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Letter: Drivers, your headlights should be on during inclement weather

I live in Stagecoach. On Wednesday, Dec. 14., I had just returned from a trip to Steamboat Springs and was driving back in a major snowstorm where you could barely see the roadway. Colorado Highway 131 was very slippery. But the point of this letter is the hazard posed to me by people driving in fog and a snowstorm without their headlights on.

Let me be clear: Daytime running lights are not enough. So-called “parking lights” are not enough. If lights are needed due to inclement weather, they should be full headlights. And what’s with law enforcement? I encountered Steamboat Springs Police Department cruisers and Routt County Sheriff’s Office trucks without their headlights on. Shouldn’t these organizations be modeling road safety?

I just don’t understand the issue. We use headlights in bad weather to make us more visible, not so we can see better. For me, not turning on your headlights in bad weather — snow, rain or fog — is like giving the finger to our community. At least one-third of all the vehicles I encountered that day did not have their headlights on.



Are those people really unconcerned about the safety of others? My safety? Are we not all in this together? Many of these cars contain moms, dads and kids! I believe that on the first drop or flake, full headlights should be required. I believe that commercial and government vehicles should have headlights on at all times.

If you agree, write your state representatives. In the meantime, please respect your neighbors enough to turn on your headlights in bad weather. A good rule is that if you need to use your windshield wipers in any way, your headlights should be on — your regular headlights.



Howard Bashinski

Oak Creek


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