To think it's not too much trouble to put car lights on when it's nearly dark?

[Rantagonist]

Apologies if this has been done to death on MN before, but I really don't understand why some car drivers don't bother to put their lights on when it's really dark.

All day we've had a good covering of black clouds, just about dark enough to put the lights on inside, in fact I would have done if I didn't hate it making it feel like it's the evening so much. There were even quite a few street lights on.

But I've been out walking three times today (for about an hour and half in all) and would say that 75% of the cars had their lights on, so why did the other 25% 'not bother'?

I don't actually drive, (will I get a good flaming for saying about car lights when I don't drive ?) so it's a genuine question, but DH is a car nut, and he can't understand it either.

I have quite often done a short journey in complete darkness and forgotten to put my lights on at all, so it might just be absent-mindedness. I now have a new car that has an 'automatic' setting for the lights and I have mine on that so that I don't/can't forget. I shudder to think how many times I must have come close to a sticky end, having utterly forgotten to put my lights on to drive somewhere. ((shudder))

It's even worse when driving in really rainy, wet conditions - a lot of cars don't bother. If I was prime minister I'd make it illegal if caught driving in the spray with no lights on.

I switch my lights on for every journey - unless 90 in the shade! It's just a habit.

sometimes though if you have been driving a long time and started your drive in the light , you don't notice the dark creeping up on you and therefore don't relaise the lights need to be on. I'm guilty of doing that.

I did mean to put in the OP that it's easy to forget to put your lights on, esp when there's lots of street lighting

I'm glad you posted this Ranta, coz it drives me nuts (as a pedestrian, cyclist and motorist) and I come over all Tufty Squirrel road safety about it.
I find it particularly insane when people drive cars that are basically the same colour as the road but don't put their lights on. Bizarre. I'm sure you get taught that your lights are so that you can be seen, not just so that you can see, don't you?
So YANBU!

I pretty much put the lights on permanently even during the day. There are signs all over NSW saying "Headlights on in daytime for safety". I figure it can't hurt and it means that I never forget to put them on/off as it is part of getting started when driving anywhere.

Yeah, that's what I couldn't understand otter, if you're driving a grey or white car that blends in with the background and somebody turned out in front of you cos they were scanning the road for cars with lights on, whos fault would that be?

I've got no idea why I come over all 'Tufty' about it, cos I'm not a little hitler as a rule