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Would your car pass the winter test? Cops crack down on drivers
DRIVERS have been urged to get their vehicles ready for winter after a survey showed many motorists were breaking the law.
Checks by Calderdale Council road safety officers found that seven out of every 100 motorists were driving illegally by not ensuring their car lights were working properly and by using fog lights in clear conditions.
The most common faults found were faulty headlights, side and brake lights.
Many more, although working, were badly adjusted which can cause serious glare problems for drivers in front of them.
Kate Marsh, Calderdale Council road safety officer, said: "It is an offence to use fog lights except where visibility is seriously reduced, which is generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres.
"It is often the young drivers who are likely to use them during hours of darkness. Used in the wrong conditions fog lights can and do cause dazzle and reduce the effectiveness of brake lights – this puts other road users at risk.
"In icy or snowy weather you must be able to see, so clear all snow, ice and condensation from all your windows, lights and number plates."
Sergeant Garry Alderson, Calderdale's roads traffic policing manager, advises motorists to check their lights this winter.
He said: "Don't be one of the hundreds of motorists who will be pulled over for having either defective lights or for the inappropriate use of fog lights.
"It's so simple to check and rectify lighting faults on your car. Doing so could prevent one of the many collisions caused by poor attention to basic maintenance."
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Weather for Halifax
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light sleet
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Light snow
Temperature: -6 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South east
