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?
🙄

Someone who doesn’t want to be charged with driving without due care and attention, or someone who doesn’t want to give evidence at the inquest of someone they have killed because they couldn’t be arsed to take two minutes out of their day to understand how the lights on their car work 🤷🏻‍♀️

I have done it recently too . I am used to driving to work in the dark coming home in the dark . So we have had a few sunny mornings . I turned my lights off . My lights turn off when I turn the engine off .
I drive through a well lit car park into the city so heavily lit .

it can happpen .

My lights are automatic so this never happens to me

It’s legal to drive without your headlights on on a road with street lighting even at night. Rule 113.

Found the copper in the thread. Lol

My MOT was last week and they left mine in off rather than auto. Drove for the first time last night in the dark and when I left the area I live then I realised (no street lights) I had no lights on! In a panic couldn't find the switch (it's been in auto since I bought it last year) so pulled into a driveway, turned the inside light on and found them. I was panicking! I knew how to turn on full beam so I saw the driveway but other drivers must have thought I was nuts/flashing them.

So I can see how it happens if you only drive in street lit roads.

When I learned to drive I was taught to always put my lights on first thing, day or night, and that even in the day it was safer. And I kept that habit pretty carefully for the first 20 years I drove.

Weirdly though, with the advent of daytime running lights (which have been around a good while now), and a dashboard that illuminates automatically if it senses it is dark (new for me), this has been undermined. I think it's because my brain gets tricked into thinking I've already put the lights on. In the last year I've been a little more forgetful generally, due to menopause I think, and twice I've realized I had no lights on when they ought to be.

I would say that in my observation, people forgetting lights became much more common when daytime running lights became the norm, and maybe other people are also finding the dashboard light changes problematic.

I think it's an example where automating a safety feature has done more harm than good.

I have a pretty old car that the dashboard wouldn't light up if lights not on.
But the newer car has a reminder on the dash if you dont put them on and it's dusk/dark

I'm quite surprised about this thread though, as most driving threads I've seen are quite judgy if soneone is nervous about driving on motorways/country lanes etc and be told they shouldn't be driving at all....but now pretty laid back about not having lights on when it's dark ... meh...no biggie everyone forgets!

People aren't robots and they make mistakes. I'm sure you've made mistakes even if you've tried really hard. It happens. Try not to be so judgmental. Lots of people have cars where the dash lights up all the time. As yours doesn't, it makes it much easier for you to remember so you are at an advantage there. I hope next time you make a mistake there are people that think kindly of you, assume you've just made a mistake and don't judge.

doodoodahdah · Yesterday 18:45

Well done you for always remembering”

Seriously? If you don’t, maybe reconsider driving. It’s really not hard, is it?

To be honest I did this last week. I have one of those car where night lights come on automatically and didn't notice it wasn't on as settings was tampered with during MOT. Dashboard is always lit as well so doesn't always follow that one will pick up car not lit. Be human please - it's not done on purpose.

I’ve done this by accident, recently

auto lights are usually on, they got knocked off by accident. My dashboard still lights up and with daytime running lines I didn’t notice immediately.
we all slip up. Thank goodness you are an impeccable, faultless human OP.

I’m so used to having automatic lights, the front lights come on but not the back its really stupid design I can’t set it to automatic lights

and my dashboard does light up

I have been informed a few times once by the police 😬

Mine are always on but I remember driving my husbands car on a well lit street and forgot to put them on. A police car flashed me and I realised and put them on. They followed for a little bit then turned off when they realised I had genuinely just forgot to put them on.

It's just a simple mistake. Humans tend to make them at times.

Mine were knocked off auto by accident and I didn't realise for a while. It happens.

When you see a lot of people make the same kind of basic error, it suggests a system problem. The brain works to remember things in a certain way. Often, when people forget things they usually remember and have a habit of doing, it's because the brain has been tricked into thinking they have already done it.

It's the same as if you see a corner where there are a lot of crashes. Sure, maybe stupid people are attracted to the corner, but more likely it's poorly designed in some way.

The way card head lights and system are designed now is bound to cause problems. Many are used to them being automatic, but only until they aren't. Plus the most useful visual signals have been removed - DTR makes it seem as if the lights are on, and automatically lit dashboards mean that won't help either.

Complex systems always need to be designed to be used by a normal human brain with the way it works, so the mistakes it tends to make are guarded against. We've known that very well for decades in the aviation industry. I'm not sure why these changes in cars were ever seen as a good idea.

I think in the dark its because people forget. Since the police can stop you and ticket you for it everyone does it. It's not like there are people doing it deliberately, because who would want to pick up the fine/consequences.

Not using headlights on motorways when it is raining and impossible to see through the spray. That is stupid.

As is turning on fogs and blinding everyone when it isn't really foggy.

There's a reason auto headlights were invented. They identified a user problem.