I've just got back from a couple of weeks working on reducing the Wine Lake.
Anyone going to France from 30 October (I assume that's when the clocks go back) should be aware that for an experimental 6 month period they will be insisting you drive on dipped headlights at all times. Motorcyclists are not amused as this will make them less obvious but they look like going the way of the Nordic countries after an experiment in Les Landes prooved encouraging.
Should catch quite a few booze cruisers out!
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Terry
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One of the reasons it hasn't been implemented in America:
auto.howstuffworks.com/question424.htm
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It would be intersting to see a smilar calculation of the fuel costs of aircon, small variations in speed, or of the extra weight added to cars by all the crash-safety features of the last decade ... never mind the fuel-inefficiency of SUVs.
It's almost comic to think of Americans rejecting lights-on on economy grounds, when their cars are so uneconomical anyway!
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Whilst planning last month's jaunt to austria, I came across the following in Ceefax's european travel pages -
Due to temporary regulations, it will be illegal to drive any vehicle containing more than 15 people under the age of 16 on the road in france between 30/6/2004 and 31/7/2004
anybody any idea what that's all about
p.s. - may have been 16 people under 15....
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Whilst planning last month's jaunt to austria, I came across the following in Ceefax's european travel pages - Due to temporary regulations, it will be illegal to drive any vehicle containing more than 15 people under the age of 16 on the road in france between 30/6/2004 and 31/7/2004 anybody any idea what that's all about p.s. - may have been 16 people under 15....
Think that it might have something to do with so many buses crashing during the holiday period. Seems that there is at least one a year around that time.
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Think that it might have something to do with so many buses crashing during the holiday period. Seems that there is at least one a year around that time.
Strange logic. If coaches are dangerous, then why are adults still allowed to use them?
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Are you sure that's not "without displaying a 'children' sign" ie a la school bus sign?
I didn't see that in the local papers when I was there!
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Terry
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Well I have to say that when on the motorway I used to always have my lights on, no matter what time of day, as I felt it made my presence more noticeable to those who dont understand what mirrors and shoulder checks are for.
However, since sticking with the lane 1 brigade at 60ish mph there's no need. Maybe that's another reason why my mpg rate has increased.
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Its already law in Italy, on any extra urban road. Makes it more difficult to see who is braking further up the (very closely packed) in line of traffic. Where it is better is when it rains or starts to get dark, the usual morons without the lights on are virtually non existent.
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I would welcome the advice to use dipped headlights at all times, though I'd stop short of making it law. The car I normally drive is dark green, so I'm one of the first to switch on lights in the rain, poor visibility or on long tree-lined straights .
If I overtake something on one of those 3-lane single carriageways where vehicles from either direction can use the middle lane, I put on dipped lights.
When the rule to turn on headlights in fog or driving rain was introduced, there was a backlash from motorists who thought the idea silly. But not many people think that now.
Cheers, Sofa Spud
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Stupid idea.
Dipped headlights don't dazzle - but only on a straight flat road. Out of the cities where these idiotic beaurocrats live we have things like hills, hump back bridges, etc. It's bad enough with Volvos doing it let alone everyone else.
Another step back to cater for the dimwitted. This time, its the ones who can't tell the difference between night and day.
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Stupid idea.
Just so. It used to mean something when a car had it's headlights on during the day - towing, rushing an injured person to hospital etc., and you would pay special attention to it.
Nowadays, half the time, you look elsewhere to save your eyesight.
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Thought all French traffic law was an experiment; half the of them behave as if they're in the control group!!
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Err, is this really true? In the south of France, it can still be very sunny for most of the day. Dipped healights would serve no purpose in the daytime under such conditions - except to waste fuel and consume bulbs faster.
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Dipped headlights could improve safety in low-down sun conditions. When the sun's low and you're driving towards it, the reflections off the top of the dash onto a steeply sloping screen, the glare from the usually invisible film of grime on the inside of even a 'clean' screen, plus human eyesight's dazzle factor can make it difficult to see ahead. If cars coming the other way have dipped lights on, there's less chance of not seeing them.
Cheers, Sofa Spud.
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>>Dipped headlights could improve safety in low-down sun conditions. When the sun's low and you're driving towards it, the reflections off the top of the dash onto a steeply sloping screen, the glare from the usually invisible film of grime on the inside of even a 'clean' screen, plus human eyesight's dazzle factor can make it difficult to see ahead. If cars coming the other way have dipped lights on, there's less chance of not seeing them.
Following a holiday in Norway (where the sun is always low), I am inclined to switch my lights on under exactly those conditions.
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Ivor
I read it myself in La Voix du Nord so it must be true.
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Terry
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