Lights on during the day, is that really necessary? This question is currently the subject of intense discussion. The fact is that, in principle, driving with lights on during the day offers a clear plus in terms of safety. Among other aspects, this is shown by a study carried out by the Dutch "SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research" on behalf of the European Commission.

The result of the study: in half of all accidents during the day, one contributing factor was that other vehicles were either not seen or were seen too late. Compulsory in many other countries already, in Germany the decision in relation to requiring daytime running light has yet to be made.

However, according to a DEKRA survey, the readiness to drive with lights on during the day is high in the case of German car drivers. The survey shows that three out of four car drivers are open-minded with regard to the introduction of daytime running light. 59.3 percent approve of a corresponding legal requirement. As many as 67. 5 percent of the car drivers asked support the idea of new vehicles being equipped with economical daytime running lights.

The automotive supplier and lighting specialist Hella has developed such special daytime running lights for retrofitting. These lights are designed for warning effectiveness during daylight and switch on automatically when the engine is started.

The rest of the vehicle lighting is then not in operation and, with a power consumption of about 16 watts, additional fuel consumption is therefore not measurable. The daytime running lights carry out their task much better than normal low beam, which provides effective illumination of the road in the dark. In addition, their service life is up to ten times higher than that of a halogen bulb for low beam.

Motor-vehicle garages are now starting a daytime-running-light campaign together with Hella. This campaign is intended to offer more safety on the roads during the day. Interested car drivers can have vehicle-specific or universal Hella daytime running lights retrofitted for a reasonable price at a garage.

Statistics for DRL’s

DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS, reduce the incidence of frontal car crashes by up to 38%. Research shows that without your headlights on during the daytime, your vehicle is visible at a distance of only 2200 ft, but with headlights on, you can be seen as far as 4700 ft away, that’s more than double the distance; much more time for the oncoming driver to see your vehicle and make the driving decision that might save your life!

 

 

Lights on during the day, is that really necessary?