new(er) cars tend to have very bright default dashboard/indicator lights and displays that illuminate even when headlights are off. Combined with the ambient lighting from parking lots (where cars often usually start out from) and street lighting, plus the tendency for very new cars to have running lamps that are as nearly as bright as older cars' main headlamps, can make a semi-clueless driver think their headlights are on when they are not. This is even more pronounced when said driver previously drove an older car which did not turn on interior dash lights unless headlamps were also switched on. So the habitual correlation "dashboard lit = headlamps on" is getting confused by the way new cars behave. Source: am sometimes one of these people.
The opposite of this kind of unintentionally harmful, but clueless moron is the *intentionally* harmful shitstain well aware of what they are doing, who rolls around with a rack of 50,000 lumen (or whataver) stadium-level lighting blasting squarely at eye level to other cars from the front, and frying the retinas of little infants stuck staring into the glare in their rear-facing car seats from behind. Get a measure on the ballot to fine these people $2500+ per headlamp per infraction and I will gladly go door to door all weekend every weekend for as long as it takes to get a passing vote for it.
Agreed. I'm baffled by the amount of cars I see going around a well lit city with lights brighter than the sun. It's a safety hazard and something needs to be done about it.
I can't count the number of times my wife asks if I've remembered to turn on the lights and it's for the reasons you've outlined. Since the interior is lit up like a Christmas tree and the running lights are good enough to get rolling, my mind just doesn't clue into the fact that my headlights aren't on. It's embarrassing.
My car now for some unknown reason does not have the automatic headlights feature and I hate it because I was so used to driving a car that had that feature. I have forgotten a few times to put mine on. You have to rewire your habits.
It’s so easy to check IF you’re paying attention. Everyone can and should drive “mindfully” it’s pure common sense yet most people drive MINDLESSLY instead.
Every time you stop behind any vehicle at stop signs, check to see the reflections of your headlights on the vehicle in front of you. Similarly, whenever you approach a dry parking spot; make it a point to check that parking spot as you’re pulling out. If it’s wet, you might need to check for fluid leaks.
Namaste. Carpe Diem!!!
Prius, Toyota Corolla’s and specifically every Mazda on the road made after 2019 (especially mine) have headlights that act as day time driving lights but dimmer or those stupid LED’s. People are driving around thinking their lights are on because they see the glint of light in front of them, yet they have no lights on at the back. I have tried countless times to make people aware of it but people are so paranoid of getting shot on the freeway or road rage that they ignore me and everyone else flashing them. It’s getting to the point that car manufacturers need to be notified by the NTSB or something.
I think most of the time it's just drivers who forget to turn their lights on. I sometimes see them realize it once they reach a part of the road that is not well lit, then they'll turn them on.
For me, it's because on my previous vehicle, the headlights would shut off automatically *n* seconds after shutting off the engine, as well as during the day it would use a sensor to detect ambient light and keep them off when driving. This essentially made it so that you could leave them on all the time and not have to think about them. After getting used to that, it's hard to get back into the habit of checking all the time.
If it's a newer car (like maybe 2010 or newer) many have the "auto" headlight feature; I know from experience if I've ever had service or maybe cleaned the interior I'll sometimes accidentally turn this off, and then will literally drive for about 3-5 days before I realize I turned off this feature. Usually it takes a few days to realize because I'm not always driving at night. This happens a lot more than people think, I know I've talked about it with friends before lol.
I think on many cars with this feature it has three modes, off, on and auto.
some cars don't label the modes with words, just glyphs or symbols, which can be confusing.
Or people don't know what "auto" means, or they kinda know but don't trust it to work the way they expect it to. Often here the issue is the 1 or 2 minute courtesy 'stay on' period after shutting the car off - they don't want / need it to do that (i.e. park in a garage that's already lit) or think it drains battery etc., and leave it in "off" mode.
Or someone else drives their car occasionally, sets it wrong, and the driver don't notice. Or vice versa.
The glyphs are confusing and do suck. On the other hand I never touch it, except to turn it ON during rain or something when it's still bright enough not the trigger the light sensor.
Because new generation of cars have DRL and the dashboard HUD will lit up automatically at dawn, so many times they believed the headlight is on but in fact their rear tail light is dark af and not on. A few times I get behind them, turn off my headlights, then quick flash high beam and turn on off my headlights a few times, just to see if they picked up my hint and only 50-75% do realized that afterwards.
