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That one is actually a pretty good one. I see lots of vehicles driving at night with their lights off. It's just a matter of time before they are mandated. The rain sensing wipers, I agree, are a dumb idea.
I blame a lot of the problem with cars driving at night without headlights on the increase of electroluminescent gauges on many cars! My 2006 Mazda3 s was the first car I owned with 'electro' gauges and they're so bright that they could easily give the impression that the headlights must be on because the gauges are brighly illuminated. I think a light sensor on all cars with those type of gauges would take care of much of the problem.
Most Volvo models are now capable of detecting a tunnel or underpass and turning on the headlights in a fraction of a second. Once the tunnel or overpass is cleared, it turns them back on. How hard could it be to have a car sense that it's simply dark outside, nothing fancier than that.
A few years ago, I read about a guy who drove 200+ miles somewhere up in the Northeast and never realized his headlights weren't on! You'd think the road would get harder to see eventually as things grew darker....kinda scary!
Why have windshield wipers? Carry a raw potato with you, if it rains cut it in half and wipe it across the windshield, it works. I have two cars that have rain sensing wipers the 1999 MB also has headlight washers. I like it.
Now that the law has changed in a lot of places, I'd like a feature in any car I own where the headlights automatically turn on when the wipers are on.
With daytime running lights, it's pretty easy to drive off at night and not notice that the headlights aren't on. ...particularly if you have auto-on headlights that are usually enabled and they are in the OFF position. I certainly do it once in a while. There are lights on so I can see but it's the DRL, not the headlights. I figure it out the first time I glance at the dash and can't see the gauges but I could have been driving for a couple of minutes before that happens.
I've never owned a car with rain-sensing wipers so I don't have an opinion. I've said "I don't care" about lots of features that are now must-haves on my cars. The most recent is adaptive cruise control. On a long trip, I set it at speed limit + 9 and can go an hour without touching the pedals. It lets me move my legs around and avoids a lot of driver fatigue. I also had no idea how much I'd love keyless entry/pushbutton start. My key fob never comes out of my pocket.
I'd probably love rain-sensing wipers. Useful driving in heavy traffic when your windshield gets nailed from splash from a puddle or slush. One less distraction from staying focused on the cars around you.
Now that the law has changed in a lot of places, I'd like a feature in any car I own where the headlights automatically turn on when the wipers are on.
With daytime running lights, it's pretty easy to drive off at night and not notice that the headlights aren't on. ...particularly if you have auto-on headlights that are usually enabled and they are in the OFF position. I certainly do it once in a while. There are lights on so I can see but it's the DRL, not the headlights. I figure it out the first time I glance at the dash and can't see the gauges but I could have been driving for a couple of minutes before that happens.
I've never owned a car with rain-sensing wipers so I don't have an opinion. I've said "I don't care" about lots of features that are now must-haves on my cars. The most recent is adaptive cruise control. On a long trip, I set it at speed limit + 9 and can go an hour without touching the pedals. It lets me move my legs around and avoids a lot of driver fatigue. I also had no idea how much I'd love keyless entry/pushbutton start. My key fob never comes out of my pocket.
I'd probably love rain-sensing wipers. Useful driving in heavy traffic when your windshield gets nailed from splash from a puddle or slush. One less distraction from staying focused on the cars around you.
I've always thought that wipers (other than if you're just squirting washer fluid and wiping for a few seconds) should also trigger the headlights to come on. Here in Georgia, if it's raining, the law requires headlights to be on.
I'll give a bit of warning about rain-sensing wipers that a friend, yeah a friend of mine, learned the hard way! If you take your car thru an automatic car wash, make CERTAIN that they're in the off position and not in the Auto position. I did that, I mean my friend did that, when my Mazda CX-9 was less than a year old. The wiper arms looked like those balloon animals that they make for kids at carnivals! I took it to the dealer and the Service Advisor and I have known each other for about 10 years because they did a lot of work on my '06 Mazda when it was younger. I took him out to the car, and just sort of hung my head....I was planning to lie and say I had no idea how it happened but I just couldn't do it. He stared at them for a moment, then stared at me (still hanging my head in shame) and chuckled, "looks like a warranty issue to me!" I told him I'd put his kids through college!
