Originally Posted by
squirtdad
good question, and not smart alec.......becuase I want the tail lights on also for that visibility.
driving with lights on was something my dad insisted on when I learned to drive in montana......you could see cars with headlights on literally miles earlier in dayight in many cases than you could cars with headlights off.
Originally Posted by
RidingMatthew
squirtdad thanks for the explanation. My brother in law used too but I am not sure if he still does run his lights all the time.
It's very common around here in the Netherlands for cars to ride with their headlights on. Much better visibility than daylight running lights though modern LED lights have mostly solved that issue.
In Scandinavia cars are required to do so at all times and most cars cannot even switch them off.
I remember riding in Southern Spain during summer with headlights on and other drivers signaling me my lights were on so it was definitely less common around there.
As such I can imagine it being rare if you go even further down south like California. Keep in mind that everything below Southern Spain is basically Northern Africa and the Sahara. And that is the same latitude as any state in the US below Oregon or Ohio.
I drove in North Carolina last year and found drivers to have really weird customs when it comes to lights anyway. Like turning on your
fog lights in a heavy downpour (
which will only blind people, as such it is prohibited in most of Europe) or turning on their alarm lights in the same conditions while still doing 60+ MPH. Is it preventive lights in case they crash?
And cars without rear window wipers.