You Hit A Car At Night With No Headlights On, And? (vehicles, right turn)
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Last year someone I know made a left turn and hit an oncoming car without headlights on. No streetlights, it was a rural two-lane road.
Reminds me of driving across Montana at night on I-90.
Nothing but the road and my headlights... and complete and total darkness. That would be the time I'd run across someone without headlights on... given my luck.
Generally, you hit them and it is your fault. They hit you, it is their fault. There are exceptions, but they can be hard to prove. I do not think headlights are an exception. If you pull out in front of them and there is no room for them to stop, it will probably be your fault.
My mother was turning left when she was hit by a truck with no lights on. He turned his lights on right after, and the police officer didn't believe that he had been driving without them. It was a very dark road and it was back when headlights were not nearly as efficient.
I was taught that when encountering someone with out lights after dark, the other driver(s) should flash their lights at the benighted one to remind them to turn on their lights - but lately, this seems ineffective in catching the attention of the light-less drivers. Do they not know this "signal"? Are they DWI? Texting? Or just oblivious, as well as literally in the dark?
I always thought the signal was to turn your lights off then on quickly. Maybe they are confused by a brights flash which typically means a speed trap is ahead?
Thanks for all the responses. Nowadays, I'm much more vigilant, on the lookout for cars without headlights when I turn right onto this major street I use, so often, when going to work, as I work the nightshift, leaving home after dark, as I would have little recourse if there were an accident.
On the Las Vegas Strip here, with the blazing lights at night, which can make it seem like daylight, it's not uncommon to see cars without headlights in that area of town at night, as I've been guilty of that myself, leaving a casino parking ramp.
My mom and I got into a big debate last night when one of my neighbors were turning into their driveway facing me in my side of the road, and I had to wait for them to turn in their driveway with their lights on, and my mom said they should have turned their headlights off, and I said no, you never drive without your headlights on and she kept insisting that they should not have had their lights on facing me, and I still argued that yes, they should never turn off their headlights at night for any reason. Am I not Right?, I'm sure she is wrong about that!! Please respond....
In theory, lights should always be on in running situations, but it is also a common courtesy to briefly switch to parking lights, in a situation where you believe your headlights would blind another person using the road.
For that reason, in some countries (like UK), you do not drive with headlights on in densely populated urban areas where there is sufficient street-lighting to create ambient light -- but I'm not sure if it is illegal. Even traffic signs are lighted, for this reason. It is considered that the glare of oncoming headlights reduces safety more than enhancing it.
Europe has always been different from the USA in this respect. Things have probably changed in recent years, but in some countries, the typical practice was, when two cars would meet on the road, they would both turn off their lights and pass each other with parking lights, to avoid blinding each other.
Back to the original thread, there are lots of things that would not normally have headlights on. Trash cans, sheep, parked cars, construction equipment, children playing, black helicopters, Stonehenge. You're still not supposed to hit them, and that is the reason you DO have headlights on. Your fault, in practice,if not in law.
If the other driver does not have his lights on, it is presumably because there is still some ambient light for visibility -- dusk or street lighting. Nobody would drive around without lights where it is so dark that you cannot see him at all. and your own headlights should have warned you of his presence. Unless you were stopped and he ran into you,, and then headlights would not be his defense, either.
So if this happens in a city, chances are the car drove by a business (or home) which had video cameras also covering the street. Proof!
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