A reader contacted the istotne.pl editorial team, sending a photo from the road and asking:

Why do people drive with daytime running lights in such road conditions? You cannot see them at all because the rear lights do not come on automatically. People, use your imagination.

Some people are unaware that when daytime running lights are on, the rear of the car remains unlit. That is why the use of such lights is regulated by appropriate regulations.

As we read on Wikipedia:

Daytime running lights may be used instead of the mandatory dipped-beam headlights in conditions of normal air visibility, from dawn to dusk. The lamp lens must bear the RL marking (short for “running light”).

Daytime running lights must be installed:

  • Symmetrically in relation to the vehicle’s centre line,
  • At the same height,
  • At least 25 cm from the ground to the lower edge of the lamp and no more than 150 cm from the ground to the upper edge,
  • The distance between the lamps, measured from their inner edges, must be at least 60 cm, unless the vehicle is less than 130 cm wide—in that case, the minimum distance is 40 cm,
  • The lamps must not extend beyond the vehicle’s side outline,
  • They must not be mounted more than 40 cm from the vehicle’s outline,
  • The lamps switch on automatically when the ignition device is set to a position that enables the engine to be started.

When the dipped-beam headlights are switched on, the daytime running lights must switch off automatically. In addition, in cars registered for the first time after 31 December 2009, the rear position lights, front, side and rear marker lights, and licence plate illumination must not switch on together with the daytime running lights. In vehicles registered by 31 December 2009, daytime running lights may be installed in such a way that the position lights and licence plate illumination also switch on.

More information about using daytime running lights.