How safe are we if our cars can't be seen?

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The recent news from Transport Canada regarding vehicle lighting standards has many in the industry and outside of it, once again focused on lighting. As a reminder, starting in September of 2021 all new passenger vehicles sold in this country will be subjected to new exterior lighting regulations. They will be required to have all exterior lights power up automatically with the ignition, or have them controlled by a light sensor to operate in dim light conditions, or to have instrument clusters with no back lighting until the headlamps are turned on. All this is to answer the problem of drivers running their vehicles at dusk or in the dark with only their daytime running lights on.

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There are many ways to improve our vehicle’s visibility to other drivers and of course the first and best way is to simply turn on all the exterior lights every time. In darkness or dim light situations this is a no brainer, but even in good daylight it can make our rides stand out in a sometimes very crowded field. But there are others.

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How safe are we if our cars can't be seen? Back to video

First is colour choice. The three top colours for passenger vehicles around the globe haven’t changed much in years and while they sometimes trade positions on the hit parade they are white, silver/grey, and black. The first makes our vehicles invisible in winter, the latter at night, and silver/grey is great for camouflaging our rides in almost any urban environment. So if you want to stand out in the crowd, consider another colour when shopping for a new ride.

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If you don’t want to rush out and buy a new vehicle just to change colours, consider reflective striping or vinyl cladding panels. They don’t have to look garish and many auto enthusiasts have come up with great patterns that improve the look of a vehicle and inexpensively take it from ho-hum to stand-out. Many glass and trim shops offer this service. Google ‘reflective pin-striping for cars’ images to get some ideas on how this can look.

Rear fog lamps. These have been popular in Europe for years but have never caught on here. They’re not designed to blind following drivers, but simply put a bright light down on the road surface just behind the rear bumper. They mostly only appear as one single light but certain models have two. Aftermarket suppliers carry a wide variety of 12-volt lamps and trailer lamps can easily be modified to fit most vehicles.