Any way to turn headlights off at night?
 

Not planning to drive on the roads at night without lights....

I do astrophotograhy as a hobby and visit "dark sites" frequently. Dark Sites are located far away from light pollution sources to better see and photograph the night skies. Courtesy requires turning off your headlights when entering and leaving these sites.

Of course the headlights on my 2019 RDX come on as soon as the car is put into Drive.

Has anyone found a way to temporarily turn the headlights of while moving at night? I've read several threads related but found no solutions.

I wondered about putting a light over the sensor that tells the RDX it's dark, but not sure where it's located. I tried one on the windshield over the rear view mirror but it didn't work.

Any suggestions?

Thx in advance.

I've wondered the same thing. It appears the light sensor is where the front center speaker is. What I've done is use the parking lights when I'm in those situations. I wish there was a full-off though.

I am interested in the answer to this as well. I couldn't find a way to do it. Had I known before buying the car, it might have deterred me from buying it because I prefer to have manual control/override of everything.

Well see, The way our laws are written.....they mandate that every car have DRL's, or Daytime running lights. Anytime the car is put into Drive, the lights come on. For Safety

Now, older cars used side markers or other type of extruding lights....and you could disable them by pulling the parking brake, before you started up the car. or by pulling a fuse.

newer cars on the other hand, have everything integrated into the headlight. meaning, no separate controls or hardware to control.
Perhaps you could try the parking brake trick..

with the car off, engage parking brake.
turn car on.
lights should be off.

That's how it works in auto mode, but it doesn't have to be that way in manual mode. I had manual control over these in my 2015 BMW and I don't think anything has changed on that front.

Well OP is asking about "while driving" so i think all of this won't work for him unfortunately. Unless you want to apply your parking brake and creep along somehow :shrug:

...Well if we all take a moment and read our manual page 186, one will see they can turn the parking lights on only (HEADLIGHTS off) manually by rotating the light knob to the first position below AUTO. If the OP wants to go completely dark then they are out of luck, but this solution turns OFF the headlights, which is, based on how the question was worded, what was requested.

Have a good weekend :thumbsup:

Well if we all take a moment to read ALL of our manual page 186 we will learn that as soon as the transmission is taken out of park and the parking brake released and the car moves, the lights come on.

Have a good weekend :thumbsup:

DRL's are required by law in Canada, but are voluntary in the United States.

In the United States, the FMVSS 108 standard for Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment permits, but does not require daytime running lamps.

Studies performed by the NHTSA as recently as 2009 were inconclusive as to the effectiveness of DRL's.

General Motors was an early adopter of DRL's in the US and has strongly petitioned for decades without success for them to become required by law.

https://www.federalregister.gov/docu...ated-equipment

I think they are useful when people forget to turn their lights on at or after dusk or in the rain. The dusk issue is largely solved by automatic headlights, the rain issue still remains, in that headlights don't turn on automatically when it's raining if it's not dark enough.

I wonder how Canadians get around the problem that the OP has with trying to be courteous in dark sites.

On my Audi you can put the lights to manual/off, but if you do, the DRLs are on and the car gets pretty mad. It beeps incessantly and gives a warning

Is there not an option in the MMI to disable DRL? In the BMW, there was an option in iDrive to disable DRL.

:ohsnap: :pofl:


I read the OP as DRL's on wasn't even an option but maybe you can clarify OP?

(Partial) Solution...
 

I put a very bright LED lamp I use to photograph landscapes at night over the light sensor with some gaffers tape and set the Auto Light Sensitivity to Max.

In my dark garage, the headlights now stay off when I take the transmission out of park. DRLs stay on, which is acceptable. I'd tried this before with a dimmer light and the Auto Light Sensitivity set to Medium and it didn't work. Combination of much a much brighter light and the Max setting did the trick.

Thanks for the input.

Now carry on with your DRL conversations. :D

I should have been more clear about that. Actually the DRLs on is probable ok or even desirable as it is VERY dark there and some illumination is necessary to navigate.

Just posted my solution, which I hope will work fine and maybe help someone else out.

