[XAP]Bob wrote:pwa wrote:Last night I was driving a van on the A4107, which at 527 metres is the highest A-road in Wales. It was very dark, windy and the rain was torrential. I was very thankful for the cats eyes. Without them it would have been a much more hazardous journey.
Assuming you were driving at the limit of what you considered acceptable risk then I assert that it would merely have been a slower journey.
No, slower and more dangerous. In the headlights the wet road and the darkness to the left that was not road looked very similar. The cats eyes provided security. Just like having lights on the front of my vehicle, in fact. And I hope nobody is going to suggest vehicles should not have front lights because they encourage speedier driving.
That particular road has near vertical drops of a hundred metres to the side of the road in a few places, and even travelling at modest speeds you are glad of anything that clearly distinguishes what is road and what is not. I have cycled that road at night and been just as grateful to the cats eyes. And on very dark, remote roads like that a cyclist with reflectives and at least one half decent rear light stands out like a UFO.