VEHICLE LIGHTING NOT GOOD ENOUGH—A.A.
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A NATIONAL survey by the Auto(k mobile Association into vehicle lighting has revealed that only about 62 per cent of the traffic on the roads after dark is properly lit.
The survey was carried out by a special team of A.A. observers at 144 locations throughout Great Britain. Some 14,500 vehicles of every type were checked and • 5.555 (about 38 per cent, or more than one in three) were faulted under one or other of the following headings:—
No lights; one sidelight only; one rear fight only: one brake light only (where two were fitted); no light on number plate; dim light on number plate making it unreadable; number plate unreadable because of dust and/or mud.
The A.A. observers who carried out 1)20 the survey reported that a large percentage of poorly-lit vehicles were lorries and commercial vans. One report—from Sussex—said that four out of five unreadable number plates were on commercial vehicles and that two out of three commercial vehicles had no rear number plate light. Lorries were also found to be the chief offenders among vehicles with only one side or rear light.
An A.A. spokesman said: "Although only 71 vehicles were without any lights at all, 1,811 showed no light on the rear number plate and another 1,143 displayed a light so dim that the plate was unreadable. More than 1,000 of the 14,500 had only one rear. light or one brake light working and a further 443 one sidelight only. Dust or mud obscured the rear plates of 1,022 vehicles.