Turning on lights at night is a no-brainer. We even signal to other drivers to do so, helping to keep the roadway safe. Yet there are also many additional daytime running light (DRL) benefits. Depending on where you&#;re driving, you may also be required to have your daytime running lights on while operating your vehicle. This blog discusses DRLs, the reasons to turn them on, and the rules about them in both the U.S. and Canada.
A DRL is a daytime running light. These come standard, along with the many other types of light on a roadworthy vehicle. But they serve a distinct purpose.
DRLs are found primarily on the front of a vehicle, but can also be located on the back. They&#;re intended to make your vehicle more visible on the road, even in daytime conditions. They often turn on automatically, but you may have the option to turn them off.
All of the vehicle&#;s lights are intended to provide visibility and signal to other drivers. This helps prevent accidents by protecting drivers from putting themselves and others at risk. Still, there are more benefits associated with DRLs that we&#;ll cover in the next section.
Daytime running lights (DRLs) were first mandated in Scandinavian countries in the s. Other northern countries, including Canada, later decided to require running lights during the daytime as well. After all, their drivers could be more likely to encounter snowy or dark conditions during daylight hours.
Yet, into the s, they were not even allowed on the road in the United States. Today, though, most North American vehicles are now manufactured with DRLs. While the federal government doesn&#;t mandate them, DRLs are considered important for fleet vehicles throughout North America for several reasons.
DRLs increase vehicle visibility on the road during the day. This is especially necessary in daytime situations where there may be low light or poor weather conditions.
Studies have shown daytime running lights also increase the distance at which other drivers on the road can see fleet vehicles. Having functional DRLs also encourages other drivers to conservatively estimate their distances and exhibit safer driving behaviors around vehicles made visible with their lights on.
Increasing visibility helps improve overall safety for your drivers and other road users:
Equipping your fleet vehicles with DRLs is an added precaution that proves particularly important for commercial trucks or other vehicles that may be larger or have more blind spots.
DRLs are legally required in all new vehicles in many countries, including Canada. Since , all new vehicles made or imported into Canada have needed daytime running lights. If your fleet vehicles are pre- in Canada, you can (at least for now) get along without DRLs.
In the United States, daytime running lights are not federally mandated. However, ultimately, even without a regulatory compliance and potential fine threat, the benefits of improved visibility and reduced accident risk remain.
Short answer? It depends on where you&#;re driving. This section examines expectations in the United States and Canada.
In the United States, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration does not require commercial vehicles to use DRL. Title 49, Subtitle B, Chapter V, Part 571, Subpart B, §571.108 defines daytime running lights as &#;steady burning lamps that are used to improve the conspicuity of a vehicle from the front and front sides when the regular headlamps are not required for driving.&#; Yet they are listed as &#;permitted but not required on passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPV), trucks, and buses.&#;
No states require daytime running lights. Still, there are some that have expectations for headlight use during the day:
Canadians are expected to have their daytime running lights on whenever their headlights are not on. If it&#;s not bright out (e.g., dawn, dusk, or you&#;re driving in a tunnel), drivers should use their headlights. Also, when it&#;s hard to see (e.g., raining).
Canada, in fact, added further light legislation to combat the problem of people driving with DRLs on and not switching to headlights at night. Starting September , all new vehicles sold in Canada were required to have headlights, taillights, and side lights that automatically turn on in the dark. Further, vehicle dashboards are to be manufactured so they don&#;t light up until the headlights are turned on.
Vehicle lights are for seeing and being seen on the road. Yet they are not the only element you can address to improve driver and road safety. Motive&#;s comprehensive fleet management solution offers:
Manage your fleet safety as well as operations and compliance more effectively with Motive. Get a demo of our trusted fleet management technology today.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? We may never know the answer to this question, but there are others to address &#; such as whether you really need daytime running lights (DRLs) on your vehicle. We&#;re a little more confident with the DRL question than that of the chicken or the egg, so we&#;ll take a crack at it.
Some governments believe that daytime running lights prevent accidents and have mandated their use on motor vehicles. These are mostly governments huddled together in northern climates, wishing the sun would come out. For example, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Canada mandated DRLs decades ago. However, the European Union also required them on most new motor vehicles by .
So far, the United States government has declined to take up the DRL cause, citing a lack of meaningful studies indicating DRLs reduce accidents or save lives. It&#;s much simpler to define DRLs than to make a case for why you need them. So, let&#;s begin there.
Despite the government&#;s lack of action, most new passenger cars, SUVs, and light trucks sold in the U.S. have DRLs. You may also hear them referred to as &#;signature lights.&#; These low-wattage white lights automatically activate when you engage the vehicle&#;s ignition. Often located around the headlights, DRLs are found on the front fascia near the sides of the vehicle.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Carri.
