CYCLISTS' REAR-LIGHTS
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Mr. F. M. Ede considers that motorists are under no obligation to drive within the limits of the lights they employ because the law compels motorists to carry rear-lights. Has he forgotten that the law does not insist on compulsory rear- lights for pedestrians, cows, and other legitimate users of the road ? What is to be the position of pedestrians if every motorist drives straight ahead, whether he can see or no, where there is no red light visible Nile law on cyclists' reflectors commands respect as the outcome of expert investi- gation following fierce controversy. The law on motorists' rearlights is an anomaly which no one seems to have challenged. The roads would be safer if all red lights of every kind were legally prohibited.
A cyclist's standard rear reflector is clearly visible at a range of 100 yards by the light of car sidelights alone. Mr. Ede's remarks on dipping headlights and the principles of elementary physics would appear to have little application.
Finally, the roads are paid for by the ratepayers primarily, motorists' taxes going partly to the Exchequer and partly to the concrete racing tracks dubbed "road improvements." Motorists have no right to push off the roads other users who
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