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Windshield Wiper/Headlight Law


Furious1Auto

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If Ford hasn't already will you consider adding a relay switch standard on all Ford's to automatically turn the headlights on when the wiper switch is activated. You can sight it as a safety feature if you like. After all this time with no law, it seems that states are now mandating the use of headlamps when wipers are on solely as a source of revenue!

 

Another thing, why don't headlamps start on low beam every time they are powered up, and the bights have to be initiated manually? Again a relay could fix this. It will prevent motorists from accidentally blinding oncoming traffic. A sensor in front of all vehicles sensing headlights from oncoming traffic could also be used to auto dim bights for the same reason. I don't want to blind oncoming traffic in fear they might hit me head on, and it's easy to forget, or flash another car with your brights inadevertantly!

 

Just say'n!

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Every Ford I've owned since 2005 has turned on the headlamps when the wipers are activated. 2006 Fusion, 2013 Fusion, 2008 Edge, 2012 Focus, 2014 Escape.

 

But the law has nothing to do with revenue and everything to do with safety and common sense.

 

My 2013 Fusion and 2014 Escape also have auto-dimming headlamps. And since most Fords use the position of the stalk to activate the high beams, they can't just default to low beams when started.

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Far as I know, the only Fords that activate the headlamps automatically with the wipers are those with auto headlamps and only when they are in the Auto position. My Edge's headlights don't turn on with the wipers if it's not in Auto headlamp mode. Seems like a fine enough solution to me.

 

A better solution to this would simply be to 1) educate motorists and 2) actually start ticketing people who ignore the law.

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If you don't know where your high beam switch is to avoid blinding others, you are too dumb to be driving. Please take the bus.

 

Seriously, this is liberalism at its' worst. Manufacturers have to add complexities because people don't know how to drive nor operate their vehicles properly.

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Far as I know, the only Fords that activate the headlamps automatically with the wipers are those with auto headlamps and only when they are in the Auto position. My Edge's headlights don't turn on with the wipers if it's not in Auto headlamp mode. Seems like a fine enough solution to me.

 

A better solution to this would simply be to 1) educate motorists and 2) actually start ticketing people who ignore the law.

 

I thought it was obvious that you had to have the headlamps set to Auto for it to work.

 

I would like to see autolamps standard. Every time I drive at dusk I see at least 1 if not 3 or 4 cars without any lights on and you just can't see them. That's much more of a safety improvement than DRLs in my opinion.

 

Why do I care? Because the ignorance of the other driver in that case could cause ME to have an accident or be injured or killed.

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Personally, I hate autolamps and never have them enabled in my Edge. Well, it's not that I really hate them. I hate them as currently implemented. Seems they don't turn on often when I want them to (if the car decides it's not dark enough out but I do) and do turn on too often when I don't want them to (when it's approaching dusk and there's mixed cloud cover and the lights decide to turn on and off every 4-5 minutes or turn or when I just drive under a bridge). If there was more of a delay built in to them to decide how long to wait before turning them on and off it would be a much more agreeable setup.

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I've used autolamps on all vehicles for the last 10-15 years with no issues. It would be nice to be able to adjust the sensitivity.

 

Then you are just more tolerant of their quirkiness at times than I am. I guess I've never really found it to be a problem to remember to turn them on when needed either. Ah well, to each his own. Just so long as they don't start making them mandatory until my complaints about them have been addressed somehow.

Edited by NickF1011
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A friend's son just took his driver's test. He had 3 points deducted because he didn't know how to turn the headlights on since they are always in the auto setting. :doh:

 

I personally never use mine. I don't like that they come on in the garage before backing out, and then again when pulling in. That can't be good for the bulbs (I know, I'm anal).

Edited by fordmantpw
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A friend's son just took his driver's test. He had 3 points deducted because he didn't know how to turn the headlights on since they are always in the auto setting. :doh:

 

I personally never use mine. I don't like that they come on in the garage before backing out, and then again when pulling in. That can't be good for the bulbs (I know, I'm anal).

 

At least the on-off issue will not be as much of a concern when LED lighting starts to become more commonplace. They sure would have made sneaking down a girl's parents' driveway more difficult in high school though! :hysterical:

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Personally, I hate autolamps and never have them enabled in my Edge. Well, it's not that I really hate them. I hate them as currently implemented. Seems they don't turn on often when I want them to (if the car decides it's not dark enough out but I do) and do turn on too often when I don't want them to (when it's approaching dusk and there's mixed cloud cover and the lights decide to turn on and off every 4-5 minutes or turn or when I just drive under a bridge). If there was more of a delay built in to them to decide how long to wait before turning them on and off it would be a much more agreeable setup.

