Is It A Legal Requirement To Use Daylight Running Lights?

[ianess]

I am not a fan of them but know they must be legally fitted. My car has an on/off switch for them. Am I breaking the law if I do not use them?

[10ClarionSt]

To be honest, I've never heard of Daylight Running Lights. Is this a new development? But I always drive with my headlights on in the daytime. I read somewhere (can't remember where) that driving with headlights on in the daytime reduces the chance of an accident by 30%.

[Prudie]

Not in the UK

[Baldric]

http://www.a5oc.com/photos/images/2099/1_audi_a5_drl.jpg

[10ClarionSt]

Is that your car, Baldric? On your driveway? :o)

[DTCwordfan]

I didn't know that Balders had moved to Atlanta.....surely Kent hasn;t been split away and become the 51st State? If it was his and in the UK, it's illegal......

[10ClarionSt]

He lives not far from the Atlantic though! I didn't notice that it's left hand drive. Why Atlanta though?

[gingejbee]

...never heard of DRLs? Presumably, ABS brakes and power-steering are unknown quantities, too?

[ToraToraTora]

It's not a legal requirement in UK. A lot of vehicles come with them on by default but usually can be turned off.

[10ClarionSt]

Aren't Daylight Running Lights a feature of vehicles built for Scandinavian countries, where they have months of darkness? They switch on automatically with the ignition. Seems a bit of a contradiction that!

[10ClarionSt]

What's up with you ginge, getting sarky? Has the sun got to you today?

[Baldric]

No, and No, but I do have a White A4 Avant

[gingejbee]

...not at all...just find it odd that someone who drives hasn't noticed cars coming toward them with DRLs lit, that's all.

[10ClarionSt]

Of course I've noticed, but I didn't know they were called that. Based on the photo, it seems that they are on vehicles which we, the great unwashed, can't afford.

[gingejbee]

....no, they are now fitted to all new UK cars....

[zebo]

We had them on a Volvo may years ago but I don't think they're needed on the UK, yet.

[SlackAlice]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/daytime-running-lights/daytime-running-lights

[Cloverjo]

I thought that people put the lights on in this country when the sun is low in the sky and it's hard to see anything.

[andy-hughes]

I believe they have been a legal requirement in Sweden for a long time, hence they are built in to Volvos.

The option is for countries like the UK where they are not a legal requirement for drivers to turn them off, and they are in place for countries where the law does require them.

[maggiebee]

I drive a Fiat Punto and it has daylight running lights.

[hc4361]

They have been a legal requirement in the UK since 2011 but they do not have to be fitted to older vehicles, so if your vehicle has them they must be on