disabled DRL

[enslow]

Can some one explain why some people wish to disable their DRL?

I view DRL as an important safety feature for the pedestrian.

If it's done for power conservation, as far as I know, DRL doesn't rob power significantly.

If it's done for looks, I'd say safety trumps looks any day. (Maybe a switch could be installed when the car is being shown or at the track).

Or maybe I'm just old and grumpy at the age of 40.

[redwingsfan34]

Article from LightsOut.org a website devoted to informing people how to disable DRL's

The Story of DRLs

Not saying i agree or disagree with this info, just posting it up...

[repinS]

You'd have to be pretty crazy if DRL's are enough to blind/glare at you in broad daylight. That site is a little extreme

[redwingsfan34]

Yea, it is a little extreme, but it has good info on how to disable drl's

Me personally, i disable drl's on all my vehicles for looks. I'm smart enough to know when i need to turn lights on when it becomes a safety issue. I don't see why you need lights on during the middle of the day. I understand if it's foggy out, or raining, etc. But if the sun is out, you can't tell me you can't see a vehicle coming down the road just because it doesn't have lights on.

And also on my truck, the DRL's are the low beams witch are HID's, and i'd rather not have them on at all times...

[repinS]

But if the sun is out, you can't tell me you can't see a vehicle coming down the road just because it doesn't have lights on.

I can see, but DRL's do help even more. That said, the low-beam DRLs on my car mysteriously stopped working and I can't be bothered to fix them

[WhiteArrow3800]

Simply put I disabled mine for the looks of it.

On the '00+ the DRL's are the low beams as well, had they just been the amber lights I might not have minded so much. I don't like running around with the headlights on in the middle of the day. But I don't go driving around in bad weather or at night with them off though. The lights still automatically come on when it gets dark and they still automatically come on when I use my windshield wipers, that is if I haven't already turned them on.

[enslow]

...But if the sun is out, you can't tell me you can't see a vehicle coming down the road just because it doesn't have lights on....

That may be true enough in general for a car on the street. A pedestrian can usually assume a car is moving on the street. However, parking lots are a different matter. If I see white lights on a car, I know that car is about to move and I usually wait or cross to another lane, especially with two young children in tow. If I don't see white lights, I feel more comfortable crossing in front of that vehicle knowing it's unlikely to move suddenly.

I can't tell you how scared I am walking in parking lots with two children. It's a lot to watch two kids that might suddenly drop to the ground and throw a temper tantrum. Imagine my panic if one of them did that just as a car with disabled DRL were to suddenly move in my path that I thought was safe.

Please, please, please don't disable DRL just because of looks. I look for them so that I can stop and wait for you to move.

[BlackHawk99]

I've never disabled DRLs and wouldn't even have a clue where to start unless I looked it up in a manual or online.

But, IMO, I think people disable them because it gives them something to change. Some people are not content with leaving well enough alone and always have to "mod". If cars did not have DRL, I'd bet anything that people would add the feature. Just my $.02.

[myfirstbonnie]

[00Beast]

I have my DRL's disabled on my 03 simply because I run with my foglights on during the day, and I don't like the lights chosen for DRL's (highbeams). I still have lights on, my foglights and parking lights, as well as my taillights. So, I have MORE lights on, and am visible from both sides more easily.

[wake]

all my vehicles have always had disabled DRL's if they had it..mainly cause i dont like running lights..im smart enought to know when its time to turn on the lights

but i always run parking and fog no matter what time of day it is...dont ask me why..ive always done it

[00Beast]

I also put 3057A bulbs in our Duramax truck and our 02 Suburban, as Amber is easier to see in various conditions, as well as modded them for 35W output from both filaments, as well as did that with my blinker bulbs and my reverse lights on my SSEi, and will soon do that to our GXP.

[repinS]

Daytime Running Lights do NOT have anything to do with when to turn on your lights, whether in inclement weather or in night-time conditions. They are simply to assist with visibility for oncoming traffic and pedestrians.

They do NOT turn on your marker or parking lights, and should have no bearing in whether or not your full headlight system should be on. If it's raining, snowing, or getting dark, that calls for the full headlight system to be on. DRL never meant to substitute for it.

