Why don't all cars have auto headlights anymore?

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Aggressive-Bed3269@reddit

1. You don't know that the cars you see with their headlights off at night DON'T have auto headlights. 2. Most cars now still DO have them 3. This is a dumb thread.

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you are correct. i rented many newer cars and you do have to put the headlights on with them. while the car I have has auto lights. most people on here slamming you for this post are clueless. they do not know or see what is going on because they have limited experience with it. i was wondering the same thing. very strange but must be a cost savings thing with less sensors.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

If they have auto, how are the lights off at night? You literally can't turn them off if you're not in park. I see new cars all the time without headlights on at night. Usually Toyota, Nissan, dodge, and Kia. Why is it dumb? I want to know why they got rid of a safety feature that Americans clearly need. Your response just makes me think you're one of the inbred people who drive around at 5am with just your park lights on.

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Aggressive-Bed3269@reddit

Auto headlights doesn't mean they cannot be disabled. My BMW 5-series has auto headlights and you can shut the headlights fully off.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

Ok, let me rephrase then. *why* do they make cars with the option to shut the auto lights fully off? 20 years ago this wasn't a thing. Why did they go back? What purpose does it serve?

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ratrodder49@reddit

Courtesy, mainly. Tell me you’ve never been to a drive-in movie theater without telling me… Want to idle the engine to make sure you don’t run your battery down since you have to use the car’s radio to listen to the movie? ***Everyone*** will hate you if you can’t or don’t shut your headlights off. Pulling up behind someone in a drive-thru, I like to kick them off so I’m not blinding anyone. Pulling up to a house and your headlights point in a window? Kick them off. Me personally, I drive a 2012 Chrysler 300S, and I think it looks good with just the running lights on and fog lights, so I drive at dusk/dawn with just those until it’s too dark to not have the headlights, then I’ll kick those on. I leave it off auto because it’s also got an auto-dimming function that is temperamental, will sometimes not dim for oncoming traffic or will randomly flick itself back to high beams in their eyes, so to avoid chaos I just keep it in manual mode.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

Hello again friend(fog light thread). I think this came up before, but can you not have the headlight switch in "auto" without also having auto highs on? In my '14 I can have the headlight switch in auto but for the auto highs to work I also have to have it selected in the menu and put the turn stalk forward.

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ratrodder49@reddit

There probably is a setting, but I haven’t played with it for a while; I prefer using the lights manually anyway lol. I just read through your conversation with OP and have concluded that they’re a blithering idiot

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

Ohh and of course FWIW I think all cars should be like ours. All the options for automatic lights, but nothing is forced on us.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

>I just read through your conversation with OP and have concluded that they’re a blithering idiot I concur.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

Drive in movies aren't a thing in my area. Also how would you use the car stereo to listen to the movie? I thought they give you that little speaker you hang on the window? I've never had anyone turn thier headlights off for me in a drive thru. Maybe the people in your area are just more courteous, but I think the general consensus around here is that's what dimming rear view mirrors are for, and that's exactly what I'll do if someone is behind me with lights shining directly into the car. Non-auto lights are fine as long as the driver understands when it's appropriate to turn lark lights on, and then turn lights on when it gets too dark for just park lights. Back in the day, this was common knowledge and wasn't really an issue. Now, people are stupid and drive around at midnight with only drls on

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

>Also how would you use the car stereo to listen to the movie? I thought they give you that little speaker you hang on the window? That was old school, for a long time what they'd do is broadcast the sound on a FM radio frequency and you just tuned your radio to it. Not everyone has dimming mirrors, that's a pretty elitist view actually. The answer to stupid people is smart cops.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

>Not everyone has dimming mirrors, that's a pretty elitist view actually Dude every car since the 70s has had dimming mirrors, even the low end POS throwaway cars like the amc gremlin. You know that little black tab at the bottom of your mirror? Yeah, that's what that's for. You pull the tab and your mirror dims. It's standard equipment, even my ford maverick had it

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

That's only the center mirror, you know side mirrors are a thing right?

