Letters
Your thoughts, opinions & adventures
Doing my bit for MAG
On the subject of last issue's star letter.
I too am pleased to see people with the
background and experience of Dave
Short working for MAG and the
knowledgeable and credible voice he
brings to our platform. I feel miffed
that I cannot devote more time to
helping MAG, an organisation that I
have empathised with for years and
have grown to truly respect, but one
day I may be able to do more. In the
meantime I'll just keep up my
membership, sell the cause wherever
and whenever I get the chance, lobby
MP's when prompted, ride safe, ride
free, help MAG fight dumb, impractical
legislation on my behalf and try to be a
jolly good egg and try not to piss too
many people off as I ride through the
rest of my life, having the best time I
can.
Geoff Cadman
Brunstrom is Right
Thinking about the furore in the media about the actions of Brunstrom and the headless biker case, I can only conclude that he is right in this instance though it was in bad taste.
If it helps to make even one rider use his
head and thereby stop him killing
someone else, maybe a child, then it is
justified. Get rid of Brunstrom by all
means, but not for trying to make bikers
think about what they are doing.
Archie Beggs, Wirral
Scrap Humps
There's nothing worse than speed humps,
take them all out, they all just hold traffic
up. Traffic calming just means traffic going
very slow, if not stopping. I've seen people
driving around the humps, which is
dangerous. The emphasis is all on the
motorist not too hit anybody, not on
pedestrians to watch what they're doing!
Ian, buckled wheel, Eastgate branch.
Humps are Great
I think speed humps are great. I live in a
traffic calmed area with a speed cushion
outside my house and there's no sound
more cheering than a chav grounding his
chin spoiler as he speeds through the
estate in a lowered Saxo or Nova. They
aren't a problem for cars - just slow down
to make the ride comfortable, it's what
they're for. They do make the road quieter
and safer. Bikes obviously have problems:
weaving round is alright if there's no
approaching traffic, parked cars or other
obstructions; doing 30 through a 30 limit
can lead to problems with cars behind
trying to speed and threatening to
overtake as we move toward the kerb to
go round a hump and then knock us off as
we regain the central position in the lane.
A solution would be to put a groove, either
at normal road level or gently curved to be
50-75mm above that would let
motorcycles through, still cause them to
ride slowly but not unsettle bike and rider.
Ian
Re-Branding
I read today that I am to be re-branded - a
new logo, revamped magazine, and a relaunch.
What annoys me about this the
most (not withstanding the fact that we,
the membership, have not been
consulted), is the fact that I found out
about it first in a National motorcycle
publication! (the June edition of
Motorcycle Monthly, to be precise). Yes,
we probably needed an update, but surely
the membership should have seen it first?
Andrew Carrott, Life Member.
Ed: I understand where you're coming from Andrew, but would it ever have happened if we'd had a comprehensive consultation exercise? How many dozens of questions would we have had to put to the membership? How many hundreds of views and counter-views and who would have kept control of this huge debate? Democracy is served via the mechanism of the National Committee (NC) whose voting members are all Regional Reps, who are voted in by their region's members. It's just like our parliament, where MPs represent their constituents at Westminster. Please be assured that the decision by the NC to go ahead with this was made after several meetings and presentations from the agency whose services we employed. The news getting out in the bike press was a bit of a faux pas, though.
Re-Launch on Track
Preview of the new website, half page ads in MCN, new logo... from one designer to another - its looking great - spot on! A clean, professional brand/look that will be taken seriously across a much larger target audience, from politicians to the news and media to every aspect of motorcycling on road, on track, off road and within the industry.
Well done MAG - we might well be
volunteers out to have a good time, but
this does not mean we can not also be
professionals getting a job done and this
new image conveys just that. It says these
people are established, organised and
know what they are doing. It is a call to
action in itself, telling our peers it's time to
join up and telling others they should listen
and take notice. I also love the small, but
very well executed, changes to 'The Road'
magazine. These changes not only tie in
well with the new brand, but have given us
some of the best looking and cleanly
designed spreads yet, (the cover is just
breathtaking lads). That is, until I turn to
page 52. While it is possibly the first page
number we can read with ease (as it's
black on yellow), I am now being asked to
read white copy on a yellow page, not the
easiest on the eye and I, among I'm sure
many others, had to reach for the glasses,
(if it was not Ferg's World I might not have
bothered at all).
