UKC

its dark out there! I see several people each day with one working headlight / tail light.

Be safe.

Also if driving along a quiet roads with no oncoming traffic and you find yourself slowing down because you are struggling to see. THEN PUT YOUR FULL BEAM ON. even if you don't want to go faster this will allow people behind you to safely overtake

...and give earlier warning to oncoming cars that a vehicle is around the next bend

Would you put your full beam on in mist? This normally makes vision worse?

No you shouldn’t because it does. You are at liberty to experiment though. Not all mists are the same.

Haven't the foggiest

They aren’t are they. I’ve noticed that. Some are thick mists and some are thin mists. I’ve had more luck with the latter. Generally slowing down with dipped beam helps you to avoid the people that have overtaken  and crashed in front of you 

(I thought that was amusing...)

Also please remember to turn the damn things off when you see another car. Especially annoying if you're in some modern 4x4 which appear to have two small suns mounted up front.

Me too. On the subject of fog, remember to turn your rear fog lights off when there is none!

Also TURN YOUR REAR FOG LIGHTS OFF AT NIGHT.  Thank you.

Yes and do it just before your full beams shine into my retinas rather than just after they do. It’s quite easy to do unless you’re a dickhead.

Doubly important just before your MOT - and checking that your wiper rubbers are not split.

Damned expensive mistake otherwise. 

You should ensure all parts of your vehicle are working all year round not simply before the MOT. 

One should do the right thing because it's the right thing to do, not through fear of punitive measures

Amen (yes sarcasm)

Even worse when following someone who has their fog lights on in the rain at night.

Unless, of course, " <i>visibility is seriously reduced</i>".

And while we're thinking about Highway Code #114:

"<i>In stationary queues of traffic, drivers should apply the parking brake and, once the following traffic has stopped, take their foot off the footbrake to deactivate the vehicle brake lights. This will minimise glare to road users behind until the traffic moves again.</i>"

I would argue you should do this in daylight too, given how bright some rear braking lights are.

Unless also someone is following you and their lights are visible in your mirrors.  I’ve never seen visibility so reduced that the rear fog light of a car 8 seconds ahead isn’t dangerously bright.  I’ve driven in fog hundreds of times - we’re in a fog prone location - and I recall perhaps 2 times that justified rear fogs at night.

Whereas this week alone I’ve followed 11 cars in moderate fog at night with their rear fog light(s) on.

A growing gripe of mine.  I’m sure it’s getting worse.

I agree, once a car following catches up and is within visible distance of you, it makes sense to kill the rear fog lights (daylight or not).

This is the key part to full beam. A lot of people seem to think the time to drop them is when the on coming car is close. The best time is as soon as you see the on coming car, even better is if you see the glow of their lights before they round the corner. 

..and the front ones when it's day time and there's not been fog for weeks. If you've got 4 bright lights on the front of your car lit, it doesn't look cool.. it looks like you haven't got a clue what you're doing. Unless it's foggy, in which case.. carry on.

Quite a large number of cars these days do not allow this.... mine certainly doesn't - it's a semi auto box, and when stopped with the (auto)handbrake on even without a foot on the brake the brake lights are on

It seems to me that motor manufacturers are locked into some sort of arms race to see who can make the brightest lights in the most confusing pattern possible.

The brighter the better seems to be the mantra. In the dark I can see our bin wagon 7 miles away on the coast road due to the yellow strobes on every available surface. When I get close what I can't see are the vulnerable workers, as they're pretty much eclipsed by the 1000 lumen lightshow.

Road signs now seem as bad. Approaching an unfamiliar junction in the dark you seem to get a plethora of retroreflective posts, bollards, chevrons, arrows and signs that make you wonder exactly where the road is.

At least the high intensity LED sign on the A66 at Bass Lake which, just as you entered a sharp bend in total darkness, exploded in a blinding flash right in front of your face and obliterated all night vision, has been removed.

What about putting it into Park?  

