Volvo Lights

Sir,

I really feel I must respond, albeit as the Sales Manager of a Volvo dealership and hence an “interested party”, to P. Thomas’ letter in Vol. L11 No. 7, the latest in a long line of fatuous correspondence from various individuals in the motoring press. concerning the “Day Notice” lights fitted to the 1976 Volvo 200 Series.

How many times has the phrase “I didn’t see him” been littered after an accident, how many lives, particularly those of elderly pedestrians, whose eyesight is not what it was, could have been saved if this inexpensive safety device was universally adopted.

Volvo have always been in the forefront of motoring safety—introducing laminated windscreens in 1949 (compulsory in all EEC countries except Britain) and being the first manufacturer to fit three-point seat belts as standard, in 1959 (to become compulsory wear in 1977 it would seem). So, that I fail to see why day-lights should so surprise the Great British Public that they are, on occasions, almost hysterical in their attempts to inform me they are on—thus proving their effectiveness!

What astonishes me even more is the number of times I have been “flashed” in gloomy and wet conditions where, according to the Road Traffic Act, I could he summonsed for not having lights on.

East Molesey D. J. FORD