People who don't put their car lights on?

[girlfriend44]

Second time this week I've seen a care without lights on, in the dark.

So bloody dangerous and stupid how does a fully qualified driver not think to put their lights on? The car dashboard wouldn't be lit up for a start?
🙄

You can't forget as I said the dashboard is dark if your lights aren't on.

That is absolutely not the case. The dash in my car is always lit up (and in my old car there was nothing on the display to tell you whether your lights were on or off).

I have zero tolerance for this and this winter season has been particularly bad. Yes, I am
judging those people who can’t be bothered to read the manual for their car and understand the basics, there’s no excuse at all other than laziness to understand how their vehicle works. A vehicle weighing a tonne plus and it’s brushed aside as an oversight… where I live, flashing lights is seen as a hostile action, it’s staggering that people lack the common sense to understand the message being relayed!

For those unsure, before you leave the safety of your driveway/garage/parking space, take a walk around your car, are your lights on? Can you be seen, front and back? It’s really that simple!

Not in modern cars with digital dashboards.

I got pulled over for not having my lights on, first time in 10 years of driving. My lights are normally automatic (had an mot earlier in the day and must have turned it off) so got out of the habit of turning them on and my dashboard doesn't change. In my defense it was just after covid and hadn't done night driving for some time and did think it was darker then I remembered.

Anyway the policemen were dead nice about it, mistakes happen.

I'm just going to throw this in the mix from the highway code...
Rule 113You 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), or 20mph (32km/h) in Wales, unless otherwise specified
• use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226).

Night (the hours of darkness) is defined as the period between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise.

Basically, if there's street lights, you don't need headlights

Another one who has got caught out when the automatic lights have beeen switched off by someone else! It’s not that obvious when you are driving in well lit urban areas.

There isn’t a driver out there who hasn’t made errors when driving. If not forgetting lights then something else.

This is weird, as I’ve seen three today!!
I leave mine on automatic, which is super handy - but I can see it happening when you leave a brightly lit car park or the like.

and in pleased I’m not the only one to have been caught out post garage!

See it quite often, assume they have come from somewhere bright like a car park.
Something I have noticed sooooo much this year through is the number of pushbikes without lights. Often ridden by someone head to toe in dark clothing with no helmet. I wonder who would be decided to be at fault if they were knocked off?

For those unsure, before you leave the safety of your driveway/garage/parking space, take a walk around your car, are your lights on? Can you be seen, front and back? It’s really that simple

Who the fuck has time to do that every time they get in the car 😂

As many PPs have said, not all dashboards and cars work the same either - with my current car I often leave my lights on for hours after I've parked - it doesn't alert me like my previous vehicles did.
Thankfully it's an old 'banging' VW diesel that doesn't care about minor shit like that.

Also, many other countries insist that lights are always on and this is reflected in many UK-issue vehicles. As a motorcyclist throughout the 80s I knew it was safer to keep my headlight on, daylight or not. I also recall from the same era that many jokes were made about 'Volvo Drivers', some even considering that the automatic use of lights were a sign of 'arrogant' driving.

🙋‍♀️ another one caught out after an MOT. Usually always on auto.

Have also done this. And day time running lights are so bright I couldn't tell I didn't have them on until someone flashed me

I think many people must be driving whilst high or tipsy......

Guilty 🙋🏾‍♀️

I doubt there's a person alive (who has a car with a lit-up dash but no auto headlights) who hasn't driven at least a short way before having an 'oh shit' moment and switching them on.

I do this every now and again. Yes my dash lights up so no it's not obvious.

I don't really know what you want tbh, I don't mean to do it and I'm sure nobody else does. If you want to feel superior for never forgetting, sure. Go ahead.

We’ve the opposite to what most people describe here, dash is badly lit no matter what and the light for the lights sits neatly behind the steering wheel! I check a zillion times that my lights are on as a result! Very paranoid!

I've got a new car. The previous model put the headlights on automatically this one only the side lights at the front. I put them on when flashed and now realise to put them on all the time. Mistakes happen. Chill.

People occasionally forget - until someone flashes them.
That’s all there is to it. It’s not a case of ‘something going on’.

Clearly the op is so perfect they never make a mistake like the rest of us humans.

My dash is always on, auto lights, headlight on indicator not in the easiest position to spot always, so yes, I've done it after the car has been serviced and they get switched off.

Oh to be able to live such a perfect life and never forget a thing!

Agreeing with the OP though well down the list of things that some drivers do.

Would be much less of an issue if we moved to the 21st century and had BST all year round.

Years ago, I was waiting to leave a Sainsburys car park, and the guy at the junction in front of me got out his car to tell me.
I was embarrassed, and have never forgotten since.

I made this mistake after getting a new car where the sidelights come on automatically. Our other car we'd set the full headlights to auto. So of course I started up the new car, the dashboard lights up and there's enough light from the sidelights for me to think the headlights are on.

We've now turned the auto headlights off on the old car so we are back in the habit of switching the lights on whichever car we're in. I think this is recommended actually.

I wouldn't say I'm a particularly careless person, especially when it comes to driving. But I am human.