Leader

Do you drive with your Daytime Running Lights ON or OFF?
Some feel the new LED DRLs are gimmicky, others like 'em and use 'em.
Personally, sometimes I have them ON; sometimes I don't.

ADias

It's a safety item. They should be on. These cars are low profile and less visible.

Mike in CA

The help visibility without looking like you forgot and left your headlights on. I use them.

simsgw

Well, I feel about them the way I feel about polls. Useless, but as long as somebody else is doing it, I don't care. In this context, I wouldn't pay extra for them but as long as government regs are mandating them, I think the ones on the Porsche are good-looking alternatives to daytime headlights.

You might think they'd help visibility and therefore help safety, Tony, but some fairly strong evidence suggests people who run into something the size of a small class walking to school will run into it no matter what you do. Ask a fireman how often people run in front of or actually hit their trucks: painted high-visibility colors, flashing lights all over, and the size of small bungalow. All that and the twits looking for an accident find a way to hit them. What's the odds they will miss my Porsche if I count on them to do the evading?

My father drove long haul semi's during and after World War II and he taught me something that stuck: the only "traffic safety" lies in driving like you're invisible. His point was that a double trailer rig or even a freight train is fair game for the ninnies who cause most accidents. Sixty years later my over-analytic habits suggest that you are more noticeable to ninety-five percent of drivers when you add gadgets like LED running lights or paint your vehicle gaudy colors, but the accidents are -- mostly -- caused by the other five percent. Those are the ones who will tell Saint Peter they "never saw it coming" even if 'it' was the Orient Express.

Gary

rodsky

I didn't even know you could turn them off. However,I see no reason to do so anyway.

gasongasoff

I think that there is fairly strong evidence from multiple studies that DRL's reduce the risk of daytime car accidents. Here's what the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports:

" Nearly all published reports indicate DRLs reduce multiple-vehicle daytime crashes. A study examining the effect of Norway's DRL law from 1980 to 1990 found a 10 percent decline in daytime multiple-vehicle crashes.1 A Danish study reported a 7 percent reduction in DRL-relevant crashes in the first 15 months after DRL use was required and a 37 percent decline in left-turn crashes.2 In a second study covering 2 years and 9 months of Denmark's law, there was a 6 percent reduction in daytime multiple-vehicle crashes and a 34 percent reduction in left-turn crashes.3 A 1994 Transport Canada study comparing 1990 model year vehicles with DRLs to 1989 vehicles without them found that DRLs reduced relevant daytime multiple-vehicle crashes by 11 percent.4

In the United States, a 1985 Institute study determined that commercial fleet passenger vehicles modified to operate with DRLs were involved in 7 percent fewer daytime multiple-vehicle crashes than similar vehicles without DRLs.5 A small-scale fleet study conducted in the 1960s found an 18 percent lower daytime multiple-vehicle crash rate for DRL-equipped vehicles.6 Multiple-vehicle daytime crashes account for about half of all police-reported crashes in the United States. A 2002 Institute study reported a 3 percent decline in daytime multiple-vehicle crash risk in nine US states concurrent with the introduction of DRLs.7

Federal researchers, using data collected nationwide from 1995-2001, concluded that there was a 5 percent decline in daytime, two-vehicle, opposite-direction crashes and a 12 percent decline in fatal crashes with pedestrians and bicyclists.8 However, a 2008 federal study concluded that DRLs have no significant effect on either of these crash types.9"

The reference list is here:
1Elvik, R. 1993. The effects on accidents of compulsory use of daytime running lights for cars in Norway. Accident Analysis and Prevention 25:383-98.
2Hansen, L.K. 1993. Daytime running lights in Denmark: evaluation of the safety effect. Copenhagen, Denmark: Danish Council of Road Safety Research.
3Hansen, L.K. 1994. Daytime running lights: experience with compulsory use in Denmark. Proceedings of the Fersi Conference. Copenhagen, Denmark: Danish Council for Road Safety Research.
4Arora, H.; Collard, D.; Robbins, G.; Welbourne, E.R.; and White, J.G. 1994. Effectiveness of daytime running lights in Canada. Report no. TP-12298. Ottawa, Ontario: Transport Canada.
5Stein, H. 1985. Fleet experience with daytime running lights in the United States. SAE Technical Paper Series 851239. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers.
6Cantilli, E.J. 1970. Accident experience with parking lights as running lights. Highway Research Record 332:1-13. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board.
7Farmer, C.M. and Williams, A.F. 2002. Effects of daytime running lights on multiple-vehicle daylight crashes in the United States. Accident Analysis and Prevention 34:197-203.
8Tessmer, J.M. 2004. An assessment of the crash-reducing effectiveness of passenger vehicle daytime running lamps (DRLs). Report no. DOT HS-809-760. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
9Wang, J.S. 2008. The effectiveness of daytime running lights for passenger vehicles. Report no. DOT HS-811-029. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Edgy01

There have been some suggestions that over time, as everyone acquires vehicles with DRLs, that the advantage of DRLs goes down, but I think that's substantiated.

From purely a personal perspective, I have noticed that when I see lights on a vehicle coming in my direction, and I have either a turn planned or a pass intended (taking me into or across their lane), the headlights of that oncoming car make me think they're closer than they are. I know it's purely a perception, but it is effective at keeping me from venturing out of my lane until they pass.

kouzman

i have them on all the time...

Leader

I guess it's okay if I hijack my own thread...a little.
The vocal "anti-DRL" folks, who continue to fight DRLs becoming the law in the U.S. (like it is in Canada), have a lot of interesting "scientific evidence" showing that Daytime Running Lights are actually a distraction, and thus, not a viable safety feature.

I'm with Edgy...I think anything that makes your car more visible, especially at speed, is probably a good thing.

I do shut my LED DRLs off occasionally, primarily because I like the cleaner look during the day without 'em on.

However, when it comes to DRLs, I think the LED versions, like on the 997.2 (and the Audi line) are much better than the "reduced brightness headlight" versions used by most other manufacturers. The whiter spectrum lights are easier to see, and they just look nicer, IMO.

As you were...