Blinded by the Light

I don't know if this is a universal problem or whether it's peculiar to Ireland, but lately I've noticed a marked increase in the number of drivers who haven't got the faintest idea how to use their car headlights. I suppose I'm noticing it more now as the clocks recently went back and it therefore gets dark earlier.

The issue doesn't arise so much when I'm driving in town as most drivers keep their headlights dipped. However, I spend a fair amount of time travelling between Galway City and County Leitrim - two and a half hours of driving along unlit country roads - and the number of times that I get blinded is astonishing.

It's not so much the cars coming towards me that are the problem. Drivers who leave their beams on full are easily reminded to dip them with a quick blast of my own full beams. It's the drivers behind me that wind me up. They seem to think that the road will somehow magically disappear unless they keep their full beams on until they are only a couple of feet away from me. How can this be? They must get the same treatment from cars behind them so why don't they learn to dip as soon as they see the tail-lights of another car?

Whilst I'm on the subject of motoring habits, what is it about country folk that makes them need to drive up the middle of the road all the time? It's as though they're driving Scalextric cars and they have to keep to the white line in case they lose power. I've lost count of the times I've nearly been creamed by a 4x4 that's left it to the last second to pull over to its own lane.

I was actally left speechless the other day. The Brunette and I were happily driving through the countryside when a car came around a bend ahead of us on our side of the road. It wasn't just straddling the white line, it was completely, totally and utterly on our side. If we'd arrived at the bend ten seconds earlier it would have been a head-on. It turned out that the driver was a farmer who wanted to get into the field to the left of us. Why couldn't he have waited to see if anything was coming towards him before he came around the bend?

The Government spends inordinate amounts of time and money on initiatives aimed at criminalising drivers who've eaten one-too-many chocolate liqueurs. Perhaps they could direct some of their efforts at teaching people how to drive when they're sober. Just a thought.

Bottoms up,

oldblodger