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Q: Do Chinese drivers think driving without lights on saves gas?
In Europe people are encouraged to drive with their lights on during the day to increase visibility but here people drive with them off AT NIGHT.....
I get it on an e-bike or electric vehicle as it saves their battery life but do some Chinese drivers think that it will save them fuel or do they think that cars are made like old Christmas Lights (with series electrical circuits) and have to be thrown away when the light bulb goes out?
I have two hypothesis, can't think of an experiment to see which is right:
* Zombie mentality. They don't think that not having the light on make them less visible. Zero induction reasoning, zero attempts at thinking what might happen, etc.
* Saving anything is ok, even at the expense of other's safety.
andy74rc:
1) make perfectly sense by china logic.
2) penny savvy and dollar stupid, again, makes perfect sense by china logic.
I have two hypothesis, can't think of an experiment to see which is right:
* Zombie mentality. They don't think that not having the light on make them less visible. Zero induction reasoning, zero attempts at thinking what might happen, etc.
* Saving anything is ok, even at the expense of other's safety.
andy74rc:
1) make perfectly sense by china logic.
2) penny savvy and dollar stupid, again, makes perfect sense by china logic.
maybe they cant find the switch
i mean they only buy the car to look good, as you see they dont know how to use the car the right way anyways
Jona:
That's probably true.
I have a Chinese Friend who bought a top of the range German car and when I asked him what the 'S' button was for ('Sports Mode') he had no idea - he just wanted the 'top of the range' and didn't really care what features he did or didn't get.
dom87:
if you ask anyone for what the gears are in automatic cars they dont know
they only know R and D
Paulberger:
@dom87 true. i once asked my buddy what the "N" was for... he looked at me and said its "useless." i asked him what if his car broke down and we had to push it.. he said "i bought the top of the line car, it won't happen" i'm waiting for the day when he needs to put his car in neutral so i can let him have it.
If you wanna get technical....then yes it does save gas....if just a smidgen. Less electrical draw = less load on the alternator = less work for the engine = less gas consumption. 
Jona:
Half a litre a year wont compensate for the scratches, damages to the car and compensation when they kill someone 
andy74rc:
It gets all offset by driving with high beams on on daylight lit roads.
Scandinavian:
it will never compensate for the throttle/brake driving due to constant lane changing, not keeping proper distance and people pulling on to roads without giving way. I am thinking people's driving is literally costing life due to extra high fuel consumption because of zero driving skills.
ScotsAlan:
It's more than half a liter a year if you add it up. 2x25 watts at the front, 2x15 watts at the back. Plucking the numbers out of the sky here, but the energy has to come from the petrol.
I see many people driving with all lights on. Why turn on the close range fog lights. The only thing they will do is impair your vision in the distance and allow you to see objects when you are unable to break. Rear-fog light is popular too.
andy74rc:
Rear fog light in clear and 4 emergency lights on low visibility.
It's already a huge step forward.....
Its definatly Not to save gas. If they had the brain power to do that they wouldnt drive with their highbeams on all the time.
There must be some unscientific faith in a "lights out saves fuel or prolongs battery life" attitude. (I saw it in Spain some years ago amongst taxi drivers.) Whatever savings driving with the lights out at night must be miniscule compared to another blind faith I see here all the time: come to a 99-second red light, switch the motor off to save on petrol.
Hmmm... About 10 seconds to T-minus-0, ignite and rev up the engine with a huge blast of fuel to the carb and gun it through the green light usually into bumper-to-bumper traffic. I think it is scientifically proven that shut down and start up of an engine consumes more fuel than just leaving the motor running for the duration of a minute or two.
A question for the AAA (or Belle Watson, may he/she/it RIP)...
BTW, when I drive - day or night - I've got the headlamps on for both safety reasons and so I can see the road in front of me. Do not want to take any chances with pedestrians-in-black invading my car lane.
I have a Chinese friend who tries not to use his windscreen wipers when it is raining, he'll use them intermittently when there is too much water on the glass to see clearly. his reason? ........to save wearing out the wiper motor!
Red_Fox:
Now, that's funny. It's like the joke about the windscreen wipers in Belgium... Ahh, forget it.
1/ If they use the lights, they must replace the bulbs eventually, and that costs money.
2/ Endangering others is irrelevant.
3/ No one else has their lights on. I must conform.
dom87:
yeah they buy a 500k rmb car but have no money to change a lightbulb
bill8899:
Must save money for the car wash! There is no 'face' in using your lights.
Do Chinese drivers think?
There. I fixed the original question.
Just remember, China has over 5,000 years of traditional driving, and you're just a foreigner with no right to criticize.