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

Never been an issue. If your side view mirror were adjusted right you wouldn't see thier headlights. Those mirrors are supposed to be adjusted so you can see your blind spots without turning your head. If you're getting blinded by traffic behind you in your sidewiew mirror, that's your own fault for not having them set up properly

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

Now you're grasping.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

Whatever man. Bottom line is, if you wanna turn your lights off for people in the drive thru, that's your choice, but I've never considered doing that and I've never had anyone do it for me, so it's really not that big of a deal. You're in a drive thru. Being temporarily blinded while you wait in line isn't the end of the world, it's not like you actually need to focus on the road or anything

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

>if you wanna turn your lights off for people in the drive thru, that's your choice, Not according to you, you want to remove that choice. Another place where it can be life or death is military bases. At the gates they require lights off so that the guards can see. This is so they can see if they're holding weapons or something as they approach. This truly is life or death, do you want our military bases to be attacked?

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

>Not according to you, you want to remove that choice. As I described in my original post, the vehicles woth auto headlights from the early 2000s would allow you to turn them off if they were in park. But we've stranded off from the original thought here. You made a major problem out of something very few people have an issue with. I'm sure manufacturers don't care about blinding people in drive thrus, that's not the reason auto lights aren't mandated. >Another place where it can be life or death is military bases. At the gates they require lights off so that the guards can see. This is so they can see if they're holding weapons or something as they approach. This truly is life or death, do you want our military bases to be attacked? I don't know how often civilian vehicles approach military gates at night, but if you're talking about military vehicles, that's different. Most military vehicles have technology that's as old as the 70s and 80s, and do not have any luxury features like auto lights. They also wouldn't be subject to a mandate anyway because they're specialty government vehicles, like mail trucks.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

>turn them off if they were in park Only in park, thus the problem.  > very few people have an issue with The replies and votes here would indicate otherwise.  >I don't know That's really the root problem here, you don't know. The VAST majority of vehicles going on and off military bases are civilian vehicles. Most belong to base personnel, some visitors, and many are delivery vehicles. Only a small percentage are actual military vehicles. There's a reply in this thread about someone who had to cut a wire in their car to turn off their headlights for entry to a military base.  Also, you'd have me be a jerk to my sweet old lady neighbor. I work nights, and pulling out of my driveway my lights would shine right into her home. So I only turn on my running and fog lights until clear. If you had your way I'd disturb her every night when I left for work.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

Do you back into your driveway? I'm trying to picture how your lights would shine anywhere but on your own garage as you back out of your driveway to go to work

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

Yup, but if I didn't they'd shine in the other neighbors house. Now he's a grumpy old man who I don't mind pissing off, but still.

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bojack1437@reddit

No, most vehicles always had the ability to disable them, one manufacturer I know of that didn't was GM. Then I believe it was due to some sort of lawsuit of people confusing daytime running lights with headlights. And that was the stupidest thing ever. I actually had to short my daylight sensor on my 99 Camaro so I could turn my headlights off when needed. There are valid reasons to turn your headlights off at night.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

>No, most vehicles always had the ability to disable them, one manufacturer I know of that didn't was GM. Then I believe it was due to some sort of lawsuit of people confusing daytime running lights with headlights. This must be where I am getting confused then. My dad's impala you could never shut the lights fully off if it was dark out What valid reasons could you possibly have to shut the lights off at night? The only reason I can think of is to evade police, which isn't a valid reason

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bojack1437@reddit

As an emergency first responder responding to scenes and houses and crashes and whatever else my vehicle was not always parked in such a way that it was safe or conducive to the scene to leave my headlights, potentially blinding traffic and such for one example. Amateur astronomers driving out to the middle of nowhere off the road will often keep their headlights off to let their eyes adjust. Just because you can't think of a reason why it doesn't mean there's no valid reasons. I'm sure there's plenty more that I haven't thought of as well.

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Odd_Drop5561@reddit

>As an emergency first responder responding to scenes and houses and crashes and whatever else my vehicle was not always parked in such a way that it was safe or conducive to the scene to leave my headlights, potentially blinding traffic and such for one example. My auto headlights turn off when I'm in park with the parking brake on. So if you don't want your headlights on while parked, you can do that without disabling the auto headlights. >Amateur astronomers driving out to the middle of nowhere off the road will often keep their headlights off to let their eyes adjust. That seems like a niche enough case that it should be ignored in setting lighting standards -- the amateur astronomer can install an override switch, or put shields over his headlight if it's that much of a problem for him.

