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does anyone know if it is general traffic law that if your windshield wipers are operating, your lights must be on too? most drivers know that visibility is reduced in the rain(and turn on the lights) but is it an actual law?
also if you have a vehicle that has a rear window wiper does that have to be on if your windshield wipers are operating?
i ask because i drove the new car in it's first storm and turned on the rear wiper just to be safe (even tho i didn't see an actual need as i had no trouble seeing out the back window)
If it's a state law in your state, it will be signposted at intervals along the highway. The first place I ever saw that sign was, I think, Georgia, in the early 90s.
The USA still does not require running lights, so it is possible to drive a car without headlights. So wipers-on-lights-off remains possibly the only decision that is still left up to the discretion of the driver.
My wife drives with lights on quite a lot, and every couple of months I have to jump start her car, because she leaves them on overnight. We can put a man on the moon, but we can't figure out a way to guard against lights being left on in the daytime. I think the powerful battery lobby has blocked carmakers from installing safeguards against leaving the lights on in the daytime. I've tried to train her to keep a clothes pin in the car, and put it on the key when she turns on the lights, as a reminder.
My old 1960 Land Rover was the last car I ever saw with a sensible system. The headlight switch was a ring around the ignition key, so when the key was turned off, the ring got turned along with it and the lights went off. But the ring could then be depressed and turned independently, to turn them back on with the ignition off. Land Rover, it seems, did not think a dead battery in the middle of the Sahara Desert was a very good selling point, so they snubbed their nose at the battery lobby, who tin turn threw their Timbuktu dealer under the bus.
A similar plan, probably unintentional, existed in my '70 Datsun. If the light switch was pulled out, it would bump my knuckle when I turned off the ignition key. An effective reminder.
Of course, there is the space-age way. Digital technology and a superfluous wiring harness to turn the lights off after a timer, so people don't even get into the habit of turning them off, and if you want them on when the engine is off, you simply read the manual and try to figure out how to reprogram a computer in the dark, in your unfamiliar rental car, no two of which are alike (thanks to the miracle of intellectual property laws), and pray that afterwards, you have it properly reset to turn them off automatically again.
If it's it's a state law in your state, it will be signposted at intervals along the highway. The first place I ever saw that sign was, I think, Georgia, in the early 90s.
The USA still does not require running lights, so it is possible to drive a car without headlights.
My wife drives with lights on quite a lot, and every couple of months I have to jump start her car, because she leaves them on overnight. We can go the moon, but we can't figure out a way to guard against lights being left on in the daytime. I think the powerful battery lobby has blocked carmakers from installing safeguards against leaving the lights on in the daytime. I've tried to train her to keep a clothes pin in the car, and put it on the key when she turns on the lights, as a reminder.
My old 1960 Land Rover was the last car I ever saw with a sensible system. The headlight switch was a ring around the ignition key, so when the key was turned off, the ring got turned along with it and the lights went off. But the ring could then be turned independently, to turn them back on with the ignition off. Land Rover, it seems, did not think a dead battery in the middle of the Sahara Desert was a very good selling point, so they snubbed their nose at the battery lobby.
A similar plan, probably unintentional, existed in my '70 Datsun. If the light switch was pulled out, it would bump my knuckle when I turned off the ignition key. An effective reminder.
Both our cars, 96 Lincoln, and 95 De Ville, have a feature where the lights will turn off after a couple of minutes if the ignition is off.
So that has been around a while.
Many newer cars have an auto feature, which turns lights on when you turn ignition on to start the car, and they turn off after the ignition has been turned off.
As for the OP, Colorado has such a law. as does Florida
Its the law in NC. My previous Tacoma and my corolla both turn the headlights off as soon as the ignition is turned off. As for the rear wiper, no law against having those off when its raining. I never turn my 4Runners rear wiper on simply because it won't go back to its resting spot and if it doesn't go back I cannot open the rear window.
I think laws linking wiper use to lights use are stupid. I use RainX on my windshields. Even in solid rain I often don't need my wipers at all.
Wipers clear water off the windshield. Lights may or may not be required when wipers are used.
As for the rear - some vehicles with wipers rarely need them because of the air flow over the vehicles. Others have rear wipers that move way too fast and end up running dry most of the time even in rain.
Some states have the windshield wiper law, in case people lack basic common sense. I have never heard about a rear wiper law, but no law surprises me anymore, no matter how frivolous.
I think laws linking wiper use to lights use are stupid. I use RainX on my windshields. Even in solid rain I often don't need my wipers at all.
Wipers clear water off the windshield. Lights may or may not be required when wipers are used.
As for the rear - some vehicles with wipers rarely need them because of the air flow over the vehicles. Others have rear wipers that move way too fast and end up running dry most of the time even in rain.
The Logic is that in rain, oncoming cars are harder to see unless their lights are on.
So if everybody has their lights on when it's raining, it reduces the chances of accidents.
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