Why don't manufacturers also produce "day-time running" tail lights?

Question

I see a lot of vehicles on the road at night that have no tail lights on. From countless observations I've made, this is usually due to the vehicle having decently bright daytime running headlights (DRL), and a bright dashboard display (you'd think a bright dashboard would be an indicator your car is in daytime mode). Sometimes the fancier the car, the more likely people seem to miss this step as the DRLs are much brighter.

It seems like the driver is thinking that because they can see the road and their instruments, they don't realize they don't actually have their night-time lighting fully on. I've tried to flash these people and maybe like <1% of people turn their lights on, but otherwise people just think I'm getting agro with them so I don't really do it anymore. Their lack of safety isn't worth my hassle. This is also in L.A. so I think all the additional lighting doesn't clue them in as well unless they go down a dark street, then I'll usually see them turn on.

AFAIK, DRLs were created for safety. I guess somehow cars weren't easy to see in the day time(?!), so they added always-on headlights. Okay sure, but I've almost always have been able to see a car during the day. However at night, sometimes these little shadow monsters come flying out of nowhere and unless directly blocking your view from a lit up road/building/etc, you wouldn't even notice it was there. Particularly dangerous on the freeways.

Why would manufacturers just make DRLs brighter over time, but never also introduce at least a somewhat dim tail light in case the operator is not educated or careful enough to properly enable the full lighting system when it's actually necessary? It can't be that much extra cost. Maybe because the gov't hasn't told them to (yet)?

Answer 1

AFAIK, DRLs were created for safety. I guess somehow cars weren't easy to see in the day time(?!), so they added always-on headlights. Okay sure, but I've almost always have been able to see a car during the day.

It was originally for Nordic/Scandinavian countries - where "day time" is pretty dim for significant portions of the year. And they were effective at improving visibility of other vehicles during the day there - sunny LA? Not so much.

However at night, sometimes these little shadow monsters come flying out of nowhere and unless directly blocking your view from a lit up road/building/etc, you wouldn't even notice it was there. Particularly dangerous on the freeways.

I must confess I'm puzzled at this - if you're looking at the back of the car then it's not driving towards you (unless they're reversing I suppose - but then the reversing lights would make the point moot). If we're talking about freeways then you're the one coming "flying" up on them, from behind, in the same direction. At that point Your own headlights should be doing a rather sterling job of illuminating what's in front of you. That's what they're there for.

Why would manufacturers just make DRLs brighter over time, but never also introduce at least a somewhat dim tail light in case the operator is not educated or careful enough to properly enable the full lighting system when it's actually necessary? It can't be that much extra cost. Maybe because the gov't hasn't told them to (yet)?

The increase in brightness in DRLs has come with their use in lighter environs (such as LA) vs where they were originally conceived for. In brighter places you need brighter DRLS for them to stand out. The safety benefits in brighter countries are still relatively small however.

In Scandinavia there are rear DRLs - and on some cars that are available in those countries it's possible to enable them regardless. Pretty much the reason why manufacturers haven't done it in a sweeping way is (as you put it) because "the gov't hasn't told them to"

When you're examining the question of mitigating those who are too incompetent to put their lights on when it's dark (or simply forget once in a while) the auto manufacturers have already got a better solution than enabling rear DRLs - automatic headlights. It's not an expensive bit of tech, has been around for decades and actually solves the problem rather than just reducing it.