The next time you’re on the road, look at the number of drivers who persist in using sidelights after dark and during poor visibility. These fools think that everyone can see them, and that they’re saving battery power.
Well, they’re wrong on both counts. Look at oncoming traffic the next time you’re on the road, especially as it’s getting dark. Compare the vehicles with and without sidelights, and ask yourself the question “Which ones are more visible?”
Obvious answer, really. Oddly enough, using sidelights during darkness in well – lit urban areas is worse than using them in rural areas. The sidelights tend to blend in with house and shop lights, thus rendering the vehicle almost invisible, wheras a dipped headlight vehicle stands out because it’s much brighter than the shop and house lights.
How many times have you been startled by a car suddenly appearing out of thick fog, armed only with sidelights? Again, compare two vehicles in fog, one with sidelights, the other with dipped headlights.
It’s a fallacy that you save battery power and battery life by the use of sidelights. Your alternator will charge your battery as you drive, and I personally have never owned a car where the battery lasted less than five years.
I read somewhere once, that in Britain it’s actually an offence to drive with sidelights. A similar law here would be no harm, with penalty points included for good measure.
I would appeal to all drivers who drive with sidelights, to change their dangerous habit and be seen, and therefore be safe.
2 Comments
Have to agree with you spurdog. Driving from bantry to skibbereen last (evening time) went to overtake on a straight stretch of road, indicated and pulled out and something caught my eye. it was a car with not two sidelights on but one.The driver had one sidelight working and it was the one on the passenger side of the car. I nearly sh** myself!! Thanks to the driver behind me who slowed down to allow me to pull back in. My other whinge is drivers who dont dim their lights until they are facing you…… I could go on!!!
If only everybody felt the same.
People who do not have lights on defies me whole logic of driving. I constantly shout to myself and when my Fiancee is unlucky enough to be in the car, she gets to hear it also.
How do you drive down the road in the dark(in the city) without any lights on? Not switching them on is easy but when are the checking their instrument panel for speed and stuff? The fact the whole dash is black and there is a bright mysterious blinding flashing green indicator light, do they not then realise there is something wrong?
Again, I drive for a living and it gets under my skin the amount of people with illegal lighting.
Cars with broken headlight bulbs, misalligned headlight bulbs, badly wired headlight bulbs whereby the left dipped bulb is not working(not thats its broken) but the electrical charge for that bulb is feeding into the right headlamp and the high beam is on instead. The driver themselves would have no knowledge of this(normal people would) because there is no blue light on the dash.
I wish the Gardai would do another blitz. In America you would get a on the spot fine.