Driving without lights.
Discussion
Is it really that hard on a dark night to remember to switch your headlights on????
Over the past week Ive passed 5 cars all blissfully driving around in the pitch black with no lights on. 3 had recently left the local supermarket, presumably to excited about their recent 2 for 1 purchases to remember, another randomly on the motorway, and last but by no means least the complete tool who pulled out in front of me after they had departed the local chinese take away, no lights, I flashed several times to try and alert them to be met with the w
ker sign from the passenger before a car coming the other way flashed and the clearly oxygen starved driver figured out that yes its night time, best switch the lights on.
Over the past week Ive passed 5 cars all blissfully driving around in the pitch black with no lights on. 3 had recently left the local supermarket, presumably to excited about their recent 2 for 1 purchases to remember, another randomly on the motorway, and last but by no means least the complete tool who pulled out in front of me after they had departed the local chinese take away, no lights, I flashed several times to try and alert them to be met with the w
ker sign from the passenger before a car coming the other way flashed and the clearly oxygen starved driver figured out that yes its night time, best switch the lights on.A bit Off topic but worth a laugh.
I remember a story told to me by an Avon & Somerset Copper which i thought was a bit fanciful until i heard the same story from a colleague a few years later. Turns out that many years ago a M-way car was sat on a flyover above the M5 and his radar went off - 100+mph but no sign of a car anywhere. He shook it off as perhaps a low flying aircraft and it was early in the morning. Then a few weeks later it happened again. So he persuaded a colleague to sit a bit further up the motorway to see if it happened to him too a few weeks later.
Low and behold - it did. They eventually deduced that it was a car travelling up the M5 in the dead of night running no lights. A while later they managed to catch this car - a rover 800 vitesse (IIRC) with two guys in uniform in it. Turns out they were Navy pilots wearing Night Vision Goggles on their way home!!!
I thought to myself 'Yeah Right!' until a few years later (after i'd joined the Navy) and i overheard the same story being told on the squadron i was on.
I remember a story told to me by an Avon & Somerset Copper which i thought was a bit fanciful until i heard the same story from a colleague a few years later. Turns out that many years ago a M-way car was sat on a flyover above the M5 and his radar went off - 100+mph but no sign of a car anywhere. He shook it off as perhaps a low flying aircraft and it was early in the morning. Then a few weeks later it happened again. So he persuaded a colleague to sit a bit further up the motorway to see if it happened to him too a few weeks later.
Low and behold - it did. They eventually deduced that it was a car travelling up the M5 in the dead of night running no lights. A while later they managed to catch this car - a rover 800 vitesse (IIRC) with two guys in uniform in it. Turns out they were Navy pilots wearing Night Vision Goggles on their way home!!!
I thought to myself 'Yeah Right!' until a few years later (after i'd joined the Navy) and i overheard the same story being told on the squadron i was on.
E-B said:
A bit Off topic but worth a laugh.
I remember a story told to me by an Avon & Somerset Copper which i thought was a bit fanciful until i heard the same story from a colleague a few years later. Turns out that many years ago a M-way car was sat on a flyover above the M5 and his radar went off - 100+mph but no sign of a car anywhere. He shook it off as perhaps a low flying aircraft and it was early in the morning. Then a few weeks later it happened again. So he persuaded a colleague to sit a bit further up the motorway to see if it happened to him too a few weeks later.
Low and behold - it did. They eventually deduced that it was a car travelling up the M5 in the dead of night running no lights. A while later they managed to catch this car - a rover 800 vitesse (IIRC) with two guys in uniform in it. Turns out they were Navy pilots wearing Night Vision Goggles on their way home!!!
I thought to myself 'Yeah Right!' until a few years later (after i'd joined the Navy) and i overheard the same story being told on the squadron i was on.
Urban myth - I've heard versions placed everywhere from Germany to the US and inbetween.I remember a story told to me by an Avon & Somerset Copper which i thought was a bit fanciful until i heard the same story from a colleague a few years later. Turns out that many years ago a M-way car was sat on a flyover above the M5 and his radar went off - 100+mph but no sign of a car anywhere. He shook it off as perhaps a low flying aircraft and it was early in the morning. Then a few weeks later it happened again. So he persuaded a colleague to sit a bit further up the motorway to see if it happened to him too a few weeks later.