Outside of pulling fuses or fooling the sensor, I don't think there's anyway to keep the headlights from coming on while moving at night.

Thanks for the help!

You can turn off the headlights while driving at night. I’ve done this before sneaking home late one night. If they are set to auto, just rotate the headlight stock counter-clockwise (twist it away from you) one click and they will turn off.

Yeah, I've done that too. In a '69 Chevelle. That does not work on a 2019 RDX. If it does on yours, you should see a dealer.

Did that in the TL a lot.

On Toyotas, there is an "OFF" option for everything.

True! Nissan didn't even have DRL's on anything until 2014-2016.

I noticed the headlights do turn on in the rain. If I have my wipers on in the day for about fifteen seconds or longer the headlights automatically come one.

That's good to know. Hopefully tail lights too.

Many states have a law where headlights must be on when the windshield wipers are in use. Drivers often forget to turn on the headlights in the rain and are risking a citation without even realizing it.


I grew up in Louisiana, and they will write you for this in no time.

We need the tail lights too in bad rain. DRLs unfortunately don't fix that.

I'm under the impression that the full lighting comes on.


Headlights/Parking lights.

i do not believe there is an option for this

Yes, if the headlights come on, the taillights are on by default. You can verify this by seeing the headlamp indicator light in the dashboard

You are correct, this will turn off the head lights and just illuminates the parking lights/DRL.

You are incorrectly informing people. Dcshoesboy is correct, and exactly how stated in the manual, as I mentioned above.

Before GMC/Chevy try to petition anything, they should figure out a way to make the daytime running lamps work. Every time I see a GMC/Chevy truck or SUV, only one daytime running lamp is working and the other is always blown out. Has anyone else noticed this before?

I once had a new '99 Regal that would occasionally melt DRL sockets. Years ago when I used to be a loyal GM enthusiast, I researched this and learned that a slew of GM vehicles for many years used bulbs and sockets originally designed for use as turn signals. When these turn signals were operated continuously as DRL's, the sockets would overheat and become brittle then break apart. An upgraded socket that could withstand the higher temperatures eventually replaced the originals, but a lot of drivers never bothered to fix the DRL's since they aren't an inspection here in the US or because the driver doesn't realize the DRL's aren't working or they simply don't care.

I had no idea day time running lights were optional in the states. I rented a car one time in Portland and couldn't understand what people were telling me when I was driving during sunset. I thought it's always on in every car!

@hockeyaddict ...That pub date is 2009...I do not believe that holds true any longer or has for several years. My understanding is that all new manufactured vehicles must have DRLs and not sure what year that started but I think is was several years ago. The DRL is only on when the headlight switch is in the off or AUTO position and ambient light keeps the headlights from turning on.

While Canada requires DRLs, the US does not. That said, most US manufacturers have adopted DRLs as they are allowed by the regulation.

From FMVSS 108:

Daytime Running Lamps Permitted But Not Required on Passenger Cars, Multipurpose Passenger Vehicles (MPV), Trucks, and Buses

2 identically colored either white, white to yellow, white to selective yellow, selective yellow,

On the front, symmetrically disposed about the vertical centerline if not a pair of lamps required by this standard or if not optically combined with a pair of lamps required by this standard

Not more than 1.067 meters above the road surface if not a pair of lamps required by this standard or if not optically combined with a pair of lamps required by this standard See S7.10.13(b) for additional height limitation.

Steady burning.Automatically activated as determined by the vehicle manufacturer and automatically deactivated when the headlamp control is in any “on” position.

Each DRL optically combined with a turn signal lamp must be automatically deactivated as a DRL when the turn signal lamp or hazard warning lamp is activated, and automatically reactivated as a DRL when the turn signal lamp or hazard warning lamp is deactivated.

See S7.10.10.1(c) for additional activation requirements when mounted close to, or combined with, a turn signal lamp.

I know on the 2000-2006 GM truck design, water would leak into the light and melt the DRL. Happened twice on a 2003 Yukon I used to work on a lot.

with the car off, engage parking brake.
turn car on.
lights should be off.