In the last few weeks I've enjoyed the electronic frippery that is part of my Citroen C8 but today I discovered an unexpected downside to the automatic headlamps. This afternoon I was passing through a village which is blessed with speed humps. A few yards past the hump is a turning on the left where a white Vectra was apparently waiting for me to pass by. As I bounced up the hump I was surprised to see the side of the Vectra illuminated as the C8's headlamps chose that inopportune moment to switch on. The Vectra's evidently driver took it to mean that he was being flashed out of the turning and launched his car in front of mine. Fortunately I had just enough room to slow and miss him.
Anyone else had a near miss attributable to their car's technology?
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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If it were my car I'd be taking it back to citroen and complaining rather loudly about the behaviour! A car randomly switching on lights is positively dangerous with all those numpties out there. Alternatively get the supplying dealer to sign a disclaimer saying any accident caused by random headlight lighting will be paid out in full by them :-)
Not had a near miss with technology but got very distracted with a mysterious beeping and warning light that would come on very briefly for no reason and distract me and make me think something expensive was failing. I eventually realised it was happening because one of the doors wasn't shut tightly enough and the door open warning would flick on over bumps! The buzzer was the annoying 'you've left your lights on' beep... doh...
teabelly
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I turned the automatic lights off on my old C5 for this very reason.
Driving along a residential street with parked cars staggered either side, I pulled out to overtake one on my side as a Focus looked like he was letting me through. As I pulled out the Focus came towards me and I nearly went head on into him. It just so happened I was driving under a big oak tree at the time, and not being the brightest of days it must have put the lights on and the other driver taken it as a signal to proceed.
For me automatic lights are nothing more than a fad. Automatic wipers I found extremely useful as they seemed to be almost infinitely variable and of course rain volume varies a lot which can often involve a lot of messing with the stalk and the intermittent setting in light rain - the C5 just did it all for you. Lights are not something I adjust - they're generally either on for the whole journey or off.
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Anyone else had a near miss attributable to their car's technology?
Not a near miss but I always had a concern with the UNO.
Hardly technology but simple elec-tricks.
When you turned off the ignition it switched off ALL the lights.
I assume it was designed to save flattening the battery by leaving lights on.
When you specifically selected parking lights it also switched on the dash lights...Doh!
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After a minor accident about 15 years ago, a policeman told me, if he's trying to pull out, and sees a car on a main road with its indicator, he doesn't go until he actually sees the guy's wheels start to turn. Good advice, I thought, and I've managed to remain accident-free since.
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If you have an accident because the lights come on and another driver mis-interprets it is his fault not yours, as I understand the highway code flashing headlights have only one meaning "I am here!"
They are widely mis-used
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Those stupid orange lights on the side of newer Volvos. Why???? Exactly what contribution do these make to safety? No doubt some of you will howl about how great they are, but to a quick glance they look like an indicating vehicle. Having once been bitten, I now realise Volvos need special care (But then you knew that already...), but I still don't quite see what they add.
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Those stupid orange lights on the side of newer Volvos. Why???? Exactly what contribution do these make to safety?
They are required for the American market. I think they're called running lights.
Have to admit I got so used to automatic headlights which are fitted to my car and most rental cars I drive these days that, on collecting a rental car without them, I drove a few hundred hundred yards before realising I had no lights (could have been due to the jetlag following a twelve hour flight as well).
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The Alfa does this as did my Subaru, the Fords & my Scimitar leave side lights on but headlights go off when ignition switched off.
Never found a problem, although last year on the M25 when stationary after an someones accident meant that turning the ignition off meant the lights went off! Guarantees not leaving lights switched on though!
Jim
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How can switching headlights on cause an accident, since when has headlights on meant pull out in front of me?
If someone crashes into you because your headlights come on, it is their fault, not the headlights.
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While you are right about who would be at fault if there were to be an accident, surely the point is to avoid the accident in the first place.
The headlamps being flashed does have a meaning - as given in the highway code, and frequently misinterpreted - the headlamps therefore function as illumination *and* as means to signal your presence. As a signal, they should be under the direct switched control of the driver only. The knotty question of who is controlling a vehicle?, driver or computer? is becoming more relevant as technology progresses. I expect there will be fat fees to be earnt by the legal profession from this issue soon.
While there is clearly a place for advanced technology on cars, having headlights that come on by themselves is one toy too many IMO. Should I ever drive a car so equipped, my first task would, if possible, be to disable that particular feature.
Under what circumstances would automatic headlamps be useful? For those without any foresight - or 'hazard perception skills' perhaps?
number_cruncher
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I agree with the above.
All very well quoting the highway code and arguing about 'fault' - but hardly the point if a big truck is passing you and your car decides to flash its lights - truck pulls in early and.......
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"the C8's headlamps chose that inopportune moment to switch on. The Vectra's evidently driver took it to mean that he was being flashed"
but surely your lights didn't flash on and off - they must have switched on as you say. The other driver should have definitely taken it as a "watch out I'm here" sign if he took it as any signal at all.
Having said that I'm always very dubious about what flashing lights mean - in France they mean "lok out I'm coming through! So until I see exactly what a car is doing, that's what I asume they mean here!
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but surely your lights didn't flash on and off
No, they didn't flash on and off, but the car was taking a speed bump at the time. This may have given the Vectra driver the impression of a flash.
No, the Vectra driver shouldn't have set off in front of me, I was too close. Anyway, a lesson learned and the headlamps are still set to automatic. Yes, I do know how to set them to manual; I have read the manual a time or two like the sad anorak that I am!
