I have this little 4 position switch........

OFF. Auto headlights, sidelights, dipped beam.

Same here. And OFF it where it stays until it is dark. I also turn off the DRLs on bright days. Why? My car is sixteen years old and I intend to keep it indefinitely. Changing failed bulbs might be an expensive hassle. Fortunately I've only ever had to (easily) change one at the back during the last seven years.

I deplore the brainless habit of having headlights on whenever the sun goes in - especially in the rain when all they do is dazzle, especially the newer ones. DRLs are quite sufficient.

My Astra is the first car I've had with DRLs and auto lights. I rather like the auto lights. They come on when I enter a multi storey car park or tunnel and don't turn off for a while when exiting, so little chance of anyone confusing it for a flash. They also come on at this time of year when I'm driving away from a low sun.

Some people become dependent and that is my concern. Any driver may be lazy and not use manual, that is different concern.

I suspect some drivers don't even notice what is happening, they just get in and drive. And maybe wonder why others may be flashing at them ?

I am probably in a small minority, but whatever car I am driving, I do not move the vehicle until I switch on Dipped headlights. Full Stop.

Auto headlights do not turn themselves on in mist or fog or heavy rain, when illumination is, in my opinion, a potential lifesaver. See and Be Seen.

Yes, MPG may suffer marginally, but I value the safety of my passengers and me above the marginal cost. Have done since 1969, when I passed my driving test, and always will do, no matter what developments occur with technology.

Lan Assist remains switched off in my Avensis, there are buttons to control it but it does not automatically switch to ON when starting up.

<< A few years ago after my mate bought a new car, he asked me to have a look at the front fog lights because there was something wrong with them. Turned out it had the cheap version the 'cornering lights'. Where the foglight on whatever side you were cornering came on to provide extra light. >>

Way back in the mid-60s, a Canadian student colleague had a car (may have been a Simca) whose horn sounded whenever he cornered. It wasn't a built-in feature though, just a short somewhere :-)

Lane Assist in latest Honda Jazz hybrid can be switched off temporarily but restarts on start up to on.

LOTS of complaints from owners on single track roads where lane assist gets confused - tries to stop driving onto verge to allow others to pass. (Fitted to all Audis as standard :-) . Overcome if you signal left - does not resist then.

(Learned from very p"d off owners)

Not all automated systems will work perfectly in all circumstances - but mostly they produce a better overall result than no automation. That some should work better is part of a learning and improvement process, not an incipient disaster!

It would be an improvement if the manufacturers always went through the learning and improvement process before they foist their ill conceived systems on their customers.

Kettles without cut off (wiat ttill it bubbles), central heating systems with no thermostats (throw another stick on the fire if you feel cold), car indicators which don't self cancel (the driver should be in charge), no fire alarms (wait till you see the flames), tyre pressure warnings (wait until the rim grinds on tarmac), spellcheckers (get educated) etc etc.

Terry, I realise you are playing Devil's Advocate, but some of your examples are a bit extreme. Kettles, lack of thermostats (which can of course fail) and fire alarms have devices built in to prevent (hopefully) serious mishaps.

As for the others, well. I very often cancel an indicator while turning the wheel, rather than wait for self-cancel to work, because it can be seconds before the wheel returns to straight-ahead'. Tyre pressure warnings I can easily do without as I have managed without them for 60 years. And I dislike being fed American spellings for many words that I have always known how to spell CORRECTLY :-))

I don't have an issue with poor spelling, I respect the warnings you refer to - but I can usually tell the difference between poor spelling and use of a US spellchecker - unfortunately in this day and age, too many people use technology blindly and expect others to cope.

Be interested to know how you could tell it wasn't someone with dyslexia, but not tech literate enough to know how to change the spell checker from US to UK settings, rather than someone who either doesn't care or couldn't be bothered.

Also, "expect others to cope"?, just how hard is it to read a sentence with the odd word in US English rather than UK English?.

Edited by badbusdriver on 03/12/2021 at 08:25

I think this may be due to the fact that the dashboard/speedo/fuel gauge etc is lit up all the time in most cars, so when you get in the car and start it in the dark then you can't tell your lights are not on if you're in town and there are street lights. In the old days the speedo was only lit when the lights were on, so you realised pretty quickly you'd forgotten to put your lights on

I have come across drivers who don't know where the switch is or how to use it, those that make up excuses about I didnt know my lights weren't on only have to look at either reflections from other cars/the road being lit up or get out the car to look

But there are a lot of drivers who cannot be bothered to check or too ignorant to care, on a late trip last night I see 4 cars over 8 miles that had no lights on or some only using drls, stupid or what???

Watch 'Tipping Point ' one afternoon and you will see displays of unbelievable ignorance and lack of brains among the contestants, most of whom have probably got driving licences.

What is also disturbing is that many of them claim to have jobs you would think needed intelligence - oh, wait a minute, what about MPs and local councillors?

Edited by galileo on 03/12/2021 at 11:49

I don't watch Tipping Point.

Too difficult to understand.

((J. Jonah Jameson)) You serious? :-)

The DRLs on my car (VW Group) are, as far as I can tell, the dipped headlights. Also the tail lights are on all the time too. That seems like the sensible solution and it should become standard practice in the motor industry.

I never have understood why some cars come with 'side' lights on only and then the tail lights only come on when the dipped front headlights are on. Do the manufacturers think drivers want to only be seen from the front?