2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36
Switching on the lights during the day could reduce the number of accidents. However, word of this has not yet got around to many drivers.
Almost three quarters (73 percent) of drivers in Germany drive without their headlights during the day in good weather. This is the result of an inspection of 515,000 vehicles that the Auto Club Europa (ACE) announced on Thursday in Stuttgart.
Recommendation is ignored
At the end of September, numbers were counted at 410 different locations across Germany. An ACE spokesman said that motorists ignored the recommendation of the Federal Ministry of Transport to drive with dipped headlights during the day for reasons of traffic safety. Compared to the result of a census in May of this year, the audience rating has increased nationwide from 23 percent to 27 percent.
Against the background of these results, the ACE repeated its call for a statutory obligation for daytime running lights. «We need clear rules for daytime running lights and, with regard to safety, more common standards on Europe's roads. Germany is happily at the forefront of all EU member states in the field of road safety and reducing the number of accident victims,”said the ACE. "But when it comes to roadworthy lighting, Germany is still the worst place on the continent," noted the car club.
For the ACE, no general change in behavior can be expected without a legally regulated light requirement. The club referred to road safety studies by the European Commission, according to which the introduction of a general daytime running light requirement could avoid 1.9 million road accidents across Europe every year. That means 5,500 deaths and 155,000 fewer injuries. A study by the Federal Highway Research Institute (BAST), which is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of Transport, came to similar results, it said.
Since the BAST study, the ADAC has also been in favor of a statutory regulation. “It is important that daytime running lights are harmonized in Europe,” said an ADAC spokesman for Autonews24. “It doesn't make sense that some drivers have their lights on and others don't. A clear regulation is needed here. In addition to the Scandinavian countries, there are also regulations for daytime running lights in Austria and the Czech Republic, for example.
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