Daytime running lights

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

I thought the LED strips were along the top on both headlights, but only one of the headlights has the incandescent bulb on.
I thought this was how it was on my 15 tracer.

Could be 😂

The big Beemers have the right idea though. The optimum layout is a triangle, and they often have one on each crash bar and then the dim-dip headlamp. The observer can then see the triangle increasing in size, and their brain has the necessary datum to accurately calculate speed. A single light source cannot do that.

They do but often executed poorly, as in they're either a fog lamp and used when not foggy, or a DRL that's retina searing bright and poorly positioned.

So badly you can't see their Polite vest 😂

 

[Smudge]

From what i've seen of BMW motorcycles, they just have LED DRL's the same as any other motorcycle with LED DRL's. The only difference is the shape of them. BMW's have them shaped like a backwards C.
Personally i like LED DRL's, one of my motorcycles has them and one doesn't.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

It's the lamps of varying brightness added to crashbars are my issue 👌 Great example as they're clearly brighter than the BMW DRL

 

[Smudge]

It's the lamps of varying brightness added to crashbars are my issue 👌

View attachment 496010

Yes, but they're not standard are they. Owners have them fitted as an optional extra and they often dont have them angled right. Or there is slight movement in the brackets that can put them out of alignment.
People fit all sorts of different supplementary lights to motorcycles, some OE, some aftermarket. Personally i dont need extra lights for the riding i do.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Yes, but they're not standard are they. Owners have them fitted as an optional extra and they often dont have them angled right. Or there is slight movement in the brackets that can put them out of alignment.
People fit all sorts of different supplementary lights to motorcycles, some OE, some aftermarket. Personally i dont need extra lights for the riding i do.

Thats what Im saying 😂

 

[Smudge]

Thats what Im saying 😂

Yes but the conversation started about LED DRL's. BMW's are no different to your Tracer in that respect.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Yes but the conversation started about LED DRL's. BMW's are no different to your Tracer in that respect.

Aux/fog lights are used like DRLs which is what I should have said

 

[mjr]

When I'm riding, I have lights on. Regardless of time of day.

I thought you once told me your other bike has bells on!

 

[Smudge]

Soon all lights on all vehicles will be LED and they will all have DRL's as well.
A bike i bought this year has almost all its lights LED. The DRL headlight, stop/tail rear light, and indicators are all LED. Only the full beam is incandescent bulb.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Sidelights on my car and my DRLs on my motorbike were traditionally a bulb, but I bought a pack of 10 LED ones for £4, they are not necessarily brighter but I think are easier to see due to their more spotty and sharper appearance. On a bicycle, I always used small LED lights front and rear to be seen; in fact I used to have my brighter lights on in the day as well

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It's no good, I'm going to have to fit a light house to the front of my bike, to compete with all of this.

 

[icowden]

So I did some research into research and it turns out that there doesn't seem to be an awful lot.
Most articles point back to a single Canadian study which found that rather than the 10-20% reduction in angled crashes anticipated, the reduction was in order of 5% and to head on collisions.

Couldn't find any evidence pro or con as far as cyclists or motorcyclists are concerned. Motorcyclists seem to have a beef that as they used to be the only ones with DRLs they are now less safe, but I could find no actual research to back this up.

Historically it seems to be a policy that started quite sensibly and has been rolled out across multiple countries without much additional thought.
It started in Scandinavia due to the fact that light levels are often very poor, particularly in winter months. Because it was mandatory, car manufactures started making cars with mandatory running lights. Those then start getting exported and suddenly it becomes a requirement on the basis that it doesn't hurt anyone.

 

[icowden]

An addendum - one of the things that really annoys me about car lights is the tendency to replace light bulbs with ULTRA BRITE / NEON / Retina burning replacements that seem to be all the fashion at Halfords.

Don't replace the bulb with what the manufacturer of the car thought you should be using, go for this third party brand which has built in destructo-beams - even though you never drive down any road that doesn't have streetlights.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

We also ought to ask what is the reasoning behind daylight running lights, and is it sound? Is the standard of driver's eyesight is so bad they can't see a bike and person sized object in broad daylight?

 

[icowden]

See my post above. The reasoning seems to be encapsulated on the wikipedia page:

DRLs were first mandated in the Nordic countries, where ambient light levels in the winter are generally low even during the day. Sweden was the first country to require widespread DRLs in 1977. At the time, the function was known as varselljus ("perception light" or "notice light"). The initial regulations in these countries favored devices incorporating 21 W signal bulbs identical to those used in brake lamps and turn signals, producing yellow or white light of approximately 400 to 600 cd on axis, mounted at the outer left and right edges of the front of the vehicle. Finland adopted a daytime-light requirement in 1972 on rural roads in wintertime, and in 1982 on rural roads in summertime and 1997 on all roads all year long; Norway in 1986, Iceland in 1988, and Denmark in 1990. To increase manufacturer flexibility in complying with the requirement for DRLs, the daytime illumination of low beam headlights was added as an optional implementation. Given the headlamp specifications in use in those countries, such an implementation would produce approximately 450 cd axially.

We got DRLs due to an EC directive that brought them in in Europe. Canada adopted the policy for similar reasons to Scandinavia. Then US manufacturers started adding them to all cars to reduce costs and the USA decided to adopt them universally too.