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The Police used to stop people, so they were both informing people and also making people more vigilant to avoid a ticket or being stopped. I also remember people would pip you at the traffic lights and open their window and tell you, but I think if people did that nowadays, they would get shot, stabbed or otherwise ungrateful response.
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Also some headlamp bulbs can only really be replaced at a dealers, and more often than not theres quite a wait at a main agent for the workshop. My local BMW dealer said the soonest it could fit a car in for an MOT would be in 3 weeks.
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I've found myself getting slacker about doing a walkround once a week to check lights. I think most drivers never look at oil, water or anything else between MoT or annual services.
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<< What used to be "I've a blownheadlght, better sort it when I get home", now becomes something that's put off till the next free weekend.
I think it's because the motoring public wouldn't now buy cars that were like they used to be in the days when it was easy to change a headlight bulb/unit. So you can probably blame it on the motoring public not the manufacturer! What you gain on the swings.......
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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A few years ago a lamp out (front, back or brake) meant a tug from the old bill, with a "blow up the ballon", a producer to deal with, a search of the boot, attitude test and a lecture..
Now? well if your plate comes up on the APNR you may get a tug but thats it. Even speeding is now dealt with several weeks after the crime.
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Yeah. I got pulled, inflated the bag, listened to the lecture, (About why I should not drink and drive) and then they let me drive on with a tail-light out!
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There are more vehicles about with faulty lights nowadays. Afew weeks ago, on the way to work, I estimated that about 25% of the vehicles going the other way had some sort of fault with the front lights. I have also followed a few cars with no brake lights working at all. That is scary until you realise the fault.
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All I can say is I told a lady near me about her broken brake light near me in September 2004...
and its not fixed yet. (I see the car nearly every morning).
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Its just indicative of the general sloppy/ do as I like attitude attitude that seems to prevail these days. More and more do not take their responsibilities seriously and woe betide anyone who would have the audacity to challenge them.
Having said that bulbs out, unless there is a few of them, has never incurred the wrath of the law.
Notwithstanding the bulbs that need the car dismantling to change them, would it not be far more sensible to do as they do abroad and make it compulsory to carry a spare set so that the fault can be immediatly remedied? And then if you havent got a spare you can get nicked. Seems a far more responsible idea to me, but that makes common sense and when did that have any relevence?
Fullchat
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That would be a very sensible idea if they also made a law saying that a bulb must be fitted so that it can be changed in 30 seconds without tools.
Not beyond the wit of mankind, however high tech cars have become.
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There's also the general ignorance of the driving public. How many times have you been on the motorway at night and noticed someone driving on sidelights? They don't realise that they don't even appear in my dim-dip mirror.
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driving on sidelights? appear in my dim-dip mirror.
can i suggest you take your dip dim mirror to the dealer to be repaired?
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Surely a newer car is no more difficult than with a sealed-unit of years gone by, anyway, I reckon most lighting faults are on older cars. It's just general degeneracy of Britain. Their gardens and houses are disgusting, so they aren't going to bother about their cars.
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You've never had to change the bulb on a new Focus then?
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Adam
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A check of the brake lights is a daily event on start up as I can see the reflection of the lights in the gate. Even so a following motorist was kind enough to let me know that only the centre light was operating. Both bulbs had failed within 8 miles. Luckily I carry spares.
Ditto check on rear lights during darkness.
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Interesting thread this one. I actually did a 'mock' presentation during a training course a few weeks ago about 'blown car lightbulbs', trying to win support for the 'mock' invention of a 'WARNING - light blown' gadget (such as the 'Volvo one' mentioned in Thallium's initial post).
The biggest problem is surely that people don't actually know that their lights are not working, esp. those at the rear, or indicator lights.
When going along long stretches of lit-up roads during darkness, eg the M25/A1xyz, drivers may have difficulties even realizing a headlight is blown (which could also explain why you see quite a few cars on the motorways with dipped headlights). And how many people honestly check that all their lights are working, regularly 'enough'?
So wouldn't it be more than just nice, but also make driving at night/during rain etc much safer and less stressful for everyone on our roads, if a 'lightbulb blown' warning gadget became compulsory?
It could be an interesting, probably quite huge project to work out all the details and present it to the car lobbyists/insurance companies/Transport Secretary etc.
Maybe HonestJohn and a few other automotive journalists could throw their 'celebrity' weights in. Make a film out of it and turn it into a big public campaign, similarly to Jamie's 'Feed Me Better' stunt.
Since lightbulbs will keep blowing and replacement cannot be automated in the near-ish foreseeable future, we would only be half way there to solve the whole problem, but at least it would be one step in the right direction.
"Maybe we'd end up somewhere we've never seen before."
Cheers,
MicraMan
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I have bulb failure warning display on the dash of my '98 Mondeo ghia x. Includes side and main headlights, brake and sides at the rear.
For some strange reason though it was dropped altogether from Mondeos on '99 model year.
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Yours is probably the last era of Ford were a Ghia really meant something special Imagos.
My mate's Dad used to have a Scorpio Ghia. It was unbelievable the amount of kit on it. I'm sure it was a 2.9 Cosworth Engine? Every toy you could think of on a car bar sat nav, it had. A warning light for everthing, a button for everything. The works.
My car, a Focus Ghia, has a few toys but no outside temperature, no traction control, no ABS!!!, no rear electric windows, no leather (although I have since seen leather in the same car as mine and it's vomit coloured - probably a lucky escape).
I still love the car though! Bring back the days when Ghia gave you every toy you could think of to distract you when driving. And non of this "Titanium" rubbish!
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Adam
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I followed a Peugeot 406 for about 2 miles last week with the brake lights stuck permanently on.
At the first opportunity I pulled alongside at some lights and put the window down and politely informed the driver. His reply - "go away and mind your own business".
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Yours is probably the last era of Ford were a Ghia really meant something special Imagos.
So true..
Remember that lightbulb failure warning lights is an old idea too.. standard on the 1982 Ford Sierra Ghia. The only thing i can think of for it being dropped from Mondeos is cost cutting by bean counters.
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The XJS has a bulb blown indicator, complete with a code to deduce which bulb it is. If you turn the sidelights on and it goes out after 5 seconds, it's in the lighting up circuit: if it stays on then it's in a safety critical circuit such as brake or indicator.
Only trouble is, the light's on at the moment and as far as I can see, nothing's off - certainly not any exterior bulbs... Oh, Joe Lucas, Prince of Darkness, how we miss you!
O
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Jaguar XJS V12 - comes with free personalised oil tanker.
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The XJS is renown for the "quality" of its electrics.! I seem to recall all the connections are the "bullet" type. If thats your only electrical problem then count your lucky stars!
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