to want to bop every person who drives without their lights on when it is raining or glum and grey over the head

[psychomum5]

oooh it riles me.

if you go out and you have to use your wipers, you should put on your lights, by law. It is in the hand book.

If it is grey and gloomy, you should put your lights on. It is not law, but it is common sense.

If you drive a black car, you even less see-able. For Gods sake, put your light on.

And if you see me flashing at you, if is not to make my car like a flashing pretty christmas tree, it is because you are driving dangerously and barely see-able. I can see you JUST because a car behind you has lights on and shows you up. PUT YOUR LIGHTS ON.

And Please don;t crash into me and then tell me you can;t see ME. I had my lights on and was less than 3mtrs away from you. I WAS SEE-ABLE.

Valiumredhead - use your foglights when visibility is less than 100m.

Th thing is people forget that just because THEY can just about make out other cars/people. it doesn't mean other cars can see THEM.

For instance if your rear screen is fogged up, you've no visibility and if the person behind you hasn't got their lights on, you can't tell they are even there.

www.gov.uk/driving-adverse-weather-conditions-226-to-237/overview-226

Nothing about it being the rules as far as I can see - and no mention of it on the following page in the wet weather section.

I'm not picking holes, I'm interested that some people seem to have been taught it as standard when they passed many moons ago

DH is an HGV driver and I am much more likely to put my side lights on than he is. Unless he is on the motorway he doesn't put his lights on until the street lamps are on. which I think is too late

well at night I can see further than 100mtrs. But you still need to use lights!!

Well of course at night!

I was taught, and as it was in the highway thought it law, that if you had to use your wipers you HAD to put on your lights.

and if it was dark like dusk, again, light.

and it also was said to give way to buses.....but I know they have removed that rule too, but people still do it.

ergo, if you follow unwritten rules to let buses out, you should follow unwritten rules to put on lights when it is glum and grey, or rainy.

I was taught to give way to buses as the drivers think they are God so keep well out of their way

it has never been in highway code that you need lights when raining or with wipers, it might be sensible but it is not the law and never has been in UK

people who have lights on all the time really annoy be as do people who don't put them on in fog, people who do not dip their lights when on full beam because it is the countryside and they will be on full beam again soon

it is not difficult to switch lights on/off and dip/undip

the law is lights on when visibility is below 100 metres and from half an hour before sunset to half an hour after sunrise

blinding other people with lights is just as dangerous

the countries that have lights on all the time are mostly just side lights not main headlights

Oh sarah I thought I was a lone voice here

well according to this part, you don;t actually legally have to use you lights at night if there are street light

You MUST

ensure all sidelights and rear registration plate lights are lit between sunset and sunrise
use headlights at night, except on a road which has lit street lighting. These roads are generally restricted to a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h) unless otherwise specified
use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced

Sometimes it is not the fault of the driver. I was guilty of this t'other day. Pulled out of well lit petrol station and just did not realise as street lights etc. Someone very politely informed me of my mistake.

oh how I wish I had kept my highway code book!

you don't have to put your full lights on at night in a built up area - you can use side lights if you want.

When I learnt to drive nearly 30 years ago it wasn't law to put headlights or side lights on with windscreen wipers? When was this law or in the highway code?

I remember it. I had it as a question in my test even. If rain was heavy enough to use wipers you should also use your headlights (or sidelights to be exact), as it would mean that visbility would be affected.

My car lights come on automatically when I turn the engine on ( Volvo) if I turn them off while I drive, when I turn the engine off, they turn on. and make my battery flat as I forget that they will turn on when the car is off, if they were off when the car was on

Op YANBU at all, it annoys the hell out of me!

I have just looked in my tatty old Highway Code - nothing, only if visibility is seriously bad, less than 100 meters and about fog lights if visibility is less than 100 meters too, as on the link I posted early.

This drives me crazy! My car has auto headlights now, I think all cars should have them AND running lights!

DH drives a very black car, he drives with his lights on all the time, even in bright sunshine!

It's Sweden where it is law for all cars to have lights on all the time, that's why volvos have their lights on all the time. But it is dark here for 6 months of the year

Why on earth would anyone put lights on in bright sunshine?

I want to have sweden laws.

I am now getting seriously confused then regarding the rules of the highway. I distinctly remember the question about when to use headlights.

Maybe its my age :-(

regardless tho.......people should use lights. when it is dark enough to be like evening dusk, they should use lights. When it is foggy, use lights. When rainy and glum and grey, use lights. When you are going through a tunnel, and it is dark, use lights.

In bright sunshine the lights aren't going to be noticeable are they? So it's not an issue if the car has auto lights. Lots of people doing long drives start off in daylight and then forget to put them on when they should do.

The lights just come on automatically, you don't notice the lights in bright sunshine anyway, I guess they think it's better that the chance of people not putting their lights on when they should (that apparently happens in the UK) is eliminated even if it's a little bit of a waste to have lights on when it's sunny.

I agree with you psychomum and I'm 24,so it's not your age!

yabu./

only because you are wrong about the highway code

here's the section on lights

you don't have to have headlights on in well-lit areas.

sidelights should suffice in most circumstances.

Fog lights when it's not foggy, i am tempted to plough into them anyway for blinding me. and in the rain, foglights are more dangerous as they reflect the rain from the road and dazzle

those fucking halogen lights though are fucking dangerous - they are too fucking bright.