I think this is a case where we may have to agree to disagree or find some aspects we agree with and others, not so much.
The case for or against Daytime running lights, IMHO is in large part a case of vehicle, cyclist, pedestrian, and pet density, plus informational overload on the routes we tavel. So I suspect this environment is a huge factor in whether Daytime running lights do more harm than good. I think they were very effective when motorcycles, small sports cars an a smattering of other vehicles ran lights in the day. I am not so sure that if everyone does, people just get used to them and they are ignored. That might be the Austrian conclusion. On that possibility, a helmet and light on the bike makes an unusual vertical pair and stands out.
A case for:
I have been driving with my lights on since my first car, a British Racing Green MGB which had features that caused problems for other drivers and as a result, for me and Kathryn.
Firstly, it was a color that melded with asphault roads especially when they were wet and it was overcast (commonly together). This rendered it a kind of invisibility cloak/steath aspect. Secondly, it was narrrow and low so the proportions made it look like a larger vehicle farther away. Once I began driving with lights on, the numbers of left and right hooks requiring immediate evasive manoevers dropped to almost none. This is anecdotal and I did not collect data. However the anxiety level dropped noticeably when adrenalin isn't called on so frequently.
This was in urban, suburban, and rural driving in Southern Ontario. Denser than most of Canada, less dense that NL, I imagine. Driving licensing procedures were a bit more strict then and there than they are here and now.
We have continued to use my lights in the day and between us we have over 1.5 million miles (2.4 million km) with only one accident each, caused by the other driver, and neither were from not being seen. Again anecdotal.
I am one of the very few regular cyclists in town. Drivers looked through me. I was invisible not to a few but to almost all drivers. Hooks were commonplace. Since running lights in the daytime? Hooks are rare and I have aimed my flashing helmet. It has avery narrow beam and stopped 4 cars that were rolling into a potential hook. I cannot prove they would have proceeded but all others that looked like that proceeded with the hook. Oncoming drivers are not in my cone of bright headlights but can see them readily. I likely shine in people's mirrors but those can be adjusted, or they can pull away. Riding two-way cycle paths 2 m wide would be rude with the same lights on unless aimed well down.
The percentage of vehicles with daytime headlights has risen, and I have found no grade or bump issue with brightness whenthey were oncoming as long as they were on their side of the road (something that is not guaranteed on rural roads here). The only times I have are under low light conditions like a bad storm or civil dawn or dusk when you simply can't see dark colored vehicles without lights, so a momentary glare is a small price to pay.
If my lights distracted a driver so they hit a pedestrian, that would bother me. I don't see this as likely, if the pedestrian is doing as they should. Or the parents of young ones do as they should. I have come close to several recently at night wearing dark clothes and carrying no light, and yes the car lkghts of a vehicle turning into the raod further up distracted me some. That was not the fault of that driver's lights nor mine.
I like cats, but if it is a case of making free range cats safer when the dart into traffic (and which eat the wild birds in my yard), or making me safer, well, I am a bit self centered there, I'm afraid.
If we could get people to not talk on phones or anything but paying attention to driving, not be surprised by a cyclist, especially a fairly quick one, then I could ride like I did 30 yeras ago, with just a reflector and light colored clothing in the day. Every driver I have met who has seen my lights, compliments them and my effort to be seen. I don't want a neighbor to hit me as much for my injuries and their mental and financial health.
Anyway, that's the way I see it from the roads I must travel. YMMV a lot.