Low and behold - it did. They eventually deduced that it was a car travelling up the M5 in the dead of night running no lights. A while later they managed to catch this car - a rover 800 vitesse (IIRC) with two guys in uniform in it. Turns out they were Navy pilots wearing Night Vision Goggles on their way home!!!
I thought to myself 'Yeah Right!' until a few years later (after i'd joined the Navy) and i overheard the same story being told on the squadron i was on.
http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/stealth.asp
What`s as bad is the numptys in dark or silver cars who are always the first to switch there lights off in a morning or have x ray eyes and don`t switch lights on in the fog. Just because you can see where you are going doesn`t mean other people can see you, especially when every other car on the motorway has there lights on.
This is annoying!! Nevermind all this bks about foglights blinding you, you must have your head well and truely up your arse to not realise you havent got your lights on. I spent half a mile flashing an idiot driving at 10pm in the rain down a dark road.. even then the lights didnt get turned on and i had to turn off the road! I deliver food for a living in the evening and i have made a mental note of how many times this happens and its atleast once an evening.. 6nights a week!
ks about foglights blinding you, you must have your head well and truely up your arse to not realise you havent got your lights on. I spent half a mile flashing an idiot driving at 10pm in the rain down a dark road.. even then the lights didnt get turned on and i had to turn off the road! I deliver food for a living in the evening and i have made a mental note of how many times this happens and its atleast once an evening.. 6nights a week!E-B said:
A bit Off topic but worth a laugh.
I remember a story told to me by an Avon & Somerset Copper which i thought was a bit fanciful until i heard the same story from a colleague a few years later. Turns out that many years ago a M-way car was sat on a flyover above the M5 and his radar went off - 100+mph but no sign of a car anywhere. He shook it off as perhaps a low flying aircraft and it was early in the morning. Then a few weeks later it happened again. So he persuaded a colleague to sit a bit further up the motorway to see if it happened to him too a few weeks later.
Low and behold - it did. They eventually deduced that it was a car travelling up the M5 in the dead of night running no lights. A while later they managed to catch this car - a rover 800 vitesse (IIRC) with two guys in uniform in it. Turns out they were Navy pilots wearing Night Vision Goggles on their way home!!!
I thought to myself 'Yeah Right!' until a few years later (after i'd joined the Navy) and i overheard the same story being told on the squadron i was on.
Oh yeah that bit of the motorway with no lamposts on it I remember a story told to me by an Avon & Somerset Copper which i thought was a bit fanciful until i heard the same story from a colleague a few years later. Turns out that many years ago a M-way car was sat on a flyover above the M5 and his radar went off - 100+mph but no sign of a car anywhere. He shook it off as perhaps a low flying aircraft and it was early in the morning. Then a few weeks later it happened again. So he persuaded a colleague to sit a bit further up the motorway to see if it happened to him too a few weeks later.
Low and behold - it did. They eventually deduced that it was a car travelling up the M5 in the dead of night running no lights. A while later they managed to catch this car - a rover 800 vitesse (IIRC) with two guys in uniform in it. Turns out they were Navy pilots wearing Night Vision Goggles on their way home!!!
I thought to myself 'Yeah Right!' until a few years later (after i'd joined the Navy) and i overheard the same story being told on the squadron i was on.
The thing is if you're driving in a town the likelyhood is your vision will not be affected at all by not having your lights on but thats because everybody else has theirs on. Many people forget that the lights are there to help others see you not just to help you see them. How many people drive round going 'well i can see everything so its fine' not realising others cant see them?
