Night driving without any lights?

[Qship1996]

Is this some kind of new fad or something? I have noticed on many occasions cars going down the road {and major highways too} with no exterior lights illuminated at night {not dusk even}.I am seeing this on a nightly basis recently in Atlanta? This is not the sometimes seen folks thinking their headlights are on due to DRL dimly lighting their headlamps,I am talking about zero exterior illumination.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

This is not the sometimes seen folks thinking their headlights are on due to DRL dimly lighting their headlamps,I am talking about zero exterior illumination.

Perhaps it's the proliferation of what -Virgil- calls "video game dashboards": Dashboards that are so overly-lit that it looks as if they're lit because the headlamps are on. Back in ancient times, the instrument panel would only light up with at least the parking lamps on, but now they *need* to be lit because of the way they display-- so they're not the telltale they used to be.

 

[Qship1996]

I find it hard to believe these folks I see do not know their headlights are on,I am talking pitch dark,9-10pm on roads without much/any streetlights.I am now always looking for a car w/o any lighting before switching lanes late at night,they are that hard to see.

 

[jzchen]

My wife got a ticket in her '13 C-MAX Energi for not having her lights on in the dark. (I was trying to fix some issue and had turned off the automatic light feature to save battery during the night, and had forgotten to turn it back on for her). Maybe also part of the issue as she's used to them just turning on automatically.

 

[Canuke]

It's because of all the idiots in Los Angeles driving around with their high beams on. The law of conservation of headlights means that for every car here with too many lights on, a car elsewhere in the country must go without.

 

[Going_Supernova]

Stupid people are allowed to drive, and now that the stupid population is growing, there are more stupid people driving on the roads. While Darwinism will eliminate some over time, it is an unfortunate fact that some of them will kill and injure some who are not stupid.

 

[jzchen]

Stupid people are allowed to drive, and now that the stupid population is growing, there are more stupid people driving on the roads. While Darwinism will eliminate some over time, it is an unfortunate fact that some of them will kill and injure some who are not stupid.

Some people are night blind, some are not. It depends. Maybe my wife, without night blindness, didn't have much issues seeing, especially since places around are pretty well lit. For me, I would have probably noticed instantly.

 

[broadgage]

I have noticed more people driving without lights in major UK cities, I think that it is because modern street lighting is so good that lights on a vehicle are no longer needed to see where one is going. Any driver who forgot to turn on the lights is unlikely to notice this for some time. Lights should of course still be used so as to be seen by other road users and because the law requires.

In rural areas with no or limited street lighting, anyone who forgot to turn on the vehicle lights would realise this almost instantly.

 

[alpg88]

i used to forget to turn on mine in my old 06 accord, exactly for the reason of video game dash. but it would only happen in a city where light poles are every 100 feet, plus lights from store windows, you would not see any difference if you turned them on, (btw drl would still be on, so you'd see my car coming even if i forget to switch lights on) but on pitch black road i would know right away that lights are out. i have a feeling most of those driving with no lights in on dark roads that have no light poles do it on purpose. since that accord every car i have\had were equipped with auto light switch, not that i was looking for that option, it seems like it comes standard these days on all cars.

 

[Unicorn]

Might not apply in your observation, but I'm sure that DRLs have a bit to do with it. They see some light ahead of them so they assume their lights are on.

Some people are just that oblivious to everything around them that they just don't notice that it's dark.