Lightmare campaign reminder
So okay, we're not exactly spring chickens here at Sump, which means that our eyesight ain't what it used to be. And the copious amount of beer that gets guzzled between breakfast and suppertime (and sometimes also between suppertime and breakfast—but strictly when off the road, you understand) simply adds to our general optical confusion.
That aside, there's little doubt that the rise of high-intensity headlights and brilliant daytime running lights for cars and motorcycles is a growing menace and urgently needs to be checked.
Some of us can still (barely) remember a time when coppers occasionally used to stop drivers in urban environments and tell them to switch off their headlights and use sidelights/parking lights only, unless it was raining or foggy. The situation changed when most drivers chose to use headlights, and when that happened, the sidelight/parking light drivers started to become invisible.
Eventually most of them chose to use headlights too, and then motorists began using driving lights and/or spotlights, and the cycle continued.
But in many, if not most urban situations, car sidelights/parking lights are more than sufficient illumination and enable drivers to more clearly see pedestrians and cyclists. Hence the Lightmare campaign which aims to persuade the UK government to dim those high-intensity beams to a safer level.
It's not a new campaign, but we think this disability glare issue is currently one of the most pressing problems on the road, and Lightmare deserves support.
If you want to get involved, either on a personal, professional or classic bike club level, the guy to talk to is Roy Milnes. And if you're riding a classic bike, not least anything still on 6-volts, you've got an extra reason for concern—unless, of course, you consider your night-riding days are done.
— The Third Man
Vincent: World's Fastest Production Motorcycle
Copyright Sump Publishing 2013