Saving Gas (And My Sanity)

[stickmaker]

The US could save hundreds of barrels of oil a year if people would just turn off their headlights when there's enough ambient light.

Frankly, I'm baffled as to why they put them *on* in broad daylight. This not only wastes gas, in certain circumstances it can actually make the car less visible. As Jasper Maskelyne demonstrated in WWII, when he made a tank on a hill against a bright horizon disappear by putting lights on it, when something is silhouetted against a lit background, adding lights makes it blend in.

So, please, folks, think. (Actually, that's a reasonable plea for far more situations than this.)

Now, I realize this doesn't apply to motorcycles. They're small enough and the structure open enough not to make much of a silhouette. They also need every advantage they can get to make themselves more noticeable to other drivers. However, for cars and larger it is useful advice.

Comments

[xander-opal.livejournal.com]

Hate to say this, but modern vehicles are built so that the headlights are on while the car is in gear. Whether the driver wants it or not.

[gazerwolf.livejournal.com]

The bus I used to drive kept the headlights on unless you had the bus in park and the parking brake on.

(Made it real easy to spot which buses had the safety interlock for the lift disabled.)

(The lift was only supposed to work if the parking brake was on...so if the headlights were on and the lift worked....the safety interlock was disabled.)

Don't think the mechanics ever realized the giveaway...don't know if they still do that though...they have completely replaced the fleet since I left.

[maellenkleth]

Stickie, I love you to bits, but you're full of it. Daytime running lights vastly increase the distance at which an oncoming vehicle can be seen. Perhaps one cannot judge its silhouette, as concerns what sort of vehicle it is, but one can most certainly better see that a vehicle is oncoming.

Consider how this **reduces** the risks of passing maneouvres.

**hugs**, thoughtfull,

/mev/