Although the UK may class many sidelights as DRL's (it virtually has to in order to be seen to be complying with EC directives), the fact remains that most sidelights are not as effective in real-world road conditions when directly compared to the dedicated DRL's which comply with EC rules.
Pish posh, the Americans and the Scandis have been using halogen sidelights for
years in a highly effective manner. They are as effective in real-world road conditions as the DRLs stipulated by the EU.
The LEDs-as-sidelights condition was brought about mostly by the UK - the UK did not want the introduction of DRLs as they put a greater load on the alternator and increase fuel consumption (never mind the fact that every yahoo has the radio/satnav/ipod/kettle plugged into the vehicle's 12V bus).
There's a difference between an EC officially recognised DRL and a light which is simply used as a daylight running light. Any lights on during daylight may be described by some as daylight running lights.
So, an upgrade to the LED side lights of this topic has got to be a welcome mod.
You're showing your age Red! There's no "EC" in terms of legislation any more anymore
and, to make it even more clear - the EU law on DRLs for new vehicles is less about output of beam, so on and so forth, but more to do with that they will always be on whenever the vehicle is running.
The use of LEDs as DRLs does not increase visibility (as LEDs as tailights do) but rather reduce running costs by decreasing the load on the vehicle's 12V bus.
The original EU legislation actually wanted dipped beams on at all times - as practiced by Finland, Iceland, and certain other artic-circle countries - but the UK government successfully argued against that claiming that DRLs would be able to perform a similar function with reduced fuel consumption.
And to get even more anal, DRL doesn't stand for "Daylight Running Light", it stands for "Daytime Running Light" :)
