You may have already noticed that rare breed of car which travels around with its lights on permanently. No, this is not because the driver does know the difference between day and night, but because the car has been designed to incorporate day time running lights. Popular in Scandinavian countries where daylight can be scarce, day time running lights sit next to the side lights in the cars headlight compartment and turn on automatically every time the engine is running. The driver can switch them over to sidelights as necessary, but otherwise they remain on.

Scandinavia aside day time running lights did not really take off in the rest of Europe until 2006 when the European Commission did some research into their advantages and disadvantages. What they found was that having lights on at all times did have a positive effect on reducing the number of accidents on the roads. In addition a cost vs. benefit analysis found that the additional premium required to build these types of lights into a car and any result increase in emission where out weighed by the predicted increased safety on the roads. So in 2006 twelve countries within Europe decided to make day time running lights mandatory and another four countries choose to make them compulsory during the winter months.

The rest of Europe however decided not to follow suit at the time. This may have been due to the further inputs into the debate about whether these lights would actually make the roads safer or could they even cause more problems. Concerns were raised regarding the increased difficulty of distinguishing motor bike riders from other road users if everyone were to have their lights on at the same time. In addition there was a huge debate about the additional fuel required to power these lights and the resulting emissions that would be produced.

In 2008 the European Commission supported a directive that daytime running lights should be made compulsory within Europe. The directive laid out a plan to have all new cars and small vans fitted with the lights by February 2010 and then larger trucks and buses to have the same by August 2011. No old cars will be required to have the lights fitted nor there any implications on individual's motor insurance if they have any older car without the lights. The onus is on the car manufacturers to design a way to incorporate the lights in their models, evidence of which we are already starting to see.

Audi for example is one car manufacturer who has started to incorporate daytime running lights within their new vehicles and more are set to follow. So keep an eye out next time you are on the roads for a glimpse of the new daytime lights as they will be coming to a car near you soon.