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Rear lights needed through tunnel

Editor: People who have followed the Council of Canadians' involvement in the fight to stop the South Fraser Perimeter Road will know I'm not a big fan of highways.

Editor:

People who have followed the Council of Canadians' involvement in the fight to stop the South Fraser Perimeter Road will know I'm not a big fan of highways. Nevertheless, like most of us I commute to my job in Vancouver; just trying to be more environmentally responsible by using two wheels instead of four.

As noted in a recent letter from Doug Massey regarding the tunnel named after his father, even cars with automatic front headlights don't illuminate the rear lights unless manually turned on. This is especially problematic if being followed by a motorcyclist who cannot simply slip off their tinted goggles and put them back on as they exit the tunnel.

The poor lighting in the tunnel combined with cars without their rear lights on makes it much more difficult to see the car ahead and accurately judge the separating distance.

Even while extending the space between myself and the car ahead I also partly remedy the situation by turning on my high beams. This lights up the reflectors many cars have on their back end and provides some level of comfort and safety.

Some automobile drivers who are not completely oblivious notice this and turn on their lights to which I reciprocate by switching back to my low-intensity running light.

This is a rare occurrence that makes me wonder why most drivers do not follow what they should have learned when they got their licence: alert drivers regularly move their eyes around, including quick scans of the rear view and side mirrors, so they are always aware of what is behind or coming up beside them.

All to say I hope you are one of those better and more courteous drivers who turns on their lights as directed when entering the tunnel. Along with refraining from tailgating or illegally changing lanes in the tunnel this will reduce or hopefully eliminate the periodic incidents when someone is injured or killed in those otherwise inexplicable tunnel accidents.

Of course, the situation would be greatly improved if the provincial government spent a little to improve visibility in the tunnel as previous writers have suggested - instead of wasting billions on an un-needed and un-wanted freeway.

Robert Ages