Bulley wrote: > Actually, no. DRL's are typically high-beams of the vehicle, operated at > 80% voltage. I find it strange that the high beams are used as DRLs, all cars here in Norway has had mandatory automatic DRLs since 1985, and it is usually low beams or fog lights operated at 70-100% voltage. The requirement for DRLs are that they have to be bulbs of at least 20w, and with yellow or white light. All pre-1985 cars have to use lights on at daytime as well, one can get fined for not using lights, with 500 crowns or $65. There are kits available here, that makes your low beams into automatic DRLs. > The purpose is to call attention to the vehicle during > daylight hours by using a slightly dimmed version of longest range beam of > the car. Exactly, and studies have showed that there are less accidents when lights are used in daytime. That's why we've had this since 1985. > > > The city lamp, on the other hand, is a 5w bulb that does NOTHING toward > illuminating the road surface, it is there mostly to mark the front of the > vehicle while driving in the city. Or to put it more correct, it is the parking lights. In the US, the parking lights are often incorporated into the turn signals, giving amber parking lights. Here in Europe, the parking lights are separate units, or incorporated into the head light and with bulbs of 4 or 5 watts. The parking lights MUST be white, no amber or yellow or green or blue allowed. > (Some European cities have wisely chosen > to forbid headlamps in the city, recognizing that they do more to blind > oncoming vehicles than they do to illuminate roads that are sufficiently > illuminated by street lamps). I have never heard of this, and I have neither felt blinded by other cars headlights in traffic. (Not speaking from the Vanagons high view point either) These days, the lights on the car do more than light up the road. PerL 87 Syncro 112i |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.