
If you are dazzled by the headlights of on-coming vehicles you will be interested in a recent Westminster Hall debate in Parliament on this subject. It was commenced in response to a petition on this subject.
As headlights have got more powerful and the population has aged, this is a growing problem. An ageing population means there is more prevalence of people with cataracts which may not be bad enough to prompt them to have a cataract replacement operation but may deter them from driving in the dark.
The Government has commissioned independent research into this issue but the problem seems to quite clear already. See https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/f3f97249-7bc5-424f-8850-a9537296720d?in=11:00:05 to listen to the debate.
Incidentally as someone who had cataract operations some years ago I don’t find car headlights much of a problem, but I do have a problem with the bright, flashing lights now used by cyclists. These I find both distracting and liable to conceal on-coming vehicles. I think they should be made illegal.
Roger Lawson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London
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Absolutely, Roger! Flashing lights on bikes are NOT helpful to anybody – they just antagonise drivers against cyclists. I always thought they are illegal, but who enforces that? Again, a self-righteous, voluble minority (cyclists) get their way against the majority (drivers). Grrr!!
I believe flashing cycle lamps have recently been declared legal.
Strict controls should be introduced on what we call bicycles, electric bicycles or electric scooters.
And currently there are some rules and regulations, but no one follows them. I’m on the streets of London every day and I’m outraged at the way the City of London Police tolerates flagrant offenses (even minor crimes) by cyclists.
Violations such as:
– Passing a red light
– Riding on sidewalks and footpaths (zebras).
– Driving at night without lights (and why not during the day).
– Sudden change of lane of traffic without looking around.
– Use of ILLEGAL MOTOR VEHICLES, without number plate, WITHOUT INSURANCE AND MOT.
– Causing accidents and fleeing the scene
– Riding two (I’ve even seen three) on an illegal electric scooter.
– Unfortunately, Sadiq Khan’s administration declared these feeble-minded personas London’s Sacred Cows, and they believed themselves to be sacred and immortal.
They imagine that since they are untouchable by human laws, they can also violate the laws of physical science.
They are not answerable to the law except under the laws of Newton and Darwin. And the “sentences” given by Newton’s and Darwin’s laws are usually death or mutilation.