Lights Out.

[steve austin]

Dear reader. Here in Lowestoft in Nth Suffolk, the local authority has decided it was a good idea to extinguish the street lights on non main roads after midnight. Waking up yesterday morning, my lovely old clunge magnet was minus a mirror. Have any other local authorities done the same? Has it had a detrimental effect on your clunge mobile? Bloody penny pinching is costing me (Joe Public) a lot. BTW, Merry xmas to the scumbag chav who swiped my mirror (minus stem). I hope santa shits down your chimney, kicks yer staffy in the bollocks and shags yer chavvy girlfriend and brings you the gift of herpes you lager swilling, cannabis smoking ARSEHOLE. May your babies walk backwards for 10 generations.....................INNIT BLUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

If it makes you feel any better, we've lost a wing mirror, had a windscreen smashed and a car spray painted outside our house and the road's lit up like they're about to host the Olympics on it.

[Father Ted]

Wing mirrors x Shitloads over the years

Tyres x 2

Hubcaps x2

Fiesta 1.1 popular Plus x1

Honda C-90 x1

BMX bike x1

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Fiesta 1.1 popular Plus x1

 

Our neighbours had one of them go missing (also from under a streetlight)

[eddyramrod]

In answer to the original question: I don't think they do any longer, but Formby certainly used to turn off the lights in side roads. In 1980 I was seeing a girl who lived there, in a gorgeous house on the seaward side of the railway, on what I would have described as a main road. Many a time I found myself parked at her kerb in total blackness. Living just up the road in Southport, I was spoilt, there was a streetlamp right outside our house! You've seen it on some of my photos. It was hardly ever out.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I sometimes cycle down a street which has just had their orange streetlights replaced with white ones. Makes you depressed going back into the orange after that, the new ones are great.

[maxpower]

put in a claim for a sprained ankle which you twisted in a pothole due to poor street lighting... you will soon find that they would rather have streetlights than compensation claims

[Father Ted]

I sometimes cycle down a street which has just had their orange streetlights replaced with white ones. Makes you depressed going back into the orange after that, the new ones are great.

Please tell me you DONT have one of those annoying and frankly illegal flashing white LED lights on the front of your bike?

There is one bloke who I pass every morning on the way to work who has 3 of these (2 on bike 1 on head) and they make me want to mow him down.

Are you in a discotheque? Are you at an illegal rave? Are you at Tokyo Joes? I yell at him as I go past?

NO you are fupping not - so go down to Halfords and buy a proper light.

[dollywobbler]

Get with the times Ted! Flashing lights were made legal for bicycles back in 2005. Why anyone would want one on the FRONT of their bike is beyond me. I prefer to have continuous light when I'm trying to see where I'm going. Fact is though that flashing lights do make it easier to spot a bike, so I think they're a good idea.

 

I also think turning street lights off at night is a good idea. Perhaps that's because my village only has three street lights, and these long seem to have turned off at midnight. Some counties here in Wales seem to have found a compromise with dimming the lights at night.

[Cheggers]

Get with the times Ted! Flashing lights were made legal for bicycles back in 2005. Why anyone would want one on the FRONT of their bike is beyond me. I prefer to have continuous light when I'm trying to see where I'm going. Fact is though that flashing lights do make it easier to spot a bike, so I think they're a good idea.

 

I also think turning street lights off at night is a good idea. Perhaps that's because my village only has three street lights, and these long seem to have turned off at midnight. Some counties here in Wales seem to have found a compromise with dimming the lights at night.

 

Flashing rear & solid front for me!!!

 

 

 

 

Bike lights, that is

[kinkersaab]

living up here we are pretty safe, with little crime or vandalism to speak of. I have only ever had one car stolen by someone i dont know. That was my Renault 25 which i still have, it was taken a couple of years ago, and they ran about in it and brought it back. They did take my sweets from the glovebox though, and didnt leave the keys anywhere i could find them. True story!

[barefoot]

They adjusted our street lights a while back, supposed to go off at midnight back on at 05:00.

What actually happened was, light came on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on,off, on off, etc.

until about half past seven when it gave up the ghost completely.

Excellent, it's right outside our bedroom window & we could go to bed with the curtains open all through the summer month.

Quite exciting it being pitch black outside the door as well, not been knocked by canvassers in months.

Now though, bloke* down the street (who spends 6 months in Spain) complains & they get put right - bumholes.

 

 

 

*on a different tack, this chap recently traded in his 51 plate Laguna when a front spring broke for a Seat Exeo.

speaking to him later, Laguna - one owner, 30,000 miles!

[M'coli]

Re: flashing bike lights - it's always been legal to have them flashing if they're on the rider, but needed to be non-flashing (and indeed, to have a wire filament in the late 90s) on the bike.

[Father Ted]

Fact is though that flashing lights do make it easier to spot a bike, so I think they're a good idea.

 

I have no qualms with flashing red rear lights and agree with what you are saying up to a point, but a nice hi-viz with scotchbrite stripes is equally as noticeable in the dark when the car headlights catch them.

[binhoker668]

Classic track.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I sometimes cycle down a street which has just had their orange streetlights replaced with white ones. Makes you depressed going back into the orange after that, the new ones are great.

Please tell me you DONT have one of those annoying and frankly illegal flashing white LED lights on the front of your bike?

 

Ha, no. Although I wish I'd bought one instead of the battery drainer traditional type.

 

Edit: I have an LED back light, but I don't have it on flashing. What if the following driver's blinking perfectly syncs with the flashing light and he runs me over?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

BICYCLE LIGHTS 'FLASHING OR NOT' THREAD SHOCKER, THOUSANDS JOBLESS

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I did try and inject some fascinating SABRE-esque streetlight chat.

[steve austin]

So it seems the debate goes on. I spoke to the local constabulary and they said there was no marked increase in theft and vandalism due to the lights going out after midnight, although the PCSO I know said a lot of crimes dont get officially reported and are only given to him as a gripe. I report everything if only to let the police see where the problem area's are. As for flashing lights on bikes, try living in Lowestoft, the cyclists dont seem to know what lights are for, including red traffic lights. Nearly took a cyclist out the other night when pulling away (after midnight!) and the dozy chav didnt even have any. But it must have been my fault as apparently I was a "f*ckin blind tosser" whatever that is? Ha ha ha ha!

[John F]

Another classic track...