REGINA -- Commuters in Regina see it on a daily basis: a driver forgets to turn their lights on at night, leaving others straining to see the vehicle and causing a situation with a potential for danger.

“It’s extremely dangerous,” Cpl. Rob King with RCMP said. “You’re an unlit obstruction in the middle of the road and anyone coming up behind may not know you’re there until they’re right on top of you and their speeds may exceed your speeds and it creates a dangerous situation.”

According to King, the majority of drivers caught with their tail lights off don’t know they aren’t on because their daytime running lights illuminate the road in front of them.

RCMP officers have written more than 100 tickets and handed out 519 warnings this year to motorists for driving without tail lights. The fine will cost a driver $125.

“It’s very dangerous because it’s hard to see them for one and you don’t know if they’re braking or not, the brake lights don’t show up that well either,” one driver said.

“You see it all the time, it’s kind of frustrating, you can’t see when you’re coming up behind them because the lighting isn’t good,” another added. “I think it’s because everybody has driving lights and they come on right away.”

Most new vehicles have automatic lights, but for drivers that don’t, they need to know when to turn on their lights.

“The law states that you need to have your head lights activated any time light is low and also there are certain times a day, basically a half hour before sunset and a half hour before sunrise,” said Tyler McMurchy with SGI.

It’s not just driving at night. McMurchy adds you should also turn your lights on when it’s foggy, raining or snowing due to low visibility.

Transport Canada has announced that starting in 2021, all new vehicles in Canada will be required to have automatic lights or tail lights that turn on with the daytime running lights.