GREYHOUNDS DO IT

WRECK-LESS DRIVING©
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist

GREYHOUNDS DO IT
MESA, AZ: Izzy D. writes that “It was raining at high noon on University Ave. Some drivers were burning the beams and others were not. It was easy to see (no pun) that the ones with headlights turned on were visible sooner than those driving without lights. Those using just the parking lights were a poor second”. That extra distance offered by the headlights could be the saving grace in a possible crash situation. We want the unsafe drivers to know where we are and would appreciate the same courtesy returned from them. Many states require that the headlights be on whenever the wipers are on continuously.

When rain, fog, mist, snow or other stuff is in the air it is smart driving to burn the beams and to go slower. On I-10 south of Phoenix that week before Super Bowl a dust storm caused a 25 vehicle pile-up with some personal injuries. Safe drivers would have slowed and turned on their lights when they saw the dust cloud ahead.

In most states motorbikes must burn lights any time they are running. Greyhound buses do it, too. Tyson Food Company trucks had this message on their rear door, "For your safety we drive with our headlights on". If that is good for them it should be good also for all of us. Many new autos have running lights which are on whenever the engine is running. Others allow “permanent” switching on of parking or headlights which then go on or off in sync with the ignition switch. Owners of older cars ought to retrofit theirs for safety, or simply remember to turn them on and off manually whenever the ignition switch is operated.
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