A leading tyre manufacturer is advising motorists not to wait until darkness to turn on their lights.
Tom Dennigan of Continental Tyres Ireland commented: "A lot of newer cars come with day-time running lights (DTRLs ) as standard, this means they have lights on once the engine is running even during daylight time. This is a huge boost to road safety as the old adage for pedestrian safety: 'Be safe, be seen' is equally true for motorists and other road-users.
"However, there is a significant amount of older vehicles on our roads and many of these cars and vans do not have daytime running lights, so for the drivers of those vehicles our advice is to drive with dipped headlights all day long. If motorists take this small step of always driving with their lights on, day and night, we believe it would be a huge boost to road safety."
The issue of visibility is a leading contributory cause to road accidents in Ireland. Poor lighting outside of built up areas and bad road conditions compound this problem. Continental Tyres Ireland is urging Irish motorists to make an extra New Year resolution to always drive with headlights on.
Mr Dennigan added: “While we are encouraging drivers to keep their lights on, I am also making an appeal to the many motorists who mistakenly leave their fog lamps on when there is no fog. I think many motorists consider fog lamps as part of their front headlamps and they drive with them on far too regularly.
"Driving with fog lamps on when there is no fog is dangerous as they can dazzle all other road users. I even think some motorists think that their car looks more ‘sporty’ with fog lamps on but I would say to them, you are endangering other road users so please turn them off when there is no fog!”
The advice in relation to driving with lights on all day and encouraging the correct use of fog lamps is part of Continental Tyre Group's commitment to its 'Vision Zero' strategy, a long term commitment to reduce accidents through tyre technologies and innovative automotive systems.
