Turning off your lights at a stop

Hey, so the last time I went to Japan, they reminded me of this little thing they do, which is when they stop at a stop light, they turn off their main beams and just go to their parking lights. This is out of courtesy. If my memory serves me, they do something similar in Europe, no? I've been prone to do it in drive thrus as well, just being nice to the guy in front of me (though my guess is they don't even get it). Does anyone know anything more about this? Should we all start a new fad here in the States?