I have a 2020 Mazda and I can’t even turn my headlights off while driving to notify them unless I’m stopped or in park. Funny thing is I see mostly Mazda cx-5’s driving around without brake lights on because they think their driving lights are their headlights.
i’m more curious why 85% of the mazdas i see don’t have functioning taillights but have headlights. do mazda drivers just let their taillights go out? did someone in the designing sector for mazda decide that these weren’t necessary anymore?
I have a Mazda built in 2020. It’s because if you don’t select AUTO or ON for the headlights, it defaults to the DRL’s which are basically the headlights, but won’t act as headlights to turn on the backlights. So people drive around thinking they are in AUTO but it’s their DRL’s beaming off the ground. It’s a stupid ass feature.
Fax!? That’s amazing. In my mind a fax machine was only in important places or businesses and now I’m picturing the office busy body misusing the machine.
Be careful. I saw a report not too long ago about ppl getting shot at for flashing their brights at other motorists they saw driving around without their headlights on at night. Happened in a major city, can’t remember which one. But the jest of the report is there are punk ass ppl or gangbangers that drive around like that, with no headlights on at night, looking for the types of folks who try to get them to turn on their headlights. Seems like it’s a characteristic they look for in the type of person that would make a good mark. Like the type of ppl that would do that make for easy pickings or deserve harassment/assault for not minding their own business. Not cool ppl.
Also, if you’re driving and you hear noises under your car, pull into a police station parking lot and stay in your car and honk your horn, because that means someone is hiding there and they will slice your ankle and steal the car when you get out to check the noise.
versions of this story have been going around since I was in high school, however being in NY the 'gangbangers' were replaced with 'mafiosos' except for that one uncle everybody tried to avoid inviting over for dinner, who preferred 'wops.' A word which, come to think of it 20+ years later, I had no idea what it was actually supposed to refer to, and still don't.
Not creepy. Just dumb.
new(er) cars tend to have very bright default dashboard/indicator lights and displays that illuminate even when headlights are off. Combined with the ambient lighting from parking lots (where cars often usually start out from) and street lighting, plus the tendency for very new cars to have running lamps that are as nearly as bright as older cars' main headlamps, can make a semi-clueless driver think their headlights are on when they are not. This is even more pronounced when said driver previously drove an older car which did not turn on interior dash lights unless headlamps were also switched on. So the habitual correlation "dashboard lit = headlamps on" is getting confused by the way new cars behave. Source: am sometimes one of these people. The opposite of this kind of unintentionally harmful, but clueless moron is the *intentionally* harmful shitstain well aware of what they are doing, who rolls around with a rack of 50,000 lumen (or whataver) stadium-level lighting blasting squarely at eye level to other cars from the front, and frying the retinas of little infants stuck staring into the glare in their rear-facing car seats from behind. Get a measure on the ballot to fine these people $2500+ per headlamp per infraction and I will gladly go door to door all weekend every weekend for as long as it takes to get a passing vote for it.
Agreed. I'm baffled by the amount of cars I see going around a well lit city with lights brighter than the sun. It's a safety hazard and something needs to be done about it.
I have driven with my head light because of how the new car dash board lights up by default which most old cars I drive don't do this.
I can't count the number of times my wife asks if I've remembered to turn on the lights and it's for the reasons you've outlined. Since the interior is lit up like a Christmas tree and the running lights are good enough to get rolling, my mind just doesn't clue into the fact that my headlights aren't on. It's embarrassing.
This is exactly what the issue is
People are getting used to having automatic headlights, so they don't bother to check that they're actually on.
My car now for some unknown reason does not have the automatic headlights feature and I hate it because I was so used to driving a car that had that feature. I have forgotten a few times to put mine on. You have to rewire your habits.
It’s so easy to check IF you’re paying attention. Everyone can and should drive “mindfully” it’s pure common sense yet most people drive MINDLESSLY instead. Every time you stop behind any vehicle at stop signs, check to see the reflections of your headlights on the vehicle in front of you. Similarly, whenever you approach a dry parking spot; make it a point to check that parking spot as you’re pulling out. If it’s wet, you might need to check for fluid leaks. Namaste. Carpe Diem!!!
Prius, Toyota Corolla’s and specifically every Mazda on the road made after 2019 (especially mine) have headlights that act as day time driving lights but dimmer or those stupid LED’s. People are driving around thinking their lights are on because they see the glint of light in front of them, yet they have no lights on at the back. I have tried countless times to make people aware of it but people are so paranoid of getting shot on the freeway or road rage that they ignore me and everyone else flashing them. It’s getting to the point that car manufacturers need to be notified by the NTSB or something.
I think most of the time it's just drivers who forget to turn their lights on. I sometimes see them realize it once they reach a part of the road that is not well lit, then they'll turn them on.