I expect you'd find the delay in starting after each stop in slow moving traffic more annoying than the illuminated brake lights.

These automated hand brake application systems coupled with automatic gearboxes are great at increasing the amount of attention the driver has for looking in their mirrors for bikes etc. rather than trying to avoid stalling. Also the fact the handbrake is on decreases the number of cars affected if someone gets rear ended.

Its what I do in our EV - the handbrake is foot operated and a pest - and it doesn’t disable the “creep” behaviour - so I use park.  Delay is no different to putting a manual into neutral which I always do when stopped (so that if I get shunted my foot can’t fly off the clutch causing me to amplify the shunting forwards as the car engages).  

Can’t say I’ve ever had a problem staling with anything yet...  

Totally agree.  I always put the handbrake (or park, vehicle depending) on when stopped in traffic.

I think brake lights should show the rate of braking these days - be it engine, brake or regeneration.  Having the lights on when parked on a handbrake is just anti social/dangerous a lot of the time.

I've occasionally told people that neither of their rear lights are working which I've found quite concerning.  

^Probably more what really happens. Was in the big city (Manchester) the other day and sitting in the awful traffic gave me plenty of time to watch other drivers, loads of them tapping away on phones, one guy also had a little screen attached under his rear-view mirror which was showing some film or TV. I know this isn't news and won't surprise many on here but it was maybe more noticeable to me as I live somewhere that has much less traffic.

^Most people in manual cars seem to just put it into gear and drive away without any drama. I don't think it's regarded as 'avoiding stalling' or seen as a reason to buy an automatic. 

Know what you mean but some of these cars painful to drive if razed on manuals of a early era   AKA the park assist. The button thing  for a handbrake that requires the foot brake applying BEFORE releasing 

lights that of in Auto decided for you if to light up the road   Plunged you into the dark. Or blind oncoming 

Edit note

more than once I have seen people leave a Golf club without switching on lights  however the daytime running lights on the front guiding the xxx drivrrs 'safely ' home 

If someone gets rear ended the More cars  getting it the better and safer!

Worse still is that you can’t do handbrake turns with them.  

I had a courtesy car two weeks ago that had a “System Loading” progesss bar when you started it and where you had to press the brake and clutch together to be allowed to start it.  I despair.  

Cranking the starter whilst in gear with no clutch has always been my plan if I find myself in a broken down car on a level crossing with a train baring down on me.  Can’t do that in a modern car.

Wintertree Sr once made it half a mile on the starter after pulling the spark plugs and fuel pump when it was suddenly inadvisable to be running a loud V8...  

What delay? I have no problem putting the handbrake on a manual, (with auto stop), putting it into neutral and killing the engine and then being ready to set off before the car in front has moved. 

Any chance you might like to try that in English?

Seen two of the in the last fortnight (different models) both in the heart of rush hour traffic. 

No none whatsoever 

One problem I've found with our car is that when driving in bright but fuzzy conditions the automatic headlights don't activate. Even though its not dark lights are often needed for the morning commute to let others see you, even if they don't help with you seeing the road infront.

Clearly this is down to the driver remembering to put the lights on, but as with so many automated devices they makes people lazy and it's easy to forget ... 

In my Wife’s car the (electronic) hand break is only reachable if you take your seatbelt off. Unfortunately it means it’s only ever used at the start and finish of a journey.

Yes, it's always been met with surprise, but it doesn't take a lot to remember to check. I think I've enough paranoia for it to become a mild obsession, I'm always looking back to check my rear bike light is working. 

TBH as said above driving a modern car im lazy so rarely think to check. Car does however have sensors to tell me when I get a faulty bulb which I always get it fixed ASAP. 

(when we first got sensors it took a while to work out the periodic fault which only ever came on when turning left - an indicator bulb)

Agree about the paranoia when cycling. 

Yes, split rubbers can have catastrophic consequences.

What you mean my car has headlights ?

That might make things easier . 

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