Those who drive may care to comment on this letter I just sent to Citroen UK:

Dear Citroen Engineering and Marketing Departments,

1) I am surprised to see your recent full back page advert in my copy of The Spectator, as above, dated 9 August 2014.

2) The whole theme of the DS3 being a "Like a true fashion icon' is fine accompanied by the headline "Light Reveals You" but who on earth FORGOT that we have to share the roads with other drivers and that to include the reference to the "brand new Xenon Full LED light signature" followed by the proud claim that they are "Dazzling, hypnotic and ultra-customisable" is hardly what any responsible manufacturer should be claiming or offering for sale.

3) If these new head lights truly are dazzling - then you need to redesign them and turn the power down in a properly focussed way, until they are not dazzling - even the 'stray' light from regular XENON head lamps, set on the 'dipped beam' can momentarily dazzle or blind an oncoming driver, and when viewed on main beam they can be more than dangerous for approaching drivers. So to seek to further supplement this current technology with an even brighter, whiter, more dazzling LED enhanced Xenon light source seems to be both unnecessary and highly irresponsible.

4) With careful design of the headlamp optics and lamp assemblies, it should be possible to reduce the intensity of the 'stray light' on dipped beam, to an acceptable level that does not dazzle the oncoming driver. Indeed, when driving along country lanes at night it should be possible to build in a sensor that detects the lights from any oncoming car and then automatically switches your head lights from 'full power on main beam' to 'a lower power on dipped beam', as per traditional Halogen headlamp bulbs rated at 60/55 watts.

5) However to actually be proud that your latest DS3 cars will dazzle everybody is HIGHLY IRRESONSIBLE.

6) In any event, your marketing staff who write these adverts should be made aware that the Concise Oxford Dictionary definition is:

DAZZLE "blind temporarily or confuse the sight of by an excess of light"

7) Is this what you intended or not - do your staff use words so loosely and is there no 'sanity check' or scrutiny of material before it goes to press ?

8) Either way you and your team need to take responsibility for what you create - granted, we would all like to be able to see our path ahead clearly and to see round the corner as well, so that we can drive briskly but safely under all night time driving conditions but to actually deliberately set out to 'blind' any oncoming driver in a less well equipped car is positively unacceptable.

9) I trust that others will notice and comment in a similar vein about this most disturbing advert and that as a responsible car manufacturer with an almost unmatched auto mobile heritage, you will take all necessary actions to remedy the situation.

Yours sincerely, Andrew C

C.Eng, MIET, B.Eng (Hons)