Oxford MS Police handing out vouchers instead of tickets.

[Capbyrd]

I think this is a great story.  Instead of continuing to tax the population, they have teamed up with local shop owners to help the public. 
 

 

[bigun]

This is a really great idea. I know I never check my lights.

[joe4vol]

About 8 or 9 months ago an Athens police officer pulled me over and gave me a warning for a headlight being out. 

[peejman]

Do they have vouchers to get a brain for people who drive at night with no lights on?  I see that routinely. 

I think a main issue is newer cars with LCD type instruments. Use to you'd look at the dash, see nothing and realize you'd forgotten to turn your lights on. The LCD instrument clusters are on regardless and automatically adjust brightness based on ambient light. If the car doesn't have automatic headlights, it's easy to not notice your lights aren't on, especially with street lights. 

[Capbyrd]

6 minutes ago, peejman said:

Do they have vouchers to get a brain for people who drive at night with no lights on?  I see that routinely. 

I think a main issue is newer cars with LCD type instruments. Use to you'd look at the dash, see nothing and realize you'd forgotten to turn your lights on. The LCD instrument clusters are on regardless and automatically adjust brightness based on ambient light. If the car doesn't have automatic headlights, it's easy to not notice your lights aren't on, especially with street lights. 

 

You nailed it.  I've been guilty of it a time or to.   They make auto headlights, I've not yet figured out why they can't just make them automatically on when the car is.  It doesn't hurt anything to run them all the time.   I used to do that before I bought cars with auto switches.  And the auto switches still don't work well enough when its raining. 

 

[peejman]

13 minutes ago, Capbyrd said:

 

You nailed it.  I've been guilty of it a time or to.   They make auto headlights, I've not yet figured out why they can't just make them automatically on when the car is.  It doesn't hurt anything to run them all the time.   I used to do that before I bought cars with auto switches.  And the auto switches still don't work well enough when its raining. 

 

I'm actually strongly against daytime lights.  Some vehicles need DRL's to enhance their visibility... motorcycles (me), school buses, emergency vehicles, etc.   All cars with their lights on during the day totally defeats the purpose.  

Neither of my vehicles have an LCD dash, but the 2004 Chevy has light sensitive auto headlights and the 2006 Toyota doesn't.  Go figure. 

Edited February 5, 2019 by peejman

[Capbyrd]

7 minutes ago, peejman said:

I'm actually strongly against daytime lights.  Some vehicles need DRL's to enhance their visibility... motorcycles (me), school buses, emergency vehicles, etc.   All cars with their lights on during the day totally defeats the purpose.  

 

 

Care to expand on this?  I don't see how it defeats the purpose of anything. 

 

[tercel89]

I don't like Daytime running lights cause it's hard to poach deer and such during night time hours .    Just kidding !! HAHAHA

[Shorty]

2 hours ago, Capbyrd said:

 

Care to expand on this?  I don't see how it defeats the purpose of anything. 

 

I could be wrong, but I believe he's saying that if all vehicles uniformly ran DRLs, then motorcycles and the like no longer stand out in daylight hours as the "something different" that gets your attention by having headlights on.

[peejman]

2 hours ago, Capbyrd said:

 

Care to expand on this?  I don't see how it defeats the purpose of anything. 

 

If every vehicle has its lights on during the day, the vehicles that you'd particularly want to stand out, don't.  They're just another light in the sea of lights.  It's no different than if no one had their lights on. 

[Capbyrd]

4 minutes ago, Shorty said:

I could be wrong, but I believe he's saying that if all vehicles uniformly ran DRLs, then motorcycles and the like no longer stand out in daylight hours as the "something different" that gets your attention by having headlights on.

 

4 minutes ago, peejman said:

If every vehicle has its lights on during the day, the vehicles that you'd particularly want to stand out, don't.  They're just another light in the sea of lights.  It's no different than if no one had their lights on. 

gotcha.   I never thought it made much of a difference.   People definitely don't seem to notice me on my bike as it is.   But I'll cede defeat on this and say that maybe the answer is to make auto lights come on with more light than they currently do. 

 

[Trekbike]

On 2/5/2019 at 8:39 AM, bigun said:

This is a really great idea. I know I never check my lights.

I used to drive a '96 Volvo 850 (you know back when a Volvo was a real Volvo) and a dash light would illuminate anytime any exterior light was out + the third brake light located inside the car.   The other thing they did on that car was it had separate high and low beam headlights, and all four bulbs were fused separately.    They tried real hard to give you at least some amount of headlights to drive with at night if something happened.  

I always carried extra bulbs in the car since I couldn't truthfully say, "sorry officer I didn't know I had a light out".

 

Edited February 6, 2019 by Trekbike

[Dirtshooter]

On 2/5/2019 at 10:50 AM, peejman said:

I'm actually strongly against daytime lights.  Some vehicles need DRL's to enhance their visibility... motorcycles (me), school buses, emergency vehicles, etc.   All cars with their lights on during the day totally defeats the purpose.  

Neither of my vehicles have an LCD dash, but the 2004 Chevy has light sensitive auto headlights and the 2006 Toyota doesn't.  Go figure. 

Peejman, I have taken countless safe driving schools and 1 thing they all had in common was the fact that running your lights all the time helped to prevent accidents. Especially on rural roads with curves, you will see a car with lights moments before you would have seen one without. Just my $0.02

[peejman]

30 minutes ago, Dirtshooter said:

Peejman, I have taken countless safe driving schools and 1 thing they all had in common was the fact that running your lights all the time helped to prevent accidents. Especially on rural roads with curves, you will see a car with lights moments before you would have seen one without. Just my $0.02

Did any of those schools specifically address awareness of motorcycles?  If so, what guidance did they give?

Headlights certainly make a vehicle more visible and can improve reaction times slightly. But they make less conspicuous vehicles even more so. Perhaps the percentage of motorcycles on the road is low enough that it doesn't wag the needle. I understand the risks and ride one anyway. 

[Capbyrd]

4 minutes ago, peejman said:

Did any of those schools specifically address awareness of motorcycles?  If so, what guidance did they give?

Headlights certainly make a vehicle more visible and can improve reaction times slightly. But they make less conspicuous vehicles even more so. Perhaps the percentage of motorcycles on the road is low enough that it doesn't wag the needle. I understand the risks and ride one anyway. 

Like I said before, drivers won't see a bike regardless.   You could be riding one of these and they won't see you.  

[Oh Shoot]

On 2/5/2019 at 9:34 AM, Capbyrd said:

I think this is a great story.  Instead of continuing to tax the population, they have teamed up with local shop owners to help the public.

Well, Oxford is a very genteel burg.

- OS

 

[Dirtshooter]

On 2/7/2019 at 4:46 PM, Capbyrd said:

Like I said before, drivers won't see a bike regardless.   You could be riding one of these and they won't see you.  

You are correct, this happened many years ago at an intersection with 2way stop sign and I stopped looked both ways and pulled out right in front of a woman riding a bright yellow motorcycle, I don't recall if she had her light on, but I think drivers get conditioned into looking for a car or truck profile. That is why it is so easy for pedestrians and children especially to be hit. Have you ever seen the video where sun was bright and there were shadow on the cars and a kid darts out to get a ball, without good polarized sunglasses all you see is glare. But all that aside the most dangerous thing we all do is drive a motor vehicle, an average of 3,287 people die each day because of vehicle crashes. And they say guns are dangerous. Be safe out there people.