A few days back, Mumbai and almost all of Maharashtra had torrential and relentless rains for a period of 2 to 3 days. On the 19^th of August, I faced the brunt of it while returning from a road trip via the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, which the Gods were enthusiastically drenching, with loads of water flowing briskly from the heavens above.

This unending and incessant deluge made driving quite challenging.  A challenge I relished. As any keen and enthusiastic driver will tell you, we are a breed that likes to pit our skills against hard tests and tough conditions. Conditions that “separate the men from the boys”.

The other reason I enjoyed this drive was because it once again strongly reinforced my belief, that wipers and lights are two of the most important features in an automobile. But sadly, these vital driving aids are also amongst the most neglected, or taken for granted ones.

The forceful and thunderous rain, and resultant low visibility, meant I drove for almost 5 hours with the wipers running nonstop and that too at the highest speed setting. Watching the road through a windshield that the wipers were working extremely hard to clear of water, was great fun and educative too.

It got me thinking about the design of wipers and how they have evolved over time. Time was when the motors were slow and wipers jerky, with most blades coming in standard sizes. Now wiper motors have become faster, and more silent and refined and reliable. The linkage systems have improved too, as has wiper blade rubber quality. And despite the fact that modern day cars have larger and more curved and sloped windscreens, the current tailor made or specifically designed wiper arms and blades, clean a far greater area than before.

Each time I passed a big truck or even other vehicles on the expressway, they splashed muddy water onto the windscreen of the Maruti Suzuki Dzire I was driving, needing me to constantly employ the windscreen washers to clear this muck. And it pleased me no end that I had topped up the windscreen washer fluid container with water and also added a good washer additive to it, before embarking on this road trip. And the detergents of this washer fluid were now helping in quickly clearing the windscreen of dirt, grime, slush and what have you.

If the extremely low visibility was compromising my visibility, it was obviously doing that for other road users too. And this meant that I not only had to see, but also ensure others could see me. So I turned on the parking lights, the fog lights and also the headlights, which I kept mainly on low beam. And no I did not put on the hazard lights and drive with them flashing like many other motorists were doing!

Hazard lights are meant to be switched on and blink, only when you are parked or pulled over, in what could be the path of another vehicle.  But as is the norm in our country, we do exactly the opposite and turn on the blinkers while driving in low visibility. And that too without bothering to switch on the parking lights, and headlights or fog lights, which actually make you more visible to others.

And I am not even going to talk about the fact that nowadays, most premium or high end vehicles have fog lights built into the tail lamps specifically for situations like this. And the reason I will not comment on this is because hardly anyone in our country uses these red rear fog lamps. Is it ignorance or foolishness or laziness, I leave it to you to decide.

The correct usage of front fog lamps is again something that many are unaware about. Obviously you use them in fog. But you should also switch them on in other low visibility situations where you need to be seen by oncoming vehicles or those that you are approaching.Fog lights are generally mounted low and have a spread beam, therefore this does not disturb on coming vehicles. Fog lamps also light up the edges of the road and the area immediately in front – thus even in low visibility conditions, if you drive carefully you can proceed safely. And as they have a spread beam , they are also very useful while driving in the hills or on twisty roads.

Unfortunately, like I said earlier, wipers and lights are largely taken for granted. And neglected by many. Automobile reviewers also rarely pay any attention to both these important features. Whatever improvements or changes manufactures make to them, go unnoticed by most consumers too.

This is sad given how important they are in a country like India where we have such heavy monsoons and fog both in the winter and rainy season. And our driving practices,  conditions, and roads are not the best either, so good visibility (and being seen) is essential.

Then there is neglect. Wiper blades which can age fast due to heat and dust are rarely, if ever changed. And unfortunately, most car owners seldom top up the windscreen washer fluid either. Or as mentioned, use lights in the right manner and at the right time.

Commercial vehicle drivers are even worse. For some reason that I fail to fathom, many remove the wipers on the left side.  In earlier days, when theft of wiper arms and blades, was common, this removing of arms and blades was still understandable. But now that such petty thefts are occasional, this is stupidity. As is not checking and ensuring that all the wipers and blades are in top condition and functioning properly.

Right from childhood I have been fascinated by car wipers and lights. And whenever I evaluate a car, I try to look at both these aspects. In fact in 2018, when I was the consulting editor of Overdrive and we did the “Mother of all SUV Tests” by gathering 25 plus SUVs at Chikmagalur, we did detailed testing and extensive examination of wipers and lights. And let me tell you that some of the results were surprising and I also learnt that Volvo who use an innovative sprinkler type washer system in the wiper blades of couple of their models, have some of the best and most efficient wiper systems found in cars.

So whenever you get into your car next, may I request that you pay a bit more attention to the wipers and lights. These are the dual agents that help provide better vision and visibility. So see more and stay safe.

Most Photos Bob Rupani