Headlight use in poor visibility conditions.

[602]

Hi,

Some years ago we were driving on the A467 from Merthyr Tydfil towards Neath. Barbara was driving her old TVR, but that irrelevent.

Pitch black, no street lamps, probably doing 50mph. She caught up with a slower car, so pulled into outside lane to overtake. Loud blast of horn from behind

"Didn't you check your miror?" I asks, conversationally.

"I did check my mirror, and there was nobody there?" she replied in wifely tones.

And then the other car passed us. NO LIGHTS.

We followed him for several miles, at speeds of up to 80mph. Still no lights. Pitch black outside. I guess he must have eaten a lot of carrots.

602

 

[drsorento]

No, but there is no EU directive to this effect.

yet

 

[Gafferbill]

....This may be of interest.

A large part of a Truck driver's job is to get though their working day without being involved in an accident and because of the size of their vehicle they rely heavily on their rear view mirrors.

A good Truck driver will scan their mirrors every 15 seconds.

Now when it is raining with poor visibility and even though the mirrors may be heated their view behind can be severely limited.

A vehicle not displaying dipped headlights in these conditions, especially when others are can easily be missed by drivers of large vehicles.

Remember the driver of such a large relatively slow moving vehicle is constantly being overtaken and is constantly making decisions on what he can see.

 

[602]

A vehicle not displaying dipped headlights in these conditions, especially when others are can easily be missed by drivers of large vehicles.

Hi Gaffer,

Why is it that some HGVs, but not all, throw up a lot of spray?

This spray can completely obliterate your view of the road. That can make it dangerous to overtake, as you can see nothing to the front while you are driving through the spray. OK, the answer is that you shouldn't overtake if you can't see the road ahead..

But what should you do if the truck is overtaking you, so you suddenly become virtually blind? Slam on your brakes ...... and hope the car behind can see your stop lamps?

In France, speed limits are automatically reduced by 10kph if it is raining. Do I want the same here? No, though it would maybe be sensible. I want to know why some trucks spray, and some don't. Any ideas? Tyre pattern? Aerodynamics?

602

 

[Chrisbee]

UK registered trucks should be fitted with spray suppression flaps. These are essentially a mudflap with a mesh or pimpled lining designed to cut down on spray. They achieve varying results depending on the type fitted. There are however quite a few exceptions to HGVs that require them to be fitted, most notably vehicles that discharge their load from the rear i.e. tippers

 

[Steve L]

Having been driving both cars and trucks for 33 years I am still gobsmacked by the sheer stupidity of drivers who fail to consider others on the road.

Del is quite right there is still a majority who fail to see the importance of using headlights in poor visability. That quote is actually from the highway code, which states that vehicles must display dipped beam headlights in poor visability conditions such as fog, snow and rain.

Anybody would think we had to put a pound in a meter to use headlights. Any increase in fuel consumption is negligable and more likely to be atributable to tyres loosing grip than anything else. So I'm not about to enter into nit picking technicallities.

Suffice to say, "be seen be safe" use headlights not only so that you can see, but also so that other drivers can see you.

It's about time the police started persueing drivers for lack of use of appropriate lights rather than sitting around waving tax disc and speed camera's. The would get far more revenue from driving without due care and attention fines than any other prosecution. There are so many drivers who fail to indicate, drive without lights, cause accidents by poor attention than any other offences.

Rant over, I'll step off my soap box to let the blood pressure drop.

Steve L.