Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 21:40:55 -0400
Reply-To: James Wagner <wagner01@EROLS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: James Wagner <wagner01@EROLS.COM>
Subject: Re: If You're Against Mandatory Daytime Running Lights...
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Kelly Bauman wrote:
> >Kelly Bauman wrote:
> >> Why would you be against DRLs? Unless of course you are also opposed seat
> >> belts, air bags, turn signals, brake lights, side impact beams, etc.
> >>
> At 13:39 17-09-98 -0400, David-M wrote:
> >Because they give no provable benefit and they are a pain in the neck!
> >There is only a benefit when just a few vehicles have them, then they
> >stick out. But once EVERY vehicle has them you are back to where you
> >started, except everyone has headaches from the glare.
>
> David, the benefit has been proven in private fleets including Greyhound in
> the US and in several of the countries where DRLs are mandatory. To
> paraphrase a post from List member YauMan Chan, like it or not, the
> statistics are in favour of DRLs.
>
> The benefit does not diminish when all vehicles use them and arguments of
> glare are specious. The improvement in visibilty, especially on undivided
> highways, is remarkable. The issue seems to be one of
> anti-legislation/anti-government sentiment, not the true impact of DRLs.
>
I don't think that is necessarily the case. The issue for me is simply whether
people can deal with the visibility/recognition problem without imposing on
others. I commute most places here in Washington DC by bicycle and live on a
fairly busy rural-like road. And it is incredibly intrusive to have people using
bright lights day or night (looking straight into any headlights is bright).
There is no effort on individual drivers part to make things safer at their
expense, it is always at the expense of the other drivers (who maybe more
conservative with their lights) and the surrounding communities. There are many
things which could be done to make driving easier for the motorist, but at who's
expense? It is a matter of where we are going to draw the line. In this area
(2nd most congested metropolitan area of the country), the move simply needs to
go in the opposite direction. Maybe in rural areas where is there is not much
traffic the benefits of DRLs would outweigh any drawbacks, but in the city with a
constant flow of traffic at almost all hours, it would just be nearly unbearable
to have all those additional lights. It is a quality of life issue for urban
areas.
--
James Wagner
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