Here, at the dawning of the year 2013, I believe that it would be safe to say that when you start your car, unless it has some sort of mechanical/electrical malfunction, your headlights come on. I drive a 2007 Toyota Corolla, and my previous cars were a 2001 Chevy Malibu and a 1996 Chevy Corsica; the automatic headlights were standard on all three.
So, here’s a question: When you start your car, do your taillights come on as well? Do you know? Do you even care?
What’s the point of taillights anyway?
Information. The lights on the back of your car provide necessary information for other drivers (and pedestrians), information which makes them, and you, safer. Your brake lights indicate that you have applied your brakes and are decelerating. Your signal lights inform others of your intent to turn or change lanes. You even have lights which indicate that your car is in reverse. Who do you think is supposed to see these? If you said “other people,” you would be right.
Other people. This is a concept which seems to be lost on some drivers when they take to our roads and highways. There are other people on the road, and these other people rely on you to do the right things, to take care of your business, to handle your shit, man (or wo-man).
Anyway, back to taillights. The point is visibility, in this case, being seen. In broad daylight, with no adverse conditions, you might not even notice a person’s taillights. Now, it’s a no-brainer (I hope) that taillights are necessary at night. However, during the day, in certain adverse conditions where visibility is compromised, you could make an argument that taillights are even more important than they are at night. Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, if you’re driving at night, your headlights will illuminate objects in front of you from a distance, whereas on a foggy or rainy day at noon, your headlights won’t help you see shit. However, taillights on a car in front of you will alert you every time.
This morning, as I often do, I drove my wife to work at the hospital in Halifax. I like to take the 102 Highway. At this time of year, it’s dark when we leave. As we drove, the sun was just coming up over the horizon, and as we passed the exit to Bayers Lake, the sun was directly in front of me. The sunlight was too low for me to block with my visor. I was wearing sunglasses. I could not see anything. I knew that there was a car in front of me, but I could not see it. A couple of times, they tapped their brake, and they would magically appear for a second or two, only to vanish again. Now, I don’t know about you, but my assessment of the situation was that it was very dangerous. I had no choice but to slow down significantly, which in itself is not the safest thing to do on the highway during morning rush (Fortunately, I knew that my taillights were on). Eventually we went around a bend in the highway and the sun was no longer directly in front of me. I was relieved that I could see again. Still, it was a tense 20-30 seconds (and if you think that’s not a significant amount of time, especially at 100km/h, then you know nothing about driving).
On our Corsica and our Malibu, the taillights came on automatically when the car was started. Not so with our Corolla. From my observation, automatic taillights are not a standard feature on Toyotas, nor are they on Hondas, Mazdas, Volkswagens, or Fords. If you drive one of these types of cars, you have to manually turn on your lights if you want to be seen from behind.
After I dropped my wife off this morning, I turned on the radio. The station was doing a traffic report, and they were talking about police and rescue crews being at the scene of a really bad accident, inbound, just past the Bayers Lake exit on the 102. We had just passed there 10 minutes before, and there was no accident. I didn’t have to be a genius to figure out that it had happened mere moments after we had passed that spot. A few minutes after hearing about it on the radio, I drove past the scene: a smashed car in the middle of the highway, another off to the side, several police cars, ambulances, huge traffic back-up. I couldn’t help but speculate as to what had caused such a violent collision on such a clear morning with dry roads. I’ve been checking the internet on and off for most of the day, wondering if anyone was seriously hurt. I have no idea.
So, when you start your car, do your taillights come on? Do you know? Do you even care?
You should.
So, here’s a question: When you start your car, do your taillights come on as well? Do you know? Do you even care?
What’s the point of taillights anyway?
Information. The lights on the back of your car provide necessary information for other drivers (and pedestrians), information which makes them, and you, safer. Your brake lights indicate that you have applied your brakes and are decelerating. Your signal lights inform others of your intent to turn or change lanes. You even have lights which indicate that your car is in reverse. Who do you think is supposed to see these? If you said “other people,” you would be right.
Other people. This is a concept which seems to be lost on some drivers when they take to our roads and highways. There are other people on the road, and these other people rely on you to do the right things, to take care of your business, to handle your shit, man (or wo-man).
Anyway, back to taillights. The point is visibility, in this case, being seen. In broad daylight, with no adverse conditions, you might not even notice a person’s taillights. Now, it’s a no-brainer (I hope) that taillights are necessary at night. However, during the day, in certain adverse conditions where visibility is compromised, you could make an argument that taillights are even more important than they are at night. Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, if you’re driving at night, your headlights will illuminate objects in front of you from a distance, whereas on a foggy or rainy day at noon, your headlights won’t help you see shit. However, taillights on a car in front of you will alert you every time.
This morning, as I often do, I drove my wife to work at the hospital in Halifax. I like to take the 102 Highway. At this time of year, it’s dark when we leave. As we drove, the sun was just coming up over the horizon, and as we passed the exit to Bayers Lake, the sun was directly in front of me. The sunlight was too low for me to block with my visor. I was wearing sunglasses. I could not see anything. I knew that there was a car in front of me, but I could not see it. A couple of times, they tapped their brake, and they would magically appear for a second or two, only to vanish again. Now, I don’t know about you, but my assessment of the situation was that it was very dangerous. I had no choice but to slow down significantly, which in itself is not the safest thing to do on the highway during morning rush (Fortunately, I knew that my taillights were on). Eventually we went around a bend in the highway and the sun was no longer directly in front of me. I was relieved that I could see again. Still, it was a tense 20-30 seconds (and if you think that’s not a significant amount of time, especially at 100km/h, then you know nothing about driving).
On our Corsica and our Malibu, the taillights came on automatically when the car was started. Not so with our Corolla. From my observation, automatic taillights are not a standard feature on Toyotas, nor are they on Hondas, Mazdas, Volkswagens, or Fords. If you drive one of these types of cars, you have to manually turn on your lights if you want to be seen from behind.
After I dropped my wife off this morning, I turned on the radio. The station was doing a traffic report, and they were talking about police and rescue crews being at the scene of a really bad accident, inbound, just past the Bayers Lake exit on the 102. We had just passed there 10 minutes before, and there was no accident. I didn’t have to be a genius to figure out that it had happened mere moments after we had passed that spot. A few minutes after hearing about it on the radio, I drove past the scene: a smashed car in the middle of the highway, another off to the side, several police cars, ambulances, huge traffic back-up. I couldn’t help but speculate as to what had caused such a violent collision on such a clear morning with dry roads. I’ve been checking the internet on and off for most of the day, wondering if anyone was seriously hurt. I have no idea.
So, when you start your car, do your taillights come on? Do you know? Do you even care?
You should.
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