More on DRLs

[Tim Atwood <atwood@ptc.com>]

Lee Levitt <wheelman@shore.net> wrote:
>No American car has *ever* had good lights. Many are designed, seemingly
>purposefully, to collect snow. What are the designers thinking? 
>The DRL only at night question is an interesting one. I've warned my wife
>that when she starts the car she will see the glow of her city lights in
>the garage...but she still needs to turn on the headlamps (at night). This
>is a really good reason not to do this, btw, if the primary (or any) driver
>of the car considers vehicles appliances...

I had the misfortune recently of renting a 97 Pontiac Grand Am. Aside
from all the other things wrong with it (what a POS), it had a very
dangerous lighting setup: DRLs which were as bright as the regular
lights at night, and interior lights which switched on automatically
when it became dim enough. Since the lights looked the same up front and
the interior lighted up by itself, it was very likely that the driver
could be tooling along at night with only the DRLs on, and no tail
lights at all, and not be able to tell without checking the light
switch. I was appalled at how poorly the car was designed, and this
feature underlined it.
-- 
Tim Atwood	Parametric Technology Corporation		DoD #1461
Burlington, MA	atwood@ptc.com					AMA #360999
1998 ZX-9R 	1990 90Q20V