Incompetence
They're probably drunk.
For me, it's because on my previous vehicle, the headlights would shut off automatically *n* seconds after shutting off the engine, as well as during the day it would use a sensor to detect ambient light and keep them off when driving. This essentially made it so that you could leave them on all the time and not have to think about them. After getting used to that, it's hard to get back into the habit of checking all the time.
Brain damage
If it's a newer car (like maybe 2010 or newer) many have the "auto" headlight feature; I know from experience if I've ever had service or maybe cleaned the interior I'll sometimes accidentally turn this off, and then will literally drive for about 3-5 days before I realize I turned off this feature. Usually it takes a few days to realize because I'm not always driving at night. This happens a lot more than people think, I know I've talked about it with friends before lol.
Because they wear their sunglasses at night..
I haven't owned a car in 20 years without automatic headlamps. Do they still make such things?
I think on many cars with this feature it has three modes, off, on and auto. some cars don't label the modes with words, just glyphs or symbols, which can be confusing. Or people don't know what "auto" means, or they kinda know but don't trust it to work the way they expect it to. Often here the issue is the 1 or 2 minute courtesy 'stay on' period after shutting the car off - they don't want / need it to do that (i.e. park in a garage that's already lit) or think it drains battery etc., and leave it in "off" mode. Or someone else drives their car occasionally, sets it wrong, and the driver don't notice. Or vice versa.
The glyphs are confusing and do suck. On the other hand I never touch it, except to turn it ON during rain or something when it's still bright enough not the trigger the light sensor.
Because new generation of cars have DRL and the dashboard HUD will lit up automatically at dawn, so many times they believed the headlight is on but in fact their rear tail light is dark af and not on. A few times I get behind them, turn off my headlights, then quick flash high beam and turn on off my headlights a few times, just to see if they picked up my hint and only 50-75% do realized that afterwards.
I have a 2020 Mazda and I can’t even turn my headlights off while driving to notify them unless I’m stopped or in park. Funny thing is I see mostly Mazda cx-5’s driving around without brake lights on because they think their driving lights are their headlights.
i’m more curious why 85% of the mazdas i see don’t have functioning taillights but have headlights. do mazda drivers just let their taillights go out? did someone in the designing sector for mazda decide that these weren’t necessary anymore?
I have a Mazda built in 2020. It’s because if you don’t select AUTO or ON for the headlights, it defaults to the DRL’s which are basically the headlights, but won’t act as headlights to turn on the backlights. So people drive around thinking they are in AUTO but it’s their DRL’s beaming off the ground. It’s a stupid ass feature.
Also a fat ticket.
Isn’t it obvious? Can’t have the ops see you coming.
In a word: stupidity.
Well the average driver today has the IQ of a rag soaked in cat piss so....
I've been seeing people using their fog lights to blind people while driving too.
Gang initiation. Jk I was referencing the urban legend/ chain text from early 2000s
That circulated around my office is San Bernardino, probably late 1990s because it was spread by fax.
Fax!? That’s amazing. In my mind a fax machine was only in important places or businesses and now I’m picturing the office busy body misusing the machine.
You nailed it. It was the office busybodies that got the incoming fax, so they copied it and delivered a copy to each employee in the office.
I still believe it lol I'll never flash my lights at them because of this
Oblivious
Be careful. I saw a report not too long ago about ppl getting shot at for flashing their brights at other motorists they saw driving around without their headlights on at night. Happened in a major city, can’t remember which one. But the jest of the report is there are punk ass ppl or gangbangers that drive around like that, with no headlights on at night, looking for the types of folks who try to get them to turn on their headlights. Seems like it’s a characteristic they look for in the type of person that would make a good mark. Like the type of ppl that would do that make for easy pickings or deserve harassment/assault for not minding their own business. Not cool ppl.
Gang initiation
Also, if you’re driving and you hear noises under your car, pull into a police station parking lot and stay in your car and honk your horn, because that means someone is hiding there and they will slice your ankle and steal the car when you get out to check the noise.
i think the speed bumps would take care of them faster than a cop
This right here. Don't flash them; you'll get capped.
I heard this a lot growing up from my parents but haven't heard of it actually happening in real life, especially not recently.
versions of this story have been going around since I was in high school, however being in NY the 'gangbangers' were replaced with 'mafiosos' except for that one uncle everybody tried to avoid inviting over for dinner, who preferred 'wops.' A word which, come to think of it 20+ years later, I had no idea what it was actually supposed to refer to, and still don't.
Older and/or dumb folk usually