Use your HEAD! Use your LIGHTS!

Silvera

Just a reminder to all the folks out there to use your dipped headlights when driving in poor weather conditions.

I've lost count of the amount of cars/motorbikes/vans/trucks/buses I regularly see driving in the evenings/in rain/fog etc with just their parking lights switched on ...which are next to USELESS on a moving vehicle!

(In fact in most EU countries it is illegal to drive any vehicle on parking lights only - i.e. you must have dipped headlights on a moving vehicle.)


Interestingly, in the Independent on 3rd July, there was an article about the use of dipped lights.

The EU Transport Safety Council is urging all EU countries to make it mandatory for all motorists to use dipped headlight at all times during daylight hours.

They predict that this measure alone would save 2,800 lives per year in the EU !!


......This reminder also applies just as much - if not more! - to classic car owners (because of the often slow speeds of such vehicles)!

corktina

makes sesne...i think some drivers think ti costs money to ahve the lights on....

Silvera

corktina wrote:

makes sesne...i think some drivers think it costs money to have their lights on....

Unfortunately, I think you are right there.
Even if it did cost a few pennies, do they not realise that having their lights on could save their life ...or that of another person?!

qazz

In Poland you must have the lights on all the time from October to March...

1275gt

doesnt sweden have this law all the time?

Silvera

Yes, I think you are correct there 1275gt.

Sweden has the best road safety record in the world and Ireland should be following their example.

Sweden abides by the " 3 E's " when it comes to road safety, i.e

- Education (educate kids from an early age re road safety)
- Engineering (look at road design in preventing/and as a cause of, crashes)
- Enforcement (prosecute offenders)

And in that order!

At present, Ireland seems to focus mainly on the last one - enforcement, with little attention paid to the other two.

1275gt

yeah, completely agree. if they are serious about reducing road deaths,
they should introduce drivers ed, like the had in saved by the bell
part of the school curriculum like :cool: and get the feckin motorways with proper barries finished between the major towns/cities so at least when 'johnny overtake' decides to o'take 5 cars in a row, chances are he'll mill himself into being dead and not wipe out innocent people coming the other way.

ta2kev

I got into the habitt recently of driving around with my dipped lights on and people keep telling me they're on. A few years ago Eircom wired up the parking lights on their vans to the ignition, so when the ignition was on the lights were on automaticaly. It reduced the number of accidents involving the vans by a huge number.

overdriver

Silvera wrote:

At present, Ireland seems to focus mainly on the last one - enforcement, with little attention paid to the other two.

You forgot tolling.
that bridge is the cause of so many accidents.

ianobrien

In Finland, you must have the dipped lights on at all times. Most of the modern cars are wired so that the lights come on when the ignition comes on.

It's great in rain and low sun for seeing the other cars.

They also have a min speed limit on their roads, as a buddy was fined for driving at 75kph on a 100kph road!

scargill

corktina wrote:

i think some drivers think ti costs money to ahve the lights on....

and they are right - I remember reading somewhere before that if it was made compulsory in the US that it would cost billions of dollars per annum in extra fuel costs. must root around and find figures...

corktina

scargill wrote:

and they are right - I remember reading somewhere before that if it was made compulsory in the US that it would cost billions of dollars per annum in extra fuel costs. must root around and find figures...

obviously you jest.....i never believe it when people say things like that...the engine doesnt have to rev faster when you put the lights on......the alternator/dynamo is usually producing more power than the car needs I think....

Redrocket

i thought it cost sfa extra in fuel to leave you lights on?
i always leave them when driving

mustang68

ok, I'm a head light on all the time guy. Once a woman drove up to me in a carpark in waterford, motioned in a distressed fashion for me to roll down the window

Woman: "Your lights are on"
Mustang68: "I know"
Woman: *blank stare*...drives away

:rolleyes:

Anywho some random guy on the internet says this: http://mb-soft.com/public/headlite.html

He goes through the figures in detail about fuel consumption and headlights, but hey if 12mpg is really good fuel consumption what a few extra gallons

[edit:] Here is another link that puts the consumption lower, 0.5%, but it is for specially designed daytime lights: http://www.openroad.com.au/motoring_roadsafety_headlightssafefeature.asp

1275gt

mustang68 wrote:

but hey if 12mpg is really good fuel consumption what a few extra gallons

good point well made. im a headlights on all the time eejit too :rolleyes: was stopped by a guard during the day once who told me i had a light out at the back but there was nothing he could do until later on that day and he'd be keeping an eye out for me...

scargill

corktina wrote:

obviously you jest.....

I jest not !

howstuffworks


"if daytime running lights were on all the vehicles in the U.S., we would burn an extra 406 million gallons of gas each year"

corktina

scargill wrote:

I jest not !

howstuffworks


"if daytime running lights were on all the vehicles in the U.S., we would burn an extra 406 million gallons of gas each year"

not even the "billions of dollars bit"?

come on, it may may some difference but surely very very little.....

overdriver

Sod it if it does. It definitely helps with safety. No question. People drive Jeeps for the same reason, which must cost more.

scargill

corktina wrote:

not even the "billions of dollars bit"?

sorry - got mixed up between dollars and pounds of CO2 emissions.

Eric318

I drive with my lights on during the day, on the motorway mainly. When people tell me that my liughts are on, I smile, thank them politely, say that it is on purpose and feel happy that it worked: I was NOTICED. So all good.

France tried to make it compulsory for cars to drive with their lights on all day. Motorcyclists were up in arms, the crowds b urnt a few tires in the street threw a few stones and the project was shelved, I think that the Minister almost resigned...

A more interesting battle to pick in Ireland is the one AGAINST foglights, when there is no fog!!! Please tell me that I am not alone to find this driving habit not only irritating, a sign of outright brain failure but simply dangerous... please.... Is this not illegal?? It is in France, a serious offence. I asked the driver of the taxi I was in why HE was doing it... could not articulate an intelligible answer. I am about to fit the MG with mega additional lights to fight back and flash the jerks... but nobody wins.

corktina

the fog lights are on for posing....they are too bright and dazzle even in daytime...dipped headlights I approve of..
..even worse is the jerks who have their foglights on on the rear day and night....trouble is, you cant see the stoplights so clearly..Im sure most of them dont even know they have foglights.....

Redrocket

are ye guys driving with your headlights or your dims on?
surely not headlights??

corktina

both main beam and dip are headlights......

Silvera

stevenk wrote:

are ye guys driving with your headlights or your dims on?
surely not headlights??

I (We) drive on 'dipped' (dim) headlights during daytime hours - not full headlights, which would blind oncoming drivers.

I reckon more people are realising the benefits of doing this .....on the drive home from Wexford this evening I noticed quite a few vehicles with their dipped lights on!

........we are establishing a new road safety trend in Ireland lads!!


Don't forget -

"36% less likely to be involved in an accident when you drive with dipped lights on during daylight hours" (Advanced Driving Course quote)