[JoeyO]

I don't know why but I'm seeing an increasing trend of more cars on the highway on night with their rear running lights completely turned off. It's a scary feeling approaching a car with no rear lights on at high speed. I've gotten a little closer than I wanted. Even with my headlights shining on them it throws off my whole depth perception. Their car seems farther away than it really is because you expect to see an equally bright glow like all the other surrounding cars. It's scary.

At first, I thought the drivers forgot to turn on all the exterior lights of their car, but that's not the case. Because their front headlights are clearly turned on.

I want to flash them so as to notify them, but that won't work. They won't know why I'm flashing them. They'll probably think I want to pass them. Although I cannot think of another way.

[MidwestGolfBum]

You sure that they don't just have the DRLs on which are the headlights? I have seen a lot of that going on as people get more and more used to the 'auto' feature.

[JoeyO]

Beats me. All I know is drove behind some clueless a$$ for 20 miles tonight.

[MidwestGolfBum]

Still no real excuse, but I know I sometimes forget when I'm in a rental that doesn't have auto lights.

[Seminole]

It's because of the proliferation of DRL. People see the DRL projecting some light down the road and assume their headlights are on. I've seen so many people drive without their lights on lately that 1) I want to become a cop just so I can pull them all over and 2) I think auto headlights should be mandated on all new cars and I hate over regulation.

Don't get me started on people who drive with their high beams on.

[Kwando]

I've observed cases of high beams or no lights at all at night..drives me insane. It's one of my biggest pet peeves. I don't know why low beams are not automatic on all cars.

[TK-421]

Originally Posted by Kwando

I've observed cases of high beams or no lights at all at night..drives me insane. It's one of my biggest pet peeves. I don't know why low beams are not automatic on all cars.

That shit is happening all over the place here. Either they'll drive with just highs or they'll have a headlight out so they'll use their highbeams along with that one headlight. I hate that shit.

[amanda hor$t]

back in the day when i had a 996, i didn't know rear fogs only lit on one side

[Vic311]

Why stay behind someone with no taillights for 20 miles

You drive a fast car..blow their doors off

[Nate4641]

In relation to headlights, I don't understand how if it is law in most states for you to have your headlights on if your windshield wipers are running that manufacturers don't make that an automatic feature. The idea (for those who dont know) is that if it is raining and you have your windshield wipers running, that you need to have your headlights on to increase your visibility to other drivers not your own visibility.

In terms of tail lights. Not everyone has a nice fancy car that informs them a tail light is out like most BMWs do.

[Who?]

hey, its better than the soccer moms with highbeams 24/7

[ilhan1103]

Originally Posted by Nate4641

In terms of tail lights. Not everyone has a nice fancy car that informs them a tail light is out like most BMWs do.

where can we see this feature?

[bosstones]

The best is when their tail lights are out AND so are their brake lights.

Originally Posted by Seminole

Don't get me started on people who drive with their high beams on.

Tell me about it! I was once driving home real late from work (okay...I do that too much actually...) and was on a stretch of 2 lane road for quiet a while. For 90% of that drive, the @$$hat behind me had his high beams on. At the time, I was 95% they were his high beams with maybe a 5% chance his/her headlights were aimed too high.....either way...annoying, but lucky for me I have a high tolerance so it didn't mess up my vision. From what I could make of the car shape (when the road elevation changed), it was an older car so poorly aimed lights was feasible. I tried flashing my brights w/ and w/o my hazards temporarily on to get their attention before I decided to embrace the suck. On the last 1-2 mile stretch on that road, a car came by the other way. At this point, there was some distance between my car and the one behind me since I got on the throttle a little coming off a red light. As the opposing car got closer, I saw that it was a cop car. In my rear view mirror, I saw the red & blue come on and stay flashing as the cop made a U-turn and pulled over the car behind me. That made up for another long day at work.

[smyles]

Originally Posted by Seminole

It's because of the proliferation of DRL...

This and modern instrument clusters like in Lexus, Civics, etc. that are always illuminated.