I got a lift at night from airport in nigeria as my flight was delayed - we aren't normally allowed to travel at night. and i see why.
about 1 in 3 cars had no lights, my driver just drove around with main beam on when we hit the dark bits, people driving wrong way down our side of dual carriageway (traffic on their side you see), lorry stopped dead in road with no lights or warnings, constant ridiculous overtaking manouveres, no pavements so people walking on road...
and we moan when a few people forget... of course, it doesn't make it right! however, it was an eye opener. hopefully never again, was terrifying.
about 1 in 3 cars had no lights, my driver just drove around with main beam on when we hit the dark bits, people driving wrong way down our side of dual carriageway (traffic on their side you see), lorry stopped dead in road with no lights or warnings, constant ridiculous overtaking manouveres, no pavements so people walking on road...
and we moan when a few people forget... of course, it doesn't make it right! however, it was an eye opener. hopefully never again, was terrifying.
martin84 said:
The thing is if you're driving in a town the likelyhood is your vision will not be affected at all by not having your lights on
The one and only time I have done it is in the states, when the above was the case Was my first time living in a City, not used to illuminated streets, and had just spent the previous 6 months being driven as passenger in car with auto headlights so it had completely dropped from my mind.
Someone flashed me after about 2minutes and I realized before anything happened.
Edited by FisiP1 on Wednesday 23 November 02:25
Im never sure on what to do when i encounter a car without lights, prime example was a few days ago, wasnt totally dark but the streetlights were on and this VW - i think it was a Polo - was in front of me doing 15mph with no lights on. On one hand i want to alert them but on the other i dont want to spook them, make them lose control and crash either.
martin84 said:
Im never sure on what to do when i encounter a car without lights, prime example was a few days ago, wasnt totally dark but the streetlights were on and this VW - i think it was a Polo - was in front of me doing 15mph with no lights on. On one hand i want to alert them but on the other i dont want to spook them, make them lose control and crash either.
Switch lights off then switch lights on. That's what I always do. Sometimes people notice. (Also works for people riding bicycles with no lights.)It is easy to set off without lights if the dashboard is brightly lit. I've never been convinced that brightly-lit dashboards are a great idea.
Meridius said:
E-B said:
A bit Off topic but worth a laugh.
I remember a story told to me by an Avon & Somerset Copper which i thought was a bit fanciful until i heard the same story from a colleague a few years later. Turns out that many years ago a M-way car was sat on a flyover above the M5 and his radar went off - 100+mph but no sign of a car anywhere. He shook it off as perhaps a low flying aircraft and it was early in the morning. Then a few weeks later it happened again. So he persuaded a colleague to sit a bit further up the motorway to see if it happened to him too a few weeks later.
Low and behold - it did. They eventually deduced that it was a car travelling up the M5 in the dead of night running no lights. A while later they managed to catch this car - a rover 800 vitesse (IIRC) with two guys in uniform in it. Turns out they were Navy pilots wearing Night Vision Goggles on their way home!!!
I thought to myself 'Yeah Right!' until a few years later (after i'd joined the Navy) and i overheard the same story being told on the squadron i was on.
Oh yeah that bit of the motorway with no lamposts on it I remember a story told to me by an Avon & Somerset Copper which i thought was a bit fanciful until i heard the same story from a colleague a few years later. Turns out that many years ago a M-way car was sat on a flyover above the M5 and his radar went off - 100+mph but no sign of a car anywhere. He shook it off as perhaps a low flying aircraft and it was early in the morning. Then a few weeks later it happened again. So he persuaded a colleague to sit a bit further up the motorway to see if it happened to him too a few weeks later.
Low and behold - it did. They eventually deduced that it was a car travelling up the M5 in the dead of night running no lights. A while later they managed to catch this car - a rover 800 vitesse (IIRC) with two guys in uniform in it. Turns out they were Navy pilots wearing Night Vision Goggles on their way home!!!
I thought to myself 'Yeah Right!' until a few years later (after i'd joined the Navy) and i overheard the same story being told on the squadron i was on.
wolf1 said:
A lot of cars now illuminate the dash display which can fool the driver into thinking the lights are on. Older cars where none of the dials lit up till the lights were on at least gave a better reminder.
This this and this againThe other halfs Honda did this and it was a piece of piss to forget about the lights and once you have street lighting everywhere the only sign you have no lights on is a lack of a tiny wee light on the dash.
I was driving out of Edinburgh on Saturday night and saw an ambulance behind me with blues flashing but the driver didnt notice he had no headlights on. After letting him past, I and a few other cars flashed him and he eventually put them on. Not sure if it was meant, I dont think so though.
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