Drivers Against Daytime Running Lights

Anyone wanting know more about DRL's and the Legislation surrounding them I would suggest jioning Lights Out at http://www.lightsout.org/news.html . If you dont like DRL's this site is working hard to get rid of them. They do have links to places where our voices can be heard and the full story about DRl's. They also have some pages that explain how to disable a few models DRL's. Remember Safty First!

had never even knew of this.

in the brief they mention higher maintenance, which I agree, but they also said, "the proposed mandatory installation of DRLs in all new vehicles will result in decreased fuel efficiency ," I wonder how this conclusion was drawn?

i think they tested car w/ without DRL's. Also from cars owners and from Dealershits mechanix. I feel it is costly and unesessary. You really only need DRL's if your a carless driver.LOL! Those are the ones getting hit and saying I didnt see them... If it's cloudy and raining heavilly(in the day) I turn on my lights. But because I have DRL's and the Auto lights-on it makes no difference, in the day my HEAD lights dont work, unless you're in a tunnel or parking garge where its dark. My car 99 GA was made in Cananada where its mandatory, somewhat, I've heard. I was even told the dealer cant even change it in the software, but they may been lieing and just didnt want the hassle. First me then 20K other people want it changed. If you're in the government theres a form you can get and then they might shut them down. Theres a web site for just about everthing these days Ctesla.

That site is astounding.
It reminds me of the motorcyclists who have worked so hard to repeal manditory helmet laws in most states - so they can ride with bare heads and kill themselves in accidents which would be survivable with helmets.

DRL's are a safety item THAT WORKS. Statistically, DRL equipped vehicles have less accidents than non DRL vehicles. Canada had DRL's long before the US did. The US adopted them because they worked so well in Canada.
They work; 20 years worth of research and statistics says so.

Do you have children/wives/loved ones that ride with you??

Why needlessly endanger them because you don't like the lights?

As for the argument in that site - its rediculous. Lets see, GM WANTS to spend extra money and make their cars more expensive to protect the sorry asses of their customer.

How can that be bad? Usually manufacturers have resisted spending money on safety devices, this is why it took 15 years to get air bags in cars, and why we had death -trap, exploding Ford Pintos.

Gm has money in Sylvania lighting just as with fisher guild. It's a monopoly at the expens of the customer. People get hit becuase they dont look where they are going. AS with helmets thats a totally diferent planet. Most motorcycle accidents happen from those, car drivers who dont pay attention or are blinded by brite lights from DRL's.
Most cycle accidents with or with out a helmet will split your head anyways. My kids/wife r fine :) How many years was it before seat belts were manditory? Dont see any seat belts on factory cars that work to keep you in your seat anyway. If they did you wouldnt need air bags. :(
Cananda has shit weather all years long. Heres a quote, "In much of Canada, 1996 featured one of the longest and most vicious ... Unrelenting rains and dreary weather plagued the country from April to June"
I still feel it's a personal preferance. Today I'm replacing one of those lights that just keep burning out the high beams, left and right.

I guess we, who're against DRL's, shouldnt buy those vehicles anymore. Just see how quick the auto eningeers chnage thier tune, when thier car stock plumits to the bottem. LMAO! HAve a great day.

Gm has money in Sylvania lighting just as with fisher guild. It's a monopoly at the expens of the customer. People get hit becuase they dont look where they are going. AS with helmets thats a totally diferent planet. Most motorcycle accidents happen from those, car drivers who dont pay attention or are blinded by brite lights from DRL's.
Most cycle accidents with or with out a helmet will split your head anyways. My kids/wife r fine :) How many years was it before seat belts were manditory? Dont see any seat belts on factory cars that work to keep you in your seat anyway. If they did you wouldnt need air bags. :(
Cananda has shit weather all years long. Heres a quote, "In much of Canada, 1996 featured one of the longest and most vicious ... Unrelenting rains and dreary weather plagued the country from April to June"
I still feel it's a personal preferance. Today I'm replacing one of those lights that just keep burning out the high beams, left and right.

I guess we, who're against DRL's, shouldnt buy those vehicles anymore. Just see how quick the auto eningeers chnage thier tune, when thier car stock plumits to the bottem. LMAO! HAve a great day.
Wow, lets see, I have lived in Canada for 37 years, and the summer weather is great. The vast majority of Canadians live within 200 miles of the US border, so our weather is just like those of the northern US states, and is nothing like you describe.

DRL's are a CA government requirement, because they work. So if you live in CA, blame the government for their placement on cars. Otherwise, blame big, bad GM for trying to protect the lives of their customers (oh how terrible!! :) ); to blame some alleged GM/Sylvania conspiracy is rediculous.

Most motorcycle accidents are easily survivable, with a helmet and proper clothing. I have been riding since 1975 and have had my share of spills. With no helmet, very low speed crashes are hazardous.....at higher speeds, a helmet can greatly reduce the incidence of fatal trauma.
In the States, in the last 7 years, motorcycle fatalities have nearly doubled to 4004 deaths last year. The NHTSA has concluded this is largely due to decreased helmet use, because organised lobbyists have defeated helmet laws in most states, so helmet use has decreased.

As for DRL's, they work because your car is more visible. This has been proven in many countries for many years.
http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/DRLs/studies.htm
You can be the best fucking driver in the world, but if your car is less visible to other drivers, it is more likely they will not see you and turn in front of you, or do other things to put your family at risk.

This is the similarity with helmets and DRL's. It's bikers personal preference to not use helmets....and so more bikers die. If its your personal preference not to use DRL's, thats fine. But statistically, it is more likely you will die in a crash.

