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by smcleod2 days ago |
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upvoteby mceachen2 days ago|
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Driving with your lights off at dusk or dark gets you (rightfully) pulled over by law enforcement in CA. It's well-correllated with driving under the influence.

I'm a huge fan of many car safety regulations, but this isn't one.

(Sign me up for car-hiding-in-blind-spot notification lights on side mirrors, though, those are great)

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upvoteby smcleod2 days ago|
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I don't understand what you're saying here - you think it's good to have your lights turned on - but you don't want them to automatically turn on?
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upvoteby bluedays2 days ago|
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Because of my ADHD I would constantly get pulled over if automatic lights were removed
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upvoteby 2 days ago|
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upvoteby smcleod2 days ago|
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You and I both!
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upvoteby sneak2 days ago|
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I think they mean that it gives a clear signal to LEOs that the person driving is likely distracted/unfit.
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upvoteby smcleod2 days ago|
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Everyone makes mistakes. It's important to make it easy to do the right thing.
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upvoteby 2 days ago|
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upvoteby the_gipsy2 days ago|
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That doesn't make any sense. Eliminatung DUI is not a matter of detection, and automatic light sensors save lives.
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upvoteby margalabargala2 days ago|
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It could make sense. We don't know the numbers.

Let's say net X lives are saved each year because of automatic lights turning on.

Let's say net Y lives would be saved each year without automatic lights, via more effective detection of drunk drivers and stopping them before they kill someone.

Is X > Y? We don't know.

> Eliminatung DUI is not a matter of detection

There are a lot of avenues to decrease DUI, among which one is effective detection combined with enforcement.

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upvoteby the_gipsy1 days ago|
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Okay, let's compare it to: Let's not make auto-pilot mandatory in planes, because sometimes a copilot has found that a pilot was drunk when taking off manually.

Even if there was a drunken pilot epidemic that causes 10 plane crashes per year, and autopilot only prevents 1 plane crash per year, it would be ridiculous not to make the autopilot mandatory and rely on its absence to catch some of those drunken pilot crashes.

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upvoteby margalabargala1 days ago|
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I don't agree. Why would that be ridiculous?

In the example you give, if the copilot catches the pilot more than 10% of the time, then the swap to mandatory autopilot kills more people than not doing it.

I hardly think it would be ridiculous to want to save more lives.

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upvoteby the_gipsy20 hours ago|
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[flagged]
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upvoteby smcleod2 days ago|
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The EU has done lots of reach on road and car safety, there's lots of data out there - just perhaps not in the US as many American made cars have significantly lagged behind in terms of safety features.
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upvoteby throwawat19r832 days ago|
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I don't know if it's an EU rule, but in my (European) country cars are required to have their lights on at all times, even during the day. The lights switch on automatically when you start the car
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upvoteby chuckadams2 days ago|
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I'm baffled that daytime running lights are not mandatory on all models of all cars in 2025. My 13 year old Grand Caravan has them, though I suspect it's because it comes from the Daimler Chrysler era.
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upvoteby potato37328421 days ago|
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I love to baselessly praise europe as much as the next idiot in the comments but most North American models that got DRLs before it was legally required got them because they've been required in Canada since the 90s
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upvoteby froindt2 days ago|
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After I visited Iceland where it's mandatory, I liked the improved visibility so much I turn my lights on for every single trip. It was not a takeaway I was expecting to have from the trip.
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upvoteby SideburnsOfDoom2 days ago|
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It's a good idea in some places. An overcast winter's day in the North isn't that well lit by default.
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upvoteby margalabargala2 days ago|
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The EU also is far more strict on DUIs.
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upvoteby cma2 days ago|
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There may be something like that that does make it counterintuitive. Usually those kind of Malcom Gladwell paradoxes end up overstated.

There would be other factors, like drunk people are probably safer with their lights on too. Lane keeping probably makes it harder to detect drunk drivers too but also may make them safer.

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upvoteby sneak2 days ago|
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This is simply because police don’t do their jobs. It would be trivial to simply wait outside bars at 2AM and give out tons of DUIs but a significant percentage of the population are alcoholics and this would result in massive blowback against the police.

Go to any small town watering hole at 2AM to see this in effect. The police have no legal obligation to prevent crime or enforce laws. None.

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upvoteby 1 days ago|
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upvoteby 2 days ago|
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