This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
DRLs at Critical Mass
Feb
9
2016
I noticed that we have reached critical mass with DRLs in the USA.
In case you’re wondering, DRLs are Daytime Running Lights, better known as the headlights that stay on during the day. While they are required in many parts of the world, they are not required in the US. But since most automobile manufacturers try to have globally similar vehicles, most of the new cars sold in the US have DRLs.
For “critical mass”, I mean that there are enough DRLs in use in the US that have effectively become the standard, regardless of legislation.
Whereas former studies have compared the safety of DRLs versus the safety of lights off, they follow the same pattern and have the same flaw. They just compare crash statistics of the different vehicles. What needs to be shown is how dangerous it is to have a mixture of DRLs and non-DRLs.
I was noticing this while driving shortly before sunset. Although there was enough light to see a vehicle without headlights, most of the vehicles had their headlights on. There was a line of vehicles, and the DRLs do make those vehicles more noticeable. But they do that at the expense of the non-DRL vehicles. Before, you would see a line of vehicles. Now, you don’t see a line of vehicles – you see a line of headlights. So you don’t notice the vehicle without headlights – it looks like a break in traffic. That’s the dangerous part.
Cars in a Line – no headlights
Cars in a Line – at dusk no headlights
Cars in a Line – at dusk with headlights except one
Before, I thoughts DRLs were annoying or useless or frivolous or such. But now they are here, and I recommend turning on your lights manually if you don’t have DRLs. Because although it might be fun to be invisible sometimes, in traffic is not one of those times.
God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.
Genesis 1:16
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 6:52 am and has been carefully placed in the Driving category.