This is obvious. So have some respect for your wife and kids and use your DRL's. They rely on you for guidance and protection, especially your kids. If you want to increase your personal risk by not using DRL's, thats great. But do not let them down by not using a safety device that is already available to you.

If your car is consuming too many DRL bulbs, (as you may have posted elsewhere,) there is a problem with your particular car or your installation. All my DRL bulbs have lasted many years with no replacement. The technology is sound andshould be problem-free.

My apologies if the tone of this post is a bit harsh, but IMHO it's an important issue.

Hey magic! I do see where the NTSA and you are right, they make you more visable, but when I want to be visable thats MY choice. My electrical Sys. is fine and functional. I never touch the bulbs with anything, and they still fail regularly. I worked for Dealershits' ,yrs ago, and I know alittle bout the automobil and it systems. Even Took to three Dealers shops and they ALL said the same thing, 1 quit using the bulbs I use, 2 its the heat inside the lamp housing. I spend 60-80$ a yr on light bulbs, so ya I do have a grevance with DRLs. My car is driven mostly in the day, when weathers and trafics bad I like to use my low beams not blinding glaring other drivers. I have seen people cover their eyes when cars are blinding them, thats not safe. Dont take this harshly, I mean nothing personal, unless you work for NTSA, LOL! :)

I love these threads :grinno:
While we are on the subject of disabling safety devices, why don't we remove seatbelts, ABS brakes, safety glass, air bags, side impact bars and crumble zones from vehicles also.

I worked for Dealershits' ,yrs ago, and I know alittle bout the automobil and it systems
If you know so much about the automobile, why cant you spell it?

hey you might be on to something! ABS brakes suck too. i dont beleive you need to know how to spell automobil or dealershits to cut out my seat belts , turn my drls' off or any other mechanical procedure :)

If I spent $60 to 80 on bulbs each year, I would be pissed, too.
But, as I posted earlier, this is extremely abnormal. There is something wrong with your car.

All the DRL systems I have ever used, both my cars, my work vehicles and my friends cars are ALL working with the factory original bulbs and DRL controllers.
Soem of these vehicles are more than 10 years old with 200+k on them.

From a service point of view, the DRL system is simple......you have bulbs and you have the control module. If you have tried many bulbs, its easy to tell where the problem lies.

I only have this problem with Sylvania Silver Stars. Most of the other lights available like the LOng Life or the good O'l Standard bulb, and the Cool Blues all seem to last 8-10 months. So that tells ME its the Silver stars. But no other lights work as well as the SS. Just as DRLs it is MY choice to use this lights that work best for the area I drive.They should at least put on a switch so if they need to be dis abled you can temperarilly turn them off. There are no other manufactures who make bulbs for PONTIACS, thats a monopoly and thats what erks me also. This could go on forever.....

This could go on forever.....

It certainly could. I do thank you for your thorough explainations and your viewpoint , though. :)

ok.. only a complete Idiot would want to disable a safety device. And I bet you drive around with your infant sitting on the roof... well hell... the added weight of the baby carrier cuts done on fuel economy.

LMFAO! Infants ride in the trunk, roof ride'n makes for bad aerodynamics. Oh you dont hav a trunk timguyli? XI

My mother is blind in one eye, the other eye she has 75% vision, and there's lots of people out there with similar problems, on any day no matter what the weather she has trouble seeing vehicles on the road without some kind of lights on. With the DRL's she can see vehicles far enough away to know not to cross the road, it's not just people in other cars, it's the pedrestions too. I've had the same set of light bulbs in my Dakota (with DRL's) for almost 3 years, never changed them. the Wifes car has one and a half year old head light bulbs in it, and we put 30,000km on each vehicle per year. I'm all for DRL's they're one of the few safety things that actualy work in my opinion. :)

My mother is blind in one eye, the other eye she has 75% vision, and there's lots of people out there with similar problems, on any day no matter what the weather she has trouble seeing vehicles on the road without some kind of lights on. With the DRL's she can see vehicles far enough away to know not to cross the road, it's not just people in other cars, it's the pedrestions too. I've had the same set of light bulbs in my Dakota (with DRL's) for almost 3 years, never changed them. the Wifes car has one and a half year old head light bulbs in it, and we put 30,000km on each vehicle per year. I'm all for DRL's they're one of the few safety things that actualy work in my opinion. :)

Agreed... It's not just for other drivers. I've had the same set of bulbs in my 96 GA for 17months now... since I bought the car. Best friend (previous owner) said that he has never replaced them either... he owned the car for 5yrs.

With your bad luck on bulbs, I'd have to say that you're the exception.... not the rule.

Not much help.. I know. But hey... what can you do but GET OVER IT... if you can't handle $80 a year for bulbs then buy a FORD. My '03 Taurus and the '05 Mazda MPV we traded the Taurus for both didn't have DRL's... I turn on the lights anyway.... Even if they did blow often... $80 a year is a small price to pay if it keeps somebody from wandering into your path.:2cents:

.. $80 a year is a small price to pay if it keeps somebody from wandering into your path.:2cents:

the wonderers can ride in the trunk with the infants :) theres plenty of room :)

I don't care about the DRLs, but I can't stand people who drive with their fog lights on during the day. Grrrrr

the wonderers can ride in the trunk with the infants :) theres plenty of room :)

OK.. now your just being silly... everybody knows that you don't put wandering strangers in the trunk with your infants.... You strap them to the hood like a Deer in hunting season....:p:biggrin: