If this winter’s weather has revealed anything it is an alarming decline in the state of our vehicle fleet.
Short daylight hours means we are more likely to be driving in total darkness or at least fading light at either end of the day.
These trips indicate there are an alarming number of vehicles on the road with only one headlight, and not all of them are older models. Many seen on State Highway 1 are large trucks.
If so many vehicles have such an obvious fault, it makes you wonder what other failings lie unseen.
It is now two years since the longer Warrant of Fitness periods were introduced, and we might be seeing the effects on the roads now.
Tyre repairers are reporting customers turning up to replace tyres with virtually no tread, something that would have been detected during more frequent checks.
Six-month WOF periods were too short for newer models, but maybe the current regime is too relaxed.
That doesn’t explain the number of large trucks on the highways with just one fully-functioning headlight. Like the vast majority of cars, most trucks on the road are more than adequately lit up for driving in the dark. But it is alarming to see a single light emerging from the distance is not a motorbike but a huge truck and trailer unit.
A Driven team member noticed the problem driving through a pea soup fog on the Desert Rd this week, while others have seen it on both highways and even in the central city.
Our readers are among the most likely to ensure their vehicles are well maintained for winter motoring, but too many others are neglecting the most basic checks.