Not cyclists this time!!

[gavroche]

We all notice the numerous cyclists riding in the dark with no lights on ( mainly on MTBs I must say) but what about MOTORISTS driving with no lights on? I was astounded tonight by the number of cars with no lights on. Do these drivers realise the risks they are taking but not being seen by others? I can't understand why they do it. Surely, when you sit behind the wheel and can't even see your dashboard, you must instantly realise that something is wrong? Idiots!

 

[vernon]

We all notice the numerous cyclists riding in the dark with no lights on ( mainly on MTBs I must say) but what about MOTORISTS driving with no lights on? I was astounded tonight by the number of cars with no lights on. Do these drivers realise the risks they are taking but not being seen by others? I can't understand why they do it. Surely, when you sit behind the wheel and can't even see your dashboard, you must instantly realise that something is wrong? Idiots!

Now there's the rub. It is possible to read your dashboard if it has LED displays. It's also possible to drive in well lit streets and roads without realising that your headlights are not on. Cars are big enough to be spotted by others and unlike most cyclists without lights, they have reflectors that assist with being spotted.

Cyclists seem to cope ok without lights. Why shouldn't motorists?

I rarely see cars being driven unlit in the dark and they have the ability of changing their unlit stat unlike most unlit bikes.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Yes, I saw three tonight and a host of zombie drivers. Then stopped to assist a driver on the A2 after his car got trashed by a green Micra who decided to pull turn right in his path. Whereupon a Keltbray lorry tried to run me over as I was talking to the police by the stranded vehicle. Driver of green Micra did not check whether the driver was ok, stopped briefly but drove off as I was helping get the car safely out of the traffic and before I could get its number. Police completely disinterested. Sums up the roads in 2012 for me.

I'd just been thinking how driving standards seem to have deteriorated abruptly since autumn.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Now there's the rub. It is possible to read your dashboard if it has LED displays. It's also possible to drive in well lit streets and roads without realising that your headlights are not on. Cars are big enough to be spotted by others and unlike most cyclists without lights, they have reflectors that assist with being spotted.

The dials of our (sadly departed) XKR were illuminated when the engine was running, so it's feasible that other cars do the same??
(conversely the Octavia's needles are lit, but not the dials)

What you would think gave the game away to drivers would be the fact that the back of the car ahead isn't lit up by their headlamps?

If they were involved in a RTC (say.... someone pulled out of a side-street into their path), would they be charged with 'Driving Without Due Care & Attention'
If not, surely 'Contributory Negligence' ought to be a factor in a reduced insurance payout/claim to the unlit driver??

 

[Brandane]

The dials of our (sadly departed) XKR were illuminated when the engine was running, so it's feasible that other cars do the same??

I have a Toyota Corolla, which annoyingly has the clocks illuminated all the time. When you switch your lights on, it dims the lights on the clocks. I will admit that I have been caught out by this on a few occasions, and driven off in the dark with no lights on. Only for a few seconds before I realised my mistake. But if the clocks hadn't been lit up, I would have noticed right away, as I have done on every previous car I have owned.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

one advantage of living in the middle of nowhere without street lighting - you'll drive off the single track lane if you don't have lights on...
but I know what you mean - how is any of that hi-viz and reflectives of any use to a cyclist if the drivers (insert any other word you want here) of said vehicles don't put their lights on in the first place!

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I had to drive my bosses new BMW a few days ago and after sitting it it for ten minutes trying to figure out how to start the bugger I realised that the lights and possibly the windscreen wipers were both automated.

Maybe the sensor are fubar.

Don't have the problem on my wife's 18 year old Honda. Turn thingy, goes click, lights come on.

 

[defy-one]

Mine has auto lights,wipers,auto gearbox and if i set it via iDrive .... piss off the cyclists settting!!! Roflmao

 

[defy-one]

We all notice the numerous cyclists riding in the dark with no lights on ( mainly on MTBs I must say) but what about MOTORISTS driving with no lights on? I was astounded tonight by the number of cars with no lights on. Do these drivers realise the risks they are taking but not being seen by others? I can't understand why they do it. Surely, when you sit behind the wheel and can't even see your dashboard, you must instantly realise that something is wrong? Idiots!

London is so well lit,that less attentive drivers can often set off without switching their lights on

 

[hotmetal]

London is so well lit,that less attentive drivers can often set off without switching their lights on

Very true, I see it all the time. And experience tells me that a goodly percentage of drivers round here fit the description 'less attentive'. That's being diplomatic.