EV chat

Black Hole said:
It used to be necessary to dip the clutch when starting to lighten the load on the starter motor, but that necessity went out with the stone age.
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American sourced manual transmission cars require you to depress the clutch before they will start, so you don't career off without realising the car is in gear. I don't know what year the regulation came in though, but I am aware of this requirement on a sixties vintage vehicle.

I am aware of people who have had remote start fitted to their car, and come out of the shopping centre into the summer glare, pressed the start button on the remote to get the air conditioning working while they amble over to the car, and had their vehicle career into others in the car park because it was left in gear.
 
antipodean said:
Just because you haven't seen the motorcyclist with a death wish who is going to pass you on either side, depending which side they think will give them a better run - especially when approaching an off ramp that you are not taking.
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That's a reason not to have DRLs.
 
Black Hole said:
I have a friend who does this. If you want to do that, fine... but don't be forced into it just to stop the lane keeping kicking in (and as I said earlier, lane keeping can kick in even when there is no lane to keep in).
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My lane keep assist/warning are both always off - so as I said I just do it so it becomes a habit - autonomous for me if I am changing lanes.

I agree, the number of drivers that indicate far too soon on a roundabout is mind blowing - why I always wait to until their actual actions are confirmed before committing myself - causes some mutterings and a slight delay but better than being T-boned!
 
Black Hole said:
But you should have seen them.
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Nobody is 100% perfect all the time. But if you always indicate that mitigates some of the problems from not having seen them. They at least may see your intent.
Black Hole said:
What is it you don't understand about this? Do you not see myriad vehicles coming around a roundabout signalling left too early??
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Generally I don't see anybody indicating at all at roundabouts. I was taught to start indicating left to come off a roundabout just as you pass the previous exit so there is no ambiguity which exit you are coming off at. If the new highway code says to indicate left earlier than that then it is wrong.
 
EEPhil said:
Daytime Running Lights
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I hate those. They're too bright so approaching dusk all the daytime running lights ruin my night vision making it harder to see things. Also I've come across several drivers at night happily driving with the daytime running lights but with no lights showing at the rear. It's wrong, any time you have lights on at the front they should be on at the back as well.
 
Black Hole said:
It used to be easy to spot a motorbike because they were the only vehicles with lights on in the day.
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Of course, that makes sense!
On my last bike I fitted two extra bright but small DRL under the fuel tank which had a very slight "twinkle" modulation effect specifically designed to make them noticeable but not annoying - called SMIDSY lights? Whether legal or not I am not sure, but they seemed to do the trick. These were in addition to the always on headlight of course.
Also fitted two of the same version, but in red, at the rear to reinforce the effect of the brake light.
 
Owen Smith said:
I hate those. They're too bright so approaching dusk all the daytime running lights ruin my night vision making it harder to see things. Also I've come across several drivers at night happily driving with the daytime running lights but with no lights showing at the rear. It's wrong, any time you have lights on at the front they should be on at the back as well.
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I agree, if you fit DRL to a vehicle then that should be front and rear. As you say many of them are extremely bright and totally silly design and shapes - I assume there is no particular regulatory standard for positioning and brightness? The most ridiculous I can think of is the Hyundai Tuscon where the DRL are a vertical triangular array of LEDs occupying about a quarter of the front grille either side whereas the latest Kia Tank (sorry SUV) ones are just fugly
 
Owen Smith said:
any time you have lights on at the front they should be on at the back as well.
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Then they would not be DRLs.

I cannot think of any purpose for them; if the idea is in case the driver is too stupid to put the lights on when conditions are poor, then we now have a squadron of drivers too stupid to realise DRLs are not sufficient at night. I followed a car quite late at night, and when he pulled in to park I rolled up alongside and said he wasn't showing lights at the rear because he was only on DRLs. Apparently that was a complete surprise to him.

woodbar said:
The most ridiculous I can think of is the Hyundai Tuscon where the DRL are a vertical triangular array of LEDs occupying about a quarter of the front grille either side whereas the latest Kia Tank (sorry SUV) ones are just fugly
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I refer you to my previous comment:
Black Hole said:
you can't even go into a new car showroom with a pocket-load of money offering to buy one of their fancy over-priced monstrosities (does anyone actually like the looks of these ridiculous illuminations?)
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woodbar said:
I agree, if you fit DRL to a vehicle then that should be front and rear.
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Walking home for half an hour at dusk this evening, 9 out of 10 cars were showing lights at the front but not the rear. Seems clear to me daylight running lights only show at the front. The occasional car with lights front and rear were older models clearly with sidelights turned on. Another set had no lights on at all, which was legal at the time but dubious in my view. It was definitely sidelights time.
 
Owen Smith said:
It was definitely sidelights time.
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Lighting is required before sunrise and after sunset. Sidelights (parking lights) are permitted for 30 minutes before sunrise or after sunset, or in a 30MPH zone with street lighting.

If the sun was still up, no lights were required (which seems to escape those who flash at me because I haven't got lights on, even though I've still got a shadow).
 
Owen Smith said:
Then DRLs are stupidly specified. If the powers that be want lights at the front only they should be so dim that no-one can possibly drive at night on just the DRLs, but I have seen several people doing that.
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If they were too dim they would be of no use in daylight (I presume their purpose is to be seen). They're just dim-witted anyway.
 
Black Hole said:
Lighting is required before sunrise and after sunset. Sidelights (parking lights) are permitted for 30 minutes before sunrise or after sunset, or in a 30MPH zone with street lighting.

If the sun was still up, no lights were required (which seems to escape those who flash at me because I haven't got lights on, even though I've still got a shadow).
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The sun was indeed up, but the light levels were marginal. It is 30mph zone with street lighting. The issue was made far worse by all those blinding daylight running lights spoiling the night vision of oncoming drivers.
 
DRLs are what they say on the tin... at night the driver should turn their lights on! If the car has automatic lights they don't even need to do that! Not difficult.
 
My new (to me) car has automatic lights but they are too slow/quick to turn on or off especially for switching between full and dip. I always switch to manual on mode.
 
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