Bruce Allinson
Creative Director - The
Studio Cooperative
Civil Court Actions
Many of us share the anger inspired by the
perpetrators of criminal damage and theft
laughing at the Courts, the Police and,
more importantly, the victim. Perhaps MAG
has a tame lawyer, who would be willing
to take the scum to task via the civil
courts, asking for compensation for the
victim, as well as lawyers fees and other
costs incurred, such as the £1,000 reward
paid out by MAG for a criminal conviction.
It may well be argued that although a
court may easily be persuaded to award
such costs, it would be difficult in many
cases to collect. I do believe that it would
be perfectly legal for MAG to publish the
names and address of those who have
had a civil claim accepted against them by
the courts (as such knowledge is in the
public domain). MAG members could
inform MAG or lawyers of such people,
gaining monies by any means legal or
otherwise and, in so doing, deprive them
of such monies that are rightly the
property of the victim. This would send a
message to such deviants and reduce
criminal activity against riders.
Jimmy Torrance
Criminologist/Diplomat of the International Institute of Security and lifelong Biker.
Ed: A laudable idea, but who foots the bill? Ultimately, it is up to the individual to pursue these matters through the civil process and incur the cost. If the implication is for MAG to pick up the bill then we might as well put all our money into a shredder. Lawyers can cost a fortune and barristers a mortgage.
Crime Pays
In the latest edition of your excellent
magazine, I read the article about being
charged for recovery and storage of stolen
motorcycles. Are the police currently
charging/intending to charge car drivers in
the same situation? And what about when
property is recovered following a house
burglary? I feel strongly here that once
they start charging for one type of
recovery and investigation, it will open the
floodgates and soon we will be expected
to pay for any type of forensic
investigation following any sort of theft.
Can you imagine what message this would
send out to those who like to profit from a
life of crime? It'll be OK to nick stuff,
because your average punter can't afford
to pay for the forensics, so even if we do
get caught with it, we won't get
prosecuted. Charming! On another note
(and I did read about sticking to one point
in a letter, but I like to be economical). I
was done for doing 35 in a 30mph zone. I
received the letter and form indicating I
was going to get prosecuted, so I filled the
form in, but did not sign it. Later on I
received a summons inviting me to attend
court. For some reason I got the court
date wrong, and didn't turn up. I was
expecting to get the usual 3 points and a
£60 fine, but because I didn't attend court,
I only got done for 'failing to produce
documents'. A £40 fine and no points! I
don't know whether I was just lucky, or
whether deliberately failing to turn up at
court would produce the same result, but I
was more than happy with my result!
Anne, Halifax
Ed, Shall I write to the court with your details and check that they haven't slipped up Anne?
Bikes Hitting Cyclists
Whilst my daughter lived in the cyclist's
heaven of Cambridge, her flatmate was
killed after being knocked from her (pedal)
bike by a bus. Cyclists being knocked off
by buses is almost a daily occurrence in
Cambridge, often with tragic results.
However, despite my two offspring living
in university towns for a total of nineteen
years between them and always being
alert to motorcycles being mentioned in
the media, neither of them recalls hearing
of a pedestrian being killed or injured by a
motorcycle. I do not deny that it happens,
but considering we are also told that
motorcycles only make up two percent of
vehicles on the road, it would be
surprising if they knocked down more
pedestrians and cyclists than the
remaining 98%? I wonder if Mr Plowden
could tell us how these figures are arrived
at?
Mike Baker, Cornwall
BMW C1 Story
Your last issue carried a story about C1s,
with a description of events which led to
the High Court cases. I was there on the
3rd March 2003, when the case happened,
and there were indeed 15 of us riding
lidless through Bedford after the case. As
you know, Mr Parker then lost at the High
Court the following year. No serious
challenge to that decision is possible in a
magistrates court. Some riders have
pleaded guilty, but with mitigating
circumstances (i.e. it's clearly pointless
wearing a helmet in an armoured shell
with the seatbelts on) and got off with no
fine or costs. Others have had the fine
plus costs levied against them. Bedford,
Leicestershire and North Yorkshire CPS
have declared it not in the public interest
to prosecute C1 riders. The Isle of Wight
authorities have yet to give an opinion.
London is by far the most unsympathetic
area and the police there seem to have a
real thing about helmetless C1 riders, even
to the point of intimidating them into
leaving their bikes in unsafe parts of the
city if riding without a helmet. At least one
C1 has been badly vandalised as a result.
Also it's Sweden, the UK and the Republic
of Ireland who require helmets for C1
riders.
