Can't You See?

Am I the only one who finds the new LED light bars annoying? The ultra-bright lights, which are great for the driver but not so great for everybody else, are showing up in increasing numbers these days. Why is that a problem? Because these lights are BRIGHT! Blindly so. But I doubt those who have them mounted on their vehicles care what I think.

I wouldn’t mind so much if they used the lights for off-road adventures or at least if they’re going to run them on the road, turn them off when meeting traffic. I’m all for being able to see better but it would be nice if the drivers going the other way could see as well. It seems no one wants to do that.

The other night, I met a pickup with 2 such light bars, one in the grille and one mounted to the top of the cab. AND, the driver was making full use of his LED foglights as well. You’d think with all of that light there would have been no need for the regular headlights but those were on too.

So, it was a little surprising with the road lit up the way it was that the driver of the pickup didn’t see all of the signs that said the lane was ending or the orange and white striped construction barrels. Well, I suppose the driver did see them—eventually. But not before smashing a into a few.

I watched the scene unfold with a slightly amused grin. Traveling in the opposite direction, I didn’t have long to look but I did notice—with satisfaction—the bright illumination on the other side of the freeway suddenly went dark. My grin then turned to a chuckle—score one for the construction barrels! I’m not usually a fan of construction barrels (or construction, for that matter), but in this case, you could say I was rather de-lighted! ~

Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books, including: Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, The Lana Denae Mysteries, and The Wynn Garrett Series. Available in ebook at www.amazon.com/Bruce-A.-Borders/e/B006SOLWQS and paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million.