Fathers of Reddit. Why did I get shouted at as a kid when turning on the light in the back of the car?

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Fathers of Reddit. Why did I get shouted at as a kid when turning on the light in the back of the car?

Comments

  1. EugeneHartke Avatar

    Because it makes it hard to see when car head lights approachs behind.

    But also.

    Having the light on puts your mindset inside the car, not outside where it needs to be when you’re driving.

  2. tomis23 Avatar

    Because it messes with the driver’s vision because of the reflection in the rearview mirror. This puts everyone in the car at risk.

  3. iamkristo Avatar

    Idk, nobody shouted at me for it, and I don’t shout at anybody either for it.

  4. Woodweird42 Avatar

    Three reasons: distracting; reduces visibility of vehicles behind; your parent / driver was an AH.

  5. LeyLeyM22 Avatar

    Was anybody else told that it was illegal as a child?

  6. RondoTheBONEbarian Avatar

    My dad said it would cause him to get a ticket. 

  7. Expert_Spinach_967 Avatar

    Messes with rear view mirror vision, putting everyone at danger

  8. Cool_Sand_4208 Avatar

    Because I am concentrating on poor roads, high beams, and erratic drivers, and you, the little shit, keep on distracting me by turning on the lights.

  9. RecommendationBig768 Avatar

    if i cannot see the road because of a child being naughty who turned on the interior lights and that causes me to have a accident. I’m going to yell at that child.

  10. Remote_Clue_4272 Avatar

    Interferes with our on-board “night vision”. Driving is dangerous enough without the kids doing that , or other distractive behavior while driving. , especially at night.

  11. Randa08 Avatar

    I recently asked my brother about this, I don’t drive and he was taking me and the kids somewhere and one of the kids turned the light on. I parroted my dad and told him to turn it off because was was illegal. Brother pipes up that not only is it not illegal but it has noe effect on his ability to drive at all! Totally gobsmacked.

  12. louse_yer_pints Avatar

    When it’s dark outside you can get a reflection on the windows if the interior light is on. Some cars are worse than others.

  13. Nrysis Avatar

    Because it distracts the driver.

    When it is dark the light will reflect off the windscreen and dashboard, and be visible out of the corner of your eye – which distract you and can affect your night vision when driving.

    It isn’t the end of the world, and most drivers will still be able to drive perfectly safely, but it does have some affect (which will be more or less severe depending on the driver).

  14. Beldivok Avatar

    because it can make the front window become a mirror some and that makes it hard to drive.

  15. Ok-Document6466 Avatar

    Because dad has one DUI and you’re fixin to make it two.

  16. JohnnyYouTaTas Avatar

    Not a father, but I got pulled over when a friend in the backseat turned it on and a cop was behind me. He thought it was funny. The cop didn’t. And 17 year old me was scared to death when the sirens came on. Not cool or safe.

  17. qalpi Avatar

    The light impacts your night vision. And then it makes it impossible to see out of the rearview mirror

  18. DadooDragoon Avatar

    Because I can’t see

    Which is kind of crucial when driving a car

    I don’t want you to die. But mostly, I don’t want me to die

    Hope this helps

  19. KatsudonFatale9833 Avatar

    It’s a distraction and makes vision out the rear view mirror more difficult

  20. AssistanceNo4044 Avatar

    The trauma so big that, till this day I am scared to turn on the light when my husband is driving.

  21. pinkrobotlala Avatar

    I’m a mom but the main driver in our family. I tell my kid once, calmly, and it gets turned off.

    If it didn’t, I’d yell, because I can’t be dealing with non-driving issues while driving unless they’re preplanned (snack distribution, sunglasses, giving a book, etc). I’m not sure men are able to multitask like that though

  22. TLyons-4 Avatar

    The light in our backseat has that stupid three option button where the interior lights can be always off (even when the doors are opened), on when the door is opened then turn off automatically a few seconds after the door closes, or always on. And if you pick “always on” when you think you’ve picked the “on until the door closes” you get to wake up to a dead battery on Monday morning.

