I've noticed than more and more people around here are driving around at night with either no lights on at all or driving with their highbeams on and blinding the world ! SERIOUSLY ??  I'll guarantee the no lights crap has to do with all of the newer cars having the LED back lit LCD displays . I think car makers need to either install a warning light/message on the dash tied to a P/C of some sort telling them to turn on their lights of make automatic lights standard equipment .

 As for the high beams , 95% of the time it's due to IDIOTS being too damned LAZY/CHEAP to replace a burned out low beam ! The other 5% consists of those with headlights that are severely yellowed or damaged or really old people who don't appear to know better or care .   

 The stupid thing is that the local cops really don't seem to care ! 

 Anyone else experiencing similar ?

Yes! Seeing drivers without their lights on is a huge pet peeve of mine. Whenever I see anyone without them on, I always try to get right behind them and flash my high beams whenever possible. My truck has automatic low beams, and I never have it on any other setting.

As for the high-beam problem, I admit, I'm guilty of forgetting that they're on because I live in a rural area where they're on for extended periods of time. But I'm always prompt to replace a headlight whenever it's dead.

 I had one guy get totally pissed off at me when I pulled along side of him at a red light and tried to tell him his lights were off !!    I activate the automatic light setting on all of my cars that have it .

 As for high beams ,  Everyone's forgotten they're on at some point but those who just leave them on irrate me to no end !!

Happens here too!, today’s drivers are idiots, I saw a VW van yesterday coming home from work, long wheelbase and heavy enough to really damage a car with a family in it, with just one headlight working!
From the distance from where I saw it, it genuinely looked like a motorcycle in the dark! 

Rule 113 of the Highway Code states:
you MUST use headlights at night, except on a road which has lit street lighting. These roads are generally restricted to a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h), or 20mph (32km/h) in Wales, unless otherwise specified.
How bonkers is that.!!! 

I've seen that a lot around here, last month when I was driving the accord on the interstate in Kansas I saw a newer Hyundai sedan with the lights out! I flashed the brights at him and he pulled over for whatever reason. I think the big issue is the lit up LCD screen dashboards, and the fact that daytime running lights are so damn bright nowadays. My DRLs are the high beams dimmed down significantly and aren't useful as headlights. However most LED equipped cars have blaring DRLs that shine with an on par brightness of the normal headlights. So a lot of people end up not noticing there headlights are on. 

They're pretty good about pulling people over with no lights or who leave their high beams in traffic here.  When I was down in the South, it seemed like so long as you weren't speeding in a small town, anything goes.

I remember the dark days when sealed beam headlights were common, and sometimes required removing almost all of the front-end trim to replace them.

My nephew and I were attempting to replace a burned-out low beam bulb in the Durango he used to have in the parking lot of a Bass Pro Shop.  You had to be a contortionist to reach where the bulb went.  Might have been easier if we jacked it up and took the front wheel off.  Someone asked if we needed assistance with anything, and when we explained what we were doing, he replied that when the low beams burn out, he just uses the high beams until they burn out. 

I once rented an early 3rd generation Focus.  Everything in front of me seemed to light up when it was on, and from what I could tell sitting in the office parking lot in daylight, the control knob didn't seem to make any kind of difference.  I thought it just had automatic lights.  Someone later told me that while everything in front of me was lit up, I had no lights behind me.

Of course, my older vehicles that I had at the time, a Cherokee and Escort ZX2, were totally dark until you either pulled or twisted a knob.  If you didn't push or twist the knob after you were done driving, you'd find a dead battery.

My F-150 has the backlit cluster, and its brightness is determined by an ambient light sensor.  It's kind of annoying that it lacks the HEADLIGHT ON indicator.  The next year's model did.  However it has automatic headlights, so I leave them set to automatic.  My Cruze does have the green HEADLIGHT ON indicator light, and automatic headlights that when manually turned off, they revert back to auto the next time it's started.  That car also has the easiest to replace headlight bulbs I've ever seen.  Just open the hood and there they are.

