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VE2ABT > TECHNI 14.08.04 21:27l 162 Lines 5559 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 9D2320VE2ABT
Read: GUEST
Subj: Re Car Battery Confusion
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0AR<7M3TJZ<ON0BEL
Sent: 040814/1911Z @:ON0BEL.#LG.BEL.EU #:5854 [Pactor-Belgium WFBB] $:9D2320VE2
From: VE2ABT@ON0BEL.#LG.BEL.EU
To : TECHNI@WW
TITLE - Car Battery Confusion
G6HXW, Lionel ;-) Bonjour !
You will be quoted below (>) and my comments follow:
> Titre :Re Car Battery Confusion
> Path: !ON0BEL!CX1AAO!CX2SA!GB7YFS!GB7WSX!
> R:040813/1354Z @:GB7IPW.#38.GBR.EU #:40690 XFBB7.04j Bid:600987G6HXW
>
> From: G6HXW@GB7IPW.#38.GBR.EU
> To : TECHNI@WW
>
>
> Barry VK2AAB wrote:-
>
>> What I think Lionel mistook is that the the previous correspondance a
>> VK3 was refering to daylight driving. Lionel was refering to driving at > night on parking lights
> only.
>
> Hi Barry,
>
> No, I was referring to daylight driving but in poor light or weather
> conditions.
>
> There was a time when most motorists here in the UK were very
> slow to light up
> when it was gloomy or murky.
>
> I think it might have been the influx of Volvo cars, with at least some
> reasonable degree of permanent lights on whenever they were being
> driven, due
> to design, that gradually changed this appalling habit of driving around
> almost unseen.
>
> It's even possible now to see the occasional motorist with headlights
> on in
> bright sunshine and it's not frowned upon. As do most sensible
> motor cyclists.
>
> As for leaving lights on when vacating a car, my last two
> have had an audible
> warning to remind me to turn them off.
>
> In our local Shopping Precinct mainly dedicated to
> pedestrians, the buses pass
> through and they always have lights on as a regulation.
>
> So things have got better.
>
> What does sometimes happen is for motorists to forget to turn
> lights on after
> parking. Here in the UK it's generally not required to park
> with any lights in
> towns and cities, provided the street lighting is evident.
> Which it usually
> is.
>
> Although, a blind eye is taken with cars parked in residential
> streets where
> often the street lights go out after midnight. This doesn't
> happen so much
> since most street lighting is now controlled by photo-electric sensors.
>
> In the days gone by they had clock timers which needed altering. When the
> change over from BST to GMT happened this left some roads with
> a period of
> darkness for a few days till they were corrected.
>
> On reflection, perhaps some of our UK drivers were driving
> during WW2 when we
> didn't have street lights and those on cars were made to have
> only a glimmer
> by the use of various devices. Like sticking hoods over them
> and bits of tape.
> ;-)
>
> Even hand torches sometimes had tissue paper stuck to the
> glass. Memories of
> "Put that light out!"
>
> 73 - Lionel, G6HXW @ GB7IPW-2
>
> Message timed: 14:53 on 2004-Aug-13
> Message sent using WinPack-AGW V6.80
In Canada, general constitutional jurisdiction concerning driving on our
roads belongs to the Provinces.
In Qu‚bec, we have the Hyway Security Code and its bylaws that regulate
the standards and the use of lighting on automobiles.
By the way, you spoke of VOLVO in your message who innovated by
introducing daytime headlights. In the mid sixties, I drove a two-seater
P1800 Volvo which had seat belts that buckled seat and chest. At the time,
most American cars did not even have the seat belts.
When I first started driving, I always put the headlights on, even during
the daytime. At the time, in North America, you would often be flashed by
passing cars to warn you that you ® FORGOT ¯ to put out your headlights.
In tunnels, we would have signs that would remind you -- as you came out
-- to SHUT YOUR LIGHTS.
Now, the Law has changed and all new makes of cars must have daytime
headlights. You are no longer flashed by passing cars to tell you to shut
the lights. Older cars may continue to not have automatic daytime
headlighting, but many people do it anyway as a good safety practice.
So much so that now, it is as you move into the tunnels that you are
warned to OPEN YOUR HEADLIGHTS, rather than notifying you to shut them as
you move out of the tunnels.
Also, we notice those who do not have their lights on in the day, rather
than the contrary.
One problem that I have noticed with those automatic daytime headlights,
is that they are just that HEADlights. On sombre thunderstorm days or when
there is dense fog, some drivers FORGET this fact and do not open their
normal lights, so that we may SEE THEM FROM BEHIND.
Garagists do say that 24h headlights while driving does demand more on the
batteries -- modern cars use the battery for such demands and no longer
the alternator, as in the past -- and therefore more petrol. But the
safety considerations are important.
Yes, motorcycles were the first to be imposed 24h headlights, and this got
other motorists to get used to the idea for automobiles.
As for forgetting your headlights -- the normal ones (front and back
lights on) -- it is easy to install warning circuits. Again, most modern
cars (even since 1990) have a sounder that notifies you of this when you
open your car door (as with keys left in the ignition).
I have always opened my normal car lights (front and back) for all my long
driving experience and I can count on one hand when I (1) FORGOT MY LIGHTS
(in 2 or 3 instances I had needed a boost) and when I (2) FORGOT TO OPEN
MY LIGHTS WHILE DRIVING (this bothered me more -- Hi, hi).
Best regards Lionel and the other readers of this.
73 de
Pierre, VE2ABT
73 de Pierre, VE2ABT @ ON0BEL [@ON0BEL.#LG.BEL.EU]
Message r‚dig‚ … 13:26 UTC le 2004 08 14
Message exp‚di‚ avec WinPack-Telnet V6.80
Authetification: 112004081413263111
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