Daytime Running Lights Are Mandatory

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36

The European Union wants to increase safety on the roads - but only from 2011. With daytime running lights, deaths should be reduced by up to five percent.

New car models in the European Union must be equipped with daytime running lights from 2011 onwards. The EU Commission announced in Brussels on Wednesday that this should increase road safety. The number of deaths from accidents is likely to fall by three to five percent a year. That is several thousand human lives. The new lights, like the low beam, must be installed at the front and switch on automatically when the engine is started. If the driver drives into a tunnel, he must still switch on the low beam. The daytime running lights then switch off automatically.

Only applies to new models

The new regulation only applies to new models and not generally to all new vehicles. New car and van models must be equipped accordingly from February 2011, new trucks from August 2012. The daytime running lights could cost consumers up to 150 euros per car, it said. To do this, however, they only use between a quarter and a third of the energy of dipped headlights. If light-emitting diodes are installed, the energy consumption is only a third. "We may then have a small increase in carbon dioxide emissions, but we can save a large number of lives," said a senior commissioner.

The new law was drawn up jointly with the European Parliament and the 27 member states. The decision of the EU Commission on Wednesday therefore no longer has to be accepted again by both institutions and can come into force directly. (dpa)