Turning car off at stoplights

[Drew]

August West wrote:
Where's Drew at?

Hey! Thanks for asking. I'm here in Osaka/Kobe. Turning headlights off at a stoplight is done as a courtesy, so as not to shine lights in the eyes of the other driver who is waiting at the same red light but going opposite direction of you.

I noticed it first time I came to Japan in the 80s. At that time, American car headlights were controlled with a knob/switch on the dash, while nearly all cars in Japan had them on a stalk on the steering wheel for this very purpose.

Now, headlights are designed to turn on automatically when dark outside and not many people bother to turn off at the intersection, I'm guessing because they don't think about the light control so much these days. However, it does seem to be an automatic feature in some high end cars, as I see them dim their lights whenever they stop, not just in a courtesy situation.

My Nissan is a hybrid. Engine usually turns off when not moving. Accelerating after that is sometimes a bit jerky when the gasoline engine takes over for the electric, though I'm used to it now.

rz is in a great part of Japan right now, hopefully having a good time and enjoying great food.