Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan is pleading for motorists to turn their headlights on in foggy conditions.

He raised the issue during the Teviot Valley Community Board meeting earlier this week, where sole charge constable for Roxburgh Reece Harpur was in attendance to discuss recent happenings.

Following Const Harpur’s report, Mayor Tim asked: “Are you going to do anything about the bright sparks who are driving around without their lights on in fog, because jeez they are dangerous”.

Const Harpur agreed that motorists were taking serious risks by failing to have their headlights on while driving in foggy conditions.

“I even flash my lights at them, and they still don’t turn them on, so I know what you mean.”

Mayor Tim explained that he recently flashed his lights at a motorist in the hope it would make them realise they needed to turn their’s on.

“They flashed their lights at me and gave me a wave because they thought you [police] were up the road. It’s a real danger.”

He urges motorists to take the “simple” measure, for everyone’s safety.

“It is such a simple thing to turn the lights on in a car and doing it could avoid a crash and serious injuries. I really don’t understand why so many people fail to do this simple thing. Perhaps some people still don’t realise that when lights are put on auto, they will only fire up the park lights which are just slightly better than useless in fog.”