Is this common?

laois hibby

A friend of my daughter and her boyfriend where involved in a bad accident a couple of weeks ago. They both thankfully survived but are very seriously injured and should make full recoveries.
However the cause of the crash has me astonished.
They were driving at night in the back roads outside our local town when coming up to a cross roads switched off their lights to apparantly see if there was any other lights also coming up to the junction. Because they didn't see any carried on straight across the main road and a mercedes jeep wiped them out.
In my 20 odd years of driving I have never heard of this type of practice but a number of locals in the pub say they do it regularly.
Is it just me or is it quite common do drive so dangerously and stupidly just to save you stopping at a junction and looking properly to see if someone is coming. They could quite easily killed themselves not to mention the car that drove into them.

Dannyboy1987

That is crazy never heard of that before in my life, why would anyone turn off there lights at night on a bad road ?

i just flash with my high beam on or beep the horn

Hope they get better soon silly mistake could of cost them there lives.

Gitb1

Thats an extremely dangerous thing to do. Anytime I've been driving on a backroad in the dark I've always been able to see other cars lights before the car is visible as its usually pretty dark and lights are very noticeable. Maybe the merc was doing the same thing so neither of them saw each other? Thank god they survived though

laois hibby

I can't believe the stupidity but what i can't understand is the locals saying they do it too!

bonzodog2

Its dodgy alright but I know a pub landlord from Co Limerick who used to do it.

Bonito

Never heard of that before. It's an odd one alright. Did the locals tell them to do it or did the driver regularly do it?

Als76

They are very lucky they survived but GITB1 is right you can see lights from another car in dark backroads without the need to drive in the dark with your lights off.

It is a hard way to learn a lesson hope they get better soon.

I think they should bring driving in as a lesson in secondary school.

coolbeans

Yes, the ex girlfriend's dad used to do this in rural Wicklow. The reason being similar to the explanation in the opening post. I reckon it's an aul boy's habit, albeit a suicidal aul boy's habit based on some deeply twisted logic that you're more likely to see the headlamps of a car coming in a direction perpendicular to your own if you turn your lights off. When you think about it it's not surprising really. This is that kind of **** that happens when we don't have a proper driving testing regime, virtually unaccredited "driving instructors", licence amnesties and lax policing of the ROR.

Bonito

Als76 wrote: »

They are very lucky they survived but GITB1 is right you can see lights from another car in dark backroads without the need to drive in the dark with your lights off.

It is a hard way to learn a lesson hope they get better soon.

I think they should bring driving in as a lesson in secondary school.

+1. My sisters school had it but mine didn't. It was part of one of her modules from her transition year.

evolutionqy7

lol never heard any one having such a low amount of common sense..unless hes half blind which he shouldnt be driving then...

people like that should be banned of the road!

Mr Benevolent

WTF? That's nuts. That's one of the reasons our insurance is so high

That said, I never look forward to driving down country lanes at night... I'm half-thinking of using the horn going around every sharp corner.

biko

Yeah, I heard about it. It's also been described on boards once or twice.

coolbeans

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

lol never heard any one having such a low amount of common sense..unless hes half blind which he shouldnt be driving then...

people like that should be banned of the road!

Amen to that! Along with many others too. I think the idea is to avoid having to stop at crossroads...I know, I know...retarded. :eek:

the_barfly1

Never heard of that type of trick for spotting other cars at night, and im from laois too...
From what i heard the car was crossing the junction with the lights still off, and to be honest it does sound more like playing around than a genuine driving habit.
Glad to hear all involved are ok, tough lesson to learn

Carstuck

Thats the oddest 'driving habit' I ever heard! Don't know why people do such stupid acts, its unreal.

kazul

laois hibby wrote: »

but a number of locals in the pub say they do it regularly.

There's your answer, the same brigade who reckon driving with a skinful on board is OK if they're driving a couple of miles home, "shur the car would nearly drive itself it knows the road so well".

The crash victims are potential Darwin Award Winners and I hope they don't even get a whiff of an insurance payout.

Bonito

kazul wrote: »

There's your answer, the same brigade who reckon driving with a skinful on board is OK if they're driving a couple of miles home, "shur the car would nearly drive itself it knows the road so well".

The crash victims are potential Darwin Award Winners and I hope they don't even get a whiff of an insurance payout.

TBH I doubt they'll say they switched their lights off. They probably both have the same story of "We were crossing the junction and the jeep just came out of nowhere, we didn't even see his lights."

kazul

With a bit of luck a sharp-eyed insurance person or garda will read the OP and ask a few questions Shouldn't be too hard to identify the case given the details provided

coolbeans

Driving a car should be seen as a privilege not a bloody right. The licensing regime should reflect this salient fact and therefore the test should be made much, much tougher and more representative of real world driving conditions. The standard of driving here is just abysmal. A-****ing-bysmal.

dirtydiesel

What a stupit thing to do, people cycle in the night and motorbikes use country roads at night.

kyote00

How do they know that there is not some other gob****e coming in the other direction with their lights OFF also.....

Bonito

kyote00 wrote: »

How do they know that there is not some other gob****e coming in the other direction with their lights OFF also.....

Actually, maybe that's why they didn't see the jeep?

shamrock105

Bonito wrote: »

+1. My sisters school had it but mine didn't. It was part of one of her modules from her transition year.

I honestly hope to God you are not confusing the the transition year ECDL "European Computer Driving License" course to an actual driving course because at 15/16 any TY student is too young to sit behind a wheel...:eek:

Bonito

shamrock105 wrote: »

I honestly hope to God you are not confusing the the transition year ECDL "European Computer Driving License" course to an actual driving course because at 15/16 any TY student is too young to sit behind a wheel...:eek:

Most the girls in her year where 17 at the time but yes they were put behind the wheel on private grounds with a course set up where they practiced basic turns, mirrors and signals etc.

