Light Settings, dipped or side lights

[Hashluck]

Just to add to the confusion my MY C70 headlamp washers work in both 0 and 12 positions. It may be a Bi-Xenon thing (which mine has)?

Also though something in my memory says that in position 0 the headlamp washers only operate every x windscreen washes as opposed to every time at position 12. However I may have just made that up and life is too short for me to go and try it.

I must admit I leave mine in 12 all the time but perhaps I should revert to 0 in the daytime after all?

[Fast Reg]

Originally Posted by Hashluck

Just to add to the confusion my MY C70 headlamp washers work in both 0 and 12 positions. It may be a Bi-Xenon thing (which mine has)?

Also though something in my memory says that in position 0 the headlamp washers only operate every x windscreen washes as opposed to every time at position 12. However I may have just made that up and life is too short for me to go and try it.

Aha...!! That could explain why mine work differently to everyone else's, as mine also has the bi-xenon headlights.

Thank you Hashluck for putting my mind at rest. I was beginning to think I'd been imagining it and to doubt my sanity.

[7050man]

Originally Posted by dazc

I dont like where the ignition key is either.

Other than that I quite like it.
Darren

Yes as already has been said, key is in this position for safety reasons. In event of a crash, your knee won't be mashed by the key.

The Swedes are pretty hot on safety as as someone else said the Saab also has the key well out of the way.

Saabs also have a night panel which on the face of it is a bit gimmicky, but I found it quite useful. Below 70 mph only, speedo would light up to the 70mph mark. Above that speed the rest of the dial would light up automatically.

[Clan]

SAAB have the key in the centre for tradition , it was originaly there because it mechanicaly locked the gear lever in reverse when the key was removed .
Why have the side light position at all on the volvo ? legal reasons you need your parking lights on when parking at night in lots of areas

[alfiembra]

Been following this thread with interest. I've had my S40 for nearly 5 months and I'm still not used to the lights or the key position.

I do drive a few different makes regularly so that may add to my confusion. What I don't like about the lights is that the zero position is the only position that leaves the lights on when the key is removed (parking lights?) and I've also become lazy when I get into other cars and forget my lights aren't on.

Alan

[Harvey1512]

Why have the side light position at all on the volvo ? legal reasons you need your parking lights on when parking at night in lots of areas

I have never heard of this before. Why would you leave your lights on when you are parked? What mysterious areas are these?

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Harvey1512

I have never heard of this before. Why would you leave your lights on when you are parked? What mysterious areas are these?

Unbelievable , first yesterday there are people here stuck in a queue with their foot on the brake instead of using the handbrake , now today people dont know parking light regulations , how the test is passed today by anyone is a mystery

A Car must display parking lights at night when parked on the public highway with a speed limit higher than 30 mph ..

yes i passed first time

[Harvey1512]

No need to get snotty. I passed my test 21 years ago and have never come across this. Stop 100 people in the street and I would bet 99 would never have heard of this, make that 999 out of 1,000. In 21 years of driving I have also never seen anyone leave parking lights on.
I don't doubt you are correct but it is clearly a law that is both unknown and ignored. Therefore what is the point of it?
Please don't let this thread now go into a parking lights rant. I appreciate some people will be outraged by my ignorance of parking lights but it is not that interesting, or relevant and I will not be losing sleep over it.

[7050man]

Clan is right. You are too, in as much that most people won't consider leaving their car in a safe visible condition to other users.

If you were to leave your car without lights on an unlit road and somebody ran into it and, heaven forbid injured themselves, the Police may well prosecute you as well as the pesron making a civil case of it.

It's all pretty worrying really.

[Harvey1512]

I hereby promise never to park on an unlit road in an area of 30mph +. I hereby confirm that I never done this in the last 21 years and will continue not to do so. I will also chastise anyone I see who does this.
(whilst I appreciate that some fine Volvo drivers may leave their parking lights on I still maintain that I have NEVER seen a car parked with these lights left on. It may not be correct but it is the truth.)
Anyway, the important thing is that Clan has cleared up why those sidelights exist on the car so thank you for that. Maybe Volvo would do better to move this facility from the headlight switch and have them as a separate button, marked as a Parking Light. Not only would it serve its purpose but it would also educate all of the drivers, me included.