i've been asking this in portuguese forums but anyone couldnt explain me, how parking light work, and what are their function.. do they turn on automaticaly? or do you need it to turn it on yourself? because I red somewhere that parking lights were to show to the other drivers that the car with the orange lights on was looking for a place to park...

I believe at one point, parking lamps were once known as city lights because they were to be used in congested nighttime city traffic to provide 'softer' intensity position identification rather than strong outright illumination. Now, I believe they're required to provide some sort of auxillary lighting in case of a burned-out headlamp. That's the case in terms of the front amber lamps; the other lamps on the side and on the rear are position lamps that allow you to see a car from the side.

Parking lamps are usually used here in the states to provide position illumination and some forward lighting in areas where having low-beams isn't necessary, like pulling into your driveway at night or while idling in line behind someone in a drive-thru. I usually dip off my low-beams when I do those things. When your parking lamps are on, all normal instrument lighting remains on, so police and taxis around here typically sit idle with only parking lamps for that reason.

Here in the US at least, parking lamps are required to be on when main low-beam headlamps are on. Most cars with daytime-running lamps (I think they called them town beams in England) usually use regular headlamps at lower intensity, but some - like the U-body vans, Regal/Century, Intrigue, and Grand Prix - use amber parking lamps at their normal intensity since they're dimmer than regular headlamps, plus the amber is more distinct.

Oh, I thought this was going to be a James Caan trivia thread. Sorry.

'Parking lights' = 'mínimos'

'Side markers' = luzes de presença laterais como no Volvo S40