I've driven several Volvos with Adaptive Cruise Control and once I learned to trust it a little (but still have my foot covering the brake in case something goes wrong) but I fell in love with it! I rent cars for work a lot (40+ times per year) and a few times I've had an S60 Platinum which includes the Technology Package. That package includes the Adaptive Cruise, Pedestrian & Cyclist Detection with Full Auto-Brake, Forward Collision Warning System with Full Auto-Brake, Lane Keeping Assistance (cameras monitor the lines on the highway and if you veer too close to either side of your lane, a warning alarm/chime sounds and the car will gently steer itself back on course....but the steering part can be easily overpowered by the driver). It also has an annoying feature called Driver Alert Monitor and it monitors if you track straight in your lane or tend to veer a bit within your lane and it takes into account if you havent' maintained a consistent speed at all for X amount of time and so on. If it determines that you need to take a break, you get a dinging sound and a coffee cup in the instrument panel. That got on my nerves a little. But two other things that it had which I loved were Automatic High Beams (teh Adaptive Bi-Xenon HID headlights will dim for oncoming traffic then revert back to High Beams unless you override it for fog or some other reason. The other cool feature is that road sign information (speed limit signs in particular) appear in the instrument panel to help keep you aware of the speed limit and if you might be speeding. It updates by GPS.
It is just as dumb as the cars that have automatic headlights that come on when it is dark.
This isn't needed for driving at night but for driving at dusk when darkness has crept up on people, who can see the road just fine but don't realize that headlights are as much for others to see you as for you to see the road.
I've driven several Volvos with Adaptive Cruise Control and once I learned to trust it a little (but still have my foot covering the brake in case something goes wrong) but I fell in love with it! I rent cars for work a lot (40+ times per year) and a few times I've had an S60 Platinum which includes the Technology Package. That package includes the Adaptive Cruise, Pedestrian & Cyclist Detection with Full Auto-Brake, Forward Collision Warning System with Full Auto-Brake, Lane Keeping Assistance (cameras monitor the lines on the highway and if you veer too close to either side of your lane, a warning alarm/chime sounds and the car will gently steer itself back on course....but the steering part can be easily overpowered by the driver). It also has an annoying feature called Driver Alert Monitor and it monitors if you track straight in your lane or tend to veer a bit within your lane and it takes into account if you havent' maintained a consistent speed at all for X amount of time and so on. If it determines that you need to take a break, you get a dinging sound and a coffee cup in the instrument panel. That got on my nerves a little. But two other things that it had which I loved were Automatic High Beams (teh Adaptive Bi-Xenon HID headlights will dim for oncoming traffic then revert back to High Beams unless you override it for fog or some other reason. The other cool feature is that road sign information (speed limit signs in particular) appear in the instrument panel to help keep you aware of the speed limit and if you might be speeding. It updates by GPS.
I have most of that on my 6-cylinder Outback. The "beep, beep, beep" to stop being a d-bag and get my nose out of my smartphone when I drift in the lane is useful training. It's also great "use your freakin' blinkah" training for us Massholians who often don't use them changing lanes. My NAV has the speed limit display but I don't use it. The crossing traffic alert backing out of a parking spot is a great feature.
I have no idea how I ever drove when it was a 3-speed manual Willy's with no synchromesh and the only "feature" was a cigarette lighter. No power steering. No hydraulic assist brakes. Crank windows. If you wanted music, you hummed a song. Some times, I toy with buying a reconditioned 2CV as a summer toy to get back to the basics.
This isn't needed for driving at night but for driving at dusk when darkness has crept up on people, who can see the road just fine but don't realize that headlights are as much for others to see you as for you to see the road.
Whenever I'm driving at dusk, I end up switching my headlights on manually because I think they should be on before they come on automatically. That's especially true in my Mazda3, which is almost the same color as the road!
Have you ever seen a Volvo with only the taillight on the driver's side lit when the car isn't stopped? It's a rear fog light to improve visibility from the rear of the car in poor visibility conditions.
The same reason we have other convenience features like power locks and power windows. They aren't necessary but are great to have. Not because we're lazy, but because our time is too valuable.
If you think otherwise, don't use them. They're optional. No bitching needed.
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