Should there be a campaign to recolour panels for recreational sites with a nicer scheme ... such as burgundy, olive green, or purple ?  Purple would be exotic, alluring, and smack of regal quality.; something to celebrate.  Cadbury World might even sponsor the changeover !

They're changing, aren't they?  Nobody over the age of 40 calls the flashing amber globes on those striped poles "Belisha beacons".  Anyway, they're being replaced by glowing LED halos.  Good idea.  (And have you noticed the tiny stripes on the street lamps installed to give more visibility either side of zebras ?  Perhaps not so useful).

My point is, this new luminaire technology is saving energy but does anyone else find them too bright?  Same with daytime running lights (DRLs), required of manufacturers since early in 2010.  The illuminated striped poles, and some LED lamp-heads themselves, actually dazzle at night ... and prevent me from seeing dark-clad pedestrians waiting underneath them !

Thank goodness Volkwagen have amended the design of the rear lamp cluster on their Polo.

Quite a hazard to be following one if it was braking, not knowing if the driver was also signaling to turn.

Watch the short clip below.  Took it on the way home tonight (yes, illegally holding the phone with one hand, I admit).  Lots of rush-hour cars, all eager to get home for their tea in the warm rain ... so lots of steamed-up windows, too.  Difficult to see, and the only sound is those collective stomachs a-rumblin', mine included.  Plenty of barely-concealed British impatience.

So, no surprise the queue of traffic invents a new lane across the diagonal stripes, eager to get to the roundabout ahead.  Is it "necessary" (as the Highway Code says it must be before you should corss the broken lines bordering the stripes) ?  No.

But if everyone else is doing it, how do you join that line if you also want to get into that dedicated lane for turning right ?  Answer: very cautiously, despite their illegality.  You have the priority but they're there first ... so you can't barge in.  Swallow your pride, take you time.  Priority must be given, not seized.  Bask in your inner sense of pious correctness and don't be seduced by the sirens of road rage.  (Or become so mesmerised staring between the raindrops in the right door mirror that you miss the stationary sports car ahead and gently nudge its bumper ... or worse !)