You notice that a nearby parked car has its lights on. You are sitting
near the car for long enough to know that it isn't one of those cars that
automatically turns off the headlights after a few minutes.  The car has
an unlocked door.  Do you turn the lights off?

22 responses total.

yep.
I would, 'cuz I'd expect anyone to do the same for me.

(no. such a kind gesture might be taken the wrong way.)

(if it were obvious where the owner might be, such as if it were in
a parking lot for a supermarket or something like that, I would see
if the owner could be paged over the loudspeaker regarding the lights.
That would likely leave the owner less forgetful next time.)

Yes, I always try to do that.  I am always a little nervous that someone will
come up behind me and put a gun to my head and say "Spread em!", but I figure
I could plead "good samaritan".

I do leave my headlights on sometimes, since the car I usually drive
doesn't beep when I do that, and I would really want somebody who saw it
to turn them off for me (although the car is usually locked.  However, in
this age of no trust, I probably wouldn't do it for somebody else if I
didn't know them.  Enough cars have alarms these days that I would be
afraid of setting one of those off, and I'm not sure how people would
react if they saw me in their car looking around for the light switch.

Are there car alarms which can be set without locking the car?  Does anyone
know?

Is it part of the problem that you're in an "anonymous" parking
lot?  I can think of two places where I would almost-without-
thinking go over to turn off lights: our church parking lot, or
the parking lot for a preschool parents' meeting.  Otherwise I
would be deterred by considerations of how long it would probably
take to *find* a light switch, if I ever did (unless the vehicle
happened to be just like one of ours)

I have and will.

re 6:
        Yes, I was referring to an "anonymous" parking lot.

Yes, I would (usually)  I rarely notice such things, though, but if I
do, I usually go stand next to the driver's door and see if I can 
see the switch from the outside.  If I can, I quickly open the door and
turn off the lights.  If not, I just leave it. (No sense in messing
around inside if the owner might come back and be less than happy
with me)

This response has been erased.

Yes.  I always try the door when lights are on.  I hope no one
ever rigs up bombs to headlight switches.

I did try and turn someone lights off by opening their door, and set thir car
alarm off. they get a 3000 dollar car alarm but leave their doors unlocked.
Needoess to sy, i never do it anymore.

In all honesty, I'm the bastard who chuckles and says, "Well, they
won't have a battery when they get back."

This happened to me this morning.  I was looking in the window,
wondering if a particular strange-looking control was for the 
headlights, when the driver came back (from dropping off her child 
at kindergarten, I suspect).  She said, "They're automatic."

Ah yes, automatic headlights.  I remember a few years ago being very
confused when, after telling my neighbor shehad left her headlights on,
she just kept walking away from the car.  As we got to the other side of
the parking lot, I glanced back at just the right time to see the
headlights turn off.  It seems like a better system than in the car I
usually drive, where they do nothing if left on and the battery ends up
going dead, but it seems alto be a little overkill when a simple beeping
would do the same thing.

My understanding is that timers on headlights are so you have light to get into
the house at night.

Normally, I would look to see if the driver's side was open, and if so
I would turn off the lights and lock the door.  Nowadays, with the
automatic turn-offs (and lots of people proud to use them), I would
probably walk away.  If upon my return they were still on, then I would
see if I could turn them off.
I think most people would understand you were trying to be kind if they
saw you open a door and reach for the lightswitch.  I think they would
not understand if you went via a door other than the driver's or if you
took some time groping around (even if the switch was not in an obvious
location).  I think it also depends on whether the parking lot you are
in is "safe" or not (you might wish not to linger in some areas).

I have (in past years,) tried to be a good samaritan and turn the car's lights
off.  However, nowadays, my action would be guided by location, time of day,
and other variables.  That's a sad commentary on current times.

I wouldn't if I didn't know the person... but if I saw them going into
a store or something, I might go up to them and say, "Excuse me, is that
your car?  The headlights are on."

I've done that for people before, and I still will.  All I know is that if I
had left my headlights on, I'd want to thank that person profusely!  =)  It
really stinks to be stranded somewhere because you left your headlights on...
believe me...I know...  ;)

nope...I'd go into the nearest building it was parked to and ask if anyone
knew whose car it was.

No

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