Allow me to first state that I’m not a perfect driver or do I follow all the rules. However, I try to be safe and conscientious as I wield my 3,200-pound vehicle on the road.

An ongoing issue with me, and the reason for this letter, is the misuse or lack of safe and proper lighting on vehicles. As I drove around Warren County recently in the rain, fog and mist, I encountered an alarming number of vehicles with no lights on at all. Others had just their daytime running lights on, some had parking lights on. That included two law enforcement vehicles, too.

A local business with delivery service was again driving in the rain with no lights on at all.

I called that same business last month and expressed my concerns. Apparently, my words landed on deaf ears.

Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio all have motor vehicle laws, enacted for more than a decade now, regarding the mandatory use of full lighting during rainy conditions. Daytime running lights are nothing more than accent lighting. Yes, they do help some in identifying traffic, but only from the front. Your vehicle is still dark from behind. Several vehicles in front of me today simply disappeared into the fog.

Here’s my solution: When you start your vehicle and fasten your seatbelt, turn your headlights on, too.

All the time. Every time. I have never understood why it’s not a standard safety procedure.

Enacting differing laws from state to state, leaves confusion among some drivers. I would advocate for changes to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration rules, thereby eliminating all of the ambiguous, non-enforced state laws.

Motorcycles are a prime example of how full lighting is effective in reducing crashes. We transport our children in school vehicles with full lighting on, yet we hurl those same kids down the road at high speed in a minivan that blends in with the rain and fog and becomes hard to see. I’ve observed law enforcement trying to catch speeders and yet, they sit there and allow vehicle after vehicle to drive by them in the rain with no lights on, arguably a more dangerous situation on the road than the speeders are.

Let’s try to be better drivers and think carefully before we put a vehicle on the road each time. The simple act of turning on your headlights just might help prevent an accident. I might be that guy in oncoming traffic, flashing my lights at you in the rain, if your headlights aren’t on.

And don’t get me going about turn signals, either! Whoa!

David Oberg is a Warren resident.