Are daytime running lights now mandatory?

Is it mandatory for all new cars to be fitted with daytime running lights?

James Dundon (Dublin)

Oct 2014 Filed under: legal

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Expert answer

Hi James,

Yep, it sure is. European Union directive 2008/89/EC requires all passenger cars and small delivery vans first type approved on or after 7 February 2011 in the EU to come equipped with daytime running lights. The mandate was extended to trucks and buses in August 2012.

There's a lot of grumbling about DRLs or using dipped beam all the time - people (grumpy, ill-informed people) still seem to think that it's going to wear their bulbs out or something. Think on this though - in Sweden, the most safety conscious country of all, lights on with the ignition has been mandatory for decades while former F1 world champ Keke Rosberg, when asked what one thing he would change about motoring, said "make daytime lights mandatory."

It's not about making bulbs burn out quicker, it's about making cars easier to see (yes, even on bright, sunny days) and trying to stop us crashing into each other quite so much. 

Neil Briscoe - Complete Car Adviser
@neilmbriscoe