Illegal to turn on daytime running lights in California?

[vett93]

I went to the Ford dealer where I bought my new '14 FFE from and asked the service dept to turn on the DRLs. The service writer told me that he knew exactly how to turn them on but he cannot do it because it is illegal to modify lighting equipment in California. They spent 1.5 hours to argue with me and insisted that their dealership could be forced to shut down by California government if they were to do that for me.

 

How can this be possible?

 

[Fat Fusion]

Well if they know, have them tell you and do it yourself.

[Russael]

I did a quick look at how they are activated and it's done through the computer system (nothing simple like installing a needed relay).  There's no way to do it yourself without a computer that can modify the one in the car.  Some mom and pop garages may have the needed fancy computer though, but they'll probably charge you for it.

 

BUT... since you're in California, the person who started this thread is also in Cali (San Diego) and he got his done at some lincoln dealer.

 

http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?/topic/53886-daytime-running-lights-activated/

[vett93]

How do I validate if their claim is true? Hard to believe that turning on DRLs is illegal....

[Russael]

Well, my 15 minutes of Google searching doesn't indicate that activating factory DRLs is illegal.  They do have a ton of laws about when to turn your actual headlights on.  CA apparently requires a DRL with motorcycles.  I can't find a thing about turning on disabled factory DRLs.  So long as they're factory, it should be fine.

 

It sounds a bit more like Ford laid down something to the dealerships (I guess it falls in to the modification category now), but I can't confirm that either.

 

You may want to try contacting your local (or state) police department and see if they have an information desk on the laws that they'd be willing to share with you.  Either that, or contact a lawyer familiar with automotive/traffic laws.

[shaggy314]

Technically what they said and what you are saying are NOT the same thing. They are saying they cannot modify the light system (maybe true), you are saying DRL aren't legal (which is not true) as several of your high end vehicles have it.

[vett93]

The default for FFE's DRLs is off at the factory. The dealer claimed that turing on these DRLs would be like modifying lighting equipment. I think they are full of BS, if you ask me

[tseibel76]

Illegal?  Is it "illegal" to have your headlights on while you drive?  This is ridiculous.

[Tseme]

I had the opposite problem with my 2006 VW Passat. Couldn't turn OFF the DRL automatically. Everytime you started the engine, the DRL turned on.

 

It is perfectly legal in California to have Daytime Running Lights turned on during the daytime. DRL are a standard feature on my 2006 VW Passat and there isn't any way to turn the DRL off automatically which really annoyed us at first.

 

Could be illegal for the dealership to modify standard mfg equipment, because we tried to get the VW dealership to turn off the DRL automatically and we were told they couldn't modify standard mfg equipment. On my old Passat, we had to manually turn the switch everytime we started the car to turn OFF the DRL, so we just got used to driving with them on and people sometimes flashing their lights at us thinking that we shouldn't have the lights turned on during the day.

[Markn455]

I believe the factory disables the DRL intentionally on the Energy and Hybrid to save battery power.