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At last...over bright headlights?
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alastairq



Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1950
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 4:57 pm    Post subject: At last...over bright headlights? Reply with quote

At last, someone from the RAC has noticed how difficult it has become for other road users when confronted with today's super bright headlights?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43525525

It's taken long enough for something to be said!!!!

My pet hate is when an oncoming vehicle, when I have forfeited my priority to it..then 'thanks' me by using the headlamp flasher.....3 yards in front of me.....with the result, there is a sharp pain in the forehead, & my eyes hurt for several seconds afterwards.

I wish they wouldn't do that!!!

A simple wave..or, better still, simply ignore me, is far more preferable.

I think all new car buyers should go out, put their headlamps on, then walk off in front of the car, turn around, and see just how bright these new headlamps really are?

Maybe even squat down to car seat height?

Then perhaps, when the park facing the wrong way [esp. at night?] and leave their dipped headlamps on, they'll see just how potentially dangerous it is for oncoming drives.....those lamps focus down....and to the left......right into the eyes of an innocent driver!

I realise that most drivers don't realise what they are doing, or the effect their lit headlights actually have on others.....
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peter scott



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 7113
Location: Edinburgh

PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LEDs are great! Very Happy


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MikeEdwards



Joined: 25 May 2011
Posts: 2464
Location: South Cheshire

PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 7:27 pm    Post subject: Re: At last...over bright headlights? Reply with quote

alastairq wrote:
I wish they wouldn't do that!!!


And me, I much prefer a quick wave. However if someone flashes their lights to thank me, then I find I have to flash mine back, a little longer, to acknowledge them.
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victor 101



Joined: 03 Apr 2009
Posts: 446
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Unfortunately the government has been non existent in amending the law regarding the brightness of headlamps. modern lamps are measured in lumens and nothing has been done to reduce them to a sensible level.
Even DRL's feel like they are burning your retinas out.
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alanb



Joined: 10 Sep 2012
Posts: 516
Location: Berkshire.

PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 8:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Before cars were fitted with headlamp flashers it was the norm to turn headlights off and back on as a thank you after dark.
My biggest problem from modern lights are from the many 4x4 and SUVs with HID lights at eye level to me sitting in my normal car I find it extremely annoying especially when negotiating right hand bends you get the full glare even when they're on dip.
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Rootes75



Joined: 30 Apr 2013
Posts: 3788
Location: The Somerset Levels

PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 8:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I spend a lot of time commuting and the thing that surprises me is the amount of people who think its acceptable to keep their high beams on when they are behind you!?! I regularly get it where even dabbing my brakes on a couple times doesn't give them the message.
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alanb



Joined: 10 Sep 2012
Posts: 516
Location: Berkshire.

PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 9:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If they're not behind you with their headlights on full beam then they're in front of you with their fog lights on.
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Bitumen Boy



Joined: 26 Jan 2012
Posts: 1733
Location: Above the snow line in old Monmouthshire

PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think the problem might be not so much the light output of the modern headlamps as the fact that they don't seem to have a lens to "throw" a beam along the road any more. I used to do a lot of night driving in oldies with proper headlamps - nothing fancy in them, just bog standard 60/55w halogen bulbs - and only really found them inadequate on the sort of really filthy nights where speed needs to be reduced anyway.

The first time I drove the current modern along an unlit road at night I was shocked at how poor the headlights are. The problem isn't a lack of light output and it's never attracted any comment at MOT time except once when one side was marginally out of alignment (put right on the spot). The problem is the lack of a lens - there's just the bulb, a reflector and a clear weather shield, meaning it's bright as hell right in front of the car but the light doesn't reach along the road where you really need it. There is little noticeable difference between main or dipped beam. If I did much driving in the dark I reckon I'd have to modify it in some way, maybe add on driving lamps or the aftermarket lamp units I've seen on some others that do seem to have a lens incorporated. Luckily at the moment my night driving is restricted to lighted roads and only then