When I drive across St. Albert or Edmonton (even on the highway, anywhere in Alberta, especially in urban areas) at dawn/dusk/night/during inclement weather, I see too many vehicles with no lights on. Usually, no amount of flashing or horn-blowing clues the driver in. Their headlights are on at low power, a.k.a. Daytime Running Lights (DRL) but that does not energize the “running lights” or “park lights” as we used to call them, nor the headlights. With the light switch on properly, the back red and the front orange, turn on, and the headlights go to full power. And voila, you can be seen.
Why has this been going on for so many years now? I know why and I’ve even seen police driving around without their lights on so if they cannot even get it right how can the regular person? I say it’s education and hopefully some people that don’t know the different systems will get enlightened by this letter. The main cause of this is that some vehicle’s dash lights are always on, brighter even with the lights “off” so that the instruments are visible during the day. This is ultimately what tricks people into thinking everything is OK. Some vehicles don’t require the dash lights in the day to see the instruments, therefore, at night, you can tell your lights are not on because you cannot see the speedometer, etc. Ultimately, it is the fault of the company that made the vehicle, to have such a flawed system.
All GMs have an automatic light system with no ability to mess up, this is the way all cars should be. Why have all the safety features that new cars come with but then they drive around dangerously like phantom vehicles when they need to be seen? Most vehicles have a switch, located on the end of the signal lever stalk (maybe that’s why it can’t be found as a lot don’t bother with signalling either, lol). It must be switched to the “on” position. If there is an “auto” setting, so much the better, leave it there. Sometimes, the switch is on the dash above your left knee, please check it out. The one here is more likely to have an “auto” setting. Again, leave it on auto, for the betterment of Mankind. And if you are driving down the road and some whacko person is flashing you, please check your switch, if you have a Japanese import or a Ford, likely your lights are not on.
Now why can’t the police drive around and stop people that are guilty of this behavior and at the very least, give them a heads up? And we have plenty of media campaigns, flooding us with speeding, distracted/impairment problems, why not one commercial on this dangerous practice? I say this could be solved quickly with a little education.
Tony Gull, St. Albert
