Discussion
This morning in my rear view mirror on my way to the office was the glorious sight of Pearl, our V8S, as Rob went off to BR without me. I was reminded of a pet subject of mine that I know many may disagree about: driving with headlights on.
That car has fantastic road presence but it is made all the more noticeable with (dipped) headlights on. Forget the sidelights - they really are not worth bothering with as, in daylight, they are barely visible, but those headlights in my mirrors were SOOooo eye-catching!
Its not just a vanity thing either. Yes, we all love our Aston Martins to look good and turn heads but, in my opinion, it is a major safety feature too. I don't want to re-open the old '50 shades of grey' debate but, unfortunately, most shades of silver (we have had Meteorite and Tungsten on our previous Vantages) are very close to road colour! Don't shoot the messenger - just take a look at the photos - if you have a silver car there will be photos of it were it is blending, chameleon-style, into its background!
So - not exactly a rant, not exactly a nag, but I hope you will take my point and pick up on this Autumn message. We are no longer in the bright days of Summer and the dark days of Winter are yet to come but whatever the conditions out there
Spring into action and put your LIGHTS ON!
Be seen, be safe, be simply fabulous darlings!!
That car has fantastic road presence but it is made all the more noticeable with (dipped) headlights on. Forget the sidelights - they really are not worth bothering with as, in daylight, they are barely visible, but those headlights in my mirrors were SOOooo eye-catching!
Its not just a vanity thing either. Yes, we all love our Aston Martins to look good and turn heads but, in my opinion, it is a major safety feature too. I don't want to re-open the old '50 shades of grey' debate but, unfortunately, most shades of silver (we have had Meteorite and Tungsten on our previous Vantages) are very close to road colour! Don't shoot the messenger - just take a look at the photos - if you have a silver car there will be photos of it were it is blending, chameleon-style, into its background!
So - not exactly a rant, not exactly a nag, but I hope you will take my point and pick up on this Autumn message. We are no longer in the bright days of Summer and the dark days of Winter are yet to come but whatever the conditions out there
Spring into action and put your LIGHTS ON! Be seen, be safe, be simply fabulous darlings!!
ker lights as I prefer to call them
Well Mollypops. I'm in full agreement.
I drive with headlights on 90%-95% of the time.
Yeti. Consider that "average Joe" who is on the mobile concluding a drug deal, drinking redbull and likely enough paying little attention to the oncoming traffic is probably also wearing the darkest coolest shades on sunny days. So your "too bright" HIDS may in fact not be that bright in respect of contrast ratio.
If I'm running in convoy, I may revert to the LED side lights but otherwise dipped HIDs all the way.
I drive with headlights on 90%-95% of the time.
Yeti. Consider that "average Joe" who is on the mobile concluding a drug deal, drinking redbull and likely enough paying little attention to the oncoming traffic is probably also wearing the darkest coolest shades on sunny days. So your "too bright" HIDS may in fact not be that bright in respect of contrast ratio.
If I'm running in convoy, I may revert to the LED side lights but otherwise dipped HIDs all the way.
Neil1300R said:
Mollypops you should know better. If all the cars drive with their lights on then motorbikes disappear. Leave your lights off, give bikers a chance! Proven in Scandinavia where they made all the cars drive with sidelights on - motorbike accidents increased.
IMHO it is every man/woman/biker for themselves! My Polo GTi is in Flash Red and has daytime running lights and no one would dare say they didn't see it coming 
Not that any of us ever break the speed limits but I also think the faster you are driving the more the point applies - the sooner other motorists (and pedestrians of course) are aware of you the better
Neil1300R said:
Mollypops you should know better. If all the cars drive with their lights on then motorbikes disappear. Leave your lights off, give bikers a chance! Proven in Scandinavia where they made all the cars drive with sidelights on - motorbike accidents increased.
And another thing Neil!!! ... it was being a biker first that made me aware of how important it was to have lights on on a bike (you're virtually invisible to the average motorist otherwise) but I think it now applies just as much to cars as the typical motorist is more distracted than ever he was in the old days (don't get me on to my next pet subject - use of mobile phones whilst driving 
)!MollyGTi said:
Like anyone could say they didn't see that thing coming Andy!
You'd thinks so eh??But you'd be amazed at how many times someone pulls out in front of me because they don't want to be stuck behind a motorhome.......and the proceed to hold me up
Eventually I'll pull into a layby for a snack
Edited by Lunablack on Tuesday 24th September 14:06
MollyGTi said:
Laser Sag said:
Neil1300R said:
Bikes get 'lost' once everyone drives with lights on.
Neil1300R said:
For the same reason that people say they didn't see a bike when everyone has their lights off. Its a small target to see. In towns with everyone having lighrs on bikes get lost, its just one more light. Bike in front of car, both with lights on, all people see is the car lights. Lots of studies on it.
What happens at night then when all vehicles have lights on, oh Special One.Do these studies conclude that bikes shouldn't be driven at night
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