NIGHT DRIVING

Southland Times, Issue 23444, 26 February 1938, Page 18

NIGHT DRIVING

Headlights At Full Power MANY MOTORISTS CAUSE INCONVENIENCE “Discourtesy among motorists may take many forms, and one of the worst relates to night-time driving—that of using full headlights when following other motor vehicles,” says the latest safety message of the Automobile Association (Canterbury) Incorporated. “Some drivers have formed the iritating and, for others, dangerous habit of keeping their headlights in full play, the strong beams of light causing inconvenience to the man ahead. Headlights so used interfere materially with the range of vision of the driver in front, and when there is wet weather and the windscreen is to a certain extent difficult because of raindrops the effect on them of light from the rear is accentuated. Even the latest sloping windscreens and sloping rear windows do not obviate the inconvenience caused by following headlights. And, of course, there is the fact that strong headlights playing on one’s rear-view mirror cause discomfort.

“Many drivers are forced to resort to use of the rear window blind, but while that is a satisfactory protective measure it negatives the use which all motorists are supposed to make of the rear-view mirror.

“While many motorists who keep their headlights at full when following other traffic do so thoughtlessly, there are drivers who do so deliberately, and the practice, whether unintentional or otherwise, deserves round condemnation.

“If the car ahead is travelling on its correct side of the i'oad at a moderate speed the correct thing to do is to provide a substantial margin, drop back a little ,so that full headlights may be used without any discomfort to the man in front. If the car ahead is travelling slowly, and one wishes to pass, the passing should be made if the way is clear to do so, but it is wrong and highly discourteous and provocative to trail the car in front and submit its driver to full headlights. If the way is not clear or if width of road and density of traffic preclude of passing then the proper thing to do is to wait one’s time, but with reduced headlights. “Motorists should know that the form of discourtesy and bad driving referred to can easily lead to reprisals and reprisals have no legitimate place in safe road-using conduct. “Motor-car drivers may not realize the inconvenience which following headlights cause to motor-cyclists or cyclists, particularly where there is shingle on the roads. The headlights cause a shadow in front’ of a motorcyclist and give him trouble in picking his way. “It is all very well to be seated in a car behind powerful headlights, but those headlights are for assisting the motorist and not for making the way more hazardous for others. The practice referred to comes within the definition of. inconsiderate driving, and no safe motorist should be guilty of it.”