights on at night or in the rain, I would of had enough dollars to be able to afford to have stayed living there.

valsidalv, reminding you that infiniti is an option > Future next gen S2000 owner
12/30/2015 at 13:48

Gotcha. Happened to me once when I was driving a friend’s car and she had her lights off. If it’s your own car I think you should be able to tell pretty quickly whether or not your lights are off. Sometimes I can’t wait for the autonomous car driving overloads... as long as I still get to drive my own vehicle.

willkinton247 > boxrocket
12/30/2015 at 13:48

I agree wholeheartedly.

boxrocket > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:51

Because Toyota is cheap, their customers don’t like change, and both like the “high reliability” ratings they get because they don’t change stuff much. The newest ground-up Toyota product is the Scion iA, which is a new Mazda2 in a thinly-veiled disguise (and makes the other Toyota/Scion vehicles seem insanely dated in comparison, except the FR-S).

DrJohannVegas > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:51

I think there is something to Doug’s point, to be sure. I’ve grumbled about it while watching inept Prius (it’s always a fucking Prius here) drivers careen around in the dark with the lights off. But, the case selection point still stands, so it’s more of a recommendation for your future research: you need to count the vehicles which do have their lights on in order to obtain any sort of reasonable inference.

willkinton247 > DrJohannVegas
12/30/2015 at 13:52

I need to go buy one of those clicker things.

DrJohannVegas > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 13:57

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tally-2…

https://play.google.com/store/apps/det…

TownaceNoah > Doug DeMuro
12/30/2015 at 13:58

I think you’re under-estimating the number of drivers who never look at their instruments.

Since 1990 all cars in Canada have had Daytime Running Lights. Initially they were NOT accompanied by instrument panel lights being on, yet people would drive around the city at night with their lights off anyway.

willkinton247 > DrJohannVegas
12/30/2015 at 14:00

awesome. downloading now.

Ash78, voting early and often > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 14:01

I was in the DC/Balto area during the same time, and 94% of all cars on the road were Toyota Corollas. :D

My point being, you’re not normalizing for the total amount of each make on the road. Toyotas could actually be the BEST!

F1ramos > Future next gen S2000 owner
12/30/2015 at 14:08

It becomes a problem when another driver looks around his mirrors and barely sees a car especially since these models usually come in grey, silver, or black.

willkinton247 > Ash78, voting early and often
12/30/2015 at 14:09

Honestly, I’m not so sure when it comes to my particular commute. I see a lot of Luxury SUVs. I’m going to be doing a count of Toyotas vs all cars I see over the next few days . It’s going to be intense.

McMike > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 14:14

I plan on doing a longer survey soon

I’ve always wondered what kinds of people had these on their dashboards.....

Kinja'd!!!

willkinton247 > McMike
12/30/2015 at 14:15

I may have to get one of those.

MLGCarGuy > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 14:27

Strangely enough, I’ve seen Toyotas and Lexuses which I know have automatic headlights, driving with their headlights off at night.

Master Cylinder > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 14:37

Simple solution: bring back pop-up headlights! I always know whether or not my headlights are on ‘cause I can see ‘em come out to say hi.

EL_ULY > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 15:32

According to my job..

brands where people don’t care anything about cars or driving:

Aston Martin

Volvo

Mercedes

Lotus

When I worked at Lexus:

Lexus

Toyota

Moral of the story, ALL cars and ALL drivers SUCK!!!!!!!!!!

John_Harbinson > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 15:43

https://www.facebook.com/ItsAlwaysACamr…

Ash78, voting early and often > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 16:27

I wish you luck. I was kidding about sampling the total population, but if you can count quickly enough and get a representative sample and extrapolate from there, it might work out.

I’m only an armchair stats guy, but I do financial modeling by trade. This stuff fascinates me.

gear5 > Future next gen S2000 owner
12/30/2015 at 17:04

That happend to me once when leaving campus. I only had the parking lights on, then a car in front of me waved and I noticed... It was a place well illuminated.

Svart Smart, traded in his Smart > Urambo Tauro
12/30/2015 at 17:21

My car is like that; nevertheless, I’ve carefully made a habit of checking outside visibility before setting off. Now it’s become almost automatic. Even on a bright sunny day, I’ll reach for the headlight stalk (might even touch the stalk) and ask myself, “Do I need my lights on right now? No.” before pulling my hand away. And then I keep monitoring outside conditions as I drive. Heading into a tunnel? Lights on. Exiting a tunnel into bright sunlight? Lights off.

Urambo Tauro > Svart Smart, traded in his Smart
12/30/2015 at 17:28

I’m the same way, even with seat belts. Sometimes I catch myself, “ I’m only driving to the other end of the shopping plaza, do I really nee- ” *CLICK* “ too late ”. That’s muscle memory for ya.

Vzwolf > Doug DeMuro
12/30/2015 at 18:12

There is another reason! Toyota and Lexus - unlike Honda products - have an off switch on their signal stalk that says “DRL OFF”. In a Honda, if you switch it to “OFF” the DRL’s remain on if the ignition is on. I often have to remind my dad to turn his lights on because he always sets the lights to off when he gets out of the car. He’s had automatic lights in his cars for more than 20 years but he still doesn’t trust they’ll: “Turn off every time.” His life would be easier if he had a current Lexus because my GS350 turns the auto headlights off when you hit the lock button twice.

Yramoron > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 18:15

Looks like a list of most cars on the road all the way down. Toyota is probably the most common car on the road followed by Honda. Ford may sell more, but they just don’t last.

Stupid fkn article. Is the author a moron?

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > willkinton247
12/30/2015 at 23:13

This drives me insane. I commute on a highway that goes from alternating lighted sections to unlit every mile and I can never comprehend why/how people don’t turn on their lights.

willkinton247 > John_Harbinson
12/31/2015 at 08:11

I needed this in my life.

willkinton247 > Ash78, voting early and often
12/31/2015 at 08:13

Oh man me too. I love this sort of thing. If I could get paid to do half-assed statistics about inconsequential stuff, I’d be set.

Ash78, voting early and often > willkinton247
12/31/2015 at 09:43

Well, there’s always working for USA Today or Huffington Post or whatever... :D

willkinton247 > Ash78, voting early and often
12/31/2015 at 09:49

Or Gawker. There’s always Gawker.