This probably has been mentioned at some point in the past but I didn't see it in the "things you didn't know" thread at the top so I figure I'd mention it and also post it there too.

Unless you're European or have visited Europe, some may not know about the Euro parking light feature.

Due to narrow and dark streets in a lot of areas in Europe, some cars over there allow you to either keep your left or right parking light on when parallel parked on the street so people can see you and avoid hitting you.

Even our US cars have this feature which I discovered last year accidentally. You can just pull up on the headlight switch and turn it all the way left IIRC. You can turn it one click back to right to vary whether you want the left side on or right side on depending on which side of the street you parallel park on. This will stay on even with the keys out.

Although this is mainly a Euro thing, I can definitely see it being helpful in some areas here too.

Just be prepared for your hick friends or relatives to say your car is broken, just like when some people see European rear fogs on some cars. LOL.

Edit: I gotta check again this evening when I get back from work. Now that I think of it, it might not be the headlight switch but just the turn signal stalk. It's been awhile since I used the feature.

 

You had it right the first time "You can just pull up on the headlight switch and turn it all the way left IIRC. You can turn it one click back to right to vary whether you want the left side on or right side on depending on which side of the street you parallel park on. This will stay on even with the keys out." It keeps both the front and rear parking lights on left side or right side.

 

Thanks for the verification!

 

I always wondered what that was for. The diagram made me think it was some sort of weird fog light setup.