One of the most important elements of the vehicle, especially when we drive at night, are each of the elements car lights. The explanation is logical: it allows us to obtain optimal visibility to travel anywhere in our country and, in addition, they are vital for other cars to perceive us, and thus avoid road accidents this can cause unpleasant situations on the road.
What types of lights are there in cars?
Vehicles normally contain several types of lights which have a specific objective related to safety and visibility. Therefore, below we will explain each of them and their most important function.
1.- Before
- Low beams: they are most used when driving at night or in conditions of low visibility. Its function is to illuminate the road without dazzling oncoming drivers.
- Long– are more powerful and serve to provide greater visibility on deserted or poorly lit roads. They should be turned off when there are oncoming vehicles to avoid glare.
- Position or parking: These are low intensity lights, which are used to indicate the presence of the vehicle when parked or in poor visibility conditions, such as at night.
- Front fog lights: These types of lights are designed to improve visibility in harsh conditions. fog, heavy rain or snow. Its light beam is lower and wider to avoid the reflection that usually occurs with normal lights.
2.- Rear
- Brake– Activate when the driver presses the brake and alert other drivers that the vehicle is reduce your speed. Usually they are red.
- Rear position: These are the red lights which come on when the car is moving, and allow vehicles traveling behind the vehicle to observe its presence, particularly at night.
- Flashing: in this case, they light up to indicate that the driver is going to turn or change lanes. Additionally, they flash on one side of the vehicle, i.e. right or left, depending on the driver’s decision.
- Reverse: these are white lights that come on when the vehicle is reversing and thus warn other drivers and pedestrians that the car is moving
- Emergency lights: These are the flashing lights that activate to signal that the vehicle is stopped due to an emergency situation or in a risk zone where vehicle traffic is fluid.
More types of lights
- Rear fog lights: This is usually a bright red color used in foggy, rainy or snowy conditions. Likewise, they are brighter than normal taillights and serve to make the vehicle more visible to those behind.
- walking day: turns on automatically when the vehicle is driven during the day. They do not have the same intensity as the low beams, but they are used to improve visibility of the vehicle for other drivers.
- Interior cabin lighting: They can be activated inside the car to provide visibility to the driver when they need to take an action.
- Trunk– These lights illuminate the trunk when open and make loading and unloading the vehicle easier in low light conditions.
What lights must be present in the car?
Regulations impose mandatory lights which must be in operation to respect the highway code and ensure safety on the road. In addition, some are optional or recommended, but they are very important for the safety of the driver and, on the other hand, to avoid penalties.
Lights are required passageparticularly in conditions of reduced visibility or while driving at night; those of the brakesto alert other drivers that we are going to stop the vehicle or that we have slowed down; rear positionwhich will activate automatically when the vehicle is moving; flashingto inform the rest of the users of the action we are going to take; license plate lightwhich will ensure that the license plate number is visible; emergenciesin the event of an accident on the road and we must stop the vehicle and alert the rest of the users; the opposites; and finally those of positionso that the vehicle is visible.
What lights are required during the day
Mandatory daytime running lights usually depend on each country’s regulations, but, in general, there are some common regulations that aim to ensure that vehicles are sufficiently visible during the day to reduce road accidents.
For this reason, and under normal conditions, drivers are required to activate the low beam and position lightswhether front or rear, to ensure optimal safety while driving.
