Why not have automatic headlights when you turn on your wipers?

Pea soup thick fog this morning, I can see 20 feet.  Hello there, sudden medium gray car with no lights.

But mostly pouring rain, dark, fogged up mirrors, and I'm on I-75 and just catch a glimpse of light reflecting off of his bumper before I merge into his fender.

If they can have daytime running lights, why not have the headlights come on automatically when you turn on your wipers?

My Explorer and Focus both turn the lights on with the wipers. They also activate the rear wiper if you put the vehicle in reverse with the wipers on. 

Yeah I think all fords do it, my fiesta does. I really don't understand why you wouldn't set it up that way, it's not even anywhere near as difficult to do as the rest of the auto headlight system...doesn't even really need to be a software thing necessarily. My cayman doesn't so on the occasion I drive it in the rain I always forget to turn the lights on because I'm used to the fiesta doing it for me.

Should be standard equipment on white, silver, black, pewter colored cars. The people who that color appeals to are statistically too dumb to consistently turn on their lights during inclement weather and need all the help they can get.

Appleseed said:

Should be standard equipment on white, silver, black, pewter colored cars. The people who that color appeals to are statistically too dumb to consistently turn on their lights during inclement weather and need all the help they can get.

I agree.  Don't know how many times I have almost run over an asphalt color car without lights on in the rain.  They always seem to hang out on your quarter panel or beside your trailer. Then pass and tell me that I'm number 1. 

Wait a min- I thought this board was firmly against anything automatic.  Especially safety items.

Then again, I've loved having auto lights since the new Ford's we've gotten had them.  Switch to A and just leave it alone.  

Our '18 Mazda 3 has auto wipers and auto headlights, but they aren't linked. 

We just always leave them both on auto and it works fine. 

alfadriver said:

Wait a min- I thought this board was firmly against anything automatic.  Especially safety items.

Then again, I've loved having auto lights since the new Ford's we've gotten had them.  Switch to A and just leave it alone.  

I've got nothing against automatic headlights.  They are far better than morons who never turn their lights on because they think their DRLs are the same thing. Or drive completely without lights because morons.

My only issue with automatic headlights is that DW's 2017 Volvo doesn't have any dashboard / binnacle indication that the car has activated the full headlight system.  So in cusp conditions the only way to really tell is to get close enough to something that you can see the shine.  That's a stupid oversight on Volvo's part, for a car that had a long model life.

I've really wondered why they don't have headlights come on when you activate the wipers, with an exception for when you run the washer.  It seems like about 8 lines of simple code to me.

My 2014 fiesta does that, thought it was standard on modern(ish) cars

Both my 2015 RAM and my 2019 Fusion do that. 

z31maniac said:

Our '18 Mazda 3 has auto wipers and auto headlights, but they aren't linked. 

We just always leave them both on auto and it works fine. 

My 2010 3 is the same way... both are auto, but not linked.  Unfortunately it's often not dark enough during daytime rainstorms in the summer to trigger the headlights. 

I have always been annoyed by this, IMO if you have both set to auto and the wipers trigger, the headlights should also come on and remain on for the remainder of the key cycle.

The fog was nuts in central Ohio this morning, rode the bike in and it was almost impossible to see all the cuvs only running DRLS in the fog. 

therieldeal said:

z31maniac said:

Our '18 Mazda 3 has auto wipers and auto headlights, but they aren't linked. 

We just always leave them both on auto and it works fine. 

My 2010 3 is the same way... both are auto, but not linked.  Unfortunately it's often not dark enough during daytime rainstorms in the summer to trigger the headlights. 

I have always been annoyed by this, IMO if you have both set to auto and the wipers trigger, the headlights should also come on and remain on for the remainder of the key cycle.

Definitely agree with that. 

I hate auto lights and distrust them.  For that reason, even my super duper Toyota with auto lights gets used in manual mode 100% of the time.  If anything, I am overly cautious and use my lights too frequently.

I do love my auto rain sensing wipers that increase in frequency with an increase in rain intensity.  

They can do it, but manufacturers are inconsistent about features like that.  The auto lights in my Jeep (from 1998) turn on with the wipers (washeres excluded) or if it's dark.  The 01 BMW has no auto lights at all.  And mid-2000s Toyotas with DRLs and auto lights don't turn the lights on with wipers, it stays in DRL mode unless it's dark.