Crazy driving laws in your state or country

On Fri, 13 Jul 2012 06:22:35 +0000, Arklin K. wrote:

> In another thread, we were discussing crazy California laws and I got to
> wondering what crazy laws are in your state or country.

Massachusetts, as of the 70's still had a law on the books that you had to
have someone running 10 feet in front of you warning "Automobile!
Automobile!"

On Wed, 18 Jul 2012 06:11:47 -0700, N8N wrote:

> On Jul 18, 1:04Â*am, hachiroku > wrote:
>> On Sun, 15 Jul 2012 19:53:23 -0400, Nick Naim wrote:
>>
>> > "m6onz5a" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > On Jul 13, 9:13 pm, Ashton Crusher > wrote:
>> >> On Fri, 13 Jul 2012 06:22:35 +0000 (UTC), "Arklin K."
>>
>> >> > wrote:
>> >> >In another thread, we were discussing crazy California laws and I got to
>> >> >wondering what crazy laws are in your state or country.
>>
>> >> In NY and at least one or two other eastern states, they mandate that
>> >> you MUST have your headlights on anytime you use your wipers.
>>
>> > Maryland has this law too. Â*I actually think it's a good idea.
>> > Another good idea is perhaps head lights should turn when the turn signal is
>> > activated.
>>
>> Check the current batch of Audis and other Euro cars with the REALLY
>> BRIGHT LEDs. They turn OFF on the side the turn signal turns ON.
>>
>> Cool idea.
>
> I like that insofar as the lights are still separate from and a
> different color from the directionals. I'm ASSuming that the reason
> that they turn off when the directionals are active is to make sure
> that oncoming traffic sees the directionals. Seems commonsensical
> that it would provide a safety benefit, wonder if it actually works
> that way in practice?
>
> nate


Oh yeah! It works very well on the AUDIs I have seen it implemented on.

On Mon, 16 Jul 2012 08:55:41 -0700 (PDT), N8N >
wrote:

>On Jul 15, 10:58*pm, "Tom $herman (-_-)" <""twshermanREMOVE\"@THI
>$southslope.net"> wrote:
>> On 7/13/2012 11:27 PM, Harry K wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> > On Jul 13, 6:25 pm, (Brian Gordon) wrote:
>> >> In article >,
>> >> Ashton Crusher > wrote:
>>
>> >>> On Fri, 13 Jul 2012 06:22:35 +0000 (UTC), "Arklin K."
>> >>> > wrote:
>>
>> >>>> In another thread, we were discussing crazy California laws and I got to
>> >>>> wondering what crazy laws are in your state or country.
>>
>> >>> In NY and at least one or two other eastern states, they mandate that
>> >>> you MUST have your headlights on anytime you use your wipers.
>>
>> >> True in at least NC and SC. *I don't see anything crazy about it, though. *Most cars, except for the cops, seem to comply.
>>
>> > Sorta OT. *Was an article in the auto section of my newspaper
>> > recently. *Discussion of about DRLs. *Oddly what was never mentioned
>> > as to why people didn't like them:
>>
>> > The stupidity of making them the high beam.
>>
>> > Harry K
>>
>> I thought it was just Saturn that used high-beam DRL's (along with
>> putting the headlights close together, making the car appear farther
>> away than it actually is at night)? *At least I have only noticed the
>> annoying glare from Saturn DRL's.
>>
>> As a motorcyclist, I hate the idea of DRL's on cars.
>
>Saturns are by far the worst, but I have seen apparent high beam
>implementations on many vehicles, including some that I think to
>myself "they should know better" like BMW (e.g. circa Y2Kish 3-series)
>as well as some others... Was stopped at a light on the way to work
>this morning and because this thread had come up I was paying
>attention to the DRL position, most of the oncoming vehicles had high
>beam DRLs, I specifically noticed a GM pickup truck (stacked
>headlights, lower lights in stack lit) and a Toyota something or other
>car... this wasn't inadvertant headlight/high beam use because
>parking lights were not lit.

I know our 2006 Toyota Highlander uses dimmed high beams as the DRLs
-- in our garage the cutoff of the DRLs just happens to line up with a
seam on the wall when in the perfect position, but if the regular
low-beam lights are on, you hit the wall before the lights line up so
have to remember to turn them off when entering the garage at night
:-)

And I'm pretty sure my 2007 Civic is the same, but the parking
indicator is on the side for that car so not as obvious from inside
the car.

