On Fri, 12 Feb 2016 19:37:12 -0700, rbowman
wrote:

On 02/12/2016 10:25 AM, trader_4 wrote:
This can't be much of a problem anymore, can it? The vast majority of
cars on the road now have daytime lights on, ie if the car is running
the lights are on. Not sure if it's a law though.
Probably should be though.

It may be a law in some states although I think in most of those the law
is the lights must be on if the wipers are active. The NHTSA is neutral
but shot down a GM proposal to make them mandatory in 2009.

My 2007 Toyota had them, the 2011 does not. I had a cop stop me one
evening at dusk. I came out of work and the DRL were bright enough in
the dusk that I didn't think to turn the headlights on. He saw the
headlights and no tail lights and concluded my tail lights were out. I'd
had a couple of people tell me the tail lights were out in similar
circumstances. Same deal, light enough that lights weren't required but
they'd see the head lights on and assume the tail lights were broken.

NHTSA's reluctance to take a stand stems from the lack of conclusive
studies that show DRL's to decrease accidents. Most bikes for the last
20 or more years have always on headlights, the theory being the light
would make the bike stand out in traffic. If it's just another headlight
in a sea of headlights any advantage goes away. Idiot cagers don't see
bikes anyway so I ride like I'm invisible.
The reason DRLs are not mandatory in the USA is most Americans take
extreme offense at their government telling them what to do.