Per California Vehicle Code Section 24800:

[joeekaitis]

24800. No vehicle shall be driven at any time with the parking lamps lighted except when the lamps are being used as turn signal lamps or when the headlamps are also lighted.

So, why do I see so many of you driving with only your parking lights on, especially in the fog or at dusk or early dawn and, yes, even in the darkest dark of night?

Didn't your Mama raise you any better? Or, more likely, is that who you learned it from?

 

[qsd-dan]

LOL!!

Glad to know I'm not the only one who noticed this. However, some modern vehicles automatically turn on specific lights during dawn and dusk. Sometimes they end up specifically being the parking lights only.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

That's a habit of many drivers everywhere, including me at times!

We may have a similar law for all I know in NC, but I drive with the parking lights on sometimes just to let other drivers see me and to illuminate my instruments, but when I don't want the headlights on just yet. I am more careful about this in vehicles that have those dumb headlight lenses that fog up - they do this as a reaction to UV light but also heat, so I don't put them on until dark.

 

[jasonl]

My 2003 Beetle doesn't have a "Parking light only" option. It has Daytime running lights. The headlight switch is a rotary on/off switch which brightens the DRL's and turns on the dash lights. There is a 3rd position when you pull the knob out (like a washer) to turn on the fog lights.

I know in NH it is LAW to have your headlights on at all times, even during the day. Live free or die. Just put those lights on.

 

[lordkenmore]

There are--or were--similar "no parking light unless you are parking" laws on the books in Washington. When I was in my teens and early 20s, it wasn't that uncommon to see people driving with parking lights on. At least, in the area where I lived. Now, I seldom see it.

 

[ptcruiser51]

Dulled/Fogged Headlight Lenses

There is a product you can buy at auto parts stores that is specifically for this. I tried it and it does work, but requires several applications (and lots of elbow grease) if yours are really cloudy. It works kind of like polishing compound. Brought the ones on my '01 VW to almost like new; the cloudiness that's left appears to be on the inside.

 

[spankomatic]

Turn on your headlights and be S E E N!

Driving with headlights on is safer driving and saves lives. I want other drivers to see ME for my safety. Common sense:turn on headlights in rain,fog,shade,tunnels,dusk,passing cars. This is why so many cars now have DRL's (Daytime Running Lights).

Parking lights are for PARKING. That is what they are designed for. I think some people think they are "cool" if they drive with just the parking light on. Some are also frugal thinking they will save all this money if the wait until the last minute to turn on headlights. Some end up dead because they were off,but they saved that MONEY!

I do think there could be better design function with todays technology. On automatic transmission cars the vehicle has to be in "Park" to use just parking lights. Head lights should be automatic on all cars.

 

[combo52]

DRIVING WITH PARKING LAMPS ON

About half of GM cars for the last 10 years or so run the parking lamps all the time. The other half run the headlights all the time, I much prefer to see the parking lights coming at me. You can see the amber parking lights a mile away but you don't have the annoying glare that you can get headlights coming at you. It seems that even GM can't make up its mind but I would like to see a federal standard for always having the parking lights on when the car is in gear. The headlights should also come on automatically when it gets dark the uniformity would improve safety.

 

[xraytech]

I am an offender of driving with my parking lights.
I have them on all the time and when it is raining or getting dark I turn the headlights on

 

[countryguy]

Daytime Running Lights have been on all cars built in Canada or built elsewhere but sold new in Canada since 1990. The lights come on as soon as the car is started. When the law first passed everyone complained about it being ridiculous but studies have shown that a car with DRL can be seen sooner and at a further distance than a car without them. The parking lights and tail lights are not on when the DRL are on.

Gary

 

[cadman]

At least the GM's typically give you a button, or spring loaded detent on the headlight control to cancel the DTL's until the next power cycle. Those that don't will shut off the DTL's (headlamps usually) with a tug on the brake lever.

Credit to the engineers for realizing there are times one would want to run the car's engine without all lights blazing (like defrosting the windows without a pair of headlamps shining into someone's living room). Or parked along the curb idling and wanting to make clear "I am not part of moving traffic!"

