Poor visibility, no lights

[Kremmen]

Yes, they see the dash light up and forget to check.

It's also worth knowing what the symbols mean. My dealer has a habit of leaving the front fogs on after a service.

[Neil Ives]

Which is why manufacturers thoughtfully provide an indicator on the dashboard that lights up when your lights are on. But hey, who even knows what those funny little symbols mean.

So, to check, when DRL's are on, there is no telltale on the cars display?

I am happy to understand what the automation on my car does; my wife however is not; it's all too much trouble for her. I suppose the fact it's not fully automated is a problem for some people; the driver needs to understand the automation and when to use it. I'm going to try again to get her to understand about Daytime Running Lights that have no back lights;  wish me luck 

[Pine]

Have you noticed that the people who drive black cars are the last to put their lights on in the evenings.

[Kremmen]

So, to check, when DRL's are on, there is no telltale on the cars display?

I am happy to understand what the automation on my car does; my wife however is not; it's all too much trouble for her. I suppose the fact it's not fully automated is a problem for some people; the driver needs to understand the automation and when to use it. I'm going to try again to get her to understand about Daytime Running Lights that have no back lights;  wish me luck 

Tell her not to worry and just allow the Mk4 to control the lights by leaving it in the Auto position.

[Jazzik]

But hey, who even knows what those funny little symbols mean.

[Neil Ives]

So, to check, when DRL's are on, there is no telltale on the cars display?

I am happy to understand what the automation on my car does; my wife however is not; it's all too much trouble for her. I suppose the fact it's not fully automated is a problem for some people; the driver needs to understand the automation and when to use it. I'm going to try again to get her to understand about Daytime Running Lights that have no back lights;  wish me luck 

Tell her not to worry and just allow the Mk4 to control the lights by leaving it in the Auto position.

We seem to have returned to the first post. I'm worried after I saw cars driving in heavy rain with no rear lights that my wife may not realise that she has no rear lights.

[ColinB]

So, to check, when DRL's are on, there is no telltale on the cars display?

Mindful of the fact that this is a generic thread, all I can say is that on my car (Mk3 Jazz) there is no such telltale. The "DRL on" state is the normal state of the car when the engine is running, the driver has no control of them so there's no need to have a light to tell him they're on. I suspect the Mk4 Jazz is the same. Other marques/models ... no idea.

[ColinB]

We seem to have returned to the first post. I'm worried after I saw cars driving in heavy rain with no rear lights that my wife may not realise that she has no rear lights.

In heavy rain, in your Mk4 Jazz, you don't need to worry. There is a linkage between wipers and lights that will turn on dipped headlights (including taillights) when the wipers are operating (although I think there is a setting to disable that linkage, you might like to check). The dashboard telltale will come on to tell the driver the lights are on.

A situation that might be of concern is daylight mist or fog when the light might not be poor enough to trigger the auto lights function. The telltale won't be on, so the driver needs to recognise that and turn the lights on manually.

[Kremmen]

Yes the same.

I suspect the Mk3 is the same as my 9G Civic :

Off
Auto
Sidelights / tail lights
Dipped Beam / tail lights

The 4 is the same but the Off is spring loaded so it springs back to Auto.

If you are stationary, and I think in 'P', the Off will turn the lights off until you select drive, then either DRL or dipped beam comes on, big brother 

[ColinS]

We seem to have returned to the first post. I'm worried after I saw cars driving in heavy rain with no rear lights that my wife may not realise that she has no rear lights.

I cannot believe that this thread is still running.  In my mind the automatic lights just look after themselves, except in the case of fog.

The simple answer that covers every eventuality is to advise your wife to use it as she would have 20 years ago.  When she thinks that she needs lights, switch them on and if she doesn't need them, then switch them off.  It is irrelevant that they may not actually switch off.  Just ignore everything else.