I have always thought that headlights should automatically come on any time you turned your windshield wiper on. Do you agree? Disagree? Or don't care?

 

Not necessarilly. What if you are just turning them on on a cold morning thop clear some condensation off? Seems a little silly to have them come on temporarily for 2-3 swipes. People might think you are flashing them.

 

Does that include intermittent too? In a light mist someone might think you're flashing them ...

JK

Higher end cars do that - should be easy program in the ECM.

 

Living in California, I would have said no, not necessary. But after moving here to Tennessee and dealing with torrential rain at times, and heavy, sudden thunderstorms in the middle of summer that can seem like someone just turned all the lights off in the room ... I now say yes. I can be a real bear at times to tell where other vehicles are on the road.

 

I think I remember reading that on the 2008 HHR, the headlights do come on with the wipers.

 

The law in CA is that if using wipers light must be on also.

 

Same in FL. I just have it on auto and when it starts to rain or get cloudy the lights come on. Must be done with smoke & mirros

 

For people that live in areas that don't get much rain this may not be an issue. The one of the things I remember about taking drivers education is that the teacher always stated firmly that if you needed wipers on to see out your windshield, then your lights need to be on so people can see you. Being the wise a$$ that I was, I told him that wasn't a law. He looked at me and said "common sense doesn't need to be a law".

I am not talking about intermittent use or while using the washers. I could even live without lights when using the pulse wipers during light rain.

A few weeks ago I was almost in a head-on while making a left turn with a large SUV in the rain at lunchtime. I never saw the guy until he was 20 foot away from me going at least 40mph. He had no lights on in a older model dark blue SUV that blended in with everything around it. I had my wipers on high, so it was a good downpour. We missed each other by inches. The rotten part is it would of been my fault had we hit, since I was turning and he had the right of way. I think ole teach was right, I just wish the guy in the SUV had been in my class.

 

Not sure about your make/model, but my 06, the lights don't come on until after about 30 secs of the wipers being turned on. But that aside, I really don't care about the lights coming on. With a good coat of Rain-X, I rarely have my wipers on.

 

I don't like it when I am forced to have my lights on. If the conditions require lights, I'll turn them on, I never forget. I am glad that GM made it so you can turn off your lights on the HHR.