Drl menace reduction

[idriveapolo]

Well the good news is that ive finally managed to borrow vcds and now the drls work as follows:
I followed the advice elswhere in this thread and altered 3 settings.
1 The option to have the drls only come on when handbrake was released, I was initialy sceptical of this idea and was concerned about making visual checks to see if they are working while stationary when parked on slopes (ie car rolling away whilts checking them) but then realised that the bulb failure warning thing might actually be usefull after all, Also when servicing the car or leaving engine running while stationary its often better not to have them on at all.
2 The option to enable and disable them through the radios menu has been enabled (not really bothered about this one but thought i might as well)
3 The option to keep them on when sidelights are switched on is the one which is really usefull to me as I now have town lights

[RUM4MO]

I don't know how or why I've missed this thread, but from my way of thinking or think I'm knowing(!):-
1)One type of lights which I feel have run out of useful life in modern new cars is the "side lights", now yes I know that they can and should be lights available for when you park at the side of the road, but fitting a set of lights known as side lights, and making it essential to switch them on before you can switch on headlights seems to be a bit old world, surely nowadays it should be DRLs then headlights when switching. They should have been changed to parking lights years ago - and only parking lights.
2)Typically VCDS offers the security code when you "hover" above the field for entering it.
3)Driving anywhere in UK in the hours of darkness and only needing to switch on side lights - I thought that the rules of the road had changed many many years ago and that you were required by law to have your headlights switched on at all times when the car was moving in the hours of darkness.

[Andy Beats]

Deleted

[Andy Beats]

3)Driving anywhere in UK in the hours of darkness and only needing to switch on side lights - I thought that the rules of the road had changed many many years ago and that you were required by law to have your headlights switched on at all times when the car was moving in the hours of darkness.

Unbelievably, the highway code says headlights aren't needed if you're driving on lit roads (generally 30mph or less).
So these 'town posers' that like to drive around with sidelights only are actually covered.
Of course, these days, most people just use the 'auto' setting and that will always bring the headlights into play.

[SRGTD]

Struggling to understand why anyone would want to drive without headlights on after dark, even in areas where the roads are lit.

IMO it’s much better to see and be seen - driving on sidelights increases the risk you might not be seen by other road users or pedestrians.

[Andy Beats]

Struggling to understand why anyone would want to drive without headlights on after dark, even in areas where the roads are lit.

IMO it’s much better to see and be seen - driving on sidelights increases the risk you might not be seen by other road users or pedestrians.

It looks good to only have sidelights and/or foglights on.......apparently......

[idriveapolo]

Ok, more correctly everyone should be asking "why not drive with 2x55watts of light in an already illuminated built up area at night where the speeds are low"

My observation is that 5watt bulbs are only appropriate for parking with (so as not to flatten the battery with bigger bulbs and even better when only one side of the car can be switched on at a time like in german cars) or driving at dusk or early morning or in low sun when its behind you so where the oncoming driver risks being dazzled by the sun (though even in this case its still the persons being sun blinded to drive safely instead of blaming others) In the uk one can legaly drive in a built up area with streetlights in a 30 mph limit on the side lights only and this legislation is still apppropriate. However there are now lots of blind people (or who those who claim to be blind) who take exeption to this and also its a grey area as far as insurances is concerned because many of them also belive in making excuses for idiots. 2x5watts also can be a bit too dim in cases where some of the street lights arnt working, obscured by trees or feature a wide spacing etc
On the other hand, Much more problematic are those who insist on using an excessive ammount of light for everything and if one thinks they need the full 2x55watts of light in a 30mph limit with street lights then obviously they are either blind, or are doing considerably more than 30 mph, not to mention that all this extra light shines through peoples windows.

To me its become pretty obvious that an intermediate amount of light therefore would be very usefull in built up areas and the uk government also came to the same conclusion when it briefly implemented the dim-dip legislation in the early ninties before the eu interfered. However dim dip never got banned and to me the idea of driving at low speeds with a moderate amount of light seems a good one and as my daytime running lights give a similar light output to old fashioned town lights so as to provide enough light to see with at low speeds but not produce more light than neccessary so as to be antisocial.

It nothing to do with posing, thats what leds and xenons with fancy daft shapes, ultra white or blue bulbs fog lights, sliding indicators and other daft aftermarket stuff is for.