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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The Alfa does this
There's a button on the ignition switch (just above and to the rear of the keyhole) that allows you to turn your key past the off position. This turns parking lights on.
HTH
No Do$h - Alfa-driving Backroom Moderator
mailto:moderators@honestjohn.co.uk
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Anyone else had a near miss attributable to their car's technology?
A similar point. I had a '98 Vectra that had a blown bulb warning system, in effect it tested the bulbs every time that they were switched on therefore the brake light bulbs were checked every time the brakes were applied, if a brake lamp bulb had blown a message on the dash told you so. Gave a nice secure feeling until one day I realised that I had no brake lights at all, left, right or high level! The switch had gone therefore no current was getting to the bulbs at all so the test would not work. There I was relying on the sophisticated electronics to tell me if my brake lights were not working, a simple switch fails, no warning light, no brake lights, a false sense of security. Systems such as this should be fail-safe.
Not a bad car otherwise though.
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I like the auto lights on the Scenic 2. When you start up in the dark, they come on straight away. When you park at night, they stay on until you actually open your door (although there is a "follow home" function).
However, they are a gimmick as much as many of the "toys" now on cars. However, consumers want something extra on their new car compared to their last car. Thats what drive these gimmicks development!
They don't come on in fog, but sometimes, especially at dawn, you will find yourself being the only car with their lights on!
Think the original point re nearly causing an accident is probably a bit off the mark considering the subsequent discussions of what flashing lights mean, and the fact that when the lights come on, they stay on for a minimum time.
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On the subject of technology, why is technology so often dedicated to what other readers astutely identify as marketing gimmicks, with so little of it spent on useful, often very simple and potentially life-saving features in a car?
A couple of examples spring to mind.
An 1980s Talbot Horizon I once owned had a very simple but effective oil level indicator which showed a red light in the dash to warn me the level was low. I know of barely half a dozen new cars which have this feature.
How much simpler small checks or repairs would be if all cars had hydraulic bonnet stays and maybe an underbonnet inspection light. Or should we always be condemned to fumbling in the dark, as that seems to be when most breakdowns occur.
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I used to have a 1962 Rover P4 100 and that had sump level gauge. You held a switch on and the fuel gauge gave the oil level. It was pretty accurate too. So much for progress.
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On the subject of technology, why is technology so often dedicated to what other readers astutely identify as marketing gimmicks, with so little of it spent on useful, often very simple and potentially life-saving features in a car?
For exactly the reasons discussed re space saver tyres.
When the salesman is standing in front of the customer in the dealership, he can go on and on about the toys and the average customer will get excited. If he starts talking about an underbonnet inspection lamp, you or I would be interested, but most punters will ask whether this means the salesman expects the car to break down a lot.
So cars with automaitc headlights sell and cars with underbonnet lights don't. We have only our (collective) selves to blame.
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What I couldn't understand about the Mercedes C class was that when set to auto it could turn the lights on but didn't turn them off when I took the key out of the ignition. Instead the beeper started and I had to turn them off - so what is the point of having the system!
I will stick to manual lights.
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I find this whole development of automatic systems crazy.Switching on headlights is not difficult! It involves a £5 switch which rarely goes wrong and if it does is easy to replace. How much will the auto light unit cost to fix if it fails.
The Economist had a nice article recently suggesting the world has gone crazy in the search for complexity. Its mantra was keep it simple, and I have to agree. How many of the features on your video, mobile phone, and computer do you use?
Cars are now so complex that any replacement involves dealers who do not understand them, and overpriced componants.
Car radios need an on/off swich, volume, and a few selector buttons. Thats it.
Simplicity please.
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Err, my Xsara has an oil level indicator. Both a gauge showing the level and a warning light if it runs low.
With regard to automatic headlights, my brother reported that both his headlights and wipers didn't come on the last time he was caught in a snow storm. :P
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Is it an oil level indicator or an oil pressure indicator. If the former, does that make the dipstick redundant?
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Adam
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Wifes '98 Clio has an oil level indicator, for 30 seconds after starting the engine the digital display that is otherwise the mileometer shows a row of zero's (0's) there are (I think) six zeros if the oil level is correct, five zeros and a dash if it is a bit low etc. I.e.
000000 = OK
00000- = slightly low
0000-- = lower
etc
This will come up in place of the mileometer while driving if the level drops one mark.
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Is it an oil level indicator or an oil pressure indicator. If the former, does that make the dipstick redundant? --
I hope not.
I finished up on holiday with a Scenic that had an electronic dip stick. I arrived at our destination from the airport, stopped and parked on a slope.
Next time I started it I got a warning indicator that said OIL and Service or similar. This stayed on til I stopped on the level and then restarted the engine.
Thanks to the dipstick I was able to check the level and found it half way between the marks.
A good feature IF you keep the oil level up and do not park on a slope
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My Mégane has the same device, but the handbook warns that it is a reminder only, and does not replace the dipstick. In fact it gives so many spurious 'low' warnings, even on the flat, that I ignore it anyway.
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It's both. When you first turn on the ignition it gives the oil level for 10 s then returns to the normal state which is the pressure indicator.
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I have quite a clever system which turns the lights on automatically when I can't see the speedo clearly any more. I call it the Beautifully Refined Anti-computer Interconnection of Nerves (BRAIN). It even turns the wipers on for me when I can't see out the windscreen! :-P
Joking aside, the Mk4 Escort (as I've noticed!) has it's dip beam switch connection on the indicator stalk, so when the stick it pushed up or down a contact moves along a copper track. Great except when it starts wearing and pitting, so causing a flashing of headlights (when on) as I indicate!
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