Gwyn Harris
C1 C1ub UK member and MAG life member
Bore Them to Death
A traffic officer who pulled me over in
December, for riding without a helmet,
claimed he was going to arrest me if I
rode off lidless on the grounds that a
member of the public, not realising the
safety features of the C1, might believe
that I was a danger to myself riding
without a helmet and therefore he could
arrest me as a 'reasonable person' could
regard me as a danger to myself. After all,
anyone can be arrested if they represent a
significant danger to themselves or others
in the opinion of a reasonable person. I am
not making that up by the way, he really
did say almost exactly that. After I stared
at him open mouthed for about 15
seconds, I managed to engage him in a
more reasonable debate and in the end
bored him into letting me go on my way
with a promise to wear a helmet next
time. That said, he'd clearly spent some
time planning how he was going to deal
with the reckless furry-hat-wearing GP in a
C1 he'd seen for the last few weeks, as he
was very up on the law and the previous
judgements. He just hadn't realised how
astonishingly boring I can be on the
subject of C1 safety.
Gwyn Birmingham
The ROAD is Normal
I've just received the latest Road magazine
and it's like reading a normal motorcycle
magazine. What happened to the 'Action'
in Motorcycle Action Group? We have a
threat today, which I would put on the
same scale as the crash helmet law. The
government started out by calling it
congestion charging, but because they
didn't want what happened in London,
where people were getting out of their
cars onto motorbikes, they changed it to
road pricing and included us in it. What
action is MAG going to take against it?
There is no article in your magazine about
what measures you are going to take
against this blatant discrimination by this
government against bikes. I didn't join
MAG way back in the late 1970s so I could
eventually end up reading about
somebody's bike or holiday and interviews
with some old fart who wants everybody
to slow down to his level, it's like that
safety group (BRAKE? Ed) who, because
they've lost somebody in an accident,
blame everybody for it and want
everybody to pay for their loss.
Getting back to the issue, we have trials
now all across the country where
motorbikes are being included in
congestion charging. Something should
have been done like a protest from every
MAG group in each town against these
trials. If there have been, then me and
many others haven't heard. I am getting
really tired of the motorcycle community
and their lack of enthusiasm to protect
what they say they enjoy doing. It never
ceases to amaze me, the thousands that
turn up to these rallies in the middle of
nowhere, but when you call for support
from them for a show of force against
some legislation which is aimed at them
and their way of life they are nowhere to
be seen. Do I assume that the silent stand
MAG is taking against the congestion
charges on bikes means we're going to
give way once more? It seems the world's
full of people who don't want to rock the
boat in case it makes waves and don't
want to speak too loud in case somebody
hears them. I know you won't agree with
what I've said here, but I am fed up of
writing letters to MPs, papers and
television. I even wrote to the one which
you were being interviewed by recently, to
correct what the interviewer was saying. I
am tired of it. I want to see some action I
want to see how many so-called
motorcyclist class themselves as bikers
and how many are willing to stand up and
fight.
Gaz
Ed: We need more people like you Gaz,
though I think you're overstating your case
a bit. Take another look at the last issue of
The ROAD and you'll find a full page ad for
the Brum demo which was specifically
aimed at congestion charging. I think we
went to press just before the specific news
of Manchester considering charging bikes
broke however. It's the way with a bimonthly
that you get these long lead times.
If I filled 84 pages with politics we'd never
recruit anyone on the back of the
magazine. Our mission is to provide a
balance of interest, amusement and
political empowerment. I thought the
interview with Stephen Plowden was
critical to the political aspect of MAG's
work. It's important that people know who
we are up against. We often speak of
'faceless bureaucrats' and 'anonymous
forces', so I hope it has been of interest to
members to put a face to the 'other side'.
As for MAG's passive stance on congestion
charging, please don't think that, because
you haven't seen rioting in the streets, we
are doing nothing. There is a place for
demos occasionally, hence the
Birmingham demo which will have
happened by the time you read this. The
seriously effective political work is done via
face-to-face meetings, however. It is the
support of sub-paying MAG members and
rallyists who patronise our events that
enables us to employ big hitters like David
Short who can talk the talk for MAG at the
highest level. The concession for bikers
from London's congestion charge was an
element of the meeting that David had
with the Parliamentary Select Committee,
where Stephen Plowden questioned the
preferential treatment afforded to bikers
through the exemption. I recognise that
active and enthusiastic people like yourself
want to see physical action on the street
but, without wanting to devalue street
demonstrations, it is important to recognise
that they just represent the tip of the
lobbying iceberg.
P.S. 'A normal magazine'? What about
Ferg's stuff?