Two years ago, I rented a Prius.  Driving to the hotel from the airport, the Android Auto map screen was shining bright white like the midday sun, and I couldn't figure out how to get it into dark mode.  Of course, the headlights appear to be on, and the dash is also all lit up.  I later discover that this car, which can switch between gasoline and electric modes, detect if you're drifting out of your lane or about to hit something, and can to a limited extent steer itself, can NOT turn its own headlights on and off. 

Yeah I saw one just tonight with no headlights on. It did have the bright running lights in front but no tail lamps or headlamps on.

I too have tried flashing my lights from behind them, but I’ve never had anyone take the hint and turn their lights on.

This is another thing I really liked about my old car. There was essentially no way to turn the headlights off after dark, the switch only went auto-parking-low beam. No off position.

My car I have now has off-auto-parking-low beam and I always leave it in auto.

Also I see a lot of people driving on foggy mornings or rainy days with no lights on, possibly because they think their lights will turn on automatically.

But in this type of conditions you HAVE to turn your lights on to make sure they’re on.

It also annoys me when people drive in those conditions with only their parking lights on.

I have accidentally left my high beams on when approaching other cars. 

My car has automatic high beams and sometimes I have to put the high beams on manually if it’s in a dark area but reflective signs or other lights cause it to dim. But if I do that, sometimes it won’t auto dim then since I overrode it, and once I realized the high beams were on it was too late.

Another thing I just thought of is I’ll see drivers drive in parking lots at night with no lights on, and only turn them on when getting on the street or highway. I don’t get that!!

My favourite was on my parent's 1995 Jetta. There was an on-off knob switch, but the daytime running lights would have everything on as soon as the key was in the on position. The knob only enabled high beam lights. You had no choice of having the tail lights on in the day or night because they were always lit. If you forgot to "turn on the lights" at night, you could see and be seen.

I drive an older vehicle (90s Corolla) and my dash lights don't illuminate unless I have at least the taillights and front markers on. There's a knob that you turn on a end of the stalk to switch from off, markers, headlights. For high beams you push the stalk forward for continuous, or pull it back for momentary.

Interestingly enough, if you don't mind a dark dashboard you can actually drive around with lights off if you don't turn the headlights on manually. There's a photocell that disables the DRLs when it's dark out. However once you've turned the headlights on, they will stay on even if you turn the knob off until the engine is restarted.

It seems like a lot of modern LED headlights are bright enough that they're at high beam levels of intensity and glare, especially if they're mounted on a vehicle with a higher ride height such as an SUV or a pick up and if you're driving a sedan. There are some with LEDs crammed into a housing designed for halogens and some of the lower quality retrofits just results in a glary mess for others.

@joseph : I drive a 2004 Corolla, and the lights behave exactly like you describe, minus the daylight photocell. The daytime lights won't come on when I start the engine, but they will when I release the hand brake. That obviously means I have no choice but to drive with the headlights on.

My old car (2001 Malibu) had the light switch on the left stalk and the wipers on the right which I prefer.

On that car when I shifted out of park it automatically put the headlights on DRL mode.

Really liked that. My current car (16 Taurus) has only one stalk with the headlight switch on the left dashboard.

This car always has the dash board lights lit, but it does change brightness by the light sensor.

Strangely the LED running lights on this car only turn on if I put the parking lights or headlights on.

 I just don't understand how hard it is for car makers to install some form of fail-safe device to prevent prople from driving with the lights off ! I've noticed that all new cars automatically turn on the parking lights when a door is opened or closed . How hard would it be to automatically turn on the headlights when it's dark ! 

 So much for smart cars !!!   I just don't get it !

Modern cars bing at you if you've left the lights on when you open the door to get out.
How about a little voice that nags you until you switch the lights on when it's dark...

What I hate is how a lot of newer cars, put the reverse lights on along with everything else when the doors are open.

I don’t mind putting the parking lights, etc in when opening the door, but when I’m walking or driving through a parking lot and see the reverse lights on, I think they’re about to back into me!