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bojack1437@reddit

The 99 Camaro did not operate that way UNLESS the parking break was on when the vehicle was started and never disengaged. Otherwise at night no option to disable headlights without restarting the vehicle with the parking break engaged, hence why I completely disabled them. Even on vehicles with auto headlight I often do not use them, I opt to turn them on when needed anyways, makes sure I'm remembering to turn them on when they will not activate themselves, such as rain when it's still bright out, or fog when it's still bright. Or, how about people just learn to operate their vehicle as they should. I feel auto headlights should be banned and force drivers to operate them and not believe that the car will always turn them on when needed, because they don't.

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Odd_Drop5561@reddit

>The 99 Camaro did not operate that way UNLESS the parking break was on when the vehicle was started and never disengaged. Like I said, there's no reason the auto headlights couldn't be disabled when the vehicle is in park, which would get rid of most of the argument of making them always on.  >Or, how about people just learn to operate their vehicle as they should That battle is already lost.

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djseto@reddit

What year impala? I had impalas as regular rental cars almost weekly for work from about 2004-2007. You absolutely could turn them off. They always had a knob that was off, auto, parking lights, and. on

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

2004. It had the old school knob you see on literally every American car before the 90s. Only 3 positions, off, park, and on. Except in "off" the autos were always on if it was night, unless you were in park, then they would shut off

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djseto@reddit

See 3.14 https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/servicemanuals/chevrolet/2004-impala.pdf And do you live in Canada where DRL was mandatory?

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

No, I live in Minnesota

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

So we can turn our headlights off, sometimes they should be off.

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Swamp_Donkey_7@reddit

Courtesy maybe? In a drivethru with a big truck and don’t want to blind the car in front of you? You turn them off. Start your car in your driveway and your lights are shining into the neighbors windows? Need a few mins to make a phone call before you leave? Shut the lights off. Lots of legit reasons why one might need the ability to turn off their headlights at night.

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Swamp_Donkey_7@reddit

I have a few new cars with auto headlights. I usually turn them off. I hate driving with my lights on auto flicking on and off under every underpass. I have no problem forgetting to turn them on at night but apparently other folks do.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

I've had a couple cars with auto headlights. I've never had them come on under an underpass. It takes several minutes of darkness before they come on. Perhaps you just need to adjust the delay on yours?

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Swamp_Donkey_7@reddit

They do if you are in traffic and creeping along. I prefer them off regardless. I hate auto lights.

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SteveDaPirate91@reddit

Any car with auto headlights I’ve ever driven has a selector knob. Usually it goes off - auto - parking - on You might be thinking of daytime running lights(DRLs) much weaker then headlights and only have the front lights on(nothing on the back like parking lights would have). Those typically can’t be turned off easily, usually only way todo it on some new cars is pulling the parking brake up.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

>when every car on the road had auto headlights that come on at night and you can't turn off This was never true, you're "remembering" falsehoods.  > Now I see newer cars driving around at night with no headlights on. How?? No headlights or no tail lights. It is a more common thing now for people to not realize their lights aren't on. They have daytime running lights and digital dashes, so to them it's a lot like their lights are on, only they have no tail lights on and don't know it.

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bojack1437@reddit

Actually GM vehicles around the late 90s early 2000s. Many of them did not have the ability to disable automatic headlights. If it was night time they were on. I had remove and short out my daylight sensor on my 1999 Camaro because there was no off position and I needed to be able to turn them off.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

I know that's true of some vehicles, but it was never "every" or even most. Even in your example it was only some GM vehicles, IIRC only some cars.

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Ubachaun@reddit

My 2000 Silverado has auto headlights

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Dry-Faithlessness184@reddit

Had a Colorado, late 2000s model. If I remember correctly I could turn the lights off. My current cruze cannot have the lights turned off, it's auto or on and I honestly believe every car should be like this.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

>I honestly believe every car should be like this. So everyone has to be a dick by law, no thanks.

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Dry-Faithlessness184@reddit

What? Did you miss something? What does having your regular lights on have to do with being a dick?

