A Donegal county councillor has said people who wear dark clothing while out walking on dark roads at night should be fined.
Councillor Nicholas Crossan raised the issue at the latest meeting of the Joint Policing Committee.
The Inishowen councillor said people need to take responsibility when out walking or running on the roads if they are poorly lit.
He referred to a specific incident he had himself while driving when he came upon a woman who was out walking wearing both a black coat and black pants.
“This is just so dangerous and I would go as far as to say that I think people should be fined for this. It’s such an important thing,” he said.
He also referred to motorists using fog lights when not driving in foggy weather conditions.
He said such lights only blinded other drivers and described the practise as “irritating.”
He again referred to a person incident on Thursday evening of this week saying only that he managed to brake in his car there could have been a serious incident.
“I would like to know if it is an offence to use fog lights when it is not foggy as some of these lights are just so bright that they can cause an accident,” he said.
In reply, Garda Superintendent Sean Grant said he accepted both points.
He added that his opinion was that there should be a two pronged approach to the issues in that people should first be educated on the issues and then legislation and enforcement should then be considered.
