Stealth Drivers
Mrs Sioni is the household driver and she is pretty good. She’s not a dithery driver, I’d say she’s assertive but far from aggressive.
There’s just one thing that gets her goat on the road, and that is drivers who do not use their lights. This evening, a dingy overcast, light rain but there were still cars with no lights on. None, not even side lights. Worse still, they were all black, grey or silver, the very colours that are hardest to see against wet tarmac in half-light. And my wife has decent, legal, eyesight (she’s diabetic and has annual checks).
What is it with these people? Are they saving energy?
There’s just one thing that gets her goat on the road, and that is drivers who do not use their lights. This evening, a dingy overcast, light rain but there were still cars with no lights on. None, not even side lights. Worse still, they were all black, grey or silver, the very colours that are hardest to see against wet tarmac in half-light. And my wife has decent, legal, eyesight (she’s diabetic and has annual checks).
What is it with these people? Are they saving energy?
Comments
I was driving just after dark recently and didn’t realize I didn’t have my lights on. I keep the switch at automatic, but my daughter had used my car the night before and had turned the lights off when she got home, and I didn’t realize that.
When I see people without their lights on, I assume they don’t realize it.
This evening’s journey was a quiet one of about seven miles. We saw eight cars coming towards us, seven black and one silver. Make of car withheld, but three are associated with faulty direction indicators.
You do have to be careful in fog though.
I blame this phenomenon on dashboards that light up even when the lights aren't on. This didn't use to be the case.
I like to do a rough analysis of things like this along the lines of (a) if drivers in general do something like this, on average, say once every ten years, and (b) if I encounter an average of 3,560 cars per day, then I could expect to see, on average, one example per day, oftentimes several in the same day. Just as a way to amuse myself.
Understanding expectation as it relates to probability is fascinating.
If they ignore the flash, it is on them.
I will never forget the time when I literally pulled over a police car. I was coming into town, and a car came on to the road. It was getting dark, but I noticed his back lights were not on. As I got up to him, I flashed my lights, and he pulled over. He got out of his car. I noticed then, he had a uniform on. I pointed out the lack of the rear lights. He said he would take the car in right away. We figure a fuse had burned out.
IME, they are people who left somewhere (work, perhaps) half an hour or so earlier in good light, and haven't noticed the light fading.
Well, that comes under the category of Careless Driving
Mrs Sioni hates these as they all but blind you-you know there is a car, but it’s hard to tell where it is and how fast it’s going.
For goodness sake. The purpose of car lights is to be seen, to warn others. You can’t see so much on the basis of your own lights.
They didn't, though I was forcibly reminded how much vision you lose as a result of a bulb going, and I fitted the spare yesterday. Luckily I am working about 4 doors down from Halfords so can easily top up my spares kit.