 

I assume you mean a delay in turning them off after they've been turned on. You don't really want any delay in turning them on when it gets dark. :)

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At least the on-off issue will not be as much of a concern when LED lighting starts to become more commonplace. They sure would have made sneaking down a girl's parents' driveway more difficult in high school though! :hysterical:

 

They would have an override but the default would be that they're on all the time.

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I assume you mean a delay in turning them off after they've been turned on. You don't really want any delay in turning them on when it gets dark. :)

 

The only time there should be no delay when turning them on is when you first start the vehicle (or more preferably even, when you first put it in gear). If it's daylight out and I'm already on the road I don't want them turning on at the first hint of darkness either, like driving under a bridge as I mentioned, or if the auto wipers turn on for a single pass from some random mist or whatever other silly reasons the auto wipers sometimes turn on for (they need to fix that too).

Edited by NickF1011
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The auto light sensor bugs me even with the automatic headlights off, as I'm fairly certain the same ambient light sensor is used to adjust the brightness of the IP and center stack backlight levels too. During dawn/dusk trips with varying cloud cover, it can sometimes switch back and forth between daylight and night settings 4-5 times in my 30 minute commute.

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How about this idea as well: transmitters that signal vehicles when to turn their lights on. They could be installed in areas that have mandatory headlight use like construction zones and many tunnels, bridges, and two-way high-traffic sections, plus it could be used to signal vehicles to automatically turn on lights on stretches of road that are prone to weather events like heavy rain, snow, and fog. :idea:

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The only time there should be no delay when turning them on is when you first start the vehicle (or more preferably even, when you first put it in gear). If it's daylight out and I'm already on the road I don't want them turning on at the first hint of darkness either, like driving under a bridge as I mentioned, or if the auto wipers turn on for a single pass from some random mist or whatever other silly reasons the auto wipers sometimes turn on for (they need to fix that too).

 

So let me get this straight. You drive into a dark tunnel at 50 mph and you don't want the lights to come on immediately? The car doesn't know if you're just driving under a bridge or into a pitch black tunnel.

 

Adjusting the sensitivity would solve most of your issues.

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So let me get this straight. You drive into a dark tunnel at 50 mph and you don't want the lights to come on immediately? The car doesn't know if you're just driving under a bridge or into a pitch black tunnel.

 

Adjusting the sensitivity would solve most of your issues.

 

Ooooor people could just turn them on themselves when entering a tunnel as the signs already tell them to do. :idea:

 

Auto lamps as currently designed still don't address all mandatory headlight situations anyway, so people should still be left to do it on their own sometimes.

Edited by NickF1011
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You know you can just put some tint over the sensor and they should at least come on and stay on rather than going back and forth.

 

So they stay bright longer than they should? I like that they change. I don't like that they are so finicky at it that's all. Wouldn't tint over the sensor just change how sooner/later they act just as finicky?

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Yes but assuming you typically drive around the same time every day they would shift the finicky business to when you weren't driving.

 

With the changes in sunrise/sunset due to the earth's "wobble" that would require adding/removing the tint twice a year. I don't believe there's a way to tie the auto-dimming directly to the headlights anymore on my Edge. I believe the auto-dim is either on or it's off, regardless of whether or not you're using auto headlamps or not. If it could just auto-dim when the headlights are in use like in most cars, that would solve it the best.

 

EDIT: Wonder if they will go to the dim setting when I turn the headlights on even if the auto-dim is turned off? Wonder if that can even be configured that way? Will investigate. Was one of those set-it-and-forget-things since the first week I've owned it.

Edited by NickF1011
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Yes but assuming you typically drive around the same time every day they would shift the finicky business to when you weren't driving.

 

Well, that would work for the few weeks twice a year when that matters, then you would have to take the tint off. It should be a short time span due to sunrise/sunset differences where that's actually an issue, provided you drive at the same time every day. After a few weeks, when the sunrise/set has moved 20 minutes earlier or later, the problem should be gone for 6 months. :)

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Well, that would work for the few weeks twice a year when that matters, then you would have to take the tint off. It should be a short time span due to sunrise/sunset differences where that's actually an issue, provided you drive at the same time every day. After a few weeks, when the sunrise/set has moved 20 minutes earlier or later, the problem should be gone for 6 months. :)

 

More accurately, it changes from my morning commute to my evening commute. There's really only a few weeks when it's complete daylight already in the morning and for the drive home.

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