Drivers Ed for Couyon

I am sure we all could list a pet peeve we have about how other people drive; I also know it is hard to notice our own bad driving habits.

My personal pet peeve is people that drive without head lights when it is raining or other inclement weather.

I bring this up because I about run a car into a bridge railing yesterday while trying to change lanes. While it was the middle of the day it was raining pretty good. Combine this with the tire road spray; and a stiff wind from my right to left; and I just could not see the car next to me because they did not have any headlights on.

If I would have hit them (sure it would have been my fault) it would not have been pretty.
I can tell you from personal experience; your fault; my fault; nobody’s fault; being in a fatality accident no matter what side of the fence you are on is nothing nice.

So if I could ask one thing of everyone reading this...........
If your wipers are on; PLEASE turn on your headlights. The life you save may be your own.

not to pick a fight ,but, did you stop to consider that if you can't see where you are going then you should not be going there.seems to me it was your fault..too much of a hurry to be careful...you did have it right tho ..everyone wants to blame the other guy

There will be no fight but I do have a few questions for your response.

Are you suggesting that I should never change lanes????????? Because if you do not have your lights on I will never see you no matter how long I look for you.

I am very carefull when changing lanes in the rain because I know the danger all to well.
I just do not feel you relize the danger yourself.

Let me put it to you this way.......
Have you ever tried to pass a truck in the rain when the wind is blowing from your right to your left. This causes all the wheel spray to blow out into your lane.
You most likely have a hard time seeing and most likely speed up so you can get past quickly.
Now think about me trying to see you thew a outside mirrow. Yes this mirrow is heated and displaces water well; but a car passing without its headlights one gets lost in the wheel spray very easily.
This is why most states have laws that say you must have headlights on in the rain.

Most people think headlights are for them to see in the dark; but they also allow others to see you if you would only turn them on.

while I do agree that having your lights on does help..let me ask this ..if you see all this wheel spray.where do you think it is coming from...I have been driving all types of vehicles for over 50 years and have never had an altercation larger than hitting a deer and that was just once..nobody fussed about having there lights on untill the vehicle manufacturers started installing daytime driving lights...it is the vehicle operators responsibility to drive safely..unfortunately we all have to drive for the other guy.if you can't see to make a move then stay in place untill you can..ps. I drive in upstate Ny where more often than not weather is an issue

That is why they are going to the daytime running lights. Too many bozo's not turning them on were causing too many accidents. Now its automagic. It always gets documented on the crash report. Simply shows who was prepared for the conditions I guess.

It's just common sense to run with lights on in that situation. Many people don't have common sense.

If I can steal your post I want to say my pet peeve is people who drive with their lights on during the day, but they have them on BRIGHT as if I can't be blinded by them just because the sun is shining.

who you callin a bozo.?....lol have a good one

I agree with you John,LA like TN has a law that says if it is raining you must have your headlights on. Still not enough people doing it...

We have a car that lets you leave the light switch on and when you turn the key off it turns the lights off by itself. That way whenever I have the key in the on position the lights are on. I leave them on low beam unless I need to see by their light. The Life You Save May Be Your Own is the title of a great short story by Flannery O'Connor, by the way.
Zach

I don't understand some of the objections to the idea of defensive driving being voiced here.

One of the biggest challenges to operating a vehicle safely is visibility. I have no objection to turning my lights on if it helps another driver, whether he/she is as attentive a driver as I or not, to see my vehicle. It's such a simple thing to do, and it's for my own protection. Why not? Like John, even with my mirrors and an over the shoulder check out the window, or even coming up behind them, I've been caught off guard by a vehicle in poor visibility. Think steel gray minivan in light fog.

Maine like a lot of other states has the rule about if your wipers are on, you have to have your headlights on. I dont have them on either of my vehicles, but have always wondered whether DRLs (you know the ones on Chevies, where one is always burned out) meet that requirement. They help with making the vehicle visible, but they aren't headlights. Hmmmmm.

Didn't Richard Nixon promote driving with the lights on for safety during the early days of his presidency?

I remember this cause dad was such a strong nnalert that he couldn't even say the word nnalert. So dad avoided driving with lights on during the day because of his political affiliation.(sigh) Jim

We can be the safest driver in the world and still slip up. I'm not saying I'm a safe driver but I've been around a lot and never had an accident yet, though admittedly I've been close several times.

Last summer on our vacation I was driving my wife's minivan when I forced a car over to the shoulder while I was changing lanes to pass on a four lane. He was in the blind spot and I wasn't attentive enough. The next chance we had to stop I bought a stick-on convex mirror for the driver's side and I did use it. Jim

Up here in Yukon Canada it is the LAW. Headlites are on DAY or NITE. When I go back to the states I catch myself turning the headlites on in the day time. Not a bad habbit. Gerald

You have obviously never driven a semi. If only they could make everyone sit in a truck for 5000 miles before they could get their regular license.

I've got three mirrors on each side of the truck, and sometimes I still find myself almost running someone over because they found a spot where I could not see them, and rode there. Or they are running 80-90 MPH and went from being 1/4 mile back when I started the lane change, to being half way on the shoulder passing me on the right because they couldn't let off the gas and give me another 3 seconds. About the time my tires cross the line, OH CRAP THERE'S A CAR THERE!!!!! A foot either way can make a big difference.

AND, no headlights in the rain should be a ticket-able primary offense. All that wheel spray is coming from OUR wheels, and your headlights are the only way for you to be seen through it. Your tire spray doesn't add enough to make a difference.

Blame the trucker, that's how it goes. Blame him for everyone else's dumb@$$ moves.

Also,

I had a lighter gray Plymouth Breeze, and was constantly getting cut off on sunny days. Then I noticed that if I looked at the hood, I couldn't tell where the hood stopped and the road started. Didn't have near the trouble after that because I started running my lights on sunny days. We also had an old pickup that we painted a nice medium-dark blue, and it got cut off all the time, too, without headlights on. Some color cars are just hard to see on the road no matter the conditions.

I had an incident a few years ago. I was driving a big rig south on I-5 near Olympia. It was raining hard but visibility was fair. I thought I saw something strange coming thru the road spray on my left. What I saw was the orange safety vest the driver driving a little pickup without lights on. If he had had his lights on I would have seen him long before he got along side me. As it was, It was his vest that alerted me. Maybe they should make it a law that drivers need to wear a safety vest. :<)
Tim in OR