All this is about is the simple fact that If the drls are already fitted to my car I might as well make them do something usefull other wise i would have simply used dip beam at night like other people but now ive managed to turn my otherwise pointless drls into something usefull for town use

[Andy Beats]

Sorry, I'm not at all convinced by your argument.
I can't help thinking you just think your car 'looks cool' with sidelights and DRLs only, as opposed to just headlights.

[idriveapolo]

.......well i guess some younger people may do it for show reason but there are other reasons too.
Must also observe that since ive done this modification, although the light output is less you dont get that horrible sharp cut off line like you get on dip beam making deserted winding country roads acually quite nice to drive and you can even see up into the trees slightly assuming you let ones eyes recover from other people lights first.

[Andy Beats]

I can't help thinking you're opening yourself up for grief from the police here.
Traffic cops aren't daft, they'll know fine your DRLs aren't supposed to be on at night, either in conjunction with the sidelights or instead of the headlights.

[idriveapolo]

Obviously i think you havnt red this thread in its entirety, also you arnt familiar with all the law and its stipulations.
Drls as you say shouldnt be generaly used at night BUT this is only applies when when the main/dip beams are are applied due to the fact that they are allowed to remain on when sidelights are on WHICH CAN BE USED AT NIGHT in some situations and this also stipulates that night time conditions never fully apply in lit built up areas under 30mph due to the fact that the law also says nothing about not using side lights at night if town lights were to come on at the same time which was actually a legal requirement for a short time in the early ninties. Furthermore all this specifically applies to lights which are ONLY dedicated to being drls lights. On the particular style of lamp fitted to my car the partucular filament unit on my car in the outer ends of the lamp blocks under the bumper are also used on some polo models (without any change to the design) as cornering lights which can be legaly used with main/dip beams at night which does mean that my drl units are actually approved for more than one perpose or at least cant have been approved only as a daytime running light.

On top of all that a few years ago I got stopped by a traffic cop over nothing in particular and i noticed that he had some under bumber lights on his car and I asked him about this and he told me that about that actually they were general perpose driving lamps which can be left on more or less when ever you feel like it and that the laws only apply to certain lamps built for a dedicated perpose such as fog lamps and daytime running lamps BUT other non specific lamps can also be used as daytime running lamps such as driving lamps, cornering lamps, and reduced voltage feeds to the main or dip elements (as was often the case with ninties town lamps).
The police man did warn me that some jobsworth might mistake one lamp for another and give a bit of hassle as your doing now on here but also said that in practice its unlikely to get anywhere if sensible.

Enough to make your brain bleed . Motoring legislation is becoming harder and harder to interpret and a motor cyclist friend of mine once asked a trafic cop about something else only to be informed that the law has been messed about that much even he didnt know what it was in response to his particular question!

[Andy Beats]

On top of all that a few years ago I got stopped by a traffic cop over nothing in particular and i noticed that he had some under bumber lights on his car and I asked him about this and he told me that about that actually they were general perpose driving lamps which can be left on more or less when ever you feel like it and that the laws only apply to certain lamps built for a dedicated perpose such as fog lamps and daytime running lamps BUT other non specific lamps can also be used as daytime running lamps such as driving lamps, cornering lamps, and reduced voltage feeds to the main or dip elements (as was often the case with ninties town lamps).
The police man did warn me that some jobsworth might mistake one lamp for another and give a bit of hassle as your doing now on here but also said that in practice its unlikely to get anywhere if sensible.

Could have been an old Impreza.
But that's unusual and under-bumper lights to you or I will almost always be fog lamps.
Single use, we'd possibly get done using them.
The LED DRLs in my 2018 Polo stay on at night, but are dimmed greatly in comparison with their day setting.
This is in conjunction with the headlights, I've never tried sidelights only as I just use the auto setting.
I changed the bulbs in my headlights to match the whiteness of them, as white/yellow looked awful.
If they didn't stay on with the headlights, the lack of match wouldn't have mattered and I wouldn't have bothered.

[idriveapolo]

It was acually a skoda (cant remember what kind) and yes, I too asumed that all under bumper lights were fog lights, thats why I asked him and thats also when I got told differently to what we both previously assumed. If I remember rightly he said the only caveat is they dont dazzle but im not shure what his idea of dazzling meant as they looked at least 35wattish to me.

