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Post by silverdragon on Feb 2, 2014 13:09:23 GMT
Vehicles with lights on get seen first.
Daytime running, in medium light, strong light, or dusky light, doesn't matter when or what conditions, perhaps test all, but NOT night time, 'cos we already know THAT to be true.
Otherwise, Says exactly what is in the tin here... In a street of vehicles, do you note the ones with lights on first?... In a whole stream of vehicles approaching from a distance, do you see the ones with lights on first?... Do you see a solitary vehicle with its lights on from a further distance than one without.
Does the brightness of the sun make a difference, does direction of sun make a difference, in front of you or behind you late in the day....
Does type of light matter, as in, old dim sidelights, or Halogen, or LED.
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Post by the light works on Feb 2, 2014 15:06:48 GMT
I would guess a vehicle with lights on might be able to hide coming out of the sun. however, I don't bother counting the number of times I begin to pull onto the roadway, and then finally notice a vehicle hiding in the fog with all of its lights off.
to my mind the only thing worse than driving in anything but perfect weather with the lights off; is driving at any time in traffic, with your high beams at maximum brilliance. with the one, I can't see you. with the other, I can't see ANYTHING.
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Post by silverdragon on Feb 4, 2014 8:01:23 GMT
Next time that happens, look for it... I would say that the extra two points of light actually help. Not Much, nut better than nothing?
Cars hiding in Fog... Why are they always Grey (Executive silver) and going faster than they should?....
And having seen a whole double deck bus with its lights on hide in a fog bank until up to 20 yds away, yes, fog can hide lots.
Fog is the one weather condition that scares me the most... you dont know what you cant see until you can. And then its usually Grey doing 70mph with no fracking lights on.
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Post by Cybermortis on Feb 4, 2014 13:55:30 GMT
I'm not sure if this would have enough weight to really carry a segment on its own.
However, based on the discussion going on in the 'Random Car Chatter' thread elsewhere maybe we could expand the idea here somewhat?
I'm thinking that they could test to see what car colour gives the best visibility at night, or in bad weather. To which they could add lighting types to see how to make the 'safest' general car. (Or what external features will make a car more visible)
I'd think that white or silver cars would be much easier to see at night than other colours, but that such colours would make it harder to see the car in fog. So is there a colour that would stand out in fog and at night?
Thoughts?
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Post by the light works on Feb 4, 2014 15:20:28 GMT
and the thought that just hit me was "cars with lights on get seen first... as opposed to felt first?"
I would guess a color that stands out best in fog would be any of the high visibility colors - with the caveat that a friend told me that pink does not show up well in artificial lighting. (as he discovered during a hunting trip where the route back had been marked with pink surveyors tape)
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Post by kharnynb on Feb 5, 2014 20:30:00 GMT
Having both lived in Finland(lights obligatory) and Netherlands(no obligation during daytime), I can say that it gives you atleast 200 meters extra in rainy or foggy conditions.
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Post by wvengineer on Feb 5, 2014 22:42:41 GMT
15 years ago, I would say yes it did. When they first came out with daytime running lights, they defiantly stood out. However, when close to 50% of the cars on the road have DRL's, they no longer stand out and I don't notice them under normal good weather driving.
I think it is telling that they have been out for so long, if they were that great of a safety feature, every new car would have them. I wouldn't say that most don't, but a large percentage of new cars still don't come with DRL's.
In bad weather, they defiantly help. Several states even require head lights in the rain. I am actually surprised that they have not linked automatic headlights to wipers. If you have auto headlight, it would be a simple matter of a few lines of code in the BCU to turn the headlights on in the day when the wipers are on for more than, say, 30 seconds.
