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D50
Lv 6
D50 asked in Cars & TransportationSafety · 3 months ago

Do you think sunset or legal twilight regulations are better for headlight use?

In Massachusetts, headlights must be on by the end of legal twilight. (Enforcement is lax, of course.) In many other states, they must be on at sunset. Which do you think is better at discouraging driving in the dark without lights?

Update:

What we think matters, because the law reflects what the voters want. If having drivers calculate when civil twilight ends is actually more effective at encouraging headlight use, then that is what states should require. I suspect that associating headlight turn-on with sunset works better, but I'm looking for opinions on that.

7 Answers

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  • Joe
    Lv 4
    3 months ago

    Why is it not 100% painfully obvious that the safest thing is to USE HEADLIGHTS ALL THE TIME. The whole idea is to do anything that makes you visible to other drivers.  Think grey days, sun in your eyes, grey cars, rain, smog, fog, windshield glare, dust and a whole bunch of drivers with bad eyes.  The law, the voters and other drivers will not be at your funeral, nor will they give a dam you are dead or crippled for life.  I've run headlights all the time for 50 years.

  • Jay P
    Lv 7
    3 months ago

    I've made it a habit to always turn my headlamps on as I start my vehicle.

    Multiple studies have shown that you more likely to be noticed by oncoming traffic if your lights are on, and as an added bonus, I never 'forget' to turn on my lights as it becomes darker.

  • ?
    Lv 6
    3 months ago

    Both offer no value if a licensed operator

    loses common sense to operate a motor vehicle.  Dotage happens.  So, expect to

    be tested anew, if naughty.

  • 3 months ago

    I don't think it matters what we think,  its the law of the land that decides what we will do.   If we are fined the protest of "but I don't agree" will fall on deaf ears.   Its what the law says that matters.

  • 3 months ago

    In my state, PA, drivers are supposed to have their head lights on all the time.

  • CB
    Lv 7
    3 months ago

    How about  no more than 1/2 hour after sunset - just like many hunting regulations. At least setting up a law with a defined time(anyone can find the time of sunset on a given day) instead of an arbitrary observation of available light makes the most sense from an enforcement perspective. 

  • jijawm
    Lv 5
    3 months ago

    Flashing my high-beams or having them flashed at me is pretty effective. 

    As is the 50cal howitzer mounted on the back for morons who treat flashing hi-beams as a dog-whistle to violence. 

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