Does anyone know of an easy reversing light upgrade (for a modern-ish car that currently only has a reversing light on one side of the car).
As I am typing, I am thinking of a possible solution (but would like to hear other suggestions)…
At the front of the car I have fitted LED DRL (Daylight Running) / Turn lights.
These plug in in place of the indicator bulbs, and the DRL wires are wired to an ignition switched positive. So, when the engine is running, the LEDs light up bright white, snd when I indicate, they flash amber (with the help of some inline resistors that came with them).
I suppose I could fit another set at the rear, and connect the “White wires” to the wire that feeds the reversing light.
Local auto electrician supplied & fitted reversing sensors for £120. They also sense to the side as I found out when having to park tight up to a hedge.
It's always intrigued me that the UK's Construction and Use regulations don't mandate that if reversing and rear fog lights are fitted, they must be in pairs so a) the fog lights define the width of the vehicle to vehicles that are travelling behind in the fog, as tail lights do when there is no fog; b) the reversing lights illuminate both sides of the road and hedges/walls alongside the road or driveway that you are reversing along.
I find that I have to put my rear fog light on when I am reversing where there are no street lights, to illuminate (albeit with red light) the gateposts/hedges/walls that I am reversing between.
The real problem is that modern cars don't even have a white or red piece of perspex in the light cluster and bulb holder behind it, so it's not just a case of fitting the missing bulbs. In all my previous cars (Renault 5 Mark 1 and 2, VW Golf Mark 2 and 3, Peugeot 306) there were two working reversing lights, and there was a wired bulb holder for the nearside fog light so all you needed to do was to fit the bulb. My present car (Peugeot 308) has only a reversing light on the nearside and only a fog light on the offside (apart from tail/brake/indicator which are paired). So fitting paired lights means drilling into the body work to fit after-market lights, and running wires from the corresponding bulb holder on the opposite side.
Apparently part of the problem is that some countries (I think Germany is one) actually *prohibit* a rear fog light on the passenger's side, and it is easier to make European-spec cars that have no light/bulb-holder/wiring than it is to make a special German version. So we are dragged down to the lowest common denominator. :-(
If you are close enough to need to worry about the width, you probably should be able to see the tail lights.
That is why I suggested a reversing camera. Mine shows much more than I can see with the naked eye with the same amount of light. Parking sensors also help avoid reversing into things.
I was thinking more of judging how far I am from the car in front by seeing the separation of the rear lights, rather than for judging clearance if I want to pass the vehicle.
My experience with parking sensors is that they tell me about the things that I am already aware of but fail to tell me of things that I can't see because they are in the blind spot that is not visible through any of the three mirrors (central rear view mirror, and two door mirrors).
My wife and I have both nudged things at very low speed (concrete bollard two feet high in my case, a telegraph pole in her case) when the parking sensor failed to sound. In both cases, the mark on the bumper is right in front of the sensor - it's as if the sensor can see an object which is left or right of where it is, but can't see an object right in front of the sensor.
Parking sensors on the *corners* of the bumpers, as well as forwards/backwards looking ones, would be very useful, to judge the distance between my left front bumper (or corner of car) and the right rear bumper/corner when parallel parking. When I bought my latest car, I noticed that the bonnet and wings slope away more steeply than on my previous cars. I had to learn where the corners of my car were, given that there wasn't a visible bit of wing that was directly above the extremity. I found a street which had a few spaces for parallel parking and practised when I took the car out for a test drive. The salesman was intrigued when I explained what I wanted to test, but he could see the logic perfectly well. I had the option of having parking sensors fitted as an after-sales option, but when I was told that the sensors only look forwards and backwards, and not at 45 degrees as well, I decided that they were probably not worth the expense.
The reversing camera on my wife's Honda is very useful when I want to get as close to the car behind as I dare when parallel parking, to give me as much distance as possible to straighten up when centralising myself between car behind and car in front. I don't find then as easy as the door mirrors for judging gaps between gateposts and car, but they are useful for centralising left/right between lines in a car park.
The one thing that a reversing camera is no use for, in my experience, is showing the distance between my rear left wheel and the kerb as I reverse into a parallel parking space and need to know "now is the time to swing the front end of the car in, so as to leave the rear tyre an inch or so from the kerb when the car is parallel to it". For that, I use my passenger door mirror, angled downwards to point at the tyre. Some cars even dip that mirror automatically when you go into reverse (a feature which can be turned on or off as required) and then return it to the correct position for normal driving when you come out of reverse.
I wasn't aware that there were cars whose parking sensors don't show side clearance as well. Mine work out to 20cm either side and up to 1m front and rear.
I find the door mirrors better for the car park lines.
I used to have that on my car, but don't miss it now I have the reversing camera.
I fitted a 20 watt led weatherproof work light centrally to the back of my Ifor Williams horse trailer and wired it to the reversing light pin on the connecting flexy cable. It turns night into day behind the trailer when in use. It might not be entirely legal on the road but so far it's only been used in private yards.
Perhaps your sensors aren't as sensitive as mine. I don't get any of your problems. The auto electrician who fitted mine told me that after having had repeated problems with customers who supply their own he now only supplies & fits because he can guarantee the quality.
Coming up behind what I thought was a distant car at night, I was partially judging the distance from the space between the lights. It turned out to be a much closer bicycle, with a second reflector on a stick.
My pet hate (well ,,, one of 1001) are walkers who have a head torch, or even a handheld torch, but which is (_of course_ one of the 100x over-powered LED jobs which turn night to day ... for the restricted cone of their light (thus destroying the user's god-given night-vision). (And that of any other passer-by.)
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Because the said walkers know that their super torch is really blinding, they think that approaching traffic will see them easily. Wrong: the light is blinding alright, so you can literally see it a mile off -- BUT they are a mere pinpoint of light right up until you're on them! You ask yourself, as you approach at 30mph on a pitch black narrow country road, "What is that, ahead? Is it a person? Is it a bicycle? Is it a motorbike? Is it a car with one headlight (oh-so-common since the MOT went down the toilet)." "OK,"you then say to yourself, "the way it's wobbling about it's probably a walker: now WHICH BLOODY SIDE of the road is s/he on?"
The last, because (a) many people walk with their torch pointing behind them, thinking (again) that this gives them immunity, and if they get knocked down, it's the driver's fault (natch). and (b) MANY, MANY, people these days do not know, and are not taught, that they should walk on the right hand side of the road, night or day, so that they can see, gauge, and observe the oncoming traffic! (And so that drivers can see that _they_ have been seen.)
The ONLY way to imrpove your safety if walking at night is to wear a high-viz vest. Now that can also be seen a mile off, but everyone knows instantly what it is.
Ooh yes, Chris -- I forgot this in my burst of temper just now:
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There a car fitted with one of these parked in our Tesco as a pub. stunt. I shouldn't really tell you about it, because I saw it lit up the other day, and it's a MAJOR contributor to the worldwide campaign to eradicate night-time. A real menace i would think.
Yes, it's safer to cross the road before a blind right hand bend, but it
*is* generally safer to walk on the side facing oncoming traffic at other times. I agree with John's comments about super-bright head torches on walkers, runners and cyclists ... especially bad when the owner doesn't consider where to point the beam. Whilst we're having a rant: why do many car drivers think it's OK to wizz past walkers, only giving a couple of feet separation? Treat passing a walker like passing a horse - slow down and give space! Please!
I would agree. But some folk still maintain that walking on the right hand side at *all times* is the only correct way. This dangerous advice needs countering.
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