Cars: Headlight Glare Debate

Full Debate: Read Full Debate
Department: Department for Transport

Cars: Headlight Glare

Lord Tunnicliffe Excerpts
Monday 30th January 2023

(1 year, 9 months ago)

Lords Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)
- View Speech - Hansard - - - Excerpts

My noble friend is quite right. One should not drive at another car with full-beam headlights on; it is right that they are dimmed. However, many vehicles nowadays have a manual system for levelling the aim of headlights; the problem is that not enough vehicle owners know how to use it. That is why we asked the UNECE to look very closely at the automatic systems that are available to see whether that would help.

Lord Tunnicliffe Portrait Lord Tunnicliffe (Lab)
- View Speech - Hansard - -

My Lords, I return to the point on road markings and cats’-eyes. An awful lot of road junctions have become increasingly complex. Good road marking is crucial to finding your way around them, but it usually seems to be only white lines on dark surfaces, and there seems to be a world shortage of white paint. Over and over again, the best you can see is a shadow during the day; at night, particularly when it is wet, you are all alone trying to navigate the complexity.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)
- View Speech - Hansard - - - Excerpts

My Lords, the Government set out guidelines for local authorities on road markings and all sorts of different things on the streets. We are currently looking at revising these but, of course, for most roads across the country, it is for local authorities to make sure that they are marked up appropriately.