Car Crazy Africa
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contact
Notification
Latest News
What’s in a (car) Name?
Editorial
Hoonigan founder, Ken Block dies in snowmobile accident
News
2013 Mazda CX-5 Review
Review
Sir Wicknell’s New Ride
Car Spotlight News
2023 Mercedes C63 S E Performance
Car Spotlight
News

Hoonigan founder, Ken Block dies in snowmobile accident

Editorial

What’s in a (car) Name?

Aa
Car Crazy AfricaCar Crazy Africa
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contact
Search
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contact
Sign In Sign In
Follow US
Car Crazy Africa > Blog > Tech 101 > DRL: Daytime Running Lights
Tech 101

DRL: Daytime Running Lights

Brian Willis
Last updated: 2023/01/05 at 11:41 AM
By Brian Willis 4 Min Read
SHARE

I’m sure by now we have all seen cars with their “lights on” in the middle of the day. For those of us who are not in tune with the trend we probably find ourselves thinking “oh shame that guy has his lights on, how ridiculous”. Well, chances are these are probably daylight-running LEDs or DRLs. And I’m here to tell you the highs and the lows of this automotive trend.

First off why do they exist? Well, there is the obvious reason like more visibility on the roads. This is to the benefit of the driver with the DRLs on as the car will be more visible especially in low light scenarios while driving. Then there is the total ego-stroking reason. Which is, they look fantastic on most cars, be it the BMWs, Mercedes, Toyotas, Audis etc… They all look really awesome.

Which leads me to which car manufacturer has the coolest DRLs? Now obviously this goes without saying. This is highly subjective because the huge array of DRL patterns, shapes n sizes; we won’t all agree on who has the coolest ones. So with that out of the way I have to say Hyundai kills it for me with the DRLs. Especially on the 2021 Tucson and the 2021 Sonata. I can hear people screaming because those cars have seriously acquired taste-type design aesthetics. But hey it is what it is, I love them. This of course doesn’t take away anything from the likes of Mercedes, BMW, or even Audi, I just found Hyundai to be a bit more daring with the light patterns.

The History

Who started the DRL trend? A lot of people don’t know this but DRLs have been around since 1984 with the Volvo 240, they just weren’t LEDs but they stayed on throughout the day for safety reasons. DRLs were first mandated in Sweden in 1977. Other Scandinavian countries and Canada soon followed suit. They became more popular in Northern countries where there is less ambient daylight during winter months. Vehicle manufacturers Saab and Volvo were the first to implement DRLs. However the LED versions as we all know them today were made more popular by Audi and Lexus.

So now for the not-so-flattering side of DRLs, why r they controversial in some places, well one major reason is not the DRLs themselves but, drivers not knowing the purpose of their DRLs. A lot of people actually forget to switch on their lights at night when their DRLs r on and this is very dangerous because when your DRLs are on, your tail lights will be off and DRLS are not made for nighttime driving as they are meant to give general illumination during the day and not focused illumination during the night that your main headlights offer, this means DRLs r capable of dazzling oncoming traffic during the night coz they r unfocused.

So please be safe out there with your DRLs and learn how to use them so you can look cool while being a safety beacon for you and other road users.

Did you find this topic helpful? Which other topics would you like us to touch on next concerning cars and road safety?

Join Our Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

TAGGED: daytime running lights, drl, safety
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Email Copy Link
Your Reaction?
Love0
Sad0
Happy0
Surprise0
Angry0
Dead0
Leave a comment Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow Us

Find Us on Social Media
Facebook Like
Twitter Follow
Instagram Follow
Youtube Subscribe

You Might Also Like

Tech 101

How Exhaust Systems work

By Tatenda Jinya August 15, 2021
Tech 101

Forced Induction Part 3: Turbochargers

By Tatenda Jinya August 15, 2021
Tech 101

Forced Induction Part 2: How Superchargers Work

By Tatenda Jinya August 15, 2021
Tech 101

Forced Induction Part 1: The Basics

By Tatenda Jinya August 15, 2021
Tech 101

Exhaust back pressure : The myth full of hot air

By Tatenda Jinya August 15, 2021
NewsTech 101Video

Tesla strikes again: this time with the Cybertruck

By Tatenda Jinya August 15, 2021

Car Crazy Africa

© 2023 | All rights reserved

Don't not sell my personal information

Removed from reading list

Undo
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?