    So that’s why I told you not to turn on the friggin light back there for crying out loud!

    And it also explains why my obsessive need to stand there and watch the light turn off every single time now.

  23. Baktru Avatar

    Because we can’t fucking see outside the car with the dome light on.

    I’m a navigation rally co-driver and for night sections we actually use special lights that very specifically illuminate my roadbook (so I can tell the driver where we need to go) and as little else as possible. Because having a lot of light inside the car makes it a lot harder to see what’s happening outside the car. Not good when you’re barreling down small unlit country roads and trying to navigate a puzzle of a road book full of traps at the same time.

    Parents just driving around is similar, you turn the light on, vision to outside the car worsens drastically.

  24. thirtyone-charlie Avatar

    Probably mostly because just for that few seconds you had control.

  25. Melificient Avatar

    Because it is ILLEGAL 😂

  26. Fearless_Highway_678 Avatar

    Possibly because being a parent means being constantly slightly overstimulated and that just put dad over the edge

  27. lotissement Avatar

    Are “mothers of Reddit” allowed to respond?

  28. Recent_Mirror Avatar

    Your Dad was pissed off because your mom was sleeping with the milkman

  29. Direct_Bug_1917 Avatar

    Because I said so. This isn’t a democracy.

  30. brentspar Avatar

    When I was a kid, It was because it would drain the car’s battery. And because it might break it and instantly halve the car’s resale value.

  31. Cliffy73 Avatar

    Because it means I can’t see out.

  32. MXKIVM Avatar

    It reflects right into the rearview mirror and burns out your night vision.

  33. JeelyPiece Avatar

    Because your dad was transporting his most precious people and wanted to do so safely without them being injured or killed.

    Turning on the light at night in the car makes it difficult to see the road and around the car, he did it because he was afraid he’d kill you in an accident, one of the worst nightmares any father could have.

    Now, stop jumping about and be quiet in the back!

  34. sk8zero0619 Avatar

    Having the light on in the car for more than 2 minutes is illegal and the cops will pull us over lol

  35. Busty-Cutie6 Avatar

    Watching my husband do this with our kids now is hilarious because I remember getting the same treatment. It’s basically impossible to see anything outside when that light is on learned that real quick when I started driving myself.

  36. Left-Escape Avatar

    Are you TRYING to cause an accident, you MANIAC?!?!

  37. TADspace Avatar

    Was my dad the only one who did turn on the light so I could play my pokemon on my Gameboy? He might have told me to wait a moment, but rarely said no and never said it was illegal.

  38. jayhawkeye2 Avatar

    BECAUSE WE CANT SEE! TURN IT OFF!!

  39. PointsOfXP Avatar

    Was always told that it meant you were doing something in the car you shouldn’t be so it gave the police a reason to pull you over. It doesn’t really mess with my night vision or makes it difficult to see. This is the first I’m hearing that

  40. CurvyDarling-0 Avatar

    Back in the day my dad would act like I was committing a capital offense whenever I hit that dome light. One time I did it while he was driving on the highway and thought he was gonna pull over and make me walk home.

  41. friarguy Avatar

    Doesnt bother me personally. My dad hated it.

  42. angryjohn Avatar

    I wonder if lights today are more focused and have less glare than when I was a kid? Because the lights in our cars haven’t really bothered me as much as they seemed to bother my dad.

  43. EngineerBoy00 Avatar

    I have great night vision, but an inside light turned on potentially causes:

    • heightened internal reflectivity (mirror effect) on the windshield and windows.
    • brighter ambient lighting leads to decreased pupil dilation which reduces night vision effectiveness.
    • an interior light, and any movement in the lit area, distracts from watching the road and mirrors.

    All of the above reduce the safety of all occupants.

