I have 99 suburban, no sensor, but day running lights. When at the light show I will depress the parking brake very slightly, just enough that it shuts off the running lights, leaving the parking lights on. I don’t believe this has any effect or wear and tear on the brakes as there is no resistance and I only do this at the light show once a year.
There?s no Federal law requiring the use of DRLs - yet. My ?09 Pontiac G8 has a manual override for the DRLs - the headlight switch allows you to turn of the DRLs at any time. The DRLs will then stay off until the car is shut off. When you start the car again the DRLs are back on.
I believe (and I could be wrong) that the law is if you have DRLs that use the low beams, you must have automatic headlights. I think that the reason is that people thought all their lights were on when the DRLs were on. There is no US law requiring DRLs, but I think there is a Canadian one.