[Maestro]

yeah it the problem of people who drove cars with the old seal beam which barely lite up the road and move to a new car with HID and DRL, they turn the lights on and see the DRL light up the road and since it what they are use to from their previous cars they think everything is okay not realizing they really do not have the headlights on.

[JoeyO]

So do I have permission to flash my high beams and honk my horn, to get these idiots to realize something is wrong?

I wish I had this so I can write messages to other drivers:

http://www.amazon.com/Street-Tags-L5.../dp/B000GOSGWE

I wouldn't want to leave my car. I'd spend all day criticizing other drivers.

[Nate4641]

Originally Posted by JoeyO

So do I have permission to flash my high beams and honk my horn, to get these idiots to realize something is wrong?

I wish I had this so I can write messages to other drivers:

http://www.amazon.com/Street-Tags-L5.../dp/B000GOSGWE

I wouldn't want to leave my car. I'd spend all day criticizing other drivers.

It is illegal in most states to flash your high beams because it is a blinding hazard Also because it is a common way to warn of a speed trap.

[Small Yellow]

I noticed so many cars with low beams on, not day light running lights, and their rear lights are all completely off but when they brake it still lights up....... Drives me nuts and pisses me off... How does that even work...

[DieselDiner]

Originally Posted by ecjohnston

You sure that they don't just have the DRLs on which are the headlights?

This. The headlights are on (at reduced intensity) but not the tail lights. There are plenty of people that drive with DRL's at night, oblivious to the lack of any tail light illumination.

[Maestro]

Originally Posted by Nate4641

It is illegal in most states to flash your high beams because it is a blinding hazard Also because it is a common way to warn of a speed trap.

No it is not illegal and you can flash your lights to warn of speedtraps, plenty of case law on that subject. Keep in mind flashing lights does not mean just flashing highbeam you could turn the lights on and off as well.

Originally Posted by JoeyO

So do I have permission to flash my high beams and honk my horn, to get these idiots to realize something is wrong?

I wish I had this so I can write messages to other drivers:

http://www.amazon.com/Street-Tags-L5.../dp/B000GOSGWE

I wouldn't want to leave my car. I'd spend all day criticizing other drivers.

Yeah but does it do inverse texts so someone in front of you can read it in their review mirror.

A buddy of mine back in the 80's made one of those, but put the LED into his Honey cone grill, and design a controller so it would scroll text, and it did in fact do in inverse so drives could read it in their mirrors. It only said a few choose words since it was pretty crude and required a computer to reprogram it. It was a fun ideal but not practical at all and I think it cost him $200 to build it and lots of wires.

[JasonCSU]

One thing I see frequently around here is people driving with their rear fog light(s) on all the time. I usually see it on Audi's with the single rear fog light that is much brighter than the tail lights. It makes me wonder what these drivers are thinking. Maybe they think it is cool to have their fog lights on all the time, or they are comepletely clueless when they see the buttons on the dash and think one is for the front driver's side fog light, and the other is for the front passenger side fog light. Either way, it is quite annoying driving behind a car with a bright rear fog light when the conditions aren't foggy.

[Seminole]

Originally Posted by JasonCSU

One thing I see frequently around here is people driving with their rear fog light(s) on all the time. I usually see it on Audi's with the single rear fog light that is much brighter than the tail lights. It makes me wonder what these drivers are thinking. Maybe they think it is cool to have their fog lights on all the time, or they are comepletely clueless when they see the buttons on the dash and think one is for the front driver's side fog light, and the other is for the front passenger side fog light. Either way, it is quite annoying driving behind a car with a bright rear fog light when the conditions aren't foggy.

I'd also like to add rear foglights to my shit list. I can see why BMW doesn't activate that button on US cars...

The problem with Audi's and Mercedes is they use a different type of switch for the foglights. On our cars we press a button to the side of the headlight knob, but on Audi's and Merc's you actually pull out the knob to activate the lights. Pull to the first little indent and you get front. Pull harder and it hits the second indent and activates the rear. Most people are too stupid to realize the little yellow light on the dash means rear fogs and just pull the switch all the way out.