Miata Mailing List: February 1995, Message #58
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   From: Greg Vantreese 
Subject: Re: Running lights vs. Parking lights
   Date: Wed, 1 Feb 1995 16:15:49 -0500

"Alex Little ((919) 254-5038)"  wrote:
> So, what all this BS really means is the following:  if you want people
> to see you and to be able to tell where you are and how fast you are
> approaching with a better degree of accuracy, don't depend on just the
> parking lights to be seen.  Use your headlights or some equivalent
> appropriate for the visual conditions at the time (such as DRLs).  Save
> your parking lights for when your car is parked and just needs to be
> seen, rather than force other drivers to depend on them to tell where
> you are and how fast you are approaching.  If you think it looks cool to
> cruise around with the parking lights on, you may be better off hanging
> out in the parking lot so people can more accurately admire you and your
> car.
> 
> Alex Little
> Raleigh, NC
> 
> PS There is an upper limit too.  If you crank up the brightness too
> much, you'll blind other drivers and then they'll run into you because
> they can't see anything.
> 

I just had to make a comment here.  Lighted headlights on nearby vehicles
 reduce my vision of other vehicles and road hazards to some degree.
Under certain driving conditions (dawn, dusk, and cloudy days, for example),
parking lights can provide a clear improvement to visibility without blinding
effect.

Headlights are more appropriate for really low visibility conditions like
darkness and inclement weather conditions, where they provide road illumination
as well as increased visibility.  Note that I don't base these comments on any
law or guidelines that I have read anywhere.  I know that parking lights are
intended for just that, parking.  But I also know what helps me see and be seen
on the road.  I know from direct experience that headlights at 
times (especially idiots who drive around with their brights on all the time)
obscure my vision at least as much as they help me note their presence.

____________________________________________________________________________
Gregory W. Vantreese                                    Software Engineering
Naval Air Warfare Center                                      Code 457240C26
Aircraft Division                                        Phone: 317-322-2687
Indianapolis, IN 46219-2189                    E-mail: vantreg@indy.navy.mil