FJSRiDER wrote:
It is ironic that you post facile and unattributed comment as 'fact' and then claim that you want to keep the topic objective. This 'alarming number of drivers' is entirely your opinion? Looks like you are the one that needs to wind your neck in sunshine.
I think there's quite a bit of difference between someone placing a higher level of significance on personally collected data, and someone making snide comments about a posters comprehension abilities. It seems to me that you have a real bee in your bonnet regarding this particular topic, which is fair enough, but please let's try and avoid dragging the discussion down into personal attack level.
FJSRiDER wrote:
I live in a rural area and have not seen a car without headlights at night in years.
You're either lucky to live in an area with some well clued-up drivers, or you don't drive much after sunset! My day to day experience of urban, semi-urban and semi-rural (i.e. country roads within a few miles of built up areas, as opposed to country roads in the middle of nowhere) roads in the London/Thames Valley area suggests that seeing an unlit/sidelit-only vehicle once a week isn't much to get excited about any more. Just a couple of nights ago I saw someone pootling along L1 on the M4 with *no* lights turned on until a passing truck reminded them to light up with a few flashes of mainbeam and hazards... You may be able to dismiss it as not being an issue in your part of the country, but don't think you can dismiss it as not being a problem anywhere else.
FJSRiDER wrote:
I suspect the use of headlights (and worse - fogs and spots)
Misuse of spots/fogs is a bugbear of mine, and if you choose to start up a new thread berating the numpties who do this then you'll have my full support.