Wednesday rant: Headlight washers

With what’s going on in the world it seems somewhat inconsequential to rant about something like car headlight washers - but I’m going to anyway.

So, why do we need headlamps with washers fitted on our cars? Your first thought would probably be because it’s so that dirt cannot dim the light. Actually, this is only partly true. The main reason for the requirement is that dirt can actually impair the optical features of the headlamp and cause glare. Headlamps which are only slightly soiled cause a stronger glare, and of course the brighter the headlamp, the stronger the glare. The stronger the glare the more dangerous it is to oncoming drivers. There you have it. Realistically, we just use them to clear off any muck so that we can light the path ahead a little better.

So, headlight washers can only be a good thing surely? Well sort of. In the real world what happens is this. You engage them using the button and what that happens is that a load of sputum-ish foam trickles out of the front and proceeds to splash all over your bonnet. So, in the end you end up with a bonnet lid simply covered in a nasty crustacean. It gets worse as most headlights are actually activated when you wash your windscreen. When you pull the lever to wash your windscreen the washer arms activate cleaning the screen. However, you then get the sputum from the headlight washers that then plants itself on the windscreen. Then the automatic windscreen wipers then kick in with an awful screeching sound and leaves a trail of hot rubber! You then activate the windscreen wipers again and find yourself in a catch-22 scenario! There has to be a better way!

We would just like to take this opportunity to once again give a massive shout out to the NHS, emergency services and all those on the front line in the fight against COVID-19……keep it going, we really appreciate what you’re all doing!