Motorway is pitch black

[Unfortunatelynot]

Why and when did the highway agency decide to turn the motorway lights off?
AIBU to think driving at 50-70mph in the dark feels treacherous?

I used to work at night and drove home around 2am on a motorway, the lights only went for so far after a junction before it was pitch black. This was in 1982 when I first started the job.

If you broke down you were knackered as you had to walk to an emergency phone on the hard shoulder in total darkness which would have probably been pretty scary never mind whether any traffic was around. It never happened to me fortunately but as soon as mobile phones came in, I got one.

It's normal these days @Unfortunatelynot

But I agree it can feel less safe now as a driver. It has probably led to more drivers being afraid to drive on motorways after dark.

I observe amongst my own female friends, not many will drive on motorways at night anymore and we're not old (I'm 60).

I don't think they ever have and I've been driving for 50 years. Just put your headlights on full beam.

Your speed is always determined by your reaction time. You stay at the speed where you can comfortably react to something unexpected coming onto the road. Headlights are designed to give you sufficient visibility to react to sudden changes at night and the majority of drivers are able to scan the environment and be in control of the car at 40-60mph, even in pitch dark.

As mentioned, this thread is genuinely terrifying because it seems like there are so many drivers who are lurching blindly in the night just so they can stay at the speed limit but without any capability of reacting to sudden dangers. This is obviously why it feels "treacherous" because it's fucking bonkers.

Most motorways don’t have lights - only when they are in cities.

My friend's son wrote his car off hitting a bull that had escaped from a field late at night. When the police turned up, they were livid with the farmer. They'd warned him 3 times about the bull getting out.

I regularly drive across the Ashdown Forest, where there are loads of deer. One thing I've learned is that if you see one, there are bound to be more following behind, so I always slow down as soon as I've seen one.

I drove recently on a dark motorway when the mist came down suddenly, proper bounce your headlights back mist. It wasn’t my driving capacity that terrified me but the people still doing typical motorway speed in the blindness. Probably not even 50% used fog lights either. Genuinely shook me up. I slowed down myself, but then realised the risk of being hit was probably higher than hitting anyone.

Have you tried switching your headlights on?

Its been 17 years since they did this. If the OP has not noticed they probably should not be driving

the inevitable slew of "you shouldn't be on the road" posts from the more experienced than thou brigade

Haha I love this. I do find on MN that there's a view that everyone should be able to drive and it's rubbish not to. But also, everyone who drives (therefore, everyone) should be a naturally brilliant driver in all road conditions, or you "shouldn't be on the road". But then you would be a rubbish non-driver.

And that the gem of advice is "just put your full beams on" and dazzle drivers coming in the opposite direction.

This. Lights used to be unsual.

Agree with most other posters. You have headlights!

Also motorways have always been dark except for major junctions and interchanges. We definitely don't need more light pollution!

Obviously you dip them when there is an incoming vehicle. This is basic stuff.

Yes this, it was so predictable, not to mention the 'OMG, get off the road if you're falling asleep at the wheel' response to me highlighting the fact that motorway driving is well known for having whats called in the trade highway hypnosis as an effect.

Be alive to it, or you wont be alive.

Denying that motorway driving at night has this effect or not knowing about it is dangerous.

Except that a lot of people don’t dip them. I reckon the always-full-beam plonkers are probably the same people who are always-middle-laners - they just can’t cope with being expected to be alert and capable of responding to changing situations.

I'm sure this is true for some but I think a lot of the people who appear to have their full beams on are in fact just driving modern cars with poorly-adjusted ultra-bright LED headlights. Ex-H had a Tesla and we realised the first time he drove it at night that the dipped headlights were set way too high, and were dazzling onlooking traffic. He adjusted them but I think a lot of people don't realise or don't care.

That's just bad driving. It doesn't mean every stretch of road in the country should be illuminated.

I don’t like it in the dark either . I think it’s because on coming traffic has lights so blinding in the dark yet seem less stark when the motorway is lit .

I agree - people who blind others with poorly adjusted headlights should have more self-awareness. Can checks of headlight angle not be made as part of a car’s service or MOT, so that they can at least be set at an appropriate level for the vehicles when not fully loaded (ie the majority of the time)? Tbh, I think some people are so stupid, they don’t even realise they can adjust the angle themselves.

I reckon a fair proportion of the people who don’t have a problem with driving at 70mph on a completely unlit motorway have headlights set at a high enough angle to blind other car drivers…

For those saying that motorways have never been lit, I’ve just driven on the M6 north from Birmingham and there’s definitely lampposts all the way until just before J12 but they weren’t all switched on. I think op was referring to this stretch of motorway. There’s junctions every couple of miles, it’s relatively busy and you’re mainly joining from built up areas with streetlights so the darkness is noticeable. I know it so well that it doesn’t bother me but I can see how it could affect drivers who don’t use it frequently.

I find this far less of a problem on motorways than other roads, because there’s more separation. You can always stay over in the slow lane and you don’t have to deal with it at all.

I'm quite happy driving on unlit motorways except just after parts that are lit. Changing from well lit to unlit is more challenging.
I'm 71, and have always found this, even when driving 60,000 miles per year for work

I agree. On this stretch the lack of lighting, broken cat’s eyes and worn lines means it is very difficult to see a decent distance ahead. So it is difficult to see which way the road goes and all the junctions.

It is a spot where many people suddenly slow down in the dark as at 70mph they can’t see their required lane or junction in time. Others flick their full beams on in a panic. The slowing down and full beams create their own issues. Several posters have pointed out that you should slow down if you have an issue, but obviously on the motorway that is less than ideal.

I’m smiling wryly at the poster who has a car with lane monitoring alarm “cars have lane alarms now (sic)” and is so busy in their own world that they haven’t considered that that’s not the case for many drivers. Similarly, the amount of posters mentioning the super headlights that cars have these days- firstly not everyone has a newer car, and secondly these headlights are part of the problem!