The Plowden Interview
What an interesting interview with Mr. Plowden. I can well understand that he is a strong opponent in the lobbies. I have to admit to a degree of support for his views, but without any enthusiasm for his proposed measures. Where I have to object is at his quotation of spurious statistics. When someone quotes statistics in support of an argument they are almost sure to be wrong. This may be for a number of reasons, not necessarily deliberate deception. The fact is, they seem to offer easy solutions (word bites), yet very few people really understand statistics. Mr. Plowden says that 'twice as many cyclists are killed or seriously injured by impacts with motorcycles than with cars'. The government's report 'Road Casualties Great Britain 2005' supplies the following information:
In 2005, the number of accidents in which a cyclist was killed or seriously injured was 2,360. Of these, 1,732 involved a car, 39 involved a motorcycle (of any engine capacity), 17 involved another bicycle, 4 involved a pedestrian, 145 involved no other person and the remainder involved other classes of vehicle.
It is difficult to see how Mr. Plowden's
statement can be supported. Indeed, it
might be said that after cars, cyclists are
their own worst enemy! If someone
quotes statistics at you, I think the best
response is to ask 'What is the source of
your information, so that I may check the
context?"
John Osborn, Bristol.
The Plowden Interview
What a blinkered, narrow minded
individual Stephen Plowden is (interview
ROAD 11). Typical cyclist, I suppose?
'Motorcycles collide with cyclists far more
than cars per mile travelled'. Good Grief!
That should be blatantly obvious. There are
25 million cars on the road travelling an
average of 12,000 miles. How many bikes
do an average of 3000 miles? If 250 cars
collide with a cyclist and only 1 motorbike
collides with a cycle - he is right! What a
load of piffle!
Meuryn Howell, Rhondda South Wales
Ed: Oi I'm a cyclist
The Plowden Interview
I have just read the interview with some
academic boffin calling himself a
researcher, who apparently advises the
government. All the way through this
interview, in which he seems to be against
anything bike, his answers constantly
repeat such things as 'I haven't studied the
figures' and 'I don't recall that'. Well, if he
is such a high ranking advisor to the
government of today, no wonder we are
going to the dogs. He only seems, in my
opinion, to have his own views on how the
world should be run and stuff the rest. I
also think young Mutch could have asked
somewhere in that interview if this
researcher had ever ridden or been pillion
on a two-wheeled vehicle and could
therefore quote from personal research. I
am now approaching fifty and have been
riding since I was seventeen and can quite
categorically say that there have always
been nutters on the road and on all forms
of transport, not just bikes. This is what
needs addressing. I have also seen and
had my share of accidents and know what
tarmac tastes like, and it's not always been
my own fault. If I should choose to use a
certain type of transport on the public
highway, knowing full well the potential
hazards out there, then that is my choice.
So Mr academic researcher Plowden, until
you have trodden a thousand miles in my
oil stained mocassins you can kiss my
exhaust.
Joe Godfrey, Southampton MAG
Made in Britain
Ref Geoff Cadman?s letter in The Road
issue 11, about black Tucanos - yep it's
true, the military paint their training
aircraft, such as Tucanos and Hawks gloss
black. In the case of the Tucano, they
sometimes use yellow flashes, because it
is the best colour for being visible to
others in the sky. Not sure how well black
works as high visibility at road level
though, especially when out of town, and
the Army do paint their vehicles green and
black (albeit matt black) as camouflage!
However, he is wrong to say 'Tucanos,
beautiful British name for a plane made in
er, Brazil'. The aircraft used by the RAF
was specially adapted from the Brazilian
Embraer Tucano EMB-312, by Short
Brothers in Northern Ireland. This involved a considerable redesign, mainly to
accommodate a more powerful engine (to
meet RAF's requirements) and other
British-sourced equipment changes. In
addition, the aircraft were manufactured
and assembled by Short's in Northern
Ireland. I was working at Short's at the
time (at their Isle of Man design office) and
it was interesting taking the original tooling
drawings and converting from Spanish to
English! I later went on to work at
Boscombe Down, where some Tucanos
were based and they are beautiful aircraft
and a great success in replacing the old
Jet Provosts.
