We’ve reported on troubles (and solutions) in Canada with cars driving around at night and in bad weather with only DRLs, no tail or sidemarker lights, and the efforts in that country to address the problem. Now it seems the problem’s popping up in the United Kingdom, too: drivers there are confusing other motorists by driving with only DRLs in low visibility conditions, new research has found.
A study by motoring services firm RAC of 2,061 drivers found that 62% claimed to have seen other vehicles with lights on at the front in dull and overcast weather conditions but not at the rear (15% say they had not noticed this, while 23% were unsure). EU law has required all new cars and small vans sold in the country to be fitted with DRLs at the front of the vehicle since 2011, in an effort to improve road safety—but they’re not intended or adequate to light the way forward after dark or in crummy weather, and many DRL systems leave the tail lights dark.
When asked if they knew the car they drove most frequently had DRLs fitted, 47% of respondents said their car does not, 29% said they only have them up front, and 14% claimed to have them both front and back. Further still, 8% said they know their car has them at the front, but are unsure about the rear.
RAC road safety spokesman Pete Williams says he is concerned about the findings: “This is potentially a very worrying finding as it implies that many motorists are driving without any rear lights believing that because they have running lights that switch on automatically at the front, they are also on at the rear. Alternatively, and arguably just as concerning, these drivers could simply have decided the light conditions were not bad enough to merit turning on their dipped lights or sidelights”.
No word on whether Canada-style countermeasures might be in the offing, either on a European level or in a post-Brexit UK.
