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Why did French cars use to have yellow headlights


Mook
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After being blinded last night by a garlic-munching Pierre sucking on a Gauloise with his yellow fogs on and yellow headlights on main beam in his Renault Clio got me to thinking why.

Why did they use to have yellow headlights? Was it the nicotine staining seeping through from the inside of the car all the way to the front of the car? Or maybe the fact that everyone pisses wherever they like in France?

I've. No. Idea :confused:

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I thought everyone knew this.

It dates back many centuries (the horse drawn carriage lights were also painted yellow) when they wanted any invading force to know that they were willing to surrender without a fight. It is where the notion of the colour yellow being associated with a coward comes from.

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Here ya go.........

Stems from after WWI (according to the first answer in Yahoo)

Yellow headlights came into use end of WWI to differentiate French vehicles from German. France was the only one to use them and many foreigners complained about the abrupt change of colour when they crossed the border, that it could disorientate them and make night driving more dangerous. By 1993 France decided to have the same headlights as the rest of Europe. That makes it easier for drivers to have only one colour of headlights.
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The French hang on to everything 'unique' for as long as possible.

I mean, look at their language, they're still hanging on to that.....

French is a brilliant language, especially when as a Brit you speak it with a proper French accent - French women love it :D

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French is a brilliant language, especially when as a Brit you speak it with a proper French accent - French women love it :D

I knew a French lady that loved French spoken in a dodgy cockney accent a la Del Boy. I've mainly known English women to love the French accent.

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