Derrick Williams, Alderney (Channel
Islands)
Logo
The new MAG logo requires no
imagination at all to see that it flies in the
face of everything MAG was set up to
stand for. Remember Fred Hill? Fred, in
case you'd forgotten, died in prison,
incarcerated for riding his bike without a
helmet. Every year MAG groups around
the country celebrate Fred's brave, almost
single-handed action against the law which
MAG was first set up to oppose. Fred was
for choice. MAG was for choice. In the
past MAG has supported others who've
been prosecuted and imprisoned for
standing up for their belief that we, the
riders, should choose. Not now,
apparently. So now MAG has decided to
put that fight behind it. We have not one
but two crash helmets on our logo. That's
just the helmets. In my opinion the logo is
bland to the point of being invisible. It is
not in MAG's colours. It is unremarkable,
especially, I suspect, to people who aren't
aware of MAG and its aims. Still, the new
logo may well be an 'indication of the
dynamism, modernity and inclusiveness'
that is the 're-branded' MAG. So long as
that doesn't include people like Fred Hill
who believe in freedom of choice.
Stuart Duckworth
Ed: You're reading the wrong message from the new logo, Stuart. The principle that underpins MAG's stance on helmets is fundamentally what MAG is all about. It reflects the core of MAG philosophy that is common to many other issues, hence helmets in the logo. Two types, to reflect the different types of rider. I appreciate that it will not float everyone's boat, but we are determined to broaden MAG's appeal in order to raise membership numbers. Every change of this nature is a risk and we have taken that risk to try and pull in more members and make a greater impact. We're gambling on our core traditional members like yourself not leaving over something like this, so long as we don't abandon any core principles and we ain't gonna do that.
Why no Headlights?
One of my work colleagues had a crash, in
which a woman car driver pulled-out of a
side turning into his path. As he was
driving a fully loaded 44-ton articulated
truck, he had to swerve and brake very
hard, but still managed to hit the front
offside of the woman's car. It was proven
that he was not speeding, had taken all his
statutory breaks and was wide-awake. The
thing that struck me the most about this
incident was that the police kept saying to
my collegue 'why are you not driving with
your headlights on all the time?' His reply
was that it was the middle of the day, he
did not have a very wide or dangerous
load and that the weather conditions were
ideal. The police officer then said that was
little excuse as most bus and coach
drivers are now instructed by their firms to
keep their headlights on, because it has
been proven that they then have up to
70% less incidents (I hate the inaccurate
word 'accident'). But, at no point did they
seem to think that a woman in charge of
her car who could not or would not be
bothered to look before pulling into the
path of something as big as his truck
(which is a Volvo FH Globetrotter XL
cabbed) is approx 9 ?' wide and over 13'
tall. It beggars belief that she is the one
who is not being given a hard time, and
possibly made to take a re-test. So,
everyone please be careful out there, as
the victim (my colleague) is not always
seen as such it seems.
The Mighty Rock
Ed: This expectation that everyone must burn headlights is a very worrying trend. What's going to happen if we find that there's a drop in accidents if all vehicles are painted lilac? Sorry Rock, I'm going to use the word accident, because if it isn't an accident then it suggests it's deliberate which, however stupid the guilty party may be, is not the case. Let us beware the political correctness of the rabid safety lobby.
Royal Mail Bike Ban?
I recently read an article in MCN about
companies that are trying to stop their
employees from riding bikes for work use
and commuting and so on. One of the
firms mentioned was Royal Mail, who I
work for. So, as a local MAG rep and a
concerned employee I took it upon myself
to find out the facts. I sent an email to
Royal Mail chairman, Allan Leighton,
asking if there was any truth in this. I got a
response from Mr Leighton, basically
saying that he was unaware of this and
that Royal Mail's company policy is not
anti-bike and there is no truth in the MCN
article as far as Royal Mail is concerned. In
fact, Royal Mail is having trials with forms
of powered two wheel transport, to see if
it can benefit the business.
Geoff Breeze, Southampton MAG
No-one Waves
I've been a MAG member for a number of
years now. I've ridden all types of bikes,
ranging from a plastic maggot to a
hooligan's Bandit and all sorts in-between.
In all that time I've waved and nodded at
other bikers and had my gestures
reciprocated, but it seems to have
stopped. I thought 'what's wrong with
me?' I still wear the leather jacket, jeans
and boots, I've got the obligatory bald
head and goatee beard, so what's wrong
with me? Then it came to me; I'm riding
an old Vespa PX with lots of chrome, silly
me! Does it matter what you ride? Have
fun and enjoy it. LOL.
