Sale of Incandescent Bulbs to End on Tuesday?

[Andrew Gabriel]

For those who haven't seen it before, check out

[Big Les Wade]

Steve Walker posted

And then there's the French with their five yellow jackets per car. It won't be many years before they're campaigning to have them inflicted on us too. In revenge I suppose we can insist that they have annual instead of bi-annual MOTs.

[August West]

What? I hired a car in Frnace just last month, and there was no such requirement.

[Dave Liquorice]

Break? I want brake lights to work not break.

I doubt that, the thinking time will still be much longer than the rise time of a brake lamp. Thinking time that may well be longer due to the sharp edge causing dazzle, particularly at night. The abrupt switch is not pleasant and is distracting.

[mkfs.ext4]

On Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:05:22 +0100, I waved a wand and this message magically appears in front of August West:

Furnance? teehee, good 'un!

[Simon Dean]

Then what is it that feels like eye strain?

This health related website would suggest that there is eyestrain.

do you think there there is no such thing as eye strain?

[Andrew Gabriel]

There is such a requirement (IIRC since beginning of this year). However, I know several french drivers, and given the national pasttime for ignoring regulations, non have one.

I've actually kept one in my car for last 20 years or so, and I've put it on when helping out at a couple of accidents in that period. It's not unknown for someone giving first aid at the roadside to be hit by passers-by not concentrating on what they're doing, and a hi-vis reduces that risk.

[tinnews]

I think the requirement for *a* high-visibility vest has been in force for quite some time hasn't it? The change this year is a requirement for more than one of them. .... or have I lost the plot completely?

Does it?

I'm not trying to say it's not sometimes a good idea but research in some cases indicates that high visibility clothing doesn't always make any actual difference.

[Bob Eager]

Sorry, you didn't get it quite right. You have to sign yourself 'dennis'.

[Fevric J. Glandules]

Thinking time starts *after* the rise time. FWIW, 30 mph is 44 feet per second. Incandescent rise times are of the order of a tenth of a second. So your potential stopping distance is of the order of a cars length. But instead of just guessing, we could do some research. Oh, no need, somebody already has.

"reaction times to the alternative brake lamps were faster than to the standard incandescent lamp, with the advantage averaging 166 ms for the LED"

which gives us seven and a bit feet @ 30mph. So "easily a car's length" applies if the car in question is a Peel P50.

Fortunately we have research rather than idle speculation to guide us here. The decrease in reaction time matches the decrease in rise time of the lamp.

Quite right, what you need is some sort of system that makes a mellow bong sound, coughs slightly and murmurs gently "excuse me Sir, but the car ahead appears to be slowing down".

FOR FUCK'S SAKE MAN, IT'S A BRAKE LIGHT, IT'S MEANT TO BE DISTRACTING!

[Steve Walker]

I thought that the idea was that the thinking time was shorter with LED, as the sudden off/on transition is more immediately noticeable than the slower change of an incandescent lamp? But I could be wrong.

SteveW

[Steve Walker]

The hire companies don't necessarily include them. When I checked a couple of weeks ago there was a requirement in France for a vest for the driver, but not for the passengers (just checked again and this is correct from June 2008, but only enforced from October 2008), but some EU countries require one each. The French police apparently have a habit of stopping British cars and fining the drivers if they get out without putting the vest on first.

I've not quite worked out the point of this, as there is no requirement for motorcyclists, cyclists or pedestrians to wear such a vest and on a country road, they are much more vulnerable than a driver at a broken down car with it's hazard lights flashing and warning triangle out!

SteveW

[August West]

They usually include stuff to ensure that their customers don't break the law.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Sounds right from what I recall, and some rule about you must put them on before getting out of the car (so you can't keep them in the boot, unless you can retrieve them from inside the car).

[Steve Walker]

It is apparently very common in France to not include them.

Elsewhere hire companies also do not help their customers to stay within the law, for instance when travelling to Northern Ireland (travelling on into the Republic) and using a Hertz hire car, we found that they cannot provide rear facing child seats, only those suitable for older children - and as the airlines will not allow your own child seat to be carried in the cabin and recommend that they should not be carried in the hold either (due to straps and handles being vulnerable, they will not accept any responsibity for damage), this makes life a little difficult. Maybe other hire companies are better in this respect, but research was impossible at the time, as we only had a few hours between finding that a relative had died, making the bookings and getting on a plane. In the end we chanced the hold.

SteveW

[Clot]

Snap. I also keep one in the driver's door pocket for the same reason and has been used in the same context..

[Clot]

:)

[Fevric J. Glandules]

When travelling with Fevric Jr., and now Fevrica, we've not had a problem checking in the car seat base at no extra charge (with Easyjet). The car seat itself is part of the push-chair arrangement and so goes into the hold at the gate.

Junior is now two so if he wants to come with us next time he'll have to find the money to pay for his own seat on the plane from somewhere.

Fevrica's got another year and a half of freeloading in front of her.

Our local airport has a stand where some guys will wrap whatever you want in umpteen layers of super-strong cling-film for about a fiver.

[The Medway Handyman]

ROFLMAO :-)

[Steve Walker]

Another of my pet hates: we went to Cyprus a few years ago with our two young children, flying from Manchester to Paphos we took the double trolley to the gate and were met with it again at the aircraft steps in Paphos, but on the return journey, the trolley was removed at the aircraft steps and only returned to us at Manchester's baggage reclaim - unfortunately this involved my wife (3 months post c-section and septaceamia and still somewhat weak) and myself (two very dodgy knees) to carry our cabin baggage and both children a significant distance and then stand in a very long queue for passport control before we could get the trolley (at one stage I was trying to carry the bags and both children as my wife could otherwise go no further). This despite informing the travel agent and the airline of our problems in advance and again before boarding - this has since happened at each return that we have made to Manchester and it appears to be Manchester's policy to only return trollies via the normal baggage reclaim (fortunately my knees are a lot better now, but we also have three kids!) That time we only made it as one of the cabin crew saw our plight and carried one child for us - he promptly threw up over her uniform! Their only suggestion was to declare ourselves disabled and book wheelchairs, but we are not and did not need wheelchairs, simply access to our own trolley, as has been provided at other airports.

Useful, but I've not seen anything like that here.

SteveW