I know NY state has a law if you have your wipers on you need to have your headlights on. This law makes sense because you want to have as much visibility as possible on the road. Here in ON im not sure if something like this is in place but I do see people who turn on their lights when their wipers are on (some cars do it automatically). I hate seeing dumb people who do not even turn on their lights when its dark. You honk/flash your lights and they are completely oblivious.

Is there something in OHTA specifying that you need both on?

Not that I know about, but this has been a pet peeve of mine. HTA says they have to be on 1/2 hour before sunset and 1/2 hour after sunrise.

So Its one thing when its a light drizzle, but if it is raining... even mid day... it can be a bad combo of being dark and rain + spray from cars to severly reduce visibility. People should have their lights on in rain or snow. My van has auto lights so they go on at night and even on a dark day automaticaly. I think people figure that their car has daytime running lights and that is sufficent. But this doesn't turn on your tail lights so I cant see you in a rain storm. This goes for the morons running at 70-80 kph on the 401 in the name of safety during a rain storm. If you dont feel confident to drive in the rain at the speed limit thats perfectly ok, but for peat sakes turn your lights on so the rest of us can see you!

nothing in regards to wipers.

Yes, to having lights (front and rear) on during "unfavourable atmospheric conditions"

funny how those 2 clauses connect with common sense but not in the law. There are some people who do understand to use headlights when there is rain/storm/fog/ or even dark.

I think this should fall under proper driver education. Here are a few tips from the non-North American school of driving:

1) Headlights on according to the Ontario law AND every time you hit the highway, regardless of your DRL's.

2) Headlights on in snow/rain/fog (only low beams when driving in foggy conditions)

3) Wipers as needed, but don't be too lazy to flip them on

Over here, too many people drive at night without turning on their headlights. Their excuse is that the DRL's are giving them enough illumination. They forget about being easy to see from behind.

One of my minor peeves is when people keep their wipers on full blast when they only get the occasional drop/flake. That makes it more likely to burn out the motor and have the wipers fail when they're REALLY needed. How many drivers would just pull over and call for a tow if that happened to them?

FiReSTaRT wrote:

Over here, too many people drive at night without turning on their headlights. Their excuse is that the DRL's are giving them enough illumination. They forget about being easy to see from behind.

+1

FiReSTaRT wrote:

How many drivers would just pull over and call for a tow if that happened to them?

Probably less than 20%.

A lot of the others would probably just turn on their high-beams and drive much faster, because their thinking would be: "If I drive faster, I'll spend less time in the snow, so my windshield won't be as obscured."

You'd think I'm joking... but I'm not.