Pet Peeve

This last week I had the chance to take a long drive in the rain.

As it never fails it rained at least one travel day during our vacation. This happened on the day of our return from Arkansas. Now I don't mind a little rain but this rain was some of the worst I have driven in thus far. Let's say that it was so bad that at times I was leaving finger marks from griping the steering wheel too hard.

The rain would pour down, and combined with the spray from the tires of other travelers, I could only see about 150 feet in front of me. Trucks would pass and throw sheets of water onto the windshield. Even with the wipers on full speed it was not enough to see through until the truck passed. For several seconds it was like being submerged under the water.

So now I get to my Pet Peeve. You need your headlights on when you have on your wipers. While I was driving I would keep my speed up to match that of other travelers and not get rear ended. As I approached other vehicles I would notice how hard it was to see them if they did not have their lights on.

In most if not all states it is required by law that if the wipers are on, the headlight have to be on. Well I did a little research through several bulletin boards to see what other thought. To my surprise I found several comments like "I have day-time running lights and I don't need to turn them on" or "I just turn on my fog lights." I could not believe what I was reading. Do they not understand that the headlights also work the rear lights as well? I have day-time running lights in my truck but I still turn on my light switch when I have my wipers on. I guess if they were headed for me their reasoning would work great. But on an interstate highway if they are headed for me then one of us is doing something really bad.

Well as you can tell by me writing this, I made it home fine. I guess the only thing that I can really do is hope that eventually all of the new cars will have an automatic switch that turns on the headlights when the wipers are on. Until then the only thing I can do is watch out for others drivers who do not think about how others drivers might see, or not see them.

Tell me what you think.