The Lord Young of Graffham
The House of Lords
LONDON
SW1A 0PW 28 June 2010

Dear Lord Young

HEALTH & SAFETY REVIEW – ITS MISAPPLICATION IN ROAD SAFETY

Upon learning you are to review the scope of health and safety legislation, and the mentality of those who implement it, I was at once prompted to urge you to include the nonsense of supposedly improving road safety by the fitting to modern cars of so-called Daylight Running Lights.

These things, most noticeable on for example new Audis, Porsches, the Mercedes E-Class and the Renault Megane, have been dreamt up by someone who thought having a blindingly intense light on the front of a car would grab the attention of others.

That is does. In an alarming, truly terrifying manner. Dangerous Running Lights, more like!

The myth they would improve safety – evidently not borne out in real statistics, I gather – has sadly been allowed to take root, just as other common myths like ostriches keep their heads in sand, Aled Jones sang in the ‘Snowman’ animation, or that electrons travel in wires at or close to the speed of light. All mistaken.

Whatever limited merit the Daylight Running Light idea might have had is now completely eroded by the bright intensity of the light, and their highly directional nature. As it is they do as much for road safety as a blowtorch would for hand cleanliness or razor blades fitted to the sides of a car would do for preventing collisions with cyclists. Academic research to date upon which a decision was taken at EU level to run the real world experiment seems to hinge purely on the attention grabbing effect without thinking through to the drawbacks.

It soon becomes very tiring to have such an irritating distraction bobbing around in rear view mirrors, not to mention it taking longer to assimilate what it is you are seeing in your rear view mirrors when you need strain to ‘look beyond and around’ the retina-popping glare, thereby increasing the risk of rear-end shunts or colliding with a pedestrian or cyclist.

They obscure indicator lamps. They leave momentary blindspots in vision just when you can least afford it such as needing to look into their beam when pulling out onto a roundabout. They diminish the relative conspicuity of critical road markings such as ‘give way’, signs, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. They make it harder to judge the speed and distance of oncoming vehicles.

Given the Police prosecute those who shine torches at their helicopter pilots it is all the more bewildering they are taking no apparent action against this health and safety cult of trying to be ‘safe’ by out-glaring, out-dazzling each other on the roads contrary to well-founded and perfectly worktable Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989.

This road traffic ‘health & safety gone mad idea’ need urgently be nipped in the bud before it takes off and, just as an audience at a concert might need stand because a handful of others stood in their way, we all find ourselves needing to use the lights to not appear any less conspicuous. Just like the theatre audience, we would all be more comfortable with the prior state of affairs.

Overall, it’s as misguided and hopefully as short-lived as other harebrained ideas such as a hundred years or so ago people drinking radioactive water to cure rheumatism and arthritis. It is as logical as the more modern health and safety errors of filling in a swimming pool if someone might have tragically drowned.

The Audi and others’ style LED lights are truly excellent in picking out cars during daytime rain, with minimal ‘sparkling windscreen’ effect of conventional headlights. All cars should have them fitted, activated with the wipers beyond a certain rain intensity. But just like ‘high vis’ vests and hard hats, or chainsaw safety trousers, there is a time and a place.

The nonsensical nature of the always-on Dangerous Running Light idea sadly being followed by even hitherto car safety leaders such as Mercedes is further illustrated by the fact even the proponents of the cult have not advocated the fitting of equivalent rear or side facing lights, presumably well recognising the dangerous disorientation and confusion that would ensue, so all the more reason to not put on the front either.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Tonkin

This letter vfrom Andrew sent to Lord Young confirms everthing about lighting at night and is much improved on anything I personally have written so hopefully you will leave it up Nigel.

Many Thanks Ken Perham