B. Hawk’s warnings to motorists about winning a battle with darkness

Traffic safety experts warn that the number of fatalities, fatalities, and injuries has increased dramatically in the last months of autumn when the morning and evening traffic peaks are in the dark or at dusk. Unfortunately, the causes of such incidents are not always reflected in official statistics and, as rider Benedict Vanagh observes, are very often considered “trivia”.

 

Highest risk time According to a media release, every fourth accident occurs in Lithuania during the dark hours, resulting in injuries or death. According to the data of the Road Administration, about 60 pedestrians were killed on average in Lithuania during recent years, about 3 times more than a day. The overwhelming majority of tragic traffic accidents are related to visibility, which is often complicated by meteorological conditions such as rain, rain or sleet.

 

The fall of tree leaves in the fall simply absorbs the lights of car lights, making it extremely difficult to spot pedestrians and cyclists moving along sidewalks. If they don’t have reflectors or lights, the likelihood of being involved in an accident is up to 8 times higher than in daylight hours, “warns the General Financing team Pitlane pilot. Experiments show that a pedestrian without a reflector becomes noticeable when it is about 50 meters away. With 90 km / h, this distance is covered in less than 2 seconds, so there is not enough time to start braking. Meanwhile, a cyclist or pedestrian with a reflector, a reflective vest with reflective fabric or a headlamp can be seen from about 120 to 150 meters, even when driving with low beam.

 

A few physiology Medics find that at night, human eyes accept light contrasts worse than daytime, and with age, accurately capturing what’s on the trajectory – especially in heavy traffic – is a real challenge. The driver’s need for light (for good vision) doubles every 13 years. In other words, a 60-year-old motorist should decorate the car with as many as eight lights. The most dangerous situations for pedestrians in the dark occur when two opposing cars pass. Academic studies on driver glare say that an unexpectedly high-flux illuminated eye adjusts to new conditions in about 10 seconds. This means that it takes about that time to see what’s happening on the roadsides, with little or no vision.

 

The blind driver cannot see anything within 20 meters of the opposite car. Under these circumstances, even people wearing reflectors or reflective vests are overlooked. It is estimated that up to 15 percent. traffic accidents occur during the dark hours of the day precisely because of the glare of drivers.

 

Self-driving with lights is dangerous B. Vanagas, who has solid experience in driving under the most difficult conditions, emphasizes that the driver receives about 90 percent of his vision through vision. information. The amount and quality of this information depend not only on how good the human eye is but also on the quality of the light. Specifically, the condition of car lights, proper alignment, mounting, cleanliness, reflectors, and lenses. “While this may seem like a trifle to some, it is up to the driver to see where they are driving and not to dazzle other road users,” says General Financing team Pitlane leader. The data of the technical inspection company Transeksta confirms that this is a serious problem. Statistical information collected year after year shows that the condition of the lights on the roads of Lithuania is probably the messiest car system: almost 18% of them are in the state. the lights of the machines being tested have ‘major flaws’. By the way, the older the machines, the worse the situation. For example, 7-17 yrs. In the age group (almost 36% of cars registered in Lithuania are over 21 years old), “light diseases” affect more than a third of the cars being tested.

 

Specialists at the association point out that very often motorists try to “improve” the car’s headlights by resorting to charlatanic tricks and replacing the halogen lamps with so-called “xenons” or LED light sources. However, this kind of amusement does not solve the night travel problems, but creates a new one – at the inspection, the controllers, after noticing the difference between the marking of the lights and the light emitted by them, will declare the car “defective”. Also, even if the driver remains visible after such light bulbing, in the vast majority of cases other road users are blinded.

 

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