Wipers and headlights

[OrganMorgan]

Forgive my ignorance here... first (longish) drive yesterday in mixed weather... I couldn't really tell in rainy daylight if (a) the headlights came on automatically after the wipers had activated, (b) it mattered whether they did or not! Most cars I have driven in the last few years, the headlights HAVE come on once the wipers had activated for a while, thus making the vehicle more visible in fog and heavy rain. BUT... unlike some cars, the DRLs on the Volvo work at the back and the front, and therefore perhaps the use of headlights is less of a necessity in rain/fog. What I DID slightly sense was that the headlights came on and then went off quite quickly when passing through shadowy areas on the road and I did wonder if this could be confusing to oncoming motorists or those in front of me. I will be more observant of this in coming days but does anyone have thoughts or observations about this?

[kildare]

In some cases you could use the manual driving light control disabling the automatic lights mode.

[gloucester]

The headlights don't come on with the wipers.

The DRLs front and back are quite bright.

I've found the EX30 is MUCH less susceptible than my previous car (Suzuki Ignis) to turning the headlights on in temporary dark conditions. That car did it in broad daylight going under motorway bridges! Impossible to adjust sensitivity according to the dealer.

[SP1959]

In my opinion, this is one bit of software that Volvo has got right first time.

The car is well marked with both front and rear positioning lights (DRLs). I could never understand the rational of some manufacturers that did not include the rear lights with the DRLs.

The Ex30's DRLs are much brighter than many cars', and are more than adequate for most rain showers - that do not actually darken the skies to such an extent as to need headlights.

I wouldn't want my headlamps to come on automatically when my wipes do.

If my headlamps come on every time the auto wipers saw the need to clear a few specks of water off the windscreen, that would confuse other drivers. (And maybe annoy that road-rage inclined boy race in front by flashing my lights at him every time he activates my auto wipes with his badly adjusted windscreen washers every time he tries to wash his windows.)

[OrganMorgan]

Thanks, SP1959 - that all makes sense and I entirely agree about rear facing DRLs - madness! My 'headlights coming on with wipers' experience has seen them coming on after about 20 wipes, so not a problem, and it's exactly the fear of appearing to flash the driver in front or bother on coming cars that I thought I was experiencing on the way home the late summer gloom the other day.

[andrewollason]

For those of us old enough to remember the time before DLR’s were even a thing Volvo brought the world the cars that had the lights on when ever it was running. Used to cause outrage in some folks but seemed sensible at the time to me. It would seem that things have come full circle for them now and we all love lights that are always on!

[OrganMorgan]

Yes, I was very proud of my DRLs on my F-reg 240GLT Estate back in the late 80s!

Just to go back to where I began*, and also bearing in mind that the Highway Code says "you MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced", just relying on DRLs, I don't think follows the letter of the law. This being the case, I think it would be good if the headlights came on when the wipers complete 20 strokes and went off again when they have clearly stopped being needed, or, that it was easier to switch on the headlights by, for example, using voice commands. It really is an absolute faff requiring confirmation with the OK steering wheel button and I'll be honest and say that it is, in my view, dangerous, and backs up, in one fell swoop, what the motoring press says to a 't' about the central screen being a major drawback on this car. Now, I love the screen, it hasn't taken many minutes to get my head around it, but count the finger presses of one sort or another that you need to use to get the headlights to come on - a Highway Code requirement, remember - and then return to the Home screen, and I can't believe anyone wouldn't be shocked. To save you checking, I think it's...

Car icon
Lights icon
Switch on Headlights icon
Confirm with OK on wheel
Home button

Well, my humble 2022 Peugeot e208 does all of that entirely on it's own with no inputs from me, and Mrs OrganMorgan's old Fiat 500 did that with one eighth turn of a steering wheel stalk fifteen years ago - well, actually, my dad's Morris Oxford did it by pulling on, or perhaps turning a knob twice, back in the 50's... all of which could be achieved without taking one's eyes off the road, of course. What price, progress, eh?

* Can I urge other members to keep an eye on my original point about the headlights operating intermittently in shadowy conditions? In such conditions yesterdays, I am sure my lights were popping on and off unhelpfully, those it's not easy to tell always - I just sense it in the cats eyes and occasionally spot that the green tell tale has come on in the display.

[SP1959]

I disagree.

For some reason OrganMorgan appears to want the car to switch on the lights every time it rains.

Rain in itself does not create the severly reduced visibility mentioned in the Highway Code. The Code does not say you should use your headlights every time it is raining.

Rule 226 of the Highway Code states that they should be used when visibility is "seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres".

In the UK, most drivers meet those conditions a few times a year, while they drive in light rain requiring continuous slow wipers a few times a week. We do not need the car switching on our headlights (when we already have bright DRLs) every time we drive in typical light rain in slightly overcast conditions. These conditions are the ones for which DRLs are designed for, and which we encounter nearly every day in autumn, winter and spring, and unfortunately here in the UK, many days in summer too.

Finally, if as you say, you think your headlights "operating intermittently in shadowy conditions", then clearly they come on before conditions are so bad that "you cannot see for more than 100 metres" and so they are on when the Highway Code requires them to be.

[OrganMorgan]

Yes, I do get your point, SP, and perhaps I am being a bit pedantic, but I am, neverthless, surprised that the car doesn't respond in the same way as I am accustomed in Audi, Mercedes, Peugeot, and I think an old Jaguar XF. There is widespread misuse and non-use of headlights in thus country, much of it associated with owners misunderstanding their DRLs, of course. My point about the shadowy conditions was made in my original post and concerned causing confusion to other motorists by the headlights going on and off.

[SP1959]

We are all influenced by our previous driving experiences. My previous car was a Volvo XC40, and its lights and wipers worked exactly like the EX30, so I am used to it that way.

And I agree, there should be a one-touch switch to switch the lights on ehen you need to (like my old XC40, and every other car I have ever driven). We have a one touch switch for both the hazard warning lights and the rear window defroster on the roof panel, why can't we have a rear fog light switch and a headlight switch somewhere?

However I think most misuse of lights is caused by older cars that do not switch on their headlamps automatically (driven by drivers who don't do so manually), and by cars with defective lights, than by automatic systens not switching on when they should.