Rules of the road for lights

beermonster said:
what about these Audi's with LED jobs in the day time are they on permenantly too, they really annoy me.
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Indeed, why would you want fairy lights on your car? And why would BMW drivers want the four Audi rings on the front of theirs? Audi should have left them on the R8 only. Now they have cheapened them. Whats next, a Merc with a disco ball?

Yes they are legal, and many scandanavian studies have shown they reduce accidents, however there must come a point where they become distracting?
 
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Finglonga said:
Also if it is brought in, surely it is going to add to the so called "carbon footprint" as the the engines will be working slightly harder to power them?
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BUt it is negligible.

Cars having lights on is so that other users can spot them easier, therefore making accidents a bit less likely to take place. It has been proven that if even a single accident has been avoided as a result, the cost saving outweighs the cost of having all cars on the road having their lights. I can't remember any more details on it as it was years ago when I had to study risk analysis and there was an article on the subject in a book, complete with numbers and costs etc. I remember it being very useful to know.
 
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beermonster said:
what about these Audi's with LED jobs in the day time are they on permenantly too, they really annoy me.
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how can they annoy you ?

hats off to Audi for truely innovating... I think they took a gamble with the LED running lights and it paid off as they look abs fantastic and do genuinely grab your attention making them more visible even in strong daylight. I recently fitted 7 LED cluster running lights and they burn little holes in your retina at close range ;)

the argument against headlights on in day (especially bikes) has always been it makes distances / speed harder to judge for traffic ahead pulling out... but I think though maybe the case the increased visability is a good thing.

also think all standard new bikes should be fitted with HIDs, they increase visability so much as mounted so high on a bike it's like carrying your own little sun around with you and feel a lot less vunrable :)

as for carbon footprint, i could not care less... and LEDs are massively efficient compared with other forms of lighting, you'd have a bigger carbon footprint with your car stereo turned on.
 
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Finglonga said:
Bad idea for all cars to have them on (which the EEC are trying to bring in) as it will make the bikes almost invisible when they have a car behind them to inexperienced and just plain blind drivers.

Also if it is brought in, surely it is going to add to the so called "carbon footprint" as the the engines will be working slightly harder to power them?
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Rubbish on both counts. I heard both arguments when they first talked about making dipped headlights compulsory, SamX has covered the second but the first has no basis at all. It doesn't matter whether the lights are attached to a car or bike, people will see a vehicle approaching and maybe think twice about pulling out. If you're going so fast on a bike, especially when approaching a hazard, so that people can't judge your speed, then you've only got yourself to blame.
 
beermonster said:
what about these Audi's with LED jobs in the day time are they on permenantly too, they really annoy me.
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They annoy me too, but only because they look utterly horrible, cheap, tacky and chav.

I use my lights most of the time if it's a bit dingy, or not bright daylight, just helps to increase awareness, visibility etc
 
What always amazes me is that using headlights is NOT compulsory on a lit section of road, sidelights satisfy legal requirements.

I have auto lights now and I always do what my car tells me to do.
 
howardcanning said:
They annoy me too, but only because they look utterly horrible, cheap, tacky and chav.

I use my lights most of the time if it's a bit dingy, or not bright daylight, just helps to increase awareness, visibility etc
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or is it simply sidelight envy ? :-)

how can they be 'chav' ?, no chav could afford a high end audi and you can't buy them in halfords or the bay (yet lol, I shudder to think when kits start arriving)

guess it's just personal taste, they look fantastic imo and make the front of the car much more visible...
 
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Sidelights on during the day makes it easier for your eyes to reference other cars subconciously.

I know when I am not paying 100% attention its easier for my eyes to pick up lights rather than a car that could be a similar colour to the road a fair distance away.

As for the Audi fairy lights, they are totally ridiculous on anything other than the R8. Now they've all got them, if I had an R8 I would turn them off. (if its possible).
 
Flukester said:
or is it simply sidelight envy ? :-)

how can they be 'chav' ?, no chav could afford a high end audi and you can't buy them in halfords or the bay (yet lol, I shudder to think when kits start arriving)

guess it's just personal taste, they look fantastic imo and make the front of the car much more visible...
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No, I have sidelights thanks :confused:

I think the LED strips on new Audis just look really out of place, like something you might see on a HalfordsCorsa© Conglomeration, not a £30k+ executive/sports car.
 
[TW]Fox;12580753 said:
Not at all, it looks crap. It just looks like Audi have tried desperately to have some signature lighting like BMW's Angel Eyes and that was the best they could manage. As for high end, you now get it on 2.0 TDI A4's.
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so it's ok for BMW not for Audi ;)

Think they look way better than angel eyes.. they are way to dim to be of any use.
 
Some twot over here is driving around with blue led's everywhere and some how, blue lamps in his headlights, seen him around 3 times driving at night with JUST THOSE ON!

I don't know how he's getting away with it, stupid thing is he was parked next to me one time forgot to get his reg#! I was just struck with awe at how someone can do that.

I'll find him next time! :d
 
It's legal to drive with just sidelights at night, if the areas is well lit. Most chavs have cottoned on to this to look kewl and different.
 
ChrisJSY said:
Some twot over here is driving around with blue led's everywhere and some how, blue lamps in his headlights, seen him around 3 times driving at night with JUST THOSE ON!

I don't know how he's getting away with it, stupid thing is he was parked next to me one time forgot to get his reg#! I was just struck with awe at how someone can do that.

I'll find him next time! :d
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why would you want his reg number ? :confused:

your not one of these people who spot someone with a car fault and reports them ? :(
 
I use auto lights....they come on at the right time and go off at the right time too.

Why bother with anything else? Car is shiny enough to be seen in one's mirror so no need to keep the sidelights on during daylight ;p
 
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