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

There's many times where it's a dick move to have your lights on.

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Dry-Faithlessness184@reddit

While your car is moving? If the car is moving and it's dark enough your sensor says they should be on? I said they can't be turned off when the car is not in park. As in you can turn them to on or auto.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

Well first moving isn't the criteria, it's anything but park. And yes, an example would be a drive through, while waiting and creeping forward it's a dick move to keep your headlights on.

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Dry-Faithlessness184@reddit

No one here turns their lights off in a drivethru nor have I heard of the suggestion til now. They're well lit here so there's no need, further more to be blinded by mine as you seem to think would be happening you'd have to be kneeling or 5 years old. It's a cruze, it's a sedan, the headlights are aimed down from 2.5 ft up. The other options are reverse, neutral, drive and manual gear select. All of which I'm moving the vehicle, or definitely need to see what I'm doing. So again, not sure what you mean. I can turn off my lughts when I am in park, outside of that, Others need to see me.

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Minimum-Advantage603@reddit

Around Christmas time there are drive through light shows that ask you to turn out your lights so that the Christmas lights are more prominent. The people that can't turn their lights out just end up making it more difficult to see.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

>Others need to see me. That's what running lights are for.  Do you not know how and when to turn your headlights on or off? Why would we need it mandated? If someone can't tell that it's dark and know that the answer is headlights they should not be driving in the first place.

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Dry-Faithlessness184@reddit

Actually? My DRLs do not turn on my TAIL LIGHTS, to my knowledge no ones do. On this car they actually don't turn on the main headlamp either. It's just an LED strip below the main lights. People behind need to see me to. This is the whole issue with people not turning on their lights. Their taillights aren't on at night or in heavy rain. Auto turns on my head lights and tail lights when it starts to get dark or in inclement weather. It is identical to the on position. And I say every vehicle should do this because it means people can't forget to turn their lights on at night. Too frequently I see people with just their DRLs on and you cannot see them well from behind.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

Yes I understand most of this, the only part I disagree with is the need to mandate automatic headlights, or even DRLs. It's just a poor idea that removes peoples options. The solution to people driving without lights when they should is the same as many other driving issues, cops. Pull them over and write a ticket.

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Dry-Faithlessness184@reddit

I'd love to do otherwise. But enforcement is lacking where I am. Maybe it's just a lack of faith in people, but around here far too many oblivious people. I'd rather see them and piss off the odd person who actually cares about being able to turn them off outside of park than continue dealing with hard to see vehicles in low light or weather.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

I get where you're coming from, around here enforcement is nonexistent. Doesn't mean the best answer is more regulation that is unlikely to matter anyway. I see a lot of vehicles with just their DRLs on, but the point is that I see them. Even on a dark rainy foggy night their car has reflectors and mine has headlights. If a car with no tail lights is a danger to you then you need to improve your vision or driving habits. You can't count on everything making itself easy to see. Even without considering those people there's still broke down cars, animals, debris, etc. that's often in the roadway and doesn't have lights or even reflectors on it. Just the other day my brother hit a cow in the road, no lights on a cow.

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InternationalCan922@reddit

Pretty weak reasoning

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Old_Goat_Ninja@reddit

You still could, but not many people knew how. On my truck I had to push the button 10 times to disable it. Had to do that every time. Get out of truck and come back? You’ll have to push the button 10 times.

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bojack1437@reddit

You're talking about the dome override switch, My 99 Camaro did not have one so that was not an option. The only way to prevent the automatic headlights from operating was to have the parking brake engaged enough to activate the light before you started the vehicle and not to disengage the parking brake. Other than that you had to force the car to thinking it was daytime all the time by shorting out the daylight sensor.

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Old_Goat_Ninja@reddit

Wasn’t done override, but I do think I am wrong. I think it was DRL now that I think about it. I hated DRL on that truck. Always turned headlight off when blinker was on.

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Fllixys@reddit

my beretta is like that and i’d also like to turn it off, how’d you do that?

