Article 71 of the Road Traffic Rules Act, paragraphs 1 and 5.
The current law and its lifetime applicability is a STEP FORWARD in road safety.
I propose to amend paragraph 1 and delete paragraph 5 of Article 71, which deals with the definition of daytime running lamps or lighting equipment on vehicles. The problem is the poor or reduced visibility of vehicles during the day.
In addition to the fact that the use of rear lights is not compulsory during the day, daytime running lights can shine as much as 25% less brightly than shaded ones! This is the reason why all kinds of shapes, lengths, layouts, wattages, etc. of daytime running lamps have been developed.
Paragraph 5 has given rise to different interpretations and so we are currently seeing a flood of different combinations of lamp use. Some car manufacturers have a combination of "daytime running lamp" without the rear lights on, while others, more safety conscious, have a combination of "daytime running lamps" on the front and rear. Both options are apparently tolerated by the type approval.
If such a half-assed law had been written for traffic signals, there would have been chaos on the road. There are rules for size, colour, distance, etc. all based on scientifically proven perception of the human vision and brain.
Practice has been good so far. I do not understand why the step backwards. Why reduce the power or even switch it off on a clearly visible 'light sign' indicating a car at a distance?
Only sufficiently strong and focused front lights (dimmed headlights) and lit rear lights help to detect low-visibility vehicles more quickly and in time, both in the direction of travel and in the rear-view mirror.
The standard number, position (height), power and shape of the headlamps are most readily recognised in the driver's memory and field of vision. And this provides that extra safety that the law was supposed to bring decades ago... not the unlifelike changes and permission for all sorts of lights which are mostly seen as being for design tinkering rather than safety. This design freedom with the permission of the law(state) offers us from three barely visible LED lights to incredible lengths and shapes, above, below, more than one pair,....
I propose that daylight lamps be abolished altogether, and thus the inconsistencies associated with them. Only the headlights should be replaced or left on and the tail lights should be left on.
Otherwise, the amendment should read that the rear lights must be switched on.
Article 71
(use of lighting equipment on the vehicle)
(1) The driver of a motor vehicle or group of vehicles shall drive in road traffic with daytime running lamps or headlamps switched on.
(6) A driver referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall drive during the daytime with daytime running lamps switched on. Dimmed headlamps may also be used as daytime running lamps, in which case their intensity may be reduced by a maximum of 25%. Daytime running lamps or dipped-beam headlamps used as daytime running lamps may be switched on without the position lamps being switched on at the same time.
In the definitions the Act speaks of a daytime lamp:
5. "daytime running lamp" means a daytime running lamp which is a forward-looking lamp intended to make the vehicle more conspicuous when driving in the daytime;