There may well actually be a problem with new cars in the EU in the future, too - from March 2003 onwards, all new cars will have their headlamps permanently on.
If it works like it does on my 2000 Saturn, there will be seperate "day time running lights" that only turn on when the normal lights are not on, and the car is in reverse or drive. With mine, it's a seperate set of lights towards the middle of the car next to the normal headlights. Only when I turn on the normal lights does my dash light up, and my empeg dims.
Some cars just use the normal headlights, but at a lower brightness. Same thing as above though how they work.