Modern cars or not, it is quite important that to increase your visibility on the road to avoid unwanted accidents and that’s where daytime running lights comes in.
More and more car manufacturers are now producing commercial automobiles that has DRLs and featured as an added safety and aesthetic features of their vehicle lineups.
So for most car owners, it is quite an added bonus if the car they are planning to have actually has this feature. But there’s many questions that comes to mind. Is it truly necessary? How big of a difference does it make? And, is it truly increase the safety of the car?
In this short post, I’ll discuss to you the facts about daytime running lights and the big difference it makes for all types of motorists.
What is a Daytime Running Light?
A daytime running light, or sometimes called daytime running lamp (or simply called DRL by most car geeks), is a vehicle lighting device placed on the front of an automobile or motorcycle (some bicycles do have DRLs too).
It’s main function is to help other motorists to easily identify your vehicle, and not to help you see the road or surroundings (for clear visibility). This way, you can dramatically reduce any chances of car collisions or any type of vehicular accidents.
These days, daytime running lights are implemented through the use of light-emitting diode or LED. I’ll go into details why LED is a crucial part of DRLs later in this article.
Depending on your countries automobile lighting regulations, vehicles may implement DRL by turning on specific lamps on a reduced intensity (low and high beam headlamps, fog lamps, and even turn signals). This lamps are widely used in the 70’s and 80’s until the introduction of LEDs.
Daytime Running Light Usage Issues
Depending on the car you are using, common DRLs are automatically switched on once the ignition is on. Other cars are park light driven, meaning that the DRL will only turn on when you switched on your park lights.
In rare cases, some vehicles turn on their daytime running lights whenever they release their parking brake or the car is shifted into a gear (reverse or the Drive gear). What does this all mean?
It means that DRLs requires additional power from the car’s electric system. Old daytime running lamps consumes over 200 watts including headlamps, parking, tail and turn signals.
Aside from the power it additionally drains from the battery, it also has environmental impact as the car would also consume more fuel due to their use. How is this possible you may ask?
Well, DRL power requirements are produced by the engine which results to more fuel being burned. Plus, high-intensity daytime running lights increases CO2 emissions. So countries with such cars are quite affected by the Kyoto Protocol by the United Nations on climate change (1).
Here’s where light-emitting diode comes in! These low-power, high-efficacy and long life alternative bulbs produces the right amounts of light for an efficient DRL without increasing fuel consumption and emissions.
There are several studies suggesting the LED DRL system are way better than conventional headlamp types of DRL systems. In total, experts report that up to 0.8 kph of fuel reductions are achieved when comparing a 55 watt LED-type DRL to a 200 watt DRL system.
That means that fuel consumption issues with daytime running lights using LEDs are reduced to insignificant levels by just using a 8 to 10 watt DRL systems.
Does Daytime Running Lights Have Safety Benefits?
Daytime running lights are introduced to help reduce vehicle collisions, nothing else. So does this visibility car feature actually help prevent accidents?
The answer to that question is a big YES!
According to this study (2), daytime running lights offer slight reduction in the frequency or severity of vehicular accidents especially with sedans and other light vehicles, except for light trucks and vans which has significant reduction of 5.7%.
Another study was conducted to evaluate the effects of daytime running lights on car safety. The results suggests that cars with DRL have a lower rate probability for multi-party daytime accidents of 3 up to 12% (3).
What are these data tells you? Well, in simpler terms, daytime running lights can help reduce your risks for vehicular accidents.
Summary
So there you have it! For some, daytime running lights may not be as essential compared to other safety features of their cars, but it is surely much better to have one done nothing.
DRLs aren’t just going reduce your risks of accident, it also helps make your car look cool and modern. So if your ride doesn’t have one, you can install an aftermarket DRL and bring more life to your car!
Here are some aftermarket daytime running lights on Amazon that you can use for your car.
Below is an example on how to install an aftermarket DRL. Take note that the video is in Tagalog language, but it has English subtitle to help you understand the video.
Enjoy watching!
References:
Image Credit – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Thermos
What is Kyoto Protocol?
https://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol
The Effectiveness of Daytime Running Lights for Passenger Vehicles
https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/811029
A Meta-Analysis of Studies Concerning the Safety Effects of Daytime Running Lights on Cars
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9006637/