Also a dedicated fog light is construced differently when done properly You may notice that on the glass lens a lot of them have vertical ridges on them and in order to work properly they need to be mounted at the bottom of the car. This is to distribute the light pattern in a narrow but wide horizonat bar of light (most so-called foglights do this poorly) in order to illuminate to area of road immediately in front and the only reason the light actually gets to the road is effectively because they SHOULD be shining a thin wide bar of light on to the road from a position which is almost underneath the cloud and mist and this will allow the driver to procced slowly. This thin wide bar patten is also good at dazzling people when not in perfect adjustment. Real fog rectangular lights from the 70s 80s and early 90s are a good example of what they are sopposed to do, whereas foglights mounted in the headlight lens and other stupid places often even with round lenses are just a marketing gimmick and in my way of thinking cant even be called proper foglights.
I interpret ONLY these dedicated perpose built single use lights as being fog lights for the perpose of the law, with or without approval markings (the law is also subject to a wide range of interpretations and that is where case history comes into effect)

Your polo drls dimming when side lights are on rather than either staying on at full power or going out when side lights are turned on is also perfectly legal in uk. In your case it means your car can be used in many different countries and it save both you and vw having to keep on reprograming the bcm's depending on where its going to be used. On the other hand you may have noticed that some ford drls are staying on at full power with sidelights and dim or go out with main/dip beam engaged such as the ugly eyeliners on new fiestas .This is also legal assuming you dont use it it some countries where laws are more fussy.

Even if I was beaking the law you also have to remember its practically unenforceable exept at mot times and in the unlikely event of an accident serious enought for the insurance company to actualy see the car. After all the only times a policeman can actually see you with some strange set up is when he is going the other way or sitting in a side road junction waiting to pull out in which case he will have to turn round and/or wait for all the other cars to pass and if he manages to overtake them all hope that you havnt turned off somewhere because its not that likely everyone else will be going to the same place. AND if and only IF he does stop you then he will have to be familiar with each and every type of lamp and be fully aquainted with what combinations can be used with what as well as what years different laws were passed as well as what they apply to. If nothing else I bet the cps would be afraid to to persue many prosecutions in case of some interesting legal outcomes, thereby making case history.
Of course while I may sound cocky, that isnt the intention but dont forget many policemen would rather just go after the easy targets and the few decent one would rather just go after real criminals or give you a warning. It must also be remembered that a bent copper can still put his knee through a tail light and do you for that if they want, thats one of the reasons if you ever get stopped you should always pull over to the side of the road in such a way that the police car is behind you, then his car camera will film it all.

[Andy Beats]

It was acually a skoda (cant remember what kind) and yes, I too asumed that all under bumper lights were fog lights, thats why I asked him and thats also when I got told differently to what we both previously assumed. If I remember rightly he said the only caveat is they dont dazzle but im not shure what his idea of dazzling meant as they looked at least 35wattish to me.

You'll have to forgive me for thinking he's full of crap and was making something up because you'd actually caught him driving with his foggers on.

[RUM4MO]

3)Driving anywhere in UK in the hours of darkness and only needing to switch on side lights - I thought that the rules of the road had changed many many years ago and that you were required by law to have your headlights switched on at all times when the car was moving in the hours of darkness.

Unbelievably, the highway code says headlights aren't needed if you're driving on lit roads (generally 30mph or less).
So these 'town posers' that like to drive around with sidelights only are actually covered.
Of course, these days, most people just use the 'auto' setting and that will always bring the headlights into play.

With my tongue in my cheek I'd guess that that version of the highway code was put to print before these amazing LED arrays were stuffed on in place of the older light assembles, they must save a fortune in power consumption, just a pity too many seem to be not fit for purpose as "drop in" replacements.

Actually wrt your deleted posting or part of it, I find myself quite often in situations where having a proper working reversing light improves things as street lights are not always where you might need them to be, plus my driveway is quite long - once older daughter's boyfriend, at the time, reversed his Fiesta RS into her mother's very dark pearl blue Fiesta 1.6Si - not the best plan - for once, the darkened driveway was not clear of cars, if he had a proper reversing light that would not have happened - maybe!

Edit:- I think my wording was based on cars without auto lights, though most cars now have them,