Once upon a time, not too long ago, in the same galaxy that you and I inhabit, cars didn’t come with LED daytime running lights (DRLs). These days, every carmaker worth their salt have their cars equipped with them.
Yes, there’s a perfectly logical rationale for putting them on cars, with the biggest one being they increase safety by making cars more visible in the day. Because they’re LEDs, the lights remain visible even under the brightest sunlight, and they don’t consume a lot of power. It’s a win-win-win situation.
The unexpected benefit for LED DRLs is that they look pretty good, which explains why every ah beng worth his salt has begun equipping his car with an aftermarket set.
Ultimately, while LED DRLs have undeniable benefits, you don’t really need them. I mean, if you need help spotting an oncoming car in broad daylight, you should consider asking yourself if driving a tonne or so of steel is something you really want to be doing.
In short, I think LED DRLs are the iPads of the automotive world. They’re hugely desirable, but your life won’t be poorer without it.
Still, I doubt what I think will affect sales of LED DRLs and iPads all too much. After all, desirability and rationality are usually mutally exclusive. On that front, I’ve just bought an iPad after resisting one for years, and yes, I like it very much, thank you.
