On the Use of Headlights

One would think the use of headlights would be one of those things you just couldn’t afford to forget. It’s dark outside…lights make the dark go away. Turn on your headlights…the dark goes away. If the dark hasn’t gone away, it’s because you haven’t turned on your headlights. If you don’t know how to turn on the headlights, then, perhaps you shouldn’t be driving at night.

Now, the benefits to driving with your headlights on, other than the obvious benefit of perhaps arriving to your destination safely…

1. You’ll be less likely to get pulled over by the police on your way to where ever you’re going. Driving with your headlights off is something a DUI driver does? If you’re someone who enjoys driving under the influence, then by all means, leave your headlights off and make it as easy as possible for a police officer to find you and take you to jail where you belong.

2. Compliance with the vehicle code. It really is a good feeling to follow traffic laws. They may seem like little things, insignificant even, but are they really? Is your integrity worth that stop sign you run when no one’s around? Or the red light that’s just a little too long for you to wait? It’s easy to be good when someone’s watching, but what do you do when no one else is around?

3. You make it easier for other drivers to see you. Goes back to that safety thing. Be a defensive driver. Be a safe driver.

Now, on rare occasions, it will become necessary to drive with your headlights off even during the hours of darkness. For example, some years ago, while in college in Utah, I was leaving the university late and in the middle of a snowstorm (something not many of us Californians have had to deal with). I got on the freeway in the thick of the storm, headlights on, and unable to see much of anything past the front of my car. I knew better than to put on my brights, having grown up in the northwest and driven in snow far too often, but the freeway was hidden under a thick, fluffy layer of snow and the tracks I was following were disappearing quickly. Then I remembered something my Old Man had taught me about driving in thick falling snow, turn off your headlights. I was on the freeway, with enough other vehicles off the road and in the ditch to have me in a thick sweat, but I clicked off the headlights so just my parking lights were on and suddenly I could see. It was still slow going, but without my own headlights blinding me, I was able to make my way home.

Drive Smart. Drive Safe.

The Traffic Guy