Night driving

[Peter Naulls]

Jon,

I bought from this ebay supplier: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/inHighway-Ref...2749.l2649

Living in the Highlands frequently means very high delivery charges for us but this gentleman provided free (and very prompt) delivery. Plenty of choice too.

Peter.

[Chris KC]

This subject is certainly generating a lot of discussion -- all good stuff.

The same problems existed back in " the sixties" although modern headlights then were less blinding. Night driving in an Austin Seven in those days was fairly common and we didn't have the advantage of LEDs.
One strategy was to knock off  the rear view mirror, and drive in the middle of the road using the following car's headlight to see where you were going. I remember getting back from Brighton to London in a Ruby using this technique and as far as I can remember no one got too upset, but of course everyone was more tolerant in those days and road rage had yet to be invented!

Charles.  (Safely in rural Norfolk)

Ha, love it Charles. I recall many years ago as a student running from the midlands to south Devon in my Nippy. We negotiated the Devon lanes after dark in a pea souper (actual fog that is, not a bit of mist) with my passenger standing on the passenger seat trying to find the white lines with a torch! It seems inconceivable now that one might attempt such a thing - how the world has changed...

Interestingly I now use your above technique, more or less, in my modern car - I can't see a thing with my mirrors normally adjusted and Mr. Hi-Intensity sitting on my rear bumper. He gets so cross when I slow down too.

[David.H]

This subject is certainly generating a lot of discussion -- all good stuff.

The same problems existed back in " the sixties" although modern headlights then were less blinding. Night driving in an Austin Seven in those days was fairly common and we didn't have the advantage of LEDs.
One strategy was to knock off  the rear view mirror, and drive in the middle of the road using the following car's headlight to see where you were going. I remember getting back from Brighton to London in a Ruby using this technique and as far as I can remember no one got too upset, but of course everyone was more tolerant in those days and road rage had yet to be invented!

Charles.  (Safely in rural Norfolk)

Ha, love it Charles. I recall many years ago as a student running from the midlands to south Devon in my Nippy. We negotiated the Devon lanes after dark in a pea souper (actual fog that is, not a bit of mist) with my passenger standing on the passenger seat trying to find the white lines with a torch! It seems inconceivable now that one might attempt such a thing - how the world has changed...

Interestingly I now use your above technique, more or less, in my modern car - I can't see a thing with my mirrors normally adjusted and Mr. Hi-Intensity sitting on my rear bumper. He gets so cross when I slow down too.

Memories! Returning to Birmingham from a weekend rock climbing in Snowdonia in an open 1931 box saloon (someone had cut the roof off) about Easter time in 1958 we had got about as far as Wenlock Edge (long pull up!) when it became clear (?) that we were running out of lights, so eventually everything was turned off and we were virtually driving by the thump of the cats eyes on the road. Fortunately the battery (must have come from a tractor) was very big so was jammed in behind the passenger seat and it kept enough urge to keep the coil going. The next day we had to get back to Sandhurst and before leaving managed to fiddle about with the dynamo enough to get a charge back. The battery had sat on charge all night & was ok anyway by then. The car had no hood, was painted flat grey and had a big carburettor stuffed on to the engine (no idea how or what!) It was thirsty, but went well enough for my co owner (who didn't then have a licence) to be stopped on the A30 into London by a policeman on a motor bike (not a silent wonder Velocette!) who wanted to know how the car went so quickly! He was a Seven owner as well! No details were passed over & my friend passed his test very smartly afterwards.

[JonE]

Jon,

I bought from this ebay supplier: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/inHighway-Ref...2749.l2649

Living in the Highlands frequently means very high delivery charges for us but this gentleman provided free (and very prompt) delivery. Plenty of choice too.

Peter.

Peter - these don't seem to be quite the same as the lorry product. I imagine they aren't quite as chatoyant. (sorry, love that word..)
But yours are much easier to get hold of! I've emailed the other place to ask whether they would do a postage rate for just a metre... it might be that it could be cut up in sections so it didn't need to be rolled and placed in a box. (lengths of how long would be useful??)
It made me wonder whether having 2x 20cm sections of red for the back wings and same in white for the front wings would be useful for when needing to get onto the North Circular in February on a Friday evening...

[Reckless Rat]

I remember back in September 2001 when I drove the RP from Sheffield down to here we had stayed off motorways all the way to St Albans and then had to get onto the M25 to get over the Dartford Crossing. OK it was still daylight but despite my trepidation it proved quite enjoyable - it was about 4pm so most of the time we were going at the same speed as everyone else, even on the long climb over the QE bridge.... I guess the North Circular on a Friday night would be similarly choc-a-bloc with traffic. It's when it's NOT busy that you need to watch your back.

[Peter Naulls]

I can't compare the chatoyancy I'm afraid Jon (great new word!) but they do seem to be different. Judging by what I've seen on the road I suspect the cellular patterned ones are more direction-critical but also more effective. The Truckware product is also available somewhere on ebay but there was a £30 delivery surcharge for the Highlands! The sheets I bought are fine but won't cling very securely to any double curvature surface - so on the Ruby the rear valance and boot lid are fine, as is the area between the window and boot lid.

Reckless - you're right about the rush hour. I commuted from St.Albans into London in my Ulsteroid for several months in the winter of 1997. The heavy traffic was fine, but at the margins of the rush hour the driving got faster and more aggressive. The M25 was too scary in the dark though.

Peter.

[JonE]

I've ordered the ebay hi-vis 25mm self-adhesive strip (more like the truck pattern) for £1.50 posted and a metre of magnetic self adhesive for £1.99 posted, so we will see how well the thinner stuff hugs the curves of nippy wings for front and rear 'night markers''. I might use some on my bike mudguards for good measure!