Fed up of seeing vehicles with no lights on at 5:30pm

People who don’t face the traffic when walking or running on the road are idiots. Facing the traffic results in a drastic reduction in the chance of having a fatal or non-fatal accident.

Does facing traffic improve pedestrian safety?

”The main finding was that the mean effect of facing traffic compared to walking with traffic was a 77% decrease in fatal and in non-fatal injury pedestrian accidents.”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457512003387

Where are these areas where people drive in the dark without lights?
Are they all driving very old cars?

Are they all living in cities with lots of street lights?

I very rarely see a car at night being driven without lights on.

I've noticed it a lot this year.

Yes, DH was driving my car the other day and it was a bit dull, about 4-4:30pm, I said have you got the lights on, he said oh no, he hadn't realised because his car has automatic lights.

Just as annoying are the people who drive in fog or heavy rain without lights, or think they need their rear fogs on at all times.

Payable to their next of kin, after probate.

I find the same, it really irritates me when it’s foggy, low-light, or just starting to get dark early and cars don’t have their lights on, it seems so much less safe.

And cars that use side lights instead of headlights so only front lights are on but not rears - what’s the point in this?

only one observation- especially in built up area with street lights some eyes will see quite clearly so won’t realise the problem - people with brown eyes get much less light in than those with blue apparently which can make a big difference as to how they perceive light levels and what they can clearly see

whixh may be why there is a law saying that lights should be on -certainly at 530

That is cyclist's desperate for a compensation claim.

I don’t see vehicles without lights so much at 5:30 pm because it is definitely dark then and has been for some time. But often around the times of our early school run at 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. when it’s slightly less dark but lights are definitely needed. It seems completely arrogant to be driving around without lights at these times, depending on other people safe driving to avoid accidents.

Well she clearly to me didn't understand what she had done !
Maybe she wasn't legal I don't know but like u I agree how can u drive a car with no lights in the dark and not realise ?

Apparently you can get a fine of up to £5,000 and 9 points on your licence for driving dangerously - which includes driving in the dark without lights. Maybe even the minimum £50 fine might train some drivers to routinely take a couple of seconds to check that their lights on when needed - just the same as you put on your seat belt and give it a quick pull to make sure that it's clicked in, as second nature.

And I highly doubt that claims of "But the headlights are automatic, officer!" would cut it at all. My car has an automatic gearbox, but I still couldn't blame the car if I were to sail through a red light!

That's crazy! Surely it doesn't matter what language you speak - any adult who can drive a car can understand how to click a switch to put lights on rather than driving unlit in the dark?!

I have automatic lights but if it's a grey Day I turn them on manually I actually drive most throu winter days like this unless it's a bright day !
My headlights are not super bright so I'm not dazzling anyone

I agree OP I have seen this ALOT!
I actually stopped a car coming towards me on residential street late at night I was driving down and didn't see her til she was right there and when I asked her to wind down window she had no fucking clue and she didn't understand me (English )
I had to get out and show her !!
And I am noticing it a lot I actually mentioned it to my hubbi this weekend one car following us late dark only had side lights on !!
Either to bright or no lights !!!!

And I'm fed up with huge cars whose dazzling lights are right at my eye level.
Life's a bitch isn't it ?

I agree. But do you check your car every time before you get in it? I check for the headlights' reflections in the car in front when I'm stationary in a queue but I can't say that I ALWAYS know that all my lights are working.

If your car doesn't have automatic lights and you're driving in town where there are streetlights, it's quite easy to forget. They'll notice when they reach an unlit area. Meanwhile, flash them in the hope it will remind them, and be grateful that most people have their lights on and can see (and avoid) the unlit car!

I get sick of seeing car with one headlight not working - so dangerous!

I was driving two friends recently and we passed a person (couldn’t tell male or female) running along a country lane with no pavement. They were head to toe in black, nothing reflective and I almost had a heart attack as they were also running in the same direction as the traffic instead of against it. Crazy behaviour!

To add, it's a very rare day for me when I don't see at least one driver without lights in the dark.

I’m with you OP - see also cars who don’t have their lights on at 8am on narrow country roads so you can’t see them coming until they’re practically on top of you.

I agree with you, OP. I actually started a similar thread a while back and got lots of cross responses from people who insisted that people 'just made a mistake' and so it wasn't really their fault that they were driving dangerously by ignoring an absolute basic of driving.

Along with the people who seem to believe that headlights are for the night-time - rather than for all times of poor visibility, which will obviously include night-time - it sounds like automatic headlights are a big culprit. I don't personally see the need for them - it takes a second to turn on your headlights when your eyes tell you that the conditions require them; but many people think that 'automatic' means that you don't ever have to check that they're still on that setting and/or that it's working properly and none of the bulbs have failed.

It's horrifyingly dangerous, but some people just don't care. Maybe they think that they pay a fortune in car insurance every year and want to make sure that they get their money's worth?!

"It’s bikes that fuck me off. People who don’t even bother with reflectives and wear dark clothing. Maybe have a tiny shit light on the back of the bike if you’re lucky."

Yes on an unlit road in dark clothing. Even in reflective clothing it's not safe.

But if it’s predictive text then how dumb would you have to be not to notice it? That whole sentence can’t be blamed on predictive text by the way.