Purpose of Auto headlights on XL/XLT

[Baloo]

Your stoned.
There are DTRL and you can turn them off on all models!

Missed the "to my knowledge" didn’t you? Who is stoned?

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[Maverickman74]

I haven't read through all the posts in this thread, but I can say that outside of the predictable reasons for not wanting DLRS on ("I don't want them when I'm the getaway car for the bank heist or if I'm sneaking up to my neighbor's house because his wife and I are carrying on"), I for the life of me can't imagine why anyone would want to make their car less visible in traffic. The sad thing is that sometimes you have to bring people kicking and screaming just to do the right thing for the greater good.

Less visible in traffic you say? How about stealth from the factory!

 

[BuddyS]

Less visible in traffic you say? How about stealth from the factory!

I will admit that the Marauder was a pretty cool, low-key badass car.

 

[Maverickman74]

I couldnt believe this thread was still an active topic on here so I read the first page of this thread. Then I read the 6th. Then I said to my self I have no clue what these guys are blathering about?? Seems pretty simple to me, auto headlights have been around since the 80s when they stopped using pull knobs to turn em on and took the high beam switch off the floor. They can be turned off they can be markers only they can be full auto or they can be part auto. Whats the big deal? All it takes is a baseball bat to fix any issue you may have with em! The need for em is irrelevant because 99.99% of drivers are blind past their own ego and staring at their phones. I constantly ask people details about things in the distance like cars and other moving objects. Almost all of the time they look at me like the thing never even existed. I grew up around race cars and farmers on a the busier street in the neighborhood that you could still play ball hockey in the street. I know to keep my head focused, eyes on a swivel, and listen and process everything spatially in the background. Guess what I havent had a single moving vehicle incident since 2005 and that one involved a lightning bolt a church fire and a crowded road on a hill crest and no where else to go.

Crashes happen. Lights help, but they dont really matter because....

 

[flashfearless]

Automatic headlights are now a legal requirement as part of government safety standards. All new vehicles have them.

Not required by law though.

 

[flashfearless]

What’s the hate for DRL? Anyway? I can understand if it wasn’t LED but it is, and LED’s last a very long time as it is

Only LED on the Lariat.

 

[flashfearless]

Not sure of the year but all new cars are required to have them

Not by law.

 

[flashfearless]

For some reason, a segment of American's are hellbent on being less safe whenever possible.

Unless they are LED, they are hideous.

 

[flashfearless]

I've worked with LEDs for over two decades. The 50,000 hour note is because they can't say they last forever.

I've had some LED lights in my house fail within 9 months due to a defect.

 

[Jk87669]

Not by law.

In america sure, but in Canada land they are required by law and auto manufacturers just give every car DRL’s for that reason. Also, DRL’s have been common place since the 90’s, they weren’t going to change the recipe now

 

[Shay]

Not required by law though.

Not specifically "by law" in the US.....yet. Some countries require them by law, Canada phasing in now. Some of the safety ratings count them toward their scoring such as the IIHS and certain point scoring at NHTSA includes extra weighting depending on feature content, which auto manufacturer's more or less consider law. All cars are built to one standard to the extent it makes sense, this is one area where it makes sense.

 

[flashfearless]

Have a high school buddy who is retired city cop who is now involved in national road safety initiatives for KY Office of Highway Safety. He's not on this forum, but I am sure that he can quote plenty of stats on how seatbelts do in fact save lives. Specifically being ejected from the crash. Anyone who claims they don't save lives is delusional.

 

[Guy_K]

I've worked with LEDs for over two decades. The 50,000 hour note is because they can't say they last forever.

That is true but only if the engineer that designed the unit has done his homework. I have seen instances of LED's used incorrectly and die prematurely. A good automotive example is the 3rd brake light. When they were first being installed in vehicles some manufacturers used LED's but since the technology for high brightness LED's was new they overdrove them (too much current) and many failed prematurely (not lighting up, lighting up weakly or blinking on/off). I bought some LED night lights for home use that had the same problem. The engineer's design forced too much current through the LED and caused them to fail within a year (way less than 50,000 hours). I ended up sourcing a different LED with better specs and those LED night lights are going strong for over 10 years now.

 

[23grayXLT84]

Well this thread blew up !

Folks, DRLs are great, but I was simply hinting that it is pretty dumb of ford to make the DRL same as the actual lights.

No, I don't believe (like some have pointed out here) that brightness is lower during daytime vs night.

There are 3 banks total. Should have made 1/3 DRL 2/3 night time lights and rest high beams. I understand longetivity is high, but we all know that actual results might differ.

 

[SoonerBrink]

Less safe? How is not having them less safe?

Before answering my question here is my background, I am a 20+ year crash reconstructionist and have never seen a crash caused by lack of drl.

Gray car on a gray road, early the the morning

You may not notice a difference. But DRL's use the high beam bulbs at 4-8 volts. This ensures your low beams do not burn out prematurely. Auto headlamps light the low beams at full voltage by default.

Mine doesn't use high beams for DRLs.

Park the vehicle in front of a reflective surface during the day with DRL's on and push the high beam switch. The high beams will go from off to illuminated.

I don't know how this would ensure my low beams don't burn our prematurely when DRL uses low beams.

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