Stumble It!
LUNI
18/10/06 15:51 Filed in: Motoring
Many years ago one of our motoring
magazines started a campaign which they named LUNI - light up now
idiot! As the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is upon us,
it is is as important a campaign now as it was then.
If I had a £1 for ever car that I see lurking in the mist then I would have quite a tidy bit of pocket money. But this is not a matter to be treated lightly.
These idiots - as the original campaign accurately dubbed them - are dicing not only with their own lives, but with yours and mine. The recent government report identified failure to look properly as the number one cause of accidents.
It is no leap of logic to then say that failure to make yourself visible is a potentially fatal mistake.
And putting on the parking (or side) lights is no remedy. Next time you are driving on a misty day, look at the shapes of the unlit cars looming out of the mist. Note how cars parking or sidelights are seen basically no sooner than the shape of the car.
Also the law requires headlights - sidelights will cut no ice in a court of law. Only headlights or front foglights count.
So, dipped headlights it is, whenever conditions of visibility are poor. Conditions are, of course, a matter of judgement - so the best rule is 'if in doubt, switch your headlights on'.
If I had a £1 for ever car that I see lurking in the mist then I would have quite a tidy bit of pocket money. But this is not a matter to be treated lightly.
These idiots - as the original campaign accurately dubbed them - are dicing not only with their own lives, but with yours and mine. The recent government report identified failure to look properly as the number one cause of accidents.
It is no leap of logic to then say that failure to make yourself visible is a potentially fatal mistake.
And putting on the parking (or side) lights is no remedy. Next time you are driving on a misty day, look at the shapes of the unlit cars looming out of the mist. Note how cars parking or sidelights are seen basically no sooner than the shape of the car.
Also the law requires headlights - sidelights will cut no ice in a court of law. Only headlights or front foglights count.
So, dipped headlights it is, whenever conditions of visibility are poor. Conditions are, of course, a matter of judgement - so the best rule is 'if in doubt, switch your headlights on'.
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