Dipped Headlights

[Guest Anonymous]

its better to have lights on n be seen, i was run off the road once by a car overtaking a line of traffic on a bend wi po*y sidelights on when everybody else had dip beam , rather inconvienient

[Carlos]

RoSPA's take -

 

“RoSPA’s view is that if cars are fitted with Daytime Running Lights, then there is much concern that the conspicuity of other road users without DRL will suffer. The risk is that when drivers are making observations and looking out for other road users, that drivers will search for the DRL on other vehicles rather than surveying the whole scene and spotting vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians.

 

“This is a serious concern as research has shown that ‘looked but failing to see’ errors contribute to 23 per cent of unimpaired drivers’ accidents during daylight, and a more recent report identified that 32 per cent of all accidents were caused when road users ‘failed to look properly’."

[filskadacat]

“This is a serious concern as research has shown that ‘looked but failing to see’ errors contribute to 23 per cent of unimpaired drivers’ accidents during daylight, and a more recent report identified that 32 per cent of all accidents were caused when road users ‘failed to look properly’."[/i]

 

= some people are lazy /stupid / don't care about anyone else. At the moment they are running about with no lights on. Make the cars have lights on automatically and they will be lazy /stupid in some other way. But at least you will see them coming...

[Carlos]

From the places that have tried requiring daytime dipped headlights, some find it works out with lower numbers of accidents overall, and some don't, but either way you can't get away from the fact you are making some things safer by making some other things more risky.

 

I'd want to think very carefully about those implications before deciding that something should be mandatory.

 

The automatic daytime running lights coming in from 2011 are a lot lower powered than dipped headlights are, and will (hopefully) avoid some of the negatives.

[Spinner72]

I don't mean to be morbid or a nanny state but it would seem that someone is going to have to knocked down and killed before we take action:(.

 

And my fear is that it will be a bairn going to or coming home from school...

 

I am one of those who strongly oppose mandatory running lights, for precisely the reason you mention there.

 

There are reams of research data on this issue, but when you look at it with sheer common sense, you see how silly and selfish the proposal is.

 

Yes, vehicle into vehicle collisions a lower, but pedestrian and cyclist accidents increase. Not by as many though, so some think this makes the statistic ok and acceptable.

 

Obviosuly those who think like that have never given a thought to the difference between being hit by a vehicle travelling at 30mph while strapped in a safe modern car, to being hit while walking accross the road.

 

Put simply, if you need a car to have lights on before you can see it properly/safely, clearly you are unfit to be driving as men, women, children, and even animals also have a right to be on the road and have no headlights to warn you.

 

Here's some further reading if my abbreviated rant isn't enough..

[Guest Anonymous]

i should have thought driving sensibly n carefully at a decent speed one ought to see whats on the road, works for me. That is until you meet the space cadet in their flying machine wi lights blazing as if they were lamping rabbits, but its fine as long as the roads quiet lol, fine when aa thing is quiet

[neilandeRSon]

thing is nowaday's most car's tend to blend into the background with there colour. so imo they REALLY need to have dipped light's on! ok maybe not so around the town but out of the town they need them. make's a huge difference!

[beachcaster]

In certain weather conditions it is common sense to switch your headlights on, but I am totally against making it mandatory for all cars run with dipped beam headlights, i ride a motorcycle with hard wired dipped beam headlights and i feel if gives other motorists a better chance of seeing me, as we are a lot smaller than cars, and a lot harder to see on the road.

 

A lot of accidents occur because car drivers don't see bikes and pull out in front of them at junctions, usually resulting in the bike rider coming off 2nd best.

 

I often switch onto full beam if i see a car waiting at a junction, just to make sure they have seen me, as i have had a few close calls due to unobservant car drivers pulling out in front of me, especially at roundabouts. If all cars ran dipped beam headlights then a bike could be judged as being a car which is miles away rather than a bike with one headlight which is actually a lot closer than you think.

 

Making it illegal to drive without dipped beam headlights will not stop the idiots who chose not to do so. As they will probably ignore that law along with the speed, seatbelt, mobile phone, alcohol and drug driving laws already in place.

[Kavi Ugl]

Remember, I'm only proposing it for 4 months of the year when the sun is at his lowest and the light the poorest.

 

One other thing that's maybe worth mentioning is how fast the weather conditions can change at this time of year which, to me, adds weight to the argument of using dipped headlights. Just look at these snowy conditions and what happens when a heavy shower comes on. And still these plonkers drive without a headlight on .

 

@Spinner72, maybe that's just the point:). If you are on the road you should be able to see, and be aware of, what's happening around you but sadly the reality is that there are some bad(!) drivers out there and if they hit me while I have my dipped headlights on at least they won't be able to say the didn't see me!.

 

[Spinner72]

The snowy conditions provide an excellent example of the problems with dipped headlights.

 

The highway code, and common sense says you should always drive so that you can stop in the distance you can see to be clear.

 

Now, if you are meeting cars in a blizzard with dipped headlights on, you can see them far further away than you can actually see to be clear, so what about the mother pushing her toddler, all covered in snow and white from head to foot, forced to walk on the road because the snow is too deep at the side...

 

Yes, it is extremely rare you will encouter such a situation, which is all the more reason why you should be watching for it every single moment you are on the road.

[Claudias]

^ ^ ^

Only true if they are approaching head on. From the rear,a vehicle with blazing headlights,spot and fog lights appears as two tiny red lamps.

 

What's with my luck? So often my posts appear as the first post on a new page, not connected to the article to which they refer.

[Kavi Ugl]

In the greater scheme of things I'm usually against mindless laws and regulations but I just can't hold back anymore.

 

Why, oh why are Shetland's car drivers so thick?. We're now into December and people are still driving around in the half mirk without even so much as a side light on(they're useless anyway).

 

Surely it would constitute driving without due care and attention so where's the police?.

 

Grrrrr.....

[zebedee]

Why, oh why are Shetland's car drivers so thick?.

 

Wow, bit of a blanket statement there Kavi. Are you a driver?

[Kavi Ugl]

Yes, I concede it's a strong statement but based on what I've seen today and this winter so far it's pretty accurate!.

 

And yeh, I'm a driver.

 

[tom thumb]

totaly agree lights are a must, but not on full beam when you are behind someone shining full blast in all their mirrors.

whilst we are on the subject of drivers, mini roundabouts, why when they are going straight on do some drivers put their flashers on telling me they are turning right ie co-op roundabout when i am driving from town, they are not turn right as in going round the roundabout they are going straight on, this happens at most of the roundabouts up here. coming from swindon known as the capital of mini roundabouts i think i know what i am talking about, google swindon magic roundabout if you disbelive, if you drove like this down there you would not last long road rage or a crash ( you being at fault) would happen within hours.

rant over feel free to dissagree