Heard of this before, same result, they crashed, the thick bastads thought it was something to boast about, they were after a few pints as well, going back about 12/13 years now I suppose. As well as the lights trick the front passenger was changing the gears :rolleyes:

bladebrew

i have heard of this before, a friends dad said it to him (joking i assume) years ago, i have never heard of anyone trying it in real life until now,
im suprised they admitted doing that though,

challengemaster

Darwinism at its finest :pac:

cabrwab

Bonito wrote: »

yes they were put behind the wheel on private grounds with a course set up where they practiced basic turns, mirrors and signals etc.

I did this in transition year in fairyhouse race coarse, rosemary smith ran the school. The idea was to help teach people basics younger so when they went out on the road they had some basic training, beyond a spin around a car park.
That wasn't today or yesterday either, that was back in 98 i think.

However with out going completely off topic my first reaction was maybe the two of them chanced this mental ness, never heard of this practice before.

I have heard of the one of the guys gloating in the pub after running the car into a ditch someplace.

Sids Not

I'm still tryin to figure out why my comment was removed ,with some others....:mad:

Midnight_EG

More often than not I'll knock my lights either down a peg or else totally off at an extremely bad bend, just to see if lights are visible without my fulls blocking it somewhat. I've always managed to see the lights on the road/wall/bushes and always had mine back on within 1/2 seconds.

Voodoomelon

Unbelievable. Obviously they will more than likely never try this again and lesson is learnt, but if they had killed the other driver it would have been death by dangerous driving, failure to stop at a junction. They should be taken off the road in my opinion.

daveharnett

A while back, this was being done as a dare by the local boy racers here. The difference is that it wasn't a back road, it was across the N21 Newcastlewest-Abbeyfeale. Not a busy N road at night, but still astonishingly stupid.

coolbeans

Midnight_EG wrote: »

More often than not I'll knock my lights either down a peg or else totally off at an extremely bad bend, just to see if lights are visible without my fulls blocking it somewhat. I've always managed to see the lights on the road/wall/bushes and always had mine back on within 1/2 seconds.

That's just silly. Stop being silly. :eek:

Midnight_EG

coolbeans wrote: »

That's just silly. Stop being silly. :eek:

As I said, extreme corners, such as hairpins or chicanes.

U-turn and S-bend for slower people :pac:

coolbeans

Midnight_EG wrote: »

As I said, extreme corners, such as hairpins or chicanes.

U-turn and S-bend for slower people :pac:

It really isn't a good idea...ever!

seanybiker

Bleeding numpty's. Sadly they will get a license again. Hope the poor chap that hit into the dopes gets every penny out of them.

argosy2006

seanybiker wrote: »

Bleeding numpty's. Sadly they will get a license again. Hope the poor chap that hit into the dopes gets every penny out of them.

looks like poor chap was playing same game,,had his lights off,, if everyone local does it then it was bound to happen at some stage that they would hit,
its kinda beyond stupid, i mean what if a guy on a bicycle was at crossroads, would they just plough him down cause they were to busy to stop and look, wow i saved 5 seconds at that crossroad coz i turned off my lights,, now i can used that 5 secs to.................... gods knows

dirtydiesel

What part of the country did this happen in? just so the rest of us who do travel country roads at night know when we arrive in bandit county to be aware of the danger.

-Chris-

Sids Not wrote: »

I'm still tryin to figure out why my comment was removed ,with some others....:mad:

Because it quoted an "unsavory" post.

If you have an issue with moderation, please PM the mod who did it (or any of us if you don't know who it is).

Padraig Mor

Yeah, lots of people do it out from where my wife's from. ****ing stupid hicks.

Theta

Heard of people doing this down in Cavan alright.

kazul

Midnight_EG wrote: »

More often than not I'll knock my lights either down a peg or else totally off at an extremely bad bend, just to see if lights are visible without my fulls blocking it somewhat. I've always managed to see the lights on the road/wall/bushes and always had mine back on within 1/2 seconds.

That is one of the most idiotic posts I have read in a long time. Cop yourself on, you share the roads with other people :mad:

KamiKazi

Fvcking gob****es :eek:

How do these people get licences?

wyrn

I've never heard of this. I have heard of flashing lights and beeping the horn.

What I can't understand (apart from turning off the lights) is if they were that injured surely the other vehicle must have been travelling at speed. It seems like neither of them crawled through the crossroads.

Thank goodness they are ok.

Noffles

The "how they do things in the country" comes to mind.... they do it badly and stupidly... maybe a few more doing this will rid them of the roads.... apologies if it comes across a tad harsh but come on.. turning off lights to not stop at a junction, how ****ing thick can these poxy red necks get????

coolbeans

It's nothing to do with rednecks as you so diplomatically put it. It's all about the State's failure to regulate driving "instructors", the licencing regime and policing.

Noffles

coolbeans wrote: »

It's nothing to do with rednecks as you so diplomatically put it. It's all about the State's failure to regulate driving "instructors", the licencing regime and policing.

Ah right, silly me, it's nothing to do with the people who do this then....

Davidth88

I actually cannot believe what I am reading here

People actually think it's a good idea to switch your lights off when going round bends to see other cars .

Sure if we all did that , then the car in the other direction would have it's lights off too

I wish I was a traffic cop sometimes !!

-Chris-

I'm actually going to close this thread, as there's no form of discussion going on here at all, merely abuse or minor rants.