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bojack1437@reddit

On my 99 Camaro when the sensor detects daylight, it reduces the resistance between the two wires plugged to the sensor. So if you unplug the sensor or cut it and short the contacts out or twist the wires together or however you want to do it. The vehicle thinks it's daylight all the time and your headlight switch operates like a good old-fashioned manual headlight switch

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Fllixys@reddit

good to know, i’m guessing that’s under the dash and not under the hood yeah?

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bojack1437@reddit

Most vehicles you can see the daylight sensor center of the dash near the windshield. Depending on the vehicle, you may or may not be able to pop the panel up to gain access to the wires.

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Fllixys@reddit

awesome thank you! i’ll look into it. i was reading on beretta forums and someone said i had to cut the ground and then ground the headlights separate, i got some more looking into it to do when it gets warmer lol

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ElvenWarlord12@reddit

My 2009 Corolla had automatic headlights, where if it was dark enough the headlights would come on and even I was just parked idling at night, I couldn’t shut them off

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

>This was never true, you're "remembering" falsehoods. My dad's impala and my mom's pt cruiser both had lights that you could not shut off unless the transmission was in park. One of my friend's Toyota is the same way. >No headlights or no tail lights. It is a more common thing now for people to not realize their lights aren't on. They have daytime running lights and digital dashes, so to them it's a lot like their lights are on, only they have no tail lights on and don't know it. Do we know why the auto lights aren't working for these people? Wouldn't they automatically be set to come on when it's dark?

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

>My dad's impala and my mom's pt cruiser both had lights that you could not shut off unless the transmission was in park. Headlights or DRLs? DRLs used to be more common, but they aren't the same as headlights.  >Do we know why the auto lights aren't working for these people? Presumably they either don't have that feature or don't have it on.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

>Headlights or DRLs? DRLs used to be more common, but they aren't the same as headlights. They had drls in the day, but when it got dark, the tail lights automatically came on. Then if you pull the switch out to what you'd expect to be the park lights position, the headlights would turn off but the tail lights and marker lights would stay on. Then if you pull it out to the full on position, the headlights come on. But the when you push it in to the full off position, nothing changes and the lights stay on. But only if it's in gear. Otherwise all the lights will turn off, until you put it in gear, they all come back on.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

I've only ever seen a few vehicles work that way.

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lucky3333333@reddit

I’m so tired of people driving with their headlights off at night. Apparently they have them set to auto and it’s not dark enough for them to come on? The headlights on all vehicles should turn on whenever the vehicle is in Park or Reverse day or night.

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Total_Roll@reddit

Too many idiots out there confusing their DRLs with their headlights not realizing that there are no rear lights with them. I wonder how many people have taken their cars to a shop complaining of the headlights being weak only to discover they have only been using their DRLs all along.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

It really is a problem. They really need to think of some kind of solution though, cause it's getting dangerous

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Total_Roll@reddit

When you buy a new car the dealer should walk you through the basic functions. My last dealer only helped me sync my phone. The rest I had to get from online videos (which were ten times easier to understand than the owners manual). My best experience was at a Lexus dealer where they held a mini-clinic for new buyers to walk you through everything from features to maintenance intervals.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

>When you buy a new car the dealer should walk you through the basic functions. When I sold cars I'd do this during any down time waiting for something. However it was a commission job, so as soon as the deal was done so was I.

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Total_Roll@reddit

Some sales people I have returned to for other purchases because they took the time to follow up. Others have been truly one night stands that ghosted me after the deal. Guess I can see how they can justify either one.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

When I bought my lincoln from a used lot back in 2020, the salesman sat me down and went over all the features it had and how to operate everything. It was the newest car I've ever owned and it's I high end model so it had alot of tech I've never had in it. I was grateful that he was patient enough to do that for me, I know a lot of people would have just cut me loose once I signed the pink slip. He even showed me how to connect my smartphone to the car so I could make hands-free calls. I miss having that feature.

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Total_Roll@reddit

Another challenge is rental cars. No orientation on features at all.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

Yeah, I can understand that. Renting is something I despise though, I'd rather just take a cab than rent a car. Either I'm driving my own car or I'm not driving at all. I'm not gonna pay to drive someone else's car that I hate

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Total_Roll@reddit

I still prefer long road trips over short flights, but sometimes you don't have a choice.

