running lights

[Clive]

Does anyone know how to disable running lights on a 1998 v40?
thanks

Clive

 

[Gunner]

WHY???????

 

[Stephen M. Henning]

Does anyone know how to disable running lights on a 1998 v40?
thanks

Turn on the parking lights.

Then remember to turn them off. They don't turn off automatically like
the running lights. Volvo has the running lights because they were
found to prevent accidents. In case you haven't heard, that is what
Volvo is all about, job one, better idea, etc.

 

[Roger Mills]

Does anyone know how to disable running lights on a 1998 v40?
thanks

Clive

You ask a simple question, and get loads of replies along the lines of "What
do you want to THAT for?"

There have been lots of similar threads - and it is a very contentious
subject.

The method of disabling them seems to vary from model to model. I don't know
about the V40, but on my 1999 V70, there is a little screw in the corner of
the light switch - which can be turned to 3 different positions to control
the way in which the lights work. This is described in the Owner Handbook.
The V40 may have something similar - I don't know.

In my opinion, daylight running lights serve NO useful purpose in good
daylight - apart from that of boosting the coffers of those who have shares
in light-bulb manufacture. The ridiculous idea stems from Scandinavia -
where it hardly gets light in the winter and where the locals are apparently
incapable of deciding for themselves that they need to turn their lights on.
Those of us in the rest of the world have to suffer daylight running lights
in consequence.

As you will have guessed, I have disabled mine!

Roger

 

[Rob Guenther]

Even in broad daylight I can see a car coming from a farther distance with
lights on, then if they had them off. Also in Canada people seem to be like
these scandanavians that you stereotype, and they never turn their lights on
in the correct situations... maybe you are perfect, but there are many
people that should just leave their lights on 24/7, to benefit the rest of
us.... I am sick of driving in fog/rain with cars running no head lights, or
just amber lights up front, nothing in the back... Personally I turn my
taillights on if they don't come on automatically on every car I drive (all
three of my cars have full front lights, but the 1999 Golf TDI doesn't turn
on its rear lights).

 

[Gunner]

I am/was Canada Safety Council Defensive Driving Instructor. Daylight
running lights save lives. Volvo did it right by just running low beams
instead of the stupid plan in the past to use less light in an alternate
plan as was the systems engineered in the past.

I guess you don't use your seat belt either.

Tell your insurance company that you plan to disable a safety feature built
into your vehicle. I guess your prefer to pay higher insurances rates and
think that a head on crash in which each vehicle is travelling in excess of
50 MPH if not 80 MPH worth the risk. Just an opinion but a head-on crash at
a combined speed of 100 to 160 MPH is likely not in the "probably
survivable" category especially if you are not wearing your seat belts

I suggest you ought to make sure your life insurance is paid up.

BTW motorcyclist decided long ago to use their headlights at all times to
avert accidents the majority of which are caused by the driver of an
automobile.

Just so I can stay out of your way. Where are you planning to drive?


G

 

[Stewart Hargrave]

From a point at sea, to the circles of your mind, this is Roger Mills:

The ridiculous idea stems from Scandinavia -
where it hardly gets light in the winter and where the locals are apparently
incapable of deciding for themselves that they need to turn their lights on.

Some website that I visited recently put ther blame on the Greyhound
Bus Co who made some issue about the safety of their buses, linking it
to headlight use.

Those of us in the rest of the world have to suffer daylight running lights
in consequence.

It's a beguiling and apparently sensible idea that people presume to
be true, but the news here in the UK a few months ago was that a major
study by the EU was unable to validate the daytime use of headlights
as a safety enhancement.

I think it's now an issue largely driven by car maker's marketing
departments.

It also seems to motivate the righteous into bizarre axe-grinding
contests.



--

Stewart Hargrave

Faster than public transport


For email, replace 'SpamOnlyToHere' with my name

 

[JohanE]

Hmm here in sweden we often get the sun in our eyes due to that where i
live we ar on the same latitude as ancorage.( steeper angle to sun) so with
the headlights on in dayligt its easier to spot a meeting car.

yanks are more pro own choice than safetly for all....