Those Saturn DRLs were extremely annoying; I suspect those cars that
use high beams dim them more now, as I don't notice the glare as much.
Josh

On Jul 19, 6:48*pm, Josh > wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Jul 2012 08:55:41 -0700 (PDT), N8N >
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> >On Jul 15, 10:58*pm, "Tom $herman (-_-)" <""twshermanREMOVE\"@THI
> >$southslope.net"> wrote:
> >> On 7/13/2012 11:27 PM, Harry K wrote:
>
> >> > On Jul 13, 6:25 pm, (Brian Gordon) wrote:
> >> >> In article >,
> >> >> Ashton Crusher > wrote:
>
> >> >>> On Fri, 13 Jul 2012 06:22:35 +0000 (UTC), "Arklin K."
> >> >>> > wrote:
>
> >> >>>> In another thread, we were discussing crazy California laws and I got to
> >> >>>> wondering what crazy laws are in your state or country.
>
> >> >>> In NY and at least one or two other eastern states, they mandate that
> >> >>> you MUST have your headlights on anytime you use your wipers.
>
> >> >> True in at least NC and SC. *I don't see anything crazy about it, though. *Most cars, except for the cops, seem to comply.
>
> >> > Sorta OT. *Was an article in the auto section of my newspaper
> >> > recently. *Discussion of about DRLs. *Oddly what was never mentioned
> >> > as to why people didn't like them:
>
> >> > The stupidity of making them the high beam.
>
> >> > Harry K
>
> >> I thought it was just Saturn that used high-beam DRL's (along with
> >> putting the headlights close together, making the car appear farther
> >> away than it actually is at night)? *At least I have only noticed the
> >> annoying glare from Saturn DRL's.
>
> >> As a motorcyclist, I hate the idea of DRL's on cars.
>
> >Saturns are by far the worst, but I have seen apparent high beam
> >implementations on many vehicles, including some that I think to
> >myself "they should know better" like BMW (e.g. circa Y2Kish 3-series)
> >as well as some others... Was stopped at a light on the way to work
> >this morning and because this thread had come up I was paying
> >attention to the DRL position, most of the oncoming vehicles had high
> >beam DRLs, I specifically noticed a GM pickup truck (stacked
> >headlights, lower lights in stack lit) and a Toyota something or other
> >car... *this wasn't inadvertant headlight/high beam use because
> >parking lights were not lit.
>
> I know our 2006 Toyota Highlander uses dimmed high beams as the DRLs
> -- in our garage the cutoff of the DRLs just happens to line up with a
> seam on the wall when in the perfect position, but if the regular
> low-beam lights are on, you hit the wall before the lights line up so
> have to remember to turn them off when entering the garage at night
> :-)
>
> And I'm pretty sure my 2007 Civic is the same, but the parking
> indicator is on the side for that car so not as obvious from inside
> the car.
>
> Those Saturn DRLs were extremely annoying; I suspect those cars that
> use high beams dim them more now, as I don't notice the glare as much.
> Josh

I'm sure you're right, due to the revised regs that gpsman alluded to
in one of his posts. I still just am opposed to the concept of using
the high beams as DRLs on principle because of the possibility of
increased glare. However, I think that it is likely more attractive
to mfgrs. as they don't have to provide dedicated lights, and they are
resistant to using reduced power low beams for DRLs as they are
worried about customer complaints due to decreased headlamp bulb life
(the lows are almost always the filaments that get the most usage,
unless you live in a very rural area, so they're the ones that are
going to burn out first.)

That said my '02 GTI used low beam DRLs and I didn't replace a single
bulb of any kind the entire time I owned the vehicle. I think the
only lighting modification I did was to install a Euro headlight
switch to get the parking lamp position (was actually rather important
at the time, as I didn't have a company car but had to visit various
government/military bases for work occasionally, and they don't like
it when you roll up to a guard shack and don't turn your headlights
off.) Never did get around to enabling the rear fog light.

nate

On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:29:10 -0700, jgar the jorrible wrote:

> My '73 Kawasaki had that. The battery shorted out one moonless night
> when I was doing 55 on an unlighted rural road near Isla Vista,
> causing the generator to blow out all the lights and the engine to
> die. Funny how those things happen after the warranty runs out.

My 82 Suzuki 650 had one of those always-on headlight switches.

