If you forget to turn your headlights on when driving, not only are putting yourself at risk of not being seen, but you are also preventing yourself from seeing what’s in front of you.
LAFAYETTE, La. (KADN) - If you forget to turn your headlights on when driving, not only are putting yourself at risk of not being seen, but you are also preventing yourself from seeing what’s in front of you.
“Nobody wants to drive in a dangerous condition and when you are driving without headlights, you are driving a very, very dangerous and vulnerable position to you and to other vehicles,” Ashley Moran, a representative of the Acadiana Planning Commission, said.
Without headlights, you are less likely to see pedestrians and traffic signs.
“With all the striping, all the lane markers that we have (they are) glass beads in them and they help increase what we call retro-reflectivity. They pick up the reflection from the glass beads and it helps you stay in your proper lane, helps you know when you're coming to a crosswalk or stop bar at an intersection,” Moran added.
The easiest way to ensure that your headlights on are always on, is by making sure your switch is on auto.
“You can just run them all the time and it's really good because you know we can have like a foggy day you might need that extra illumination and it you know it helps other drivers see you on the roadways,” she added.
If you don’t have your headlights on, you put yourself at risk at being pulled over.
“It is a law that you know that you have your headlights on from dusk and also at dawn,” Derek Senegal, a trooper from the Louisiana State Police, said.
And if you are pulled over, Trooper Senegal says you more than likely will receive a ticket.
“It could be less than $100 could be more than $100, maybe a couple of $100 but I don't think anything is worth something simple like that is worth getting a citation,” he added.
State police wants to remind drivers that if your windshield wipers are on then your headlights should be on.