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Post by the light works on Feb 6, 2014 3:26:37 GMT
15 years ago, I would say yes it did. When they first came out with daytime running lights, they defiantly stood out. However, when close to 50% of the cars on the road have DRL's, they no longer stand out and I don't notice them under normal good weather driving. I think it is telling that they have been out for so long, if they were that great of a safety feature, every new car would have them. I wouldn't say that most don't, but a large percentage of new cars still don't come with DRL's. In bad weather, they defiantly help. Several states even require head lights in the rain. I am actually surprised that they have not linked automatic headlights to wipers. If you have auto headlight, it would be a simple matter of a few lines of code in the BCU to turn the headlights on in the day when the wipers are on for more than, say, 30 seconds. for all I know it may be a simple matter of pressing the dome light button twice, then clicking the wipers on and off, then pressing the dome light button twice more.
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Post by silverdragon on Feb 6, 2014 7:59:47 GMT
I cant see whats wrong with just making all new cars come automatic with sidelights on when the engine runs.
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Post by kharnynb on Feb 6, 2014 11:31:27 GMT
most cars in nordic countries(some imports excepted) have standard running lights, my car for example, you CANNOT turn off the lights, parking lights is the lowest setting, OFF just is normal running lights.
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Post by Cybermortis on Feb 6, 2014 13:39:08 GMT
most cars in nordic countries(some imports excepted) have standard running lights, my car for example, you CANNOT turn off the lights, parking lights is the lowest setting, OFF just is normal running lights. Interesting to note that the places where running lights are mandatory are also places were visibility is much more likely to be low. Either because of the local weather conditions or because they are close to the Arctic circle and can have very long nights. Anyway. The $1 million question is; How could any of this be tested? The idea does seem interesting, in the general sense of looking at what factors are likely to increase visibility and hence safety. But I can't think of a way this could be tested in a practical manner. MB avoid any myths where they are relying on the weather doing what they need it to do for obvious reasons, and testing this indoors would not be viable as driving a car indoors in poor visibility is just begging for an accident. To say nothing of the difficulty of getting usable footage; 'We know that all you can see is a white screen, but trust us this is interesting' isn't exactly the right way to go....
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Post by kharnynb on Feb 6, 2014 14:22:24 GMT
There have been many studies over the years, most support a small benefit in anything but full sunlight.
The only studies that is actually against has been by the NHTSA, even though the insurers orgs. were for it.
In the EU they are mandatory on all new vehicles.
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Post by the light works on Feb 6, 2014 16:19:00 GMT
testing is simple. just put a pair of in car cameras in the side windows of my truck, with indicators for throttle and brake. it will quickly become apparent that there are many more times I start to pull out, then make an abrupt stop because of a car without running lights than because of a car with running lights.
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Post by Cybermortis on Feb 6, 2014 18:01:51 GMT
You miss the problem - weather.
MB can't reply on mother nature to give them the conditions they'd need to test the idea out; That lights make you more visible at night is hardly a myth. Nor can they create fog or heavy rain over a large enough area to make testing worthwhile or for that matter remotely effective.
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Post by the light works on Feb 6, 2014 18:18:35 GMT
You miss the problem - weather. MB can't reply on mother nature to give them the conditions they'd need to test the idea out; That lights make you more visible at night is hardly a myth. Nor can they create fog or heavy rain over a large enough area to make testing worthwhile or for that matter remotely effective. not in California, they can't. but I live in Oregon.
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Post by silverdragon on Feb 7, 2014 7:49:00 GMT
Forget Fog, they have Smog... For low light, they may have to get up early?...
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Post by the light works on Feb 7, 2014 14:46:22 GMT
Forget Fog, they have Smog... For low light, they may have to get up early?... They have made a significant improvement in the smog situation.
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Post by the light works on Feb 7, 2014 15:49:30 GMT
here, this can double for a "how's the weather" post, but it shows the difference having lights on makes in bad weather.
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Post by kharnynb on Feb 7, 2014 17:11:17 GMT
Ouch, no winter tyres and no winter driving skills on that last bit
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Post by the light works on Feb 7, 2014 17:22:07 GMT
Ouch, no winter tyres and no winter driving skills on that last bit probably all season tires. it was the suburban that wasn't in 4WD mode in the beginning of the footage that caught my eye.
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