 

[Roger Mills]

Hmm here in sweden we often get the sun in our eyes due to that where i
live we ar on the same latitude as ancorage.( steeper angle to sun) so with
the headlights on in dayligt its easier to spot a meeting car.

yanks are more pro own choice than safetly for all....

I couldn't possibly comment about Yanks - I'm British!

I am very safety conscious - always wearing my seatbelt (contrary to the
suggestion made by another poster) - and I believe in seeing and being seen.
To this end, I have disabled another of Volvo's wonderful *safety* features
whereby only one high intensity rear fog lamp was enabled at the
manufacturing stage. I now have TWO - which is far safer and far more likely
to avoid being rear-ended in fog.

BUT, I prefer to choose when I use my headlights rather than having them
come on automatically with the ignition. If daylight running lights are an
indisputable safety feature, why aren't they mandatory in all countries?

[There was a very funny sketch by a British comedian called Jasper Carrott a
few years ago, in which he was ridiculing Volvo's running lights. When
Volvos reach the end of their life and go to a scrap yard and are turned
into a bale of steel, they STILL have their lights on!!]

Roger

 

[Andrew]

If daylight running lights are an
indisputable safety feature, why aren't they mandatory in all countries?

Good point!

Say, are Airbags "mandatory in all countries"? What about ABS?

a

 

[Stewart Hargrave]

From a point at sea, to the circles of your mind, this is Roger Mills:

I have disabled another of Volvo's wonderful *safety* features
whereby only one high intensity rear fog lamp was enabled at the
manufacturing stage. I now have TWO - which is far safer and far more likely
to avoid being rear-ended in fog.

Stop it! You actually *want* to stir up the hornet's nest, don't you?



--

Stewart Hargrave

Faster than public transport


For email, replace 'SpamOnlyToHere' with my name

 

[Stewart Hargrave]

From a point at sea, to the circles of your mind, this is Stuart Gray:

I have lost count of the amount of times I've heard from another driver to me
and my mates "Sorry, I never saw you coming" and thats with lights on.

This seems to disprove their effectiveness.

Imagine how many more would be saying the same if we drove our bikes/Volvos
with lights off???

I ridden my bike with both light on and light off, and I can't say
I've seen much difference in the behaviour of other road users. I
certainly haven't seemed to be courting more danger with the light off
than on.




--

Stewart Hargrave

Faster than public transport


For email, replace 'SpamOnlyToHere' with my name

 

[Stuart Gray]

From a point at sea, to the circles of your mind, this is Stuart Gray:


This seems to disprove their effectiveness.


I ridden my bike with both light on and light off, and I can't say
I've seen much difference in the behaviour of other road users. I
certainly haven't seemed to be courting more danger with the light off
than on.

You have been one of the lucky ones then. I wish I could tell that to the
five friends of mine that are no longer, to see if it made a difference.
They drove with lights off, but sometimes lights on, depending on
conditions. The Procurator Fiscal always reported they had their lights off,
or the car that hit them didn't know if they were on or off. I'll keep mine
on. I'm still here.

 

[Rob Guenther]

I know for sure ABS isn't mandatory. Most Japanese and American cars come
with optional ABS systems in their entry to even a lot of base model midsize
cars... Some Korean cars aren't availible with ABS in the base model, you
have to get the top line to get it, and even then its an option... Every car
in Canada has to come with a driver and passenger airbad tho... Tho of
course they don't do much if the car is a tin can anyways.

 

[L.A.]

what is it about only ONE tail light? my old volvos had both lit, didn't
they?

don't
know corner
of lights
on.


Hmm here in sweden we often get the sun in our eyes due to that where i
live we ar on the same latitude as ancorage.( steeper angle to sun) so with
the headlights on in dayligt its easier to spot a meeting car.

yanks are more pro own choice than safetly for all....

I couldn't possibly comment about Yanks - I'm British!

