Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I want to speak about daytime running lights. It might not seem like much of a topic, but they are creeping into the motor vehicle industry. Daytime running lights are provided for under Australian Design Rules for Road Vehicles No. 76/00 of 2006, which Minister Lloyd then signed off. They also come under the auspices of the Motor Vehicle Standards Act of 1989. The reason I raise this matter this evening is that daytime running lights are designed to be safety features on vehicles, so they are more recognisable from the front. These lights are not compulsory, but they could be compulsory one day. I raise several questions, and the first one is what happens when every motor vehicle has lights shining at the front? What do we do then to make these motor vehicles more recognisable? I am highlighting the fact that this could be a perpetuating issue—do we then put flashing lights on the front of motor vehicles, and do we then make them a different colour? I wonder how far we need to go before we stop and say that surely drivers should be aware of their surroundings and pedestrians should be aware of vehicles when they are near roads. Whether daytime running lights are a good thing or a bad thing I do not know, but I do not want us to rush in and make sure every vehicle has them fitted to start with.

The design rules set out the brightness, the luminosity, of the lights and issues to do with power consumption and things like that. One motor vehicle company in Australia, Toyota—I have had discussions with various people in Toyota—have taken a shortcut. I use the word 'cheated': I suppose they have cheated, slightly, because they have a computer chip in their vehicles now which enables the headlights to come on permanently of a daytime—you cannot switch them off. That includes the tail lights and, if you are towing a trailer, the trailer lights. That adds to fuel consumption over a long period of time. The LED lights designed for daytime running lights that are specifically fitted to vehicles are designed for low power consumption and the draw on the alternator is not affected much. They are designed only to shine at the front and they are designed to be different. If motor vehicle companies are going to introduce daytime running lights, they should do it in accordance with the standard and not just reconfigure their motor vehicles so the headlights come on and all the other lights come on and you cannot switch them off.

I also note the concerns of some motoring organisations that by having headlights on permanently—the path that Toyota has chosen—it does weaken the recognition of motorcycles that have headlights on, and that could be more of a safety issue than having them on the motor vehicles themselves. I have already mentioned that power consumption and therefore fuel consumption is increased. I want senators to be aware of this because things creep into standards, and a number of people have expressed their concerns to me about having to have these devices fitted to their vehicles. Then I started to examine the issue. I am concerned that things do slowly creep in, and are they really necessary? Has someone just designed this thinking it is a safety measure and not thought about the end consequence when every motor vehicle has them fitted if it does become compulsory?