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Turning off daytime running lights.

24K views 42 replies 20 participants last post by  bobby walnuts 
#1 ·
Is there a way to not have the headlight on? I think it's pointless for it to be on in the middle of the day. I'm sure there is some trick.
 
#8 ·
I've been riding motorcycles since 1976. As such, I knew the benefits of having the headlight on. When I started driving cars around the same time, I always drove with my lights on. This was decades before daylight running lights.

I got stopped once in my car by the police. He said I pulled you over because you were driving with your lights on in the day time. I said, "yea, I know that." I guess I was way ahead of my time. Now lights are mandatory on our highways.
 
#10 ·
You might not know this but PRIOR to 1976 motorcycles in the USA did not have to have the headlight on while riding. So....therefore you couldn't know how it was to ride without one.
 
#9 ·
This must be a late April Fool's joke.
 
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#25 ·
Apart from the legal / insurance issues of running without headlight on, i'd love to see some good evidence to suggest that the OP is the fool he is being accused of for wanting to run without lights on during the day.

Considering the many occasions when i've been sat in the car at a sideroad exit, and thought an oncoming bike had 'flashed' me out in front of him because his poorly adjusted headlight had dipped as the bike went over a slight hollow in the road, i'm not at all convinced DRLs help reduce accidents - especially as cars pulling out on bikes at junctions are a major cause of them.
 
#27 ·
Apart from the legal / insurance issues of running without headlight on, i'd love to see some good evidence to suggest that the OP is the fool he is being accused of for wanting to run without lights on during the day.

Guess why they put lights on bikes, cars, motorcycles, airplanes, boats, and anything else that moves?

Lights do improve visibility, it's a proven fact. I suggest you delete this post before you get raked over the proverbial coals.
 
#26 ·
Do you think it was made a law without good evidence? ...and it's the law in many countries (USA, Canada, EU, Australia, etc.)

The larger, overarching, problem is the pathetic lack of research and studies on motorcycle safety (the last one being the Hurt Report published in 1981). BUT, with that being said....

"Rumar (2003) reviews the effectiveness of motorcycle DRLs. He reports that there are relatively few applicable studies. For example, Henderson and others (1983) showed that motorcycle crashes were reduced by about 5% after the introduction of the DRL legislation for motorcycles in North Carolina in 1973. Other crashes were not influenced. Williams (1996) reports an estimated 13% reduction in motorcycle crashes through the use of motorcycle DRLs (mostly headlights) in the USA"

Sad that any available data is >10 years old.
 
#30 ·
This plus how would you prove headlight effectiveness out of a controlled setting? Do people report almost accidents and cite that the headlights being on prevented it from happening. We largely rely on crash statistics but what you can't find is the number of avoided crashes due to headlight being on or Hi Viz gear or a combination of both.

It's common sense to line up a bike/car/plane/boat with lights and one without and determine which one is more visible.

You can call it a "pack" opinion - most people call this an overwhelming majority of people thinking the same thing.

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