DRLs are the Baby Bear of front lights. That is, they are not too bright and not too dim. They&#;re just right to illuminate a car&#;s front, somewhere in between parking lights and low-beam headlights.
The purpose of DRLs is not to illuminate the view in front of your car. Instead, they make your car more visible to the drivers and pedestrians you&#;re approaching. Consequently, they point forward rather than downward as headlights and fog lights do.
DRLs perform most effectively when the ambient sunlight is dim &#; dusk, twilight, cloudy days, and so forth. That&#;s the reason Scandinavian countries, with notoriously short days, were eager to mandate them.
An unintended benefit (at least for carmakers) of DRLs is that they are another avenue for branding. That&#;s where the term &#;signature lights&#; comes into play. Audi pioneered creating a distinctive DRL pattern for most of its lineup. Moreover, DRLs give your car or truck a more technical and expensive look.
There&#;s not much of a learning curve needed here. DRLs operate all on their own. They illuminate when you engage the ignition and extinguish when the headlights activate. The driver has no real control over operating DRLs because there is no DRL on-off switch.
Under limited conditions, like when parked with the engine running, your vehicle may provide a method for extinguishing the DRLs. However, the procedures vary from model to model.
Yes, you can add DRLs to your vehicle if it doesn&#;t have them. We don&#;t recommend you do the job yourself unless you&#;re an experienced do-it-yourselfer. Although installing a universal DRL system isn&#;t brain surgery and can be accomplished in an afternoon, it is your car&#;s electrical system, after all. Any misstep can have a negative ripple effect throughout the electrical system. Moreover, the installation must follow specific regulations for the location and direction of DRLs, whether by you or a professional installer.
If you do choose to perform the work, there are dozens of DRL aftermarket kits to consider. We suggest a universal kit adaptable to just about any car, truck, or SUV.
Do-it-yourself DRL kits are available online and from some brick-and-mortar retailers. Expect to pay from $50 to $200 for a universal kit.
Here&#;s the not-so-good news. Beyond the local dealership for your vehicle&#;s brand, you may need to do some legwork to find a competent professional installer for your DRL kit. That&#;s not to say they aren&#;t out there, but many auto shops simply don&#;t have experience with the installation.
Your searching efforts can pay off. Look for custom auto shops that specialize in exterior lighting. Expect to pay about $750 in many parts of the country. That rough cost estimate would cover a $150 universal daytime running light kit and three or four hours of labor for the auto customizer.
Now we&#;ll get to the question of why (or if) you need DRLs. It seems intuitive that illumination on the front of a vehicle would help pedestrians and other drivers see it. However, the studies measuring their effectiveness during daylight hours are mixed. As stated above, the U.S. government doesn&#;t feel compelled to make them mandatory.
Statistical Evidence &#; Despite the government&#;s stand that there isn&#;t enough evidence to warrant mandating DRLs, there is some evidence. A publication from the Minnesota Department of Transportation stated that DRLs reduced the number of daytime crashes from 5% to 10%. A study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) placed the accident reduction with DRLs at 5.7% for light trucks and vans.
Dim Ambient Light &#; When there is enough light that you don&#;t require headlights, but the light is fading, DRLs are at least somewhat effective. They can increase the likelihood of seeing an approaching vehicle, particularly a dark-colored one.
Insurance Discounts &#; Some insurance companies may provide discounts to drivers with vehicles using DRLs. Such discounts may vary by state.
They Look Cool &#; There&#;s no doubt about it: Today&#;s crop of DRLs adds some spark to the face of cars, trucks, and SUVs by making vehicles look more technologically advanced.
There is no reason to think DRLs are going anywhere, whether the government changes its mind and mandates them or not. Carmakers are always looking for economy of scale. That is, bringing down the price of a feature by installing it in more vehicles. DRLs are already relatively cheap, even in the aftermarket. It makes sense for manufacturers to continue installing them as standard on cars they sell in the U.S. to help keep prices down in markets requiring DRLs.
Did You Know: You can check your vehicle&#;s Kelley Blue Book value anytime?
We agree that DRLs probably help reduce the number of accidents in lower-light situations, such as overcast days or at dusk. However, we&#;re not sure that&#;s worth the time and expense of installing an aftermarket kit on your 10-year-old beater that doesn&#;t have them. On the other hand, we don&#;t see any real harm in having them, even if they don&#;t provide additional safety. Mandated or not, they are here to stay for the foreseeable future.
Want more information on toyota land cruiser drl light? Feel free to contact us.