to ask all drivers and cyclist to please check your lights!

[JackThePumpkinKing]

Drive in this morning, pitch black. I counted 13 cars that didn't have all their lights working (one had both headlights out FFS) and 3 cyclists that had no lights or high vis at all (only saw them because they were under streetlights).

Please make sure all the lights on your car are clean and working, and that you have lights on your bike so I can see you please.

Thank you :)

And get bigger lights on bikes, those ones spme cyclists have that flash and are about the size of 10p are pathetic and make it very hard to see you!

Flashing ones are legal, but agree - the proper ones are much easier to see.

High vis strips would really help too, esp when it's misty.

Don't want this to be all about the cyclists though - there are plenty of motorists who don't bother to check their lights.

I know what you mean, I check my headlights in the back of the car in front when I'm at traffic lights and rear lights when I remember but brake lights are harder. On my bike I have flashing and permanently on lights as I find when I'm driving I'm drawn to cyclists with only flashing lights like a moth to a flame. They just seem mesmerising somehow.

YANBU. It's the season of the one-eyed monster. How hard is it to replace a headlamp bulb FFS?

And don't get me started on the ones who are driving in thick fog with no lights at all.

It can be difficult in some cars (VW, I'm looking at you).

I think I saw a sign at Halfords recently saying that if you buy bulbs from them they'll replace them for you for free. Will try and find a link.

Oh, not free but still cheaper than the garage!

Yup, foggy here for the last 3 days. Flashed three cars yesterday who were driving with no lights. They appeared out of nowhere, especially the silver two, and then vanished into the fog. Crazy.

What do they think fog lights are for, let alone headlights?!

Dont just check them, USE THEM!

I hate driving just as it's getting dark/light and people drive without lights on and that goes for rain and fog too.

Some people seem to think that they dont need their lights because they can see but seem to forget that they cant be seen clearly.

Thank you for this. I only passed recently and had to do a short journey in the fog. It was terrifying how silver cars seem to emerge from the gloom.

Good point too about flashing lights and cyclists. I am also mesmerised by things I am supposed to be avoiding and tend to drift towards them so I will be especially careful about that.

DH informed me that distances are increased not just because of visibility issues but because the road surface is slimy. Makes sense, but nobody had ever told me. MUST book that Pass Plus course!

Why do people drive in fog with only side/parking lights? It would be just as effective to drive around with a candle burning on the dashboard for all the light they give out! Don't they see other people with their pathetic sidelights and realise that theirs are the same? I am looking at you, white Alfa driver leaving Edinburgh at 5.30 last night going towards Bonnyrigg.

YY, WHY is it always the silver cars who are driving around with no lights on in the fog. They are fog coloured !! grrr idiots.

I don't care if YOU can see where you are going - I can't see you! :)

My husband is one who drives with only side lights, sigh. It saves energy & he insists it's good enough for him to see, if you can't see a car well enough with only side lights on then you shouldn't be driving at all (sigh). He loathes the idea of running lights becoming compulsory (I'm venting because it's not worth an argument in real life!!)

He also refuses to ever use hi-beam, in case someone 6 miles away sees it.

Monday I was flashing brights at folk without full headlights on.

What is it with so many people having such bad headlights, though? I suppose 15% of all vehicles I see have only one good headlight; the other one is so dim as to be nearly useless. What is that about?

lljkk

Yikes. Bet you've had a few fun arguments about that one! Does he drive in the dark, in the fog, with just sidelights?

What are sidelights FOR anyway. Surely if it's dark/foggy enough for lights, you need your proper lights?

Thanks for the reminder - with the dark mornings and evenings, plus the fog, I guess a lot of people who don't normally drive at night will be unaware that their headlights are out.

Mine are a total pain to replace, you have to twist your hand round at weird angles and put a lot of pressure onto the bulb.... so I now always get Mr Halfords to do it for me. It usually takes them 2 or 3 goes, so I'm pretty sure it's not just me being useless....

Sidelights are either for having on all the time (in some countries I think they are required by law?) and/or for parking when you are parked in the wrong direction on a road without streetlights.

Ahh yes of course

There was a similar thread about this yesterday too - crazy how many unsafe drivers there are out there :(

My new car has an auto setting - it turns the lights on when it thinks it needs too. I am reserving judgement as to how well it does, but for now it is doing pretty well.

Badly lit cars scare me because they make me feel vulnerable. Badly lit cyclists scare me because it makes me feel that they are so vulnerable. I have noticed far too many over the last few days with only one tiny light, and dark clothes. I think they must have a death wish.

All road users should be far more aware of road and weather conditions and being seen.

I recently got into one of those "I overtake you, you catch me up and overtake me" situations on a 100 mile motorway journey late on a Sunday night, in thick fog, pitch black. The other vehicle had no working rear lights at all, just one fog light! Made it look like a motorbike.

I actually pulled over to a garage to report them to the police, my bloody phone battery died in the queing system!

I nearly hit a cyclist Monday night. He pulled out onto a main road infront of me - luckily I wasnt going that fast or he would be history. I wound down my window to suggest he looks where he is going shout at the mad fucker but he had ear phones in.
YANBU

yanbu
i also hate drivers who have their side lights on with their fog lights.
and those bikes with the flashing lights and no high vis stuff are just asking to get clobbered nearly missed

YANBU and yes please all put your lights on.

I have a silver car and know how easy it is to not see them (they blend in) so am one of the annoying drivers who drive all the time with their lights on, even if it is 30 degrees and bright sunshine. I figure being in the habit of turning them on when I get in the car means that I will have them on when it is raining, dark, foggy, dull etc and people are struggling to see my stupid silver car (not my colour choice but beggars can't be choosers)

And as you drive out of town and up into the hills. Put your lights on!

The cloud is sitting on the hill and its foggy. It's always foggy up there on drizzly mornings, so please put your lights on!

Side lights are useful, I think - I put mine on when it's not foggy or dark, but just a bit of a dim day, because it's just that bit easier to see a car moving slowly when it has lights on. If you drive a lot in town where you are doing a lot of very slow moving, it helps you see which cars are parked and which are just in a queue.

Please make sure that your lights are CLEAN as well, cyclists in particular can cover their rear lights in mud during wet weather very easily and it makes it very hard to see them (friends husband was killed because all 3 of his rear lights were obscured with dirt).
And please, if you do use full beam headlights, make sure you dip them when you approach an oncoming car, I lost count of the number of times I had to slam my brakes on yesterday due to being completely blinded by idiots who dipped the headlights as they actually went past me.

YANBU I have noticed a few one-headlighted cars around this week.

But I get enraged by drivers who put their fog lights on when it's only murky, or even just dark. They leave me completely blinded when driving towards me on narrow country roads.