Hi Tom,
Well as usual the dealers are absolutley useless. I spoke with Honda Canada and they said parts are availble but they couldn't tell me wether they were compatable. They put me on to American Honda, were I waited for 20 minutes only to find out they didn't know and I would have to check my local dealer. So I have come full cricle
I'm taking My accord in next week and I can speak to them face to face. I will let you know what I find out.
I do know though that the Running lights were succesful for the previous Accords, just using the Canadian parts and a relay. So I think it can be done. I'll keep ya posted

Mike

 

Mike,

Thanks for your efforts - on standby until you get your info. If unsuccessful perhaps our leaders on the Board will be able to push some buttons as this is a safety issue IMHO. Tom

 

Why do you feel that daytime running lights make your car so much safer? The reason that they're standard in Canada and the Scandinavian countries is because they have times in the year when the sun doesn't come up very high in the horizon and it's like dusk during the middle of the day. They're really far north so they have that problem that the majority of the US doesn't have.

I think a much better solution would be a relay that sensed when your windshield wipers were on and switched your headlights on. That way you don't have idiots driving around in the middle of a thunderstorm, where visibility is an issue, without their headlights on. I don't have a problem with seeing cars in the middle of the day and I won't even get started about what my motorcycle riding friends have to say about DRL's. If I didn't have to deal with the glare everyday, I would find it humorous that instead of designing good cars, GM makes the headlights on their cars stay on all the time and then make a big deal about how safe their cars are because their headlights are on all the time.

I know this post sounds like a rant, which it is because I hate daytime running lights, but I'm just trying to figure out why you want them. Since you seem to care about safety, I can probably assume that you know when to turn your lights on. If so, why do you also need them on in the middle of the day?

 

Last time I checked, most of the US experience dusk and dawn almost every day.

 

You missed my point. At certain times in the year, they experience that in the middle of the day. That's the reason I've seen that they have DRL's. Because they can't trust the average idiot to know when to turn their lights on. Aren't we better drivers than that? Can't we make the decision to turn our lights on at dawn, dusk, and in inclement weather? Why have them on in the middle of a sunny day?

Mark

 

I agree with Mark wholeheartedly. I don't want DRLs and I hate them on other cars. They just add to "visual pollution" and are distracting as hell. There is NO proof they increase safety on cars (motorcycles are another issue).

Andrew

 

I always drive with my headlights on. I figure that when some almost brain dead driver of an enormous SUV is thinking of pulling out into traffic right in front of me, the sight of a car coming with the headlights on is more likely to resgister through the other driver's cell phone conversation. This is especially true while traveling on two way two lanes. The car coming from the opposite direction which cuts out to pass will register your presence more quickly if your headlights are on, Bottom line, the more noticeable your vehicle is to other drivers the better.

Some Daytime Driving Light systems seem as bright as high beams, and can dazzle oncoming traffic. They should be toned down, IMO.

 

Are you trying to tell me your HID lo beams are not bright?
Please!

Andrew

 

Wickerbill, Topic was started after reading thread on Silver S2000's having close calls/accidents where others seemed not to see them. This was a major problem for motor cycles in the "old" pre DRL days. If someone came into your side vision in your room with a flashlight on you'd notice them sooner(even if you didn't like the flashlight).

I live in rural area with a lot of hilly, twisty roads with short sight distances. In addition we have dusk, dawn, and possible forgetfulness in turning on the lights.

Personally I prefer the 20w parking light as the drl concept more than the "white" drl but the parking light solutioin apparently has a dash adjustment issue (see earlier post). On the other hand so far there is no easy change to the Canadian drl for US cars.

DRL, as optional safety item, is not a bad idea and IMHO is desirable. Of course, since I've yellow, just driving with parking lights is probably more than enough. What color is yours?

 

My point was that you can use the same logic as to why Canada requires them for the US. Just because they have more dawn and dusk lighting than the US is irrelivent. Similar conditions will occur.

I think there are test results that show driving with some sort of light on even during the day reduces accidents. There are many 2lane roads in SoCal that require (it's the law) you to turn on your headlights. I would rather see everyone have lights on all the time rather than have the some who (either are idiots, or ones who just forgot to turn them on) don't when they should. I can't imagine that if everyone had their lights on during full sunlight will reduce safety.