Cara's VW is a big time offender in this regard. More than once I've found myself pointing the headlights into a friend's rearview mirror at a stoplight with no way to drop to just the running lamps.

Plus I like to save my cranking amps for cranking, especially in sub-zero temps!

 

[spankomatic]

In the future....

Maybe we will all have "Glow in the Dark" cars and parking lights will be a thing of the past.

 

[appnut]

I have my mom's 2008 Fusion. It only has lights on or off on the dial, not DTR. But I've been turning my headlights on everytime I drive for as long as I can remember, probably mid-1990s. It's almost as automatic for me as putting on my seatbelt.

 

[hydralique]

Cadman . . .

As you noted, pulling on the handbrake will usually stop daytime lamps - doesn't this work on the VW you mentioned? I know it works on mine. If it really annoys you to have to pull on the brake, it's fairly cheap to buy a Euro-spec headlight switch and swap it for the OEM switch. The Euro switch has the normal on, off, and parking lamp positions. There has been some talk in VW circles that the headlamps draw less current for the daytime running function than if turned on, but since there aren't additional bulbs for daytime use this would have to be provided by some device in the wiring.

One nice thing about the VW system is that applying the handbrake slightly will always turn the headlights off, unlike my Toyota. On that the daytime lamps won't turn on until the handbrake is released, but once released it won't turn the lights off again if reapplied, unless the ignition switch is also turned off, which starts the cycle all over again.

 

[sudsmaster]

It's the law in California ( for the past five or so years) that if it's raining enough to have the wipers on more than intermittently, the headlights must also be on, even if it's in the middle of the day. There are also some tunnels through mountains here where it's mandatory (but not always observed) to put on one's headlights during the day, despite the tunnel being only a mile long and brightly lit with artificial lighting inside.

It's not legal to drive with just the parking lights on, esp during the day. I instantly lose respect for a car that is doing that, to where I might not show it the extra courtesy a car that is being run properly might garner. I'll allow that some drivers may not have pulled the headlight switch out all the way and be thinking that their headlights are on, so I'll also try to give an oncoming car at dusk or night that has only parking lights (or no lights at all) a few flicks of my headlights. Sometimes it works.

 

[circlew]

Headlights on in tunnels

I would imagine the reason for headlights being required in tunnels is to prevent pileups in the event of a power outage. The tunnel would likely be dark for at least 10 seconds until the lights transferred to the emergency generator.

 

[spankomatic]

The tunnel would likely be dark for at least 10 seconds

10 seconds is all it takes for a fatality accident to happen. It is amazing how hard it is sometimes to see cars in a LIT tunnel when the vehicle has it's headlights off.

 

[tolivac]

Tunnel lights

If there is a power failure or glitch-if the lighting is flourescent-they would come on instantly.If HID-mercury,metal halide,high pres sodium-the lights may take several min to come back on-the bulbs have to cool before the ballast secondary voltage can reignite them-there is exceptions for metal halide the ballasts can have Hot Restrike igniters or a second bulb,or a halegen backup bulb that comes on until the main metal halide bulbs reignite.Definitely in a tunnel the lighting would have to have some sort of backup light system!!Headlights alone may not be safe enough in a totally dark tunnel.Fortunately not any tunnels in the area where I live-in DC,Baltimore area-remember the tunnels had flouresecnet or high pressure sodium lights.HP lights would take several min to recycle on.

 

[perc-o-prince]

I know in NH it is LAW to have your headlights on at all tim

I believe the law is just after sundown to just before sunrise. Also during inclement weather (rain, snow, fog) no matter what time of day. I know in NY you must have your headlights on while driving with your wipers on. Here in MA, school buses must have headlights on during all times of operation. Why? The question is not whether or not you can see, but whether or not you can be seen! Therefore, I would agree that driving with parking lights and/or daytime running lights during the day is smart.

And what's this about parking lights being for parking? How do they help unless it's dark enough for them to illuminate the area (um... if it's that dark headlights should already be on!).

My Aztek has a setting for automatic lights. My DRLs are on at all times and my headlights go on in plenty of time before I actually need them to see. I rarely touch the headlight switch at all. Between that switch and the steering wheel mounted stereo controls, I'd be hard-pressed to pick if I had to give one up!

Chuck