The light can be bad some times.

[jaxs]

What this wash you're on about? When you live a few miles away from pavement all vehicles are the color of the gravel road before you get out of the driveway. I own a black SUV, well beige it is.

You can tell alot about a man by what concerns him. Just be kind and pretend what they say is important,all of us will get there,some sooner than others.

 

[RolandW]

I was coming down my hill today, and some folks, working on a neighbor's project, had parked in the shaded part of the road on a narrow corner and they both had black cars. I could not see them at all given the angles of sunlight. I could only detect them because of the many times I had done this corner, and something was off. I didn't know what was off, just that something was not right. So I braked hard and then saw the cars, in the road. If I didn't know the usual signs, of the road, I would have slammed into one of the cars.
I stopped and said, I can't see you parked here in the shade. And they were very nice, and said, they didn't know they were invisible. and moved the cars soon after. No one was at fault here. They didn't know the cars, as parked, were invisible given the light conditions, so I'm not mad at them. Yet, this is how accidents happen.

Well done! While it's pretty dumb to park a black car in the shade on the traveled part of a road, as a driver it is always your responsibility not to hit stuff that's in front of you. If everybody had that attitude – and your attentiveness – there would hardly be any wrecks.
For a few years I cut the grass at my Dad's farmstead nearby, so I had to drive my big lawnmower, which maxes out around 5 mph, over the county road to get there. It's lightly traveled, but now that it is paved people go way too fast. I was always scared to death that somebody wouldn't see me in the shadows, so I would avoid going out there in full sunshine.

 

[oosik]

I've had the same problem but with deer. Driving in the early morning or evening. They can be incredibly difficult to see. Especially when roadside brush and trees create alternating shade and bright areas across the road.

 

[barts]

Keep in mind that as we get older our eyes don't react as quickly to changes in brightness, and many of us begin to develop cataracts. These effects can make it more difficult to safely drive roads with deep shadows and bright sun; younger drivers with better vision may not perceive this as an issue at all. Driving with the headlights & driving lights on so other cars reflectors stand out and slowing down to give one more time to react can help, but avoiding such conditions where possible is the best bet.

 

[droy]

Fall of 2000 going to work early one morning, deer jumped onto wife’s car, landing on the windshield & roof; that afternoon dealer called to tell us her new (ordered) car had arrived. The following week when leaving my workplace, I nailed a nice nine point with my Dodge p/u. The rut was on in south Texas! btw, neither deer had headlights nor flashers on.
Actually witnessed an inattentive motorist crash into a State Trooper parked inside of a closed for construction traffic coned section of a four lanes roadway. Trooper was facing oncoming traffic with headlights AND blinkies on. Rather than rear end the “slowed for construction“ vehicles in her lane, the woman dodged into the closed lane & rammed the State Trooper head on. Luckily she was almost at a stop when she collided, only major damage was to one unfortunate orange barrel, minor injuries / damages to both drivers and vehicles. Anyone want to guess where her attention was focused? She owned up to it.

 

[RolandW]

Fall of 2000 going to work early one morning, deer jumped onto wife’s car, landing on the windshield & roof; that afternoon dealer called to tell us her new (ordered) car had arrived. The following week when leaving my workplace, I nailed a nice nine point with my Dodge p/u. The rut was on in south Texas! btw, neither deer had headlights nor flashers on.
Actually witnessed an inattentive motorist crash into a State Trooper parked inside of a closed for construction traffic coned section of a four lanes roadway. Trooper was facing oncoming traffic with headlights AND blinkies on. Rather than rear end the “slowed for construction“ vehicles in her lane, the woman dodged into the closed lane & rammed the State Trooper head on. Luckily she was almost at a stop when she collided, only major damage was to one unfortunate orange barrel, minor injuries / damages to both drivers and vehicles. Anyone want to guess where her attention was focused? She owned up to it.

The only legitimate excuses I can think of for hitting something that's in front of you are a sudden physical impairment or an animal darting into the road. Otherwise, it's always the driver's responsibility to keep his vehicle on the road and not hit anything. If you can't see what's ahead because of a hill, curve, or other obstruction, then you have to slow down and be ready to stop. This is the professional attitude that is sorely lacking nowadays even among those who are paid to drive. I am responsible for what my vehicle does, period.

 

[lman]

You are also responsible for not parking your vehicle on the roadway.

 

[RolandW]

You are also responsible for not parking your vehicle on the roadway.

Yes, but anybody who hits a parked vehicle by definition does not have his vehicle under control, and failing to keep his vehicle under control is the wimpiest thing a driver can do.
Too much emphasis is placed on the responsibility to stay out of other people's way. If that is the main focus, it will never work. There are times when it simply cannot be done. Lots and lots of times. What if there's a wreck ahead and no way for you to get around it? What if the cops are demanding that you "park" right there, in the middle of the road?
Only amateurs whine constantly about people getting in their way. The professional attitude is that no matter what happens in front of me, I am responsible for not hitting anything. If everybody had that in mind, wrecks would practically be a thing of the past. I've mentioned two exceptions, and I would add mechanical failure, although the condition of the vehicle is also the driver's responsibility. Are there others? I can't think of any.
(Edited for punctuation)

 

[JasperFrank]

I'm on many sites that are focused on motorcycles, as I am an avid rider. When ever I see a Vid post of someone driving on faith, ie, going faster then they could possibly react to, I'll give a reply that they are doing something irresponsible. On a track, and racing, is a totally different thing then when on pubic roads. Driving on a public road is a job that takes full concentration. You always have to think about what your stopping distance is. And in the PNW, you have to think about what your hydroplaning speed is, and where you are, cause the roads will get very wet. On I5, I've been passed many times, by someone one going 90 MPH in the wet, and then I see them all messed up, later on, cause they didn't know where the road flooded. That wasn't an accident: That was carelessness. As the trucks and SUVs got bigger, I think people got more careless thinking these huge vehicles could some how evade the laws of physics.

 

[Gregster613]

I'd bet that the majority of emergency vehicle hits are at night and due to excessively bright whiz-bang lighting. How anyone can expect someone to stare into a tig torch yet not suffer night blindness is inconceivable to me, but not to the policy wonks who mandate it.
Agreed on the parking in traffic lanes; I keep things trimmed back so you could get a three axle tractor off the road, but some idiots think that if they get a wheel off the pavement they'll be stuck or something.

I definitely agree with the "excessively" bright whiz-bang lights!! Those are my main headaches about driving at night, especially when the knuckle-head doesn't dim them while approaching.
Just frustrating!!