Funny thing, you could just file down the tiny plastic nub and
voila! The switch worked again.

That way, you could have your headlights on or off, as you
prefer. Of course, most of the time you had it on, but the
point is that you decided. Not some cager in an office.

On 7/20/2012 8:49 AM, N8N wrote:
> That said my '02 GTI used low beam DRLs and I didn't replace a single
> bulb of any kind the entire time I owned the vehicle. I think the
> only lighting modification I did was to install a Euro headlight
> switch to get the parking lamp position (was actually rather important
> at the time, as I didn't have a company car but had to visit various
> government/military bases for work occasionally, and they don't like
> it when you roll up to a guard shack and don't turn your headlights
> off.) Never did get around to enabling the rear fog light.

I thought most DRL's would shut off if the parking brake was set?

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731°N, 83.985007°W
Post Free or Die!

On Jul 26, 9:02*pm, "Tom $herman (-_-)" <""twshermanREMOVE\"@THI
$southslope.net"> wrote:
> On 7/20/2012 8:49 AM, N8N wrote:
>
> > That said my '02 GTI used low beam DRLs and I didn't replace a single
> > bulb of any kind the entire time I owned the vehicle. *I think the
> > only lighting modification I did was to install a Euro headlight
> > switch to get the parking lamp position (was actually rather important
> > at the time, as I didn't have a company car but had to visit various
> > government/military bases for work occasionally, and they don't like
> > it when you roll up to a guard shack and don't turn your headlights
> > off.) *Never did get around to enabling the rear fog light.
>
> I thought most DRL's would shut off if the parking brake was set?
>
> --
> Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731°N, 83.985007°W
> Post Free or Die!

True, but the TURN OFF HEADLIGHTS is usually before you stop.

The gummint rules can be quite different than the state the facility
is in. One time my Corvette club went to an event on Camp Pendleton,
which (at the time, anyways) had a rule against running lights under
the car. One guy had running lights under the car on, MP's going the
other way saw it, turned around, and pulled over another guy with a
very similar car. They couldn't figure it out.

I also worked there for several years, it would have been a perfect
commute for my bike (Yamaha Vision), but they required a 3 day safety
course, and I wasn't about to use up my vacation for it.

Another base I worked on, we had a department luncheon off base one
day. One of the gummint managers had just bought a new Corvette, and
switched a temporary pass from another car. When we came back from
lunch, the MP at the gate spotted it, and they all surrounded the car,
guns pointing and ready. The guy was lucky his boss was in the car
behind, it still was a big deal. I could understand wanting to short
the system, when I had gotten my pass, I had to sit there for an
entire day, since they order by rank, and I was a contractor, aka pond-
scum in that ranking. Even being paid, I could hardly tolerate just
sitting there doing nothing. Your tax dollars at work.

jg
--
@home.com is bogus.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/...-car-is-charg/

On 7/27/2012 1:33 PM, jgar the jorrible wrote:
> On Jul 26, 9:02 pm, "Tom $herman (-_-)" <""twshermanREMOVE\"@THI
> $southslope.net"> wrote:
>> On 7/20/2012 8:49 AM, N8N wrote:
>>
>>> That said my '02 GTI used low beam DRLs and I didn't replace a single
>>> bulb of any kind the entire time I owned the vehicle. I think the
>>> only lighting modification I did was to install a Euro headlight
>>> switch to get the parking lamp position (was actually rather important
>>> at the time, as I didn't have a company car but had to visit various
>>> government/military bases for work occasionally, and they don't like
>>> it when you roll up to a guard shack and don't turn your headlights
>>> off.) Never did get around to enabling the rear fog light.
>>
>> I thought most DRL's would shut off if the parking brake was set?
>>
>
> True, but the TURN OFF HEADLIGHTS is usually before you stop.[...]
>
On many vehicles, one "click" of parking brake application is enough to
turn the DRLs off, but not significantly apply the parking brakes. Even
if the brakes are slightly applied, it would not be a big deal for a
couple hundred feet at low speed.

> I also worked there for several years, it would have been a perfect
> commute for my bike (Yamaha Vision), but they required a 3 day safety
> course, and I wasn't about to use up my vacation for it.
>[...]

Uh, some of us happily use our vacation time for riding classes. Track
school is particularly fun.

Of course, those who do not think they need a riding class are usually
the ones who need it most.

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731°N, 83.985007°W
Post Free or Die!