    With regards to the yelling, I can tell you about times I yelled about it:

    • it was the bazillionth time on the same drive.
    • it was rainy/foggy/icy/death-traffic-y and I had zero time to negotiate or explain and needed it off NOW.
    • it was a long road trip with clear and unambiguous rules against interior lights (without advanced permission each time, or in dire emergencies, and not being able to find an earbud is not an emergency).
    • kid was just being bratty on purpose.

    Most/all kids cannot understand risk management. It’s not that the light being in instantly causes death, it’s that it increases the risk of harm to a carful of loved ones. In the moment, it is not possible to try to turn it into a Socratic life lesson, because that light needs to BE OFF NOW, then, if you want, we can discuss why.

  44. The_Mr_Wilson Avatar

    Internet going nuts with “IT’S NOT ILLEGAL” without considering “DRIVER CAN’T SEE”

  45. The_Xmoose Avatar

    It’s funny was just talking about this the other day. How it’s such a common experience. As a father myself now I can see how having it on it can be slightly annoying. But I have no issues having it on every now and then if my kids want to read something. So I may have broken the cycle of fear with my kids.

  46. clamsmasherpro Avatar

    Because don’t touch anything. If you’re not sitting in the drivers seat don’t touch a fucking thing. Literally that. If you’re in the passenger seat and don’t have copilot permission to fuck with the radio or the ac/heat settings don’t touch anything. You’re not operating the vehicle, so don’t touch anything that operates the vehicle. Simple as that.

  47. Mina_U290 Avatar

    Mess with my night vision (not a father)

  48. WheresFlatJelly Avatar

    Because your dad was a dick

  49. Onetap1 Avatar

    Because it’s a stupid thing to do. The driver is trying to see stuff outside, in the dark. If you turn on the inside light, their vision adjusts to the bright condition inside and their view is obscured by reflections in the windscreen. Using a phone in the front passenger seat will have the same effect.

    Are we nearly there yet, etc..

  50. Vast_Guitar7028 Avatar

    I never shouted at you, in fact, neither did my father when I read in the car at night. He never had an issue with it so I’m not sure what the problem is.

  51. ac54 Avatar

    It messes with the driver’s view outside the car at night.

  52. Practical-Command634 Avatar

    For me it’s mainly because the little angels never turn it off again so if for whatever reason I don’t notice it’s on I’ll end up with a flat battery by the morning. I like them to be afraid of it just to be safe.

  53. PuzzleheadedLemon353 Avatar

    Makes it hard to see out of the windshield while driving at night…makes a glare, so dangerous.

  54. DreadLindwyrm Avatar

    From what I remember :

    The light makes it hard to see out of the back window, or see approaching headlights from vehicles behind you.
    It kills your night vision when the car suddenly lights up.
    It can also make it impossible to see out of the car through the other windows as they now try to be mirrors reflecting the internal light around.
    You’ve probably had to move around (not very safe) to do it, or at least temporarily blocked the view from the rear mirror.
    It’s usually then followed by you doing something *else* that’ll distract the driver.

  55. RedOceanofthewest Avatar

    It destroys the drivers night vision 

  56. Flat-Ad8256 Avatar

    For the same reason my kids get shouted at when they do it

  57. Vaash75 Avatar

    Your father doesn’t know how to control his temper and use it as a teachable moment

  58. Zen28213 Avatar

    I even turn off my info screen at night

  59. Haronndiriv Avatar

    Because all parents secretly believe it summons a cop swarm

  60. TheEschatonSucks Avatar

    Because it was a felony, and would likely lead to several fatal accidents.

  61. Doctah_Whoopass Avatar

    In addition to the safety issue, they know for a fact you’re going to forget to turn it off and by the next morning the battery will be flat.

  62. New_Line4049 Avatar

    As a driver it can be quite distracting and makes it very hard to see in the rear view mirror.

  63. PublicEmergency1022 Avatar

    Cos I’ve already fuckin told you a thousand times not to turn that fuckin light on, turn it fuckin off right now!

  64. shaneswa Avatar

    It is distracting to the person operating the 2500 lbs of steel filled with fragile meat hurtling down the hi-way at 65 mph.