Modern Vespa

We've had rain in New England 26 days this June, now July is starting out the same way.

What gets me upset is the high proportion of cars and truck driving around in bad conditions with their lights out, rendering them almost invisible until you're really, really close. I'm riding to work just after dawn and I've had some uncomfortable moments as a shape suddenly coalesces in my path.

What makes it worse is the fact that nowadays the most popular colors for vehicles are "Rainy-Mist Gray" and "Road". My dad had a 1960 Galaxie 500 that was two-tone salmon pink and white with huge swaths of chrome. I bet I'd see that through the mist!!

P.

I was just thinking about this. We got rain this week for the first time in a while. The majority of people didn't seem to have any lights on. Some had their daytime running lights on though. However, the rear lights do not come on with these, so you can't see people in front of you through the rain or road mist. It's actually illegal in Texas to drive in the rain without your headlights on, and daytime running lights do not count. Please put on your headlights, everyone, when you are caging it.

It's illegal here too, but what can I say.

P/

and scooting

That happens in Florida too and I don't know how people don't know about turning lights on when it rains. It rains all the time here. The other day I flashed my high beam lights at cagers without their lights on and not one of them got the clue. Oh, well; I guess they are the same drivers that can't find the turn signal either.

To bad they don't make it mandatory in all states to have your lights on at all times. Amazing how much you notice anything with a light on with or without rain. I had the exact opposite thing happen to me this winter. As i entered the freeway in the pouring rain i passed a motorcycle that was gray and the guy had nothing high vis on him or the bike. Even his lights seemed dull. Weird. I made a mental note to keep an eye for him since he was cutting in and out of lanes. I caught him in my blind spot as i was getting in the lane to exit Watched the evening news to see if he made it but i guess he did since it wasn't on. Whats worse is the fog you guys have. Be careful out there.

Actually, I believe new cars in the US are now sold with a set of headlights on all the time. I'm not sure when the change was made. Problem is with older cars. They are all grandfathered in with no requirement for daytime running lights.

Interestingly, here in California we now have a law that requires lights to be on whenever it is raining no matter when your car was purchased.

Oye...

I read "Bad weather and unlit cigars"...

solution is the same, set one end on fire.

Those laws are pretty common, doesn't mean anybody is paying attention.

BTW the required "Daytime Running Lights" do you no good if your coming onto a vehicle from the side or the back.

P.