Mr Morton noticed the missing lights after waving his children off to school the following morning. He had filled the car full of items for the tip - a trip that will now have to wait until the lights are replaced. But at more than £300 each Mr Morton is furious. "We live in this comfy little place that's as safe as houses," he said.
"I was just gobsmacked. My wife couldn't believe it. I thought it was a prank at first as the light units are child's play to take out. But the joke was on me. Dorset Police too were baffled given the very low crime rate in the area. Whilst I support the idea of street lights being switched off late at night, it has created a massive window of opportunity for thieves.
"When the police came along they were really surprised because they never get calls down here but someone obviously saw the opportunity. I don't know if this is a general trend to half-inch them for spares. The police have advised me to install CCTV cameras. I'm reticent to do it but I have to consider it. I think they're invasive but it's a sign of the times I guess."
6 comments:
For some time I've noticed the trend towards ever-fancier headlight and taillights.
Geez. Who remembers when replacement headlights were $2.50 ($5 for the dual-beams) and you could pop them in and out in under 5 minutes?
Is there _really_ any visibility benefit to the newer headlamps? Does anyone know?
Lurker111
I wonder if these were some of those obnoxious lights and if this was a neighbor who got tired of them being beamed at them.
One time I was parked in a covered garage in Cambridge. One tire was taken along with my windshield wipers and my side indicator lights. Of course, it wasn't raining when I was in there, but poured once I left the garage. It was one of those days that got worse as the day went along.
"Is there _really_ any visibility benefit to the newer headlamps? Does anyone know?
Lurker111"
Yes. I fully understand they can be blinding and obnoxious to oncoming drivers, and I cursed and resisted them for the longest time for that reason.
I got a new vehicle 2 months ago that has the ultra-high vis xenon-LED-Kryponite-whatever-they-are lights and the difference when you're driving is unbelievable.
I live in a rural area and work until well after midnight, so my high beams are on for the majority of the trip home. It's almost like driving in full daylight. In the last 2 weeks I've been able to see well in advance and avoid at least 3 deer collisions that I would not have been able to before.
I still hate them on oncoming traffic, though. :p
@Jeff:
Thanks for the info and the perspective. I'm almost ready to try one of those "night glare" glasses I see advertised on TV now and then.
One thing that _really_ frosts me is the new, blacker/darker road pavement that they've been using in the U.S. If it's night and it's rained, you can't see squat. High-beams or not. :(
Lurker111
Hardly newsworthy as this is a very common theft on newer high end 4x4s. A parking speed bump or even a flying stone can leave you with a bill of over a grand for one headlight. Since people don't want to lose their NCD or pay excess they will buy used often for less than the value of the excess, usually they are unaware that the parts may be stolen.
However that doesn't look like one of the newer discos, as such breakers yards are probably full of parts at reasonable prices. This theft malarky usually only works before sufficient numbers of the model in question make it to breakers yards.
BTW no properly adjusted legal headlight will dazzle when dipped. However a lot of drivers adjust their headlights skyward so they will illuminate the road ahead better when dipped, seemingly missing the point of dipping in the first place. I run HID Hellas in my aging Volvo and those dazzle nobody when dipped, on main beam however they can almost illuminate the dark side of the moon. ;)
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