NIGHT DRIVING IN THE COUNTRY

To the editor of the Manchester Guardian

Until recently I was under the impression that all vehicles were obliged by law to carry lights after nightfall, but it appears that such is not the case. It seems to me that all the grandmotherly care and attention of the various public bodies and authorities has latterly been bestowed upon the cyclists, while other equally dangerous offenders are allowed to go scot free.  I have the misfortune to live in one of the most benighted parishes in the three kingdoms.  We have several churches, chapels and schools and a plethora of public houses but no lamps.  Our good, easy ,old fashioned parishoners have recently canvassed with the object of getting a few introduced, but in vain.  Drivers of all sorts, trusting to their own knowledge of the tortuous and winding roads and the their horses' instinct, go about at high speeds and in the most reckless manner.  It is the exeption to see one with a light.  Meanwhile, as usual, it is the old and infirm, the women and children, who run the greatest risks.  Only last week a woman was knocked down, and narrow escapes are of frequent occurrence.  If any of your readers love the quaint and antiquated, let them, on the first dark night, take a ticket for Whaley Bridge on the Buxton line; let them grope their way from the main street of the village into the parish of Fernilee.  They will not have bruised themselves above once or twice against stone walls before they will be startled by erratic and mysterious will-o'-the-wisp-like glimmerings in the distnace.  On a nearer approach they will discover worthy natives perambulating in true seventeenth century fashion, with horn lanterns, like philosophers seeking for truth.  Hoping these letters may draw the attention of public bodies generally to the matter. 

I am, &c
                                     James B Cooper,

Horwich Bank, Whaley Bridge, December 7, 1896