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zrad603@reddit

Ah, The daylight running lights fad. National Motorists Association blogs about this issue at length: [https://ww2.motorists.org/issues/dlr/](https://ww2.motorists.org/issues/dlr/) Apparently, it comes down to: Canada mandated DRL's on all new vehicles sold. For many companies, It was easier/cheaper to sell it as a "feature" to Americans on cars in the early 2000's, than to redesign the circuitry for two different markets. However, now with new vehicle electronics, absolutely everything is computer controlled. So now DRL's is just a setting in the vehicle computer that can be enabled/disabled with a scan tool. But in the 90's and early 2000's there was still a lot of manual mechanic switches and relays. https://ww2.motorists.org/issues/dlr/history/

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

Love the NMA, let my membership laps, think I'll change that.  >can be enabled/disabled with a scan tool. In my Chrysler it's a menu option in the infotainment screen. With a little bit of extra software I can also change which lights are used for the DRL. So instead of one of the white lights I have it set to turn on the bright amber lights.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

You mean you can disable drls with a scan tool? What purpose would that serve?

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zrad603@reddit

because DRL's are annoying, stupid, and pointless. Also, I hate how modern cars assault the eyeballs with bright lights all the time. Turn off the car? Dashboard is automatically at full brightness, dome lights on at full brightness. Gotta kill your night vision so you can trip and fall walking to your front door at night.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

> Also, I think it's nuts that dashboards are BRIGHTER with the headlights OFF than ON. It's why you see so many people driving around at night in the city with their headlights off. It's because at night you want dimmer interior lights so you can see the road better. So the lights dim when the headlights are on. If your dash was dim with the lights off, you wouldn't be able to see it in the day time. I don't like how bright digital dashes are either, that's why there's a dimmer switch that you can use to turn the brightness up and down. I keep mine a few clicks above minimum, because I don't like to see the reflection of the dash lights on the windows at night

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zrad603@reddit

why do they need to illuminate at all when the headlights are off? That used to be the reminder to turn on your headlights, when you couldn't see the dashboard because it was too dark. and the "dimmer" on modern vehicles are absolutely retarded. What used to be an analog potentiometer that worked fine is now a computerized gadget with a mind of it's own. I don't know how often I turn down the brightness on the dashboard just to have the computer randomly decide to crank up the brightness again for no reason.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

>why do they need to illuminate at all when the headlights are off? Because most new cars dashes are computer screens that need to have some form of lighting otherwise you're just looking at a black screen. >and the "dimmer" on modern vehicles are absolutely retarded. What used to be an analog potentiometer that worked fine is now a computerized gadget with a mind of it's own. I don't know how often I turn down the brightness on the dashboard just to have the computer randomly decide to crank up the brightness again for no reason. Can't speak to that, newest car I've ever owned was a 95 town car and the dimmer on that worked just fine for the digital interface. The one on my 94 caddy works great too

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Total_Roll@reddit

They are only auto if the selector is set to auto. And these days almost all cars will turn off the headlights after the car has been turned off for a period of time to prevent battery drain. Still hear about a few old school types that "don't trust it".

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

When I first bought a car with auto headlights, I was in that category, I never trusted them to turn off, and I'd stand outside my car waiting for the lights to go off before I went inside. But eventually, I grew to actually like the feature, it was nice not having to remember to turn my lights on and off, they just did it for me. Now it's a feature that I almost just have to have on any newer car i buy. I can't think of a single reason why I would ever turn the auto feature off. It's always on auto

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Total_Roll@reddit

Same here. I've had people tell me that my lights were on when I get out. I would tell them, "The car and I have an agreement. If he turns them on he has to turn them off".

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

Omg I've had it so many times where I'll come inside and my dad will say "hey you realize your lights are on" and I have to tell him they'll turn off by themselves. Or I'll be walking in to the house and my partner will ask if I forgot the lights.