Tony
Causes of Accidents
Avon and Somerset Police, Operation
Triumph, combating motorcycle casualty
rates, have supplied the following: 15% of
motorcycle collisions occur while
overtaking, 12% during cornering and 30%
involve a skid in wet conditions. Assuming
no overlap of causes, these figures cover
57% of motorcycle accidents. At a guess,
vehicles turning right account for another
30%. Can anyone explain to me how
speed cameras address any of these
causes? Or drink driving, being distracted
by using mobile phone or attending to
children in the vehicle?
Mike Baker, Foxhole, St Austell.
Ed: No.
Island Attitude
This picture to me, sums up the island's
whole attitude to the TT: "Hey, some
bikers wanna race, let's shut the schools
for a fortnight, wrap up all the street
furniture, close the roads, and ENJOY!"
(All the trees and lamp-posts were similarly
wrapped. Also, note the black and white
kerb edging - this is round the whole
course. No overbanding, sunken drainhole
covers or potholes there, either.
Mrs Peel, aka Mrs Carey-Clinch
Sports Bikes
Is it just me, or is everyone preoccupied
with speed? Every time I witness
dangerous and inconsiderate
motorcyclists, they are invariably of the
'power ranger' sort. The constant bleating
over their supposed right to ride at
whatever speed they wish, the stupid
wheelies, the full beam headlights. I
understand the call for us to stick together
as we face anti-bike laws, it's just that
when did these people ever speak up on
helmet laws? Without a helmet I ride
slower, brake earlier and do not feel that I
am immortal. I risk no one's safety except
my own and I am prepared to pay for
medical insurance. A large number of
riders appear to delight in riding like idiots
and are willing to risk the lives of others
into the bargain. Want to ride fast? Keep it
to track days and drag strips, not public
roads. You are not taking part in a live roleplay
of some type of Playstation game.
Adam Chandler
Helmet Technology
I read with interest Andy Bright's letter in The Road on visors and believe that I have found the solution to the problems that he experiences. I have a helmet with a pinlock system, which allows the fitment of an insert. The insert has a silicone seal, which creates a fog free environment. This means that I can keep the visor down at all times and therefore do not get rain and spray on the inside.
The insert that I use is tinted (and marked 'daytime use only'), but is removable in a few seconds and can be replaced with a clear insert, which can be stored under my seat. Should I get stopped by the police I am sure that demonstrating the removal will stop me getting done for a dark visor, and should I get caught out in adverse conditions I can simply remove it leaving the clear outer visor.
I have an Arai helmet, but the pin lock
system can be fitted to other makes and I
believe that other manufacturers have
similar systems.
Iain P, Poole, Dorset
Hello
The Road is undoubtedly an excellent
publication - I eagerly await mine arriving
through the door. However, articles with
white print on a yellow background does
not work. It's OK for headlines, but not for
articles. As a member of the 'old gits
section', I need one pair of spectacles for
the computer and another for reading and I
would prefer to read 'Ferg's World' without
squinting! Keep up the good work.
Dave Goldsmith
Lights On For Me
Andy Carrott is right that lights on all the
time can be confusing, however everyone
has to manage to ride or drive with lights
on at night and manages to do so, and
often it's safer than during the day. This is
because the confusion and resulting
insecurity leads us to be cautious (see
soap box in Road 8). Oh, and if all road
users had loud pipes we equally would not
hear them all due to the confusion of
sound, as it behaves similar to light. The
aircraft flying out of the Sun is a long
established trick, but as road users this
only occurs near or at sunrise and sunset
when we are travelling away from the Sun.
Surely when we do notice we are riding
out of the Sun, is it not just as easy to
reduce our speed than rely on a dazzled
driver to notice our silhouette?
The number of road users who can
recognise this brief scenario (and I
congratulate those who do) is
proportionally far less than those who
drive in poor light/weather with no lights or
are so badly educated as to choose
parking lights. My point is simple, in poor
conditions any oncoming vehicle in the
foreground with no lights on can be easily
missed if any other vehicle following does
have its lights on. Do we notice Mercury or
any other planet when it is between the
Sun and us? There are too many road
users incapable of concentrating through
the many in-car distractions to use lights at
the right time in the right way all the time.
So, one standard for all, all the time for me
has to be the way to go on this issue. Naz,
this is not automation or sterilisation of
personal choice. We all supposedly drive
on the left. We all supposedly stop at a red
light. It's a code of conduct, and everyone
having lights on once the engine's started
would merely be an extension of that
code. Our lights are on, we are or may
move. Our lights are off, we are parked
and going nowhere. I know I am in the
minority, but so was Brunel concerning the
wide gauge railway. I rest.
Kevin Gladstone
Ed: No it's sterilisation
^top
