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Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Monday, September 3, 2007
Lights Pollution
There used to be times, when we were children, when not painting the top half of the headlights of vehicles with black paint was viewed as an offence by the Traffic Police and the owners used to be booked and fined for the same.
What is it today? Automobile manufactures vie with each other in the type, size, number and power of the lights provided at the rear side of the vehicles only to make the vehicles appear attractive and boost their sales. They seem to have forgotten the purpose of such lights and are oblivious to the hardship such lights cause for the vehicles that follow. It cannot be that they are unaware of this. In citites and towns where you are constrained to follow such vehicles almost throughout your entire journey, you are virtually blinded. We cannot see the road and the pits, bumps or spilled oil on it unless there is a vehicle with very bright headlights following us.
Also, modern luxury cars come fitted with very bright milk-white focus lights in addition to the usual ones. Understandably, these are for ensuring that the driver has good view of the road when the cars are driven at high speeds, but is any thought spared for the driver and passengers in the vehicles coming in the opposite direction? Are such bright head lights required for use in City or Town roads? Accidents that could be attributed to this could be countless. How many drivers bother to dim the lights these days when they negotiate on-coming vehicles? With this habit dieing a slow death, it has become even more important to keep the brightness of headlamps under control and review the old practice of covering the top half of the headlamps with paint, metal or other stuff.
There needs to be legislation to prevent use of too bright headlights and tail lamps and enforcement of it, if one already exists. There needs to be a movement to etch out this evil which is assuming alarming proportions. It can take the form of buyers shying away from vehicles with jazzy tail lights and opting for vehicles with minimal tail lamps. However, this subject cannot be left to be handled by the evolvement of a consensus or emergence of a movement and needs immediate action and correction. Things have already gone too far.
In the first place, the legislation has to place restrictions on automobile manufacturers in respect of the type, size, number and brightness of lights, as otherwise, the buyers of such vehicles are left no option but to buy whatever that are offered by the manufacturers.
And after having done this, it is also necessary to enjoin a responsbility on the manufacturers to replace the already supplied bright lights with those conforming to specifications, free of cost. This is the only way in which they can be made to pay for having set in this kind of a trend and for not having been safety conscious and concentrating only their sales.
As this has become a wide sparead evil and its eradication will upset one and all -- including powerful and influential people, it needs a strong conviction on the part of the Government. It would help the cause if this subject is also dealt with by the Pollution Control Boards of the Governments, who are now experienced and have shown enough maturity in handling the various types of Pollution.
It is TIME to act.
What is it today? Automobile manufactures vie with each other in the type, size, number and power of the lights provided at the rear side of the vehicles only to make the vehicles appear attractive and boost their sales. They seem to have forgotten the purpose of such lights and are oblivious to the hardship such lights cause for the vehicles that follow. It cannot be that they are unaware of this. In citites and towns where you are constrained to follow such vehicles almost throughout your entire journey, you are virtually blinded. We cannot see the road and the pits, bumps or spilled oil on it unless there is a vehicle with very bright headlights following us.
Also, modern luxury cars come fitted with very bright milk-white focus lights in addition to the usual ones. Understandably, these are for ensuring that the driver has good view of the road when the cars are driven at high speeds, but is any thought spared for the driver and passengers in the vehicles coming in the opposite direction? Are such bright head lights required for use in City or Town roads? Accidents that could be attributed to this could be countless. How many drivers bother to dim the lights these days when they negotiate on-coming vehicles? With this habit dieing a slow death, it has become even more important to keep the brightness of headlamps under control and review the old practice of covering the top half of the headlamps with paint, metal or other stuff.
There needs to be legislation to prevent use of too bright headlights and tail lamps and enforcement of it, if one already exists. There needs to be a movement to etch out this evil which is assuming alarming proportions. It can take the form of buyers shying away from vehicles with jazzy tail lights and opting for vehicles with minimal tail lamps. However, this subject cannot be left to be handled by the evolvement of a consensus or emergence of a movement and needs immediate action and correction. Things have already gone too far.
In the first place, the legislation has to place restrictions on automobile manufacturers in respect of the type, size, number and brightness of lights, as otherwise, the buyers of such vehicles are left no option but to buy whatever that are offered by the manufacturers.
And after having done this, it is also necessary to enjoin a responsbility on the manufacturers to replace the already supplied bright lights with those conforming to specifications, free of cost. This is the only way in which they can be made to pay for having set in this kind of a trend and for not having been safety conscious and concentrating only their sales.
As this has become a wide sparead evil and its eradication will upset one and all -- including powerful and influential people, it needs a strong conviction on the part of the Government. It would help the cause if this subject is also dealt with by the Pollution Control Boards of the Governments, who are now experienced and have shown enough maturity in handling the various types of Pollution.
It is TIME to act.
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