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CaptainJay313@reddit

>2000s when every car on the road had auto headlights nope. factually incorrect. >cars driving around at night with no headlights on most of these cars have auto headlights that aren't in auto mode. as more cars have DRLs and illuminated/ digital gage clusters, it is less obvious to the driver that their lights are off. >Americans are no longer smart enough not an American thing or an intelligence thing.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

>not an American thing or an intelligence thing. I disagree. Intelligent people don't drive around with thier headlights off at night. Only people who do are absent minded, morons, or drunk, all of which fall under the category of unintelligent. A smart person knows that when the sun is no longer visible, headlights should come on. If you don't turn them on, you're either not smart enough to know this rule, or you're intentionally driving recklessly, and reckless drivers aren't exactly what I would consider smart

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CaptainJay313@reddit

congratulations, that's the dumbest comment I've seen on the Internet this week.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

Sounds like you're just triggered because you're one of the people that can't remember how to turn the headlights on in your own car. Be better

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CaptainJay313@reddit

yep, you got me. sick burn.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

Sucks to suck

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CaptainJay313@reddit

I'll take your word for it.

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AThrowawayProbrably@reddit

This has bothered me for some time. The initial problem (aside from inattentive bad driving) is that modern LED instrument clusters illuminate regardless if the headlights are on or not. For many decades, a lit up dash meant headlights were on. This combined with brighter and brighter DRLs, leads to those drivers thinking their headlights are on. I believe Canada just passed a law that states that the dash must only illuminate if the headlights are on too. The part that has always bothered me is that you’re correct. GMs (Especially premium brands like Cadillac, Buick and Olds) as far back into the 80s had something called “Twilight Sentenal”, which was basically automatic headlights that relied on a simple light sensor on the dash. That tech trickled into cheaper and cheaper models, yet here we are. Since then, we’ve had Backup cameras, ABS, stability and traction control systems all mandated. But not automatic headlights? Surely ghost cars cause more deaths than people occasionally backing over their kids. Many cars have automatic headlights these days as a convenience feature but the issue is that you can switch most of them off. And a lot of people accidentally do. It’s 1000% more dumb driver error than a car design issue, so DO NOT for a second think that I believe otherwise. It’s just a ridiculously simple and cheap feature for a lethal problem that I’m surprised hasn’t been mandated yet.

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ratrodder49@reddit

GM, specifically Cadillac, introduced the Twilight Sentinel in 1964. I think you’re largely correct about the dash cluster backlighting and brighter DRLs leading inattentive people to believe their lights are all the way on. It’s absolutely entirely driver error, should not be forced upon the manufacturers to correct for user stupidity. I have automatic headlights on my 2012 Chrysler 300, but I prefer manually switching them myself for a lot of reasons.

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AThrowawayProbrably@reddit

Sorry, I flubbed the year. But I hope you remember that when your mandated airbags go off. Yes, the manufacturer needs to bare some of the weight of public safety, especially when their product is consistently on the top of the leading causes of death. It wholeheartedly stupid to think otherwise.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

>But I hope you still feel that way when your mandated airbags go off. Then why does my car have 9 air bags, only 2 are required?

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

I'm F'n tired of mandates, if I want headlights I can turn off I'm going to have headlights I can turn off. If a manufacture wants to save a few pennies by not installing an automatic light function then so be it. This comes down to stupid drivers and buyers. If you want a car with an automatic headlight function then buy one. Then learn how to use it, and do so. My personal car has perfect lights, all the functions and options. It has that in part because it's what I wanted, that's all it should take.

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AThrowawayProbrably@reddit

That mindset must also mean you don’t want the person that hits you to have liability insurance because YOU can drive. You don’t want the car behind you to have ABS because YOU saw the hazard ahead. You’re always paying attention but that stupid lady in the crossover besides you yelling at her kids doesn’t need blindspot warnings. She just needs to pay attention. That’ll make you ok. The system is not there to spite you. It’s there to protect you from OTHER dumbass drivers. Trying to save your neighborhood friendly cooperation “a few pennies” goes against your self preservation.

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

Yup, I can protect myself. All I want from the system is for the courts to hold people accountable. Hit me with no insurance, I sue and the court has the power to collect.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

We should start a petition to mandate it. Apart from all the safety issues, it's a nice feature to have! I have a car with twighlight and I love it, the lights just automatically turn on at around the same time I would normally go for them. It should have been standardized years ago when the technology was common

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Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit

>We should start a petition to mandate it. No, I'm sick of F'n mandates.

