To see and be seen
H. Kishie Singh

NEW Year’s Day, it started to get dark about 4.30 p.m. Fog and mist descended on the city and considerably reduced visibility. By the time office workers began to drive back home, the road and driving conditions had changed drastically. At times like this, if you can’t see clearly, chances are the other drivers too cannot see you properly. One of the easiest ways to make your presence known is to switch on your lights — and keep them on low beam. High beams will dazzle the other driver. Also high beams do not help in fog and mist conditions. Fog and mist conditions are due to condensation in the atmosphere. Miniscule particles of water hang suspended in the air on the road ahead. The high beam hits these water droplets and scatters. The light goes everywhere except where you want it — on the road. The low beam, with lower intensity and aimed lower to the ground, has better penetrating power.

An easy way to transform your white light headlights into fog lights is to put a yellow transparent paper over your headlights. It may be bought from any halwai or stationer. It’s effective. Try it.

However on that New Year’s Day not one car could be seen with headlights on. Some of the most expensive cars were on the road. This means rich people and well-educated people. Yet, not one person thought about safety and self-preservation. No good sense, no common sense, no auto sense.

Abroad, cars are designed to drive with lights on, no matter what time of the day or night it is. If you have an automatic gearbox, the lights come on the moment you put the car into D (for drive). These are safety lights, driving lights. At night, you will have to switch on your regular lights with high and low beam.

You also have parking lights in your car. These should be left on while parked in a public place, especially on the side of a road. Parking lights, as the name implies, are lights that should be used while parking — not while driving. If you see a car with parking lights on, it means the car is stationary. To drive with parking lights on could confuse the other driver and lead to a mistake. Mistakes made while driving usually end with unpleasant consequences.

And then you have hazard lights or flashers on your car. They should be used in case of an emergency, like changing wheels on the highway. Any unscheduled stop on a road means danger for you and any other road-user. Hazard flashers should be used to warn other drivers. The message they put out is "I am stationary, slow down, keep your distance. Exercise caution." They should not be used while on the move, or else they will send out a confusing signal.

Your car also has lights that come on automatically when you engage the reverse gear of the car. It is common practice for owners of new cars to have this switch cut off and have the wiring changed so that the reverse lights — white — come on when lights are switched on.

This is really a very foolish/wrong move. First, this will annul the warranty for your car. You should not make any changes in the wiring harness of the car. Other than making the warranty null and void, it could lead to short circuits which in today’s cars with computers and other electronic sensors could lead to serious problems. Second, you have deprived yourself of one of the most useful fitments on your car — reversing lights. On a dark night on a hilly road — these are an invaluable asset to safe driving. Three, following a car with its reversing lights on is very distracting and unsafe for the driver following. It sends out confusing signals. It also robs the driver behind of his night vision. A driver should be sitting behind forward facing lights, not having a light staring him in the face.

With such "confusing signals," it is little wonder that our roads are in such a chaotic state. You, the driver, is solely and exclusively responsible for this chaos. You, the driver, can do something about it. Set an example and teach the less educated. Safety for all, concerns us all.

Happy motoring!