Safe Speed Forums

*sigh*

I've ranted a couple of times about people who insist on having bright white lights on their gateposts when they live on a major A-road that can easilly mistaken for oncoming motorbikes on the wrong side of the road or similar stupidity, possibly causing unnecessary evasive action.

The other day I'm driving down the A701, I have just completed overtaking a 50-everywhere driver in a Passat, and am now approaching a corner. Through the trees I see flashing blue lights...

Believing that I may be about to encounter the scene of an accident (or maybe just a parked-up police car giving someone a ticking off), I slow down. This really pisses off the Passat driver who has now been interupted from his last hour of a constant speed in order to avoid running into the back of me. I round the corner and what do I see.

Fairy lights.. on a tree and around the guttering. single colour (blue) flashing fairy lights. If you put them on a car you would get a tug very quickly as it's illegal to display flashing blue lights on a non-emergency vehicle, but on the side of your house, apparently this is A-ok

I encountered another 2 houses on the same road with the same type of lights, I later encountered an actual real police car and didn't realise until far later than I should have (not that I was doing anything illegal, I just prefer to be cautious around them in case some criminal decides now is a good time to do a runner)


Come back static white lights... all is forgiven.

I was confused by blue flashing lights myself last night.

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I won't slave for beggar's pay,
likewise gold and jewels,
but I would slave to learn the way
to sink your ship of fools

A house I used to pass had red and blue lights of the glowing-cable type in their hedge one xmas, which looked for all the world like there was a police car just out of sight causing the glow.

Yes, the blue lights seem all the rage this year. The availability of blue LEDs must have improved.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

You're right to rant about it, to be fair. I have the same thing on a roundabout I turn right on everyday. There's a house just past the exit with a white light outside that is only visible once you're 1 or 2 yards on to the roundabout, so every time you enter it you momentarily think you've somehow missed a motorbike to your right which, needless to say, makes your heart beat just a little faster while you brake hard so you don't hit the non-existent motorcyclist. Not had any Christmas lights effect me yet but it's only a matter of time!

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David

Sadly I suspect it's deliberate in some cases. Busybodies placing strategic white lights to make people "slow down". Going down the road in their cars themselves and testing the positioning and alignment to "perfection". If such people can put up fake speed cameras and "scarecrow cops", not to mention start "Community Speedwatch" schemes, then a simple light is definitely not beyond them. Never mind the distraction, shock, unnecessary hard braking, and possible other problems; slower is safer, and that's all there is to it.

There's a light near me which looks like a motorbike (or worse still a car with one headlight) on your side of the road. It's located just inside a 30mph zone (40mph would be more reasonable) but you can see it from around half a mile before the end of the preceding NSL zone. It's either a coincidence or it's entirely deliberate. I can't see any other purpose for the light being there and pointing that way. Annoying because otherwise it's the perfect place for overtaking (even though I know overtaking is illegal now, and only done by impatient boy racers; and besides, people shouldn't be exceeding 40mph in NSL zones anyway, unless they're on dual carriageways [roads with more than 2 lanes], where they're allowed to do 60mph).

Or am I just getting paranoid? Is it even possible to be paranoid as a car driver in this country anymore? Other drivers may not be out to get you (with a few exceptions), but the authorities undoubtedly are.

Flashing blue Christmas lights visible from the road should obviously be banned (with the possible exception of quiet cul-de-sacs). I wouldn't put it past busybodies to abuse those lights as well. You have to question the intelligence of those who put them up, especially if they drive themselves: don't they notice them as they come home? Mercifully I haven't seen any such lights yet.

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Paul Smith: a legend.

"The freedom provided by the motor vehicle is not universally applauded, however: there are those who resent the loss of state control over individual choice that the car represents. Such people rarely admit their prejudices openly; instead, they make false or exaggerated claims about the adverse effects of road transport in order to justify calls for higher taxation or restrictions on mobility." (Conservative Way Forward: Stop The War Against Drivers)

Presumably you are now used to this light and know to ignore it? Even if you personally still double check every time, other motorists will just ignore it as they are used to it.

What happens one day when there is a motorbike there?

That's the whole point. Surely ignoring the light would mean that I am not accounting for the fact that it might be another vehicle and not the same light I see every day. As you know, eyes are very sensitive to light, so as soon as I see the light (the equivalent of a light being off and then turned on) I must assume that it is a vehicle before I assume that it's a stationary light.

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David

There is a stretch of road near Watton with a house whos front windows are perfectly aligned to reflect your headlights back at you . It looks just like a car coming towards you on the wrong side of the road

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Re vera, cara mea, mea nil refert

There's a bus shelter on the way into Avebury like that - unfortunately its on the oposite side of the road

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Perhaps they use them as some sort of navigation device to aid them home after a few bevvies at Christmas time?

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Pecunia Prius Equitas et Salus

Perhaps they turn them off before leaving the house?

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Chris