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Fact-Check-False@reddit

>Now I see newer cars driving around at night with no headlights on. This is going on like crazy and it grinds my gears

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

I KNOW. turn your headlights on people! How can people be so ignorant?

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SteelFlexInc@reddit

Dude what? If anything more cars nowadays have automatic headlights than in the early 2000’s equipped. People now are just forgetting to turn headlights on due to seeing their DRLs or digital dashes lit up.

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

The impala my dad had when I was growing up did not have the option to turn the headlights off if the car was moving. If it was dark out, the lights were always automatically on and couldn't be turned off manually unless it was in park

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SteelFlexInc@reddit

GM pushed auto headlights heavily in their models. I had a mid trim Honda that did not have it but my mid trim Nissan did have it. Had a couple of other mid 2000’s cars that did not have auto lights, only DRLs with parking brake released. My current car that’s mid 2010’s has auto headlights again and it’s a lower mid trim Honda

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Nippon-Gakki@reddit

My moms ‘93 Camry was nice in that you could turn the lights to on (or maybe auto) and they would all come on when you started the car and turn off when you shut it off. She turned the switch on when she got the car and never touched it again.

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captain_sta11@reddit

The vast majority of non-base model cars in the US today do have auto-headlights but they are selectable. I tend to not have auto headlights turned on so that I don’t shine lights into my neighbors windows late at night or early in the morning when starting my car. I’ve never driven or been in a vehicle that auto-headlights were not selectable and I’ve been in hundreds, if not thousands, of different models/trims/years from my time detailing cars. I’m sure there’s some regulations somewhere that say you have to be able to turn off the headlights. US gov has regulations for everything it seems. Most shops I’ve worked with turn them off when pulling in to a garage bay just like we did. It was annoying having them turn on in the shop and blinding each other. Back in the early 2000s, majority of cars did not have auto-headlights. Some manufacturers did include them on some models/trims but most didn’t unless you got top trims. Just because your parents cars had them doesn’t mean all did. My first car with auto headlights was a 2012 Ford. Before that I didn’t have them on a 2002 ford, 2005 Honda, or a 2007 dodge. I think the main reason people don’t have them on now is just ignorance or confusion. DRLs are insanely bright nowadays and unless there’s no street lamps helping to light up the road, it can be hard to tell if they’re actually on or not. Pretty easy to forget them if you always drive on roads that are lit.

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BikePlumber@reddit

My 1998 VW sold in US, but made in Belgium, had Canadian compliant always headlights. My 2004 Toyota had automatic headlights when it got dark and wouldn't turn off until the engine was switched off. There was a wire to cut, so they could be turned off when approaching military gates. My 2017 Toyota does not have always on or automatic headlights. After 2001, the US military and government bases got stricter about headlights off at guard shacks. Canada says headlights should aways be on, but can run half brightness in daylight and full brightness after dark.

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Donny_Z28@reddit

I’ve owned multiple vehicles from the 90’s and early 2000’s and none of them had automatic headlights. Here in Canada all vehicles manufactured after 09/21 are mandated to have automatic headlights and have no illumination in the instrument cluster when only the DRLs are on.

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Altasound@reddit

Early 2000s? 'Every car'? Definitely not. None of the cars I had or drove during those years had it. The first time I bought a car with auto headlights I kept teaching to turn them on at night only to realise they were already on.

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Frunkit@reddit

What you claim is false. 🤷🏽‍♂️

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dacaur@reddit

I've never driven a car that you CAN'T turn off the headlights. Any car I have driven with auto headlights you have a headlight switch with off, on, and auto... They are only automatic in auto mode. My 2004 Honda Accord has "hidden" auto headlights. The switch only has on/off, but if you leave it on the headlights shut off a few seconds after you close the door while the key is out, then turn back on when you next start the car... (Open the door actually)

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Blu_yello_husky@reddit (OP)

My dad's 04 impala did not have a way to turn the auto headlights off

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Snoo-81627@reddit

My Infiniti FX37 uses fog lights as day-time running lights. Actual headlights only turn on when it gets dark. My previous Infiniti G25X always had headlights turned on, only option to turn them off was to start the car with handbrake on but once you release handbrake headlights would come on.

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