Running lights on - rear lights off? More common

ValDa - I learned on here that my Mitsubishi had front running lights but not rear!  These of course run all the time - HOWEVER there is an option to have the Headlights on AUTO which means they turn on when it gets murky.  The Skoda also had AUTO which I thought was excellent but didn't have the running lights.  I highly recommend the AUTO setting - I noticed mine came on the other day when the rain came.  The Mitsubishi has a small light above the rear view mirror when headlights are deployed - which took a bit of getting used to but I suppose it serves its purpose.

Personally I like to see cars with running lights on and have recently decided that I don't need to see rear lights on a car in front in sunlight as that diminishes the brake light effectiveness.  As for cars with only one functioning brake light - grrrrrr - or even 2 out of 3 working - that is unsafe! 

..."(perhaps those of a certain age)" ...  !!!

I take it you mean any age between 17yrs and death?

I always have the light switch on my XTrail on auto so that when the light gets a bit darker the lights come on. Sometimes the lights come on in bright sunlight and that baffles me 🤔. The auto setting is also handy as the lights go off when I turn the engine off, thus ensuring that I don't forget to turn them off.

I agree Pippah, we don't like running lights either,but they're mandatory so we have to have them.  Do any cars have rear running lights?  I also don't think that rear lights are necessary during the day, but not to have rear lights on at night (especially on narrow roads with sharp bends) is quite dangerous.  Hence my 'rant' as we've seen cars without lights twice in the last week!

I pulled along side a half wit in a Juke the other night with no rear lights, I'd followed him for a few miles in the dark . I wound my window down & said you need your lights on, to which the reply was ... 'they're on at the front' Doh!! I told him he had his DRL on ..... the penny obviously dropped as they were all on as he set off. IMHO DRL are a stupid idea that are to cater for stupid people that are incapable of realising it's dark and turning their lights on. Fog is another time when the stupid people show themselves, AUTO lights don't always turn lights on when it's foggy, another such time that the driver should turn their lights on in the old fashioned way of reaching for a switch. I've seen loads of DRL only lately at night, and often the led DRL are very bright & too bright for night time. It doesn't help that a lot of cars have a dash that's permanently lit, whether the car's lights are on or not.

DRL were mandatory on new cars from about 5 or 6 yrs ago

My new car has daylight running lights and it took me a while to work out that they don't have the same on the rear!!! I can put the car lights on the auto setting but I prefer to control my lights manually and tend to put them on well before it gets dark, I do the same in poor visibilty. They were introduced as a safety feature to reduce day time accidents and there is a lot of research on that to support their use. Some countries insisted that normal headlights should be used even during good daytime visibility. I think daytime running lights were an attempt to get a common standard and they are brighter than normal dipped beams in the daytime.  As to rear lights, whilst it is annoying when they are not used I am not sure I would advise flashing an offending car more than once as there are some funny people around these days and it is of course the responsibility of the following driver to maintain a safe distance from the car in front regardless of what lights are being used. There is perhaps need for more education on the use of car lights but we don't seem to have public education films anymore.

David

or just RT*M 

Why wouldn't you use the AUTO setting? Mine come on plenty early enough before it's dark, though it's obvious some manufacture's AUTO is more sensitive than others. 

I can only speak for my vehicle which is an Audi.

The lights are either off/auto/side/main and since the day I got it they have been set to auto with one exception-when towing.

On auto the running lights are on all the time-front only-and when the light levels drop all the lights come on and, if it then gets lighter they go off.

When I got the car I did experiment, we live in a rural area with some very dark stretches of tree lined roads,and was more than happy that the lights did not need my input.

When towing I set the lights to sidelights as the van lights do not come on when set to auto.

In regard to 'flashing' other drivers I to resist the urge-unless it is for the purpose of warning of an unsafe situation-as it almost always results in a misunderstanding.

As my dear Dad told me a long long time ago,if you want to see idiots just go for a drive..........I just hope that he didn't mean me.

Our new VW Touareg has DRLs both front and rear.

 The requirement set by the EU is only for mandatory front DLRs, which I think is wrong, for exactly the reason people are giving.....people forget to turn on their lights properly when there is poor visibility.

The Touareg also has the AUTO setting, which is useful.