How to turn off driving lights?

You don't . This feature saves lives.

Just as another poster stated, daytime headlight use increases visibility with a potential to save YOUR life. I've been manually turning my headlights on since 1992.

That feature is there for a reason.

Enjoy your new vehicle.

-T

Robert, I thought the same thing for a few days. Then I realized how often I turned my lights on during the day, or flashed them at drivers who acted like they couldn't see me. Now I'm beginning to think they're a good idea. Don't look for a simple switch. The running ligths are the headlights at 80% brightness. Cut a wire and you've got no headlights.

-Bill Radio

Check over on

for the "daytime running light mod" (go figger!).

Steve

Follow the instructions for 2000 Legacy:

Make sure you check to see that your regular headlights work afterwards!

If you lose your Headlights even when you turn them on with the Headlight Switch, you pulled the wrong plug or this mod wont work for the

2004's.

puleez

Not even! NO dessert for you; he was correct. It DOES save lives. Serious business.

I would like to see the hard statistics to substantiate this. We should not take this on faith but should be presented with proof. Todays political science, e.g. ethanol in gas, will mandate change, either by formal law or public opinion without presenting a good scientific study. OTOH, personally, a few years ago when this feature showed up on GM cars, I found these lights very annoying and sometimes had to switch to my night driving rear view mirror because of the glare. The lights on my '03 Forester are not a full headlight nor overly bright so they do not bother me. Frank

Ok, I'll start the war... This is a line of bullcrap. Sorry to offend you, but the advantage to daytime running lights (even suggested by initial research on the subject) was early on when few had them, thus the "unusual" nature tended to catch drivers attention. As more running lights become the norm, the advantage disappears. There is no need of using headlights, especially those that are overbright, as another poster mentions. These only cause problems for light-sensitive folks, not just a few of which are on the roads. You can accomplish the same thing with much dimmer lights, if desired, ie. parking lights, though that may be illegal in some states? However, as I said, the advantage disappears over time as daytime running lights become commonplace. They present another option to force higher prices, however, and more replacement items sold when they burn out, and more trash for the garbage dumps to dispose of. If there is some terribly SLIGHT advantage that exists when these are ubiquitous, it will not be without a price. Sure, we can all say, "hey, if it saves lives, it must be worth it, right?" Okay, then, let's save MORE lives. Let's make all cars except those of emergency personnel and law enforcement have governors limiting speed to 15mph. Or let's regulate to death lots of other aspects of vehicular travel. Let's go back to using only bicycles for commuting----hey, there's an idea I might subscribe to... IF I lived where it was warmer all year. :-) In my opinion, these are among the worst idiot lights ever invented.

Daytime running lights made the roads significantly more dangerous for motorcyclists. In New Jersey before the advent of DRL's a headlight on during the day meant a motorcycle was coming. Many drivers knew this and watched out for them. That small bit of protection is now gone.

I must agree with John and Frank on this one. There is no scientific evidence to substantiate these claims. That's a trap we all fall into way too often. And why not? That kind of bullshit is spewing at an ever increasing rate from every form of media there is. However, if you like the lights and you think they make the roads more safe, then you're welcome to that opinion. Personally, I don't think daytime headlights are a bad idea. How many times have you seen some guy or girl hauling ass up the road at dusk or twilight without any lights. When the transition from day to night begins, a lot of people forget that their lights are off. It has happened to you, I bet. The other situation is when it is raining or foggy or whatever else might limit visibility.

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 14:59:01 GMT, "RankAndFile" wrote in news:VqrWb.13208$ snipped-for-privacy@nwrdny02.gnilink.net:

For those of us who travel on two lane highways, DRLs are extremely useful for knowing the car in the left lane is coming toward us rather than passing someone. At a great distance on straight and flat roads, it can be difficult to determine this.

Like many, for decades I had been using low-beams during the day to accomplish the same thing until I had a car with DRLs.

I still see many cars on two lane highways which came factory equipped with DRLs where they have been disabled. If they are involved in a collision, there should be an automatic 100% fault assessment and a fine.

Of course then there are all the others with their fog lights running night and day, foggy or not.

If you're getting a DRL discount on your insurance, your insurer could refuse to pay a claim if it determined that the lights had been disabled.

As for rain, they are a good backup if you forget to turn on your headlights as required by law in many states, but they're no substitute because they don't turn on your taillights, Taillights provide an extra margin of safety against being rear-ended in a situation of low visibility and heavy road spray.

Dave Null Sr. wrote:

I will add this article to the discussion and a warning to those who wish to turn their DLRs off.

Ron

Thanks for the info.

After reading the article I am going to look into getting the relay to plug into my wife's 96 Explorer so she and my daughter have the benefit of DRL.

The thing I really don't like about the DRL's is the fact that they are switched on and off with the emergency brake, at least for cars with a MT. I don't mind having them, I rather like them in fact. But I really dislike it when I use the e-brake at known _long_ red lights to hold my car in place (while getting a cd from the back seat or any other distraction) And, well, sometimes I use the e-brake to slow down my car by 5 to 10 mph when I don't want others to know I'm slowing my car down. I'll let you guess which people I don't want to know my former speed. Having my headlights blink seems to me wrong if not intentionally done.

The e-brake does make sense as a DRL control for a MT vehicle. My ideal solution would put some kind of timer on the e-brake switch - say 30 seconds - to turn the DRL's off only when the set time has elapsed or the motor is shut off. Is there a post or URL that can direct me how to do this ('02 WRX wagon)?

I'd accept a solution that would keep the DRL's on when the ignition is on (ignoring the e-brake), while still allowing for regular headlight operation.

- Byron

Well, your opinion is noted.

Even though your comments, above, contain all the data I need to disagree with you. You mention "catch the drivers' attention" and talk of "light-sensitive folks".... Guess what that means? Yep, it means the DRLs are working. (and I suspect that anyone light-sensitive to DRLs in daytime should not be permitted to operate a motor vehicle, day or night.)

If you'd ever piloted an aircraft, you'd know the meaning of "see and be seen," but the meaning is probably obvious, even if you have not. "Being seen" is safer than not! Statistics be damned, I don't believe them all, either. I realize that "figures don't lie, but liars figure", so I am not always convinced by what seems convincing numbers. I try to use a little common sense and take advantage of reasonable safety devices.

But even tho there are many who posted in agreement with the "baloney" stand, the two posts which cite studies are more than enough to make me agree that DRLs save lives. Plus, I would agree with the idea that an insurance company might "disavow any knowledge" of your coverage if you deliberately cripple safety systems. Be careful what you wish for.

Gotta love them Unintended Consequences...

Before we got this car with the all-the-time driving lights, we always used to drive with the lights on anyway. I like the idea of being as noticed as possible, because bad dullard drivers tend to notice bright shiny things. It was one of those neat things about having Subarus: that the lights went off with the ignition key. I remember it was unusual enough that other motorists were frequently blinking their lights at us to let us know they were on.

Now, nobody does that anymore, 'cuz everybody's grandma's new Oldsmobile does that too. So we've lost at least that edge in being noticed. And I still drive with the headlight switch on anyway, so that my taillights will be on too.

I'm sure the lights are turned on by the same switch on the brake handle that lights the "BRAKE" warning light. One could easily get at that wire inside the center console and add a defeat switch. How are we supposed to sneak up on people with the lights off, if the car goes turning the lights on? Actually, when I want to do that, I just pull the brake handle up to the first click...

What *I* want is a a defeat switch so that I can turn on the headlights without turning on the key. I believe I would label it "FLASHLIGHT MODE."