I am very safety conscious - always wearing my seatbelt (contrary to the
suggestion made by another poster) - and I believe in seeing and being seen.
To this end, I have disabled another of Volvo's wonderful *safety* features
whereby only one high intensity rear fog lamp was enabled at the
manufacturing stage. I now have TWO - which is far safer and far more likely
to avoid being rear-ended in fog.

BUT, I prefer to choose when I use my headlights rather than having them
come on automatically with the ignition. If daylight running lights are an
indisputable safety feature, why aren't they mandatory in all countries?

[There was a very funny sketch by a British comedian called Jasper Carrott a
few years ago, in which he was ridiculing Volvo's running lights. When
Volvos reach the end of their life and go to a scrap yard and are turned
into a bale of steel, they STILL have their lights on!!]

Roger

 

[Stephen M. Henning]

In my opinion, daylight running lights serve NO useful purpose in good
daylight

That is the problem. People don't realize that what appears to be good
daylight frequently isn't:

1) when the sun is to their back cars are difficult to see unless they
have their driving lights on.

2) when approaching oncoming traffic, you can spot passing cars much
sooner if they have the driving lights on.

3) when passing, you can see oncoming cars much sooner if they have
driving lights on.

4) when your car is in the shade on an otherwise sunny day, your car is
invisible to cars in the sun unless you have your driving lights on.

5) insurance companies give discounts to fleet vehicles that always run
with their running lights on because this reduces losses.

6) running lights are usefull in determining if a car is infact
approaching as opposed to being parked or going the same direction.

7) running lights tend to freeze wild animals that otherwise wander
across the road.

8) in the great plains at high noon when no other cars are present and
no wild animals are present it is even more important since the
occasional car may blend in if it doesn't have its running lights on.

9) if you get your insurance from the same insurance company I use, I
hope you take every safety precaution possible so that our rates don't
skyrocket.

 

[Roger Mills]

what is it about only ONE tail light? my old volvos had both lit, didn't
they?

I was talking about rear fog lamps - not tail lights per se. I don't know
whether Volvo have always had this policy, but on my 1999 V70, there were
two fully wired rear fog lamps - complete with bulbs - *except* for an
intentional break in the conductor on one lamp to stop it working! In
previous discussions, people have sought to justify this by quoting some
nonsense about the danger of confusing fog lamps with brake lights. I'm far
more concerned about someone coming up fast behind and confusing my car with
a motor-bike!

[In the UK, it is mandatory to have at least one rear fog, and perfectly
permissible to have two. Many new cars - including those made by Ford, who
now own Volvo - have two as standard].

Roger

 

[Roger Mills]

That is the problem. People don't realize that what appears to be good
daylight frequently isn't:

1) when the sun is to their back cars are difficult to see unless they
have their driving lights on.

2) when approaching oncoming traffic, you can spot passing cars much
sooner if they have the driving lights on.

3) when passing, you can see oncoming cars much sooner if they have
driving lights on.

4) when your car is in the shade on an otherwise sunny day, your car is
invisible to cars in the sun unless you have your driving lights on.

5) insurance companies give discounts to fleet vehicles that always run
with their running lights on because this reduces losses.

6) running lights are usefull in determining if a car is infact
approaching as opposed to being parked or going the same direction.

7) running lights tend to freeze wild animals that otherwise wander
across the road.

8) in the great plains at high noon when no other cars are present and
no wild animals are present it is even more important since the
occasional car may blend in if it doesn't have its running lights on.

9) if you get your insurance from the same insurance company I use, I
hope you take every safety precaution possible so that our rates don't
skyrocket.

--

Wow! You *have* been brainwashed, haven't you!

I doubt that I use the same insurance company - I'm in the UK!

Roger

 

[Roger Mills]

Does anyone know how to disable running lights on a 1998 v40?
thanks

Clive

Have you managed to figure out how to do it yet, amidst all the crap about
why you shouldn't even be trying?

Roger

 

[Clive]

ive not roger lol
ive looked at the switch and cannot see anything.
as there is nothing in the handbook i'll ask the main dealer on thursday
when i go moan about a job they didnt do properly.

Clive