As we know, daytime running lights, as standard equipment, installed on almost all vehicles now. But for motorcycles, it is still an option. Today, let’s talk about the use of daytime running lights on motorcycles.
“Daytime running light/lamp” means a lamp facing in a forward direction used to make the vehicle more easily visible when driving during daytime.
Motorcycle Daytime Running Light can help with the problem of motorcycles are completely dark that causing risks of accidents. And also intend to help in other circumstances, like rain, dust, and fog.
The use of motorcycle daytime running light is compulsory in several EU Member States (e.g. Austria, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, and Portugal), some states of the US and Canada.
Studies conducted by a variety of traffic safety groups across the U.S. and Europe show that the use of headlights during the day can help prevent between 7 and 25 percent of all deadly daytime crashes. Most research indicates that the use of daytime running lights reduces accident rates by between 5 and 10 percent across the board.
LED motorcycle Daytime running light as an option in order to improve frontal motorcycle conspicuity in daylight seems to be the most practical and is the prime interest. There’re some main types of DRLs are currently in use:
Ref.: Dedicated lights that are optimized for use as daytime running lights can be far more effective and energy-efficient than other options.
They are purpose-made, low-wattage. They do not need to be operated manually as they automatically activate when the engine is started and turn off when the engine stops.
Thompson released a US study report in 2003, regarded with the effectiveness of several types of DRL. It compared the collision rate of models built before and after DRLs became standard:
Effectiveness of DRLs (from Thompson 2003)
According to the above study data, we can find out that dedicated DRLs are nearly three times as effective as low beam headlights and bright turn signals are nearly four times as effective.
It is therefore important to refer to the above information to take into account when considering DRLs for motorcycles.
Motorcycle LED daytime running lights usually are bright white or yellow. Besides making others see, yellow daytime running light can be more effective in the poor condition of traffic, such as dusk, rain, etc. According to the Thompson 2003 study as above table,a dedicated DRL with yellow light seems a highly cost-effective DRL. Thus it is effective for preventing motorcycle accidents.
p.s. Australia still doesn’t permit yellow DRLs currently yet.
Based on reports through many field testing and studies, motorcycles with DRLs are more conspicuous than motorcycles that do not have them.
In order to evaluate the relative conspicuity of several headlamps for motorcyclists, Donne conducted a field experiment depending on the frequency of which the motorcycle was detected and recognized.
The experiment was based on the notion of drivers fail to see motorcycles occasionally. Of course, the motorcycles were not equipped with any conspicuity aid.
From the analysis, it shows that motorcycles conspicuity was enhanced from 53.6% to 64.4% as a result. Specifications for DRLs were assessed, and it was confirmed that two lamps and lamps more than 180 mm diameter had more impact compared to single or smaller size lamps.
