I admit I only buy used vehicles so am sometimes a bit behind the times on features, but I also rent cars almost every week which gives me exposure to 2017 and 2018 models from various manufacturers. One thing I have never seen is a car that will automatically turn on your lights when it's raining. In the "auto" headlight setting, the lights only come on when it is dark outside. Anyone who has ever been in FL during the summer and driven through one of our daily afternoon thunderstorm monsoons knows there are times when you can't see more than 15-20 feet in front of you - so you really need to have your lights on in order to allow the car behind you to see you. Almost every week since summer started I have been in some type of rain storm where no one on the interstate exceeds 35mph because the rain is that heavy and visibility is so limited. We have rain-sensing windshield wipers - why not a feature that also turns on the headlights when it senses rain for a certain period of time (30 seconds maybe) and then turns them off when the rain stops?

I have to assume this exists- if so, please let me know which manufacturers and models you have seen offer this very simple but helpful and safe feature. It seems like a no-brainer.

 

not aware of anything....I manually turn lights on in those cases.

But, it could be as simple as if the wipers go on, lights go on--but for what duration? Not just because a person washed the windshield...

I know where you're coming from--technology has lazified our population. The majority of people would never look over their shoulder when backing up, what for? Cameras do not lie! But during heavy rain, so many cars have no lights, even though it's the law.

My wife's GM car is interesting as it had multiple blow outs of the DRLs, and come to find it's not the bulb but the fact that the voltage is dirty (16V spikes). The car knows, it will not turn them on unless the motor is physically running, can't just turn key to ON. Well, one time I was working late and now dark, replacing the socket, and I wanted of course to test. But it was dark so the headlights turned on and no DRL. I shined a LED flashlight into the sensor on the dash, and voilà, lights off, DRLs on!

 

 

Funny you mention this. I just leased a Durango SRT a few months ago and this is one of the features that I love. I can set my headlights to come on automatically when my windshield wipers are on.

 

My experience, over a number of years, has been that the difference between full-headlights and DRLs when it is raining, and the wipers on, is minimal at best. And, IMO, if people are slowing down on the Interstate when it is raining, that is a good thing (within reason),which increases safety by lowering the chances that tires will hydroplane and lose traction. I've yet to see a cop pull someone over (or been pulled over myself) for having only DRLs on in the rain, and not full-headlights. And, IMO, if one cannot see the average DRLs on most newer vehicles in most rain conditions, then perhaps their driving privileges should be limited.

Just my $.02.

That's because so many people are texting or yakking on the cell-phone that they probably forget.

 

I'm 39 with 20/15 vision and 2 times in the last 48 hours I drove through afternoon rain storms while on 95 where I was going under 40mph and could not see a car more than 2 car lengths in front of me unless it had full headlights on (which obviously activates the tail lights). I should have been more clear- I'm not suggesting that the headlights are helpful in improving vision out of the windshield, I'm saying having them on and therefore activating the tail lights would help the car behind you actually see you. Throughout Florida our digital highway signs in the summer read "In rain, headlights on, flashers off" - so they are discouraging people from using the flashers but want everyone to have headlights on. These are seriously intense down pours often accompanied by pretty hefty wind gusts.

 

Nice- glad to know it definitively exists.

 

Agree- it def needs some sort of timer. Maybe when the wipers are on for longer than 30 seconds the headlights will turn on. And then when the wipers are off for 60 seconds it would turn headlights off.

 

I don't believe my headlights and wipers are linked directly, but they sort of are indirectly.
Headlights are automatically adjusted based on ambient light. They come on when it gets a little dark. Which in my experience usually happens when it rains hard. If the storm isn't dark enough to trigger the lights, then I doubt the Full on vs DRL will make much difference anyway.
So the desired effect is achieved, just not directly.

 

I agree and had the same thoughts, its not about seeing out of the windshield, it is the fact that the rear lights turn on when the headlights are on and in a heavy rainstorm it helps to see the car in front of you.

 

With all of the rain we have had here lately it is an issue. My IS350 headlights only come on when it gets a little dark and even with the sensitivity high it hasn't come on in some of the rainstorms we have had so I had to manually turn them on.

 

And it's funny that the most direct way would be the driver turns the lights on, when it's raining lol

I keep my BMW light switch to the OFF position, for this very reason. Every time the dealer handles the vehicle, it is returned with the switch in auto. I know it's off, and if I want lights, I need to turn them on.

My wife's car is in auto by default, so we leave it at that. Also because if taken out of auto, the DRLs turn off (why haha). The Lexus I leave in auto--no rationale there, I guess it was already in auto when I bought the car used?

It is weird how with a modern car, the driver needs to make very few decisions, to the point of not even parallel parking...imagine being 16, learning to drive with a car that parks itself, and somehow one day being behind the wheel with a car that lacks that feature. The task might be like backing up a 53' trailer for the first time..

 

Interesting. I haven't had my RC350 long enough to know how it would handle that scenario.
I imagine daytime fog could be a similar issue.
It's been a long time since I've gotten stuck in bad daytime fog. I don't remember if I used my wipers. I can imagine I might have. It can still be pretty bright so lights might not come on automatically. Auto wipers may not either.
Light is a mixed bag there. It's already bright out, but you want max light for others to see you. But you don't want to blind yourself. I remember not knowing whether to drive slow or stop. Couldn't see the edges of the car much less the lines on the road or anything in front of me.

Heavy fog makes me wonder if there are cases where wipers = good, but lights = bad. I suspect not, but legal stuff...

 

I would think that no matter how foggy, low beams would help. Also, this is subject to debate, but imho no vehicle sold in the USA should have fog lamps--they are ornamental in nature and often on when they should not be, when there is no foul weather/fog.

 

iirc I had a 2002 mercedes with rain sensing wipers that would turn them on in auto mode.