My only problem is that having markers/full headlights on during the day dims the dash, DIC, and I can't see the HUD at all.

[two bonnies]

As with all things bad in life, we can blame the Canadians.

At latitudes above about 50 degrees north and south the angle of the sun becomes such that there is significant reflection off surface materials at all times of the day in a lateral direction (you may have experienced this if you've ever watched the sun setting over a pond or lake). The intensity of the sun's rays creates a shadowing effect on objects. This effect is most pronounced in winter. In Canada, "winter" starts on August 3rd and ends on August 1st. On the nice, mostly flat roads of Canadia (central and east) this creates a blind spot to oncoming traffic. Now the Canadians, being a concerned people, took the next logical step and said "oh hey, we should do something to make those cars more visible" and of course the easiest thing to do is turn the headlights on. So they went and passed themselves a law. The Scandinavians had done the same thing previously but who even knows where Scandinavia is or what kind of weird food they eat.

Enter GM.

GM got all bug-a-booed about the DRL thing. The Canadians produced all these studies in their attempt at law-making that showed how much DRLs increased safety. The important part: AT LATITUDES HIGHER THAN 50 DEGREES. The US Congress, being as useful as a windshield wiper on a donkey, got all besides themselves at these "safety" things with cars, as they always do. GM then decided on its own to add DRLs to all their cars starting with the Chevy Corsica and first Saturn. "Makes 'em safer" their commercials said. Which is true at latitudes ABOVE 50 DEGREES and at dawn and dusk (when you should have your lights on anyway). Other companies like Ford and Chrysler said PHOOEY, we'll wait until Congress forces us to do this, which is why most Fords still don't have DRLs; Chrysler caved a few years ago and started putting them on.

So for all of you who frequently drive to Canadia, in Europe north of Prague, Siberia or to the very southern tip of Argentina and Chile, the Canadian government and GM have your back. For the rest of us, it's really nearly a useless feature.

Moral of the story: We should stand and applaud the Canadians and GM for protecting us from the evil glowing ball in the sky, because as you know, we here at latitudes lower than 40 degrees are, as a rule, too stupid to turn our lights on when needed.

[enslow]

... it's really nearly a useless feature.

In the US maybe, because many cars don't have DRL. But here in Canada I can't begin to express how useful DRL is to me as a pedestrian, and not just because of the angle of the sun. If you see DRL in a parking lot, wait and yield because that car is probably about to move. I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old, but if it's not harming anything, why delete/disable it?

[repinS]

because as you know, we here at latitudes lower than 40 degrees are, as a rule, too stupid to turn our lights on when needed.

Like I said above:

Daytime Running Lights do NOT have anything to do with when to turn on your lights, whether in inclement weather or in night-time conditions. They are simply to assist with visibility for oncoming traffic and pedestrians.

They do NOT turn on your marker or parking lights, and should have no bearing in whether or not your full headlight system should be on. If it's raining, snowing, or getting dark, that calls for the full headlight system to be on. DRL never meant to substitute for it.

[Rusgreim]

As with all things bad in life, we can blame the Canadians.

Oh how true THAT statement is.

Whether this is some people misdirected struggle against the man, or simply hatred of shotening the life of their headlamps, I have always thought disabling the DRL's is a poor choice.

It is a safety feature, yes. But is is also the way your car was designed. Sticking a piece of metal or wire into your relay box for an appearance issue seems to me to be something that should be avoided.

When I joined this club, it was because my DRL's and my DS high beam wouldn't work and I was looking for a solution. I can't imagine having not having gotten involved here, so I am ok with DRL's for many reasons.

[00Beast]

I agree with having lights on during the day, for greater visibility to pedestrians and traffic. I just don't like the lights GM chose, and choose to run another set of lights (the fog lights) instead of the high beams, as my lights that are on during the day, and, since the parking lights turn on with my fog lights, that means my taillights are on. So I removed one to add two in its place. Disabling all lights altogether? Yeah, sure, whatever, your car your choice, provided there is no law, but having some form of light on is a good idea.

[two bonnies]

I am personally ambivalent on them. I don't think they really promote safety as much as they are touted to, probably a little, but I also hate the way they look. I disabled them on the GXP, left them on in the Highlander, and the Sentra, well, the Sentra is lucky to have lights at all.