The Dark Side... Of Daytime Run Lights

Come on try a little, Nothing is forever. There's got to be something better than in the middle. But me and Cinderella, we put it all together. We can drive it home with one headlight.

- The Wallflowers

Our poor U.S. spec Honda Insight suffered at the hands of an automotive electrician yesterday. The electrician was attempting to install Daytime Running Lights, as required by our stodgy Canadian Government, which resulted, basically, in one working headlight.

The Daytime Run Light law is retarded at best. The Canadian goverment decided to make it law that every car manufactured after 1989 had to have Daytime Running Lights. This "law" is obviously quite flexible, since my 1991 Talon does not have daytime running lights, nor do any cars with pop-up headlights. Furthermore, people continue to drive 1980's cars every single day. None of these cars have D.R.L., and the government is not forcing them to add that particular feature. So I have to ask... Why me? Why only new cars? Why aren't pop-up headlights illegal?

I don't know the answer to that question, but I'm sure it's just as shite as the D.R.L. law. Regardless, we still had to have Daytime Running Lights installed on our 2006 Honda Insight. We purchased the only kit available, made in Canada by Hamsar. The installation was done by experienced professionals at "Auto Electrics" as Suz likes to call them.

When we picked up the car we noticed the lights were not working properly despite what the Auto Electrics guys told us. The driver's side D.R.L. was twice as bright as the passenger side, the lights on our gauges flickered on and off randomly, the tail lights did not function, and when we turned our headlights to the ON position, nothing changed. So, we left the car with the electrical gurus again.

When we picked up our car the second time, they assured us that everything was installed correctly, and that in its current state, the Insight would pass the Federal Inspection on Saturday. The tail lights were working and the dash lights stopped flickering, but the headlights remained compromised.

The Hamsar package states that the kit does not work with Geo, Mitsubishi or Subaru vehicles. It makes no mention of Honda. So, was Honda accidentally left off their list of incompatible cars? The electrical geniuses spent many extra hours double-checking their wiring, and they're brilliant, so it's doubtful that they've installed it incorrectly.

Once we pass the Federal Inspection for Imported Vehicles, I'm pulling the fuse on the Hamsar D.R.L. module. It just doesn't work properly and I don't want to risk an electrical short, fire or burned out headlights. If the government requires headlights on, I will bloody well turn on my headlights. It's not that complicated.

In the meantime, I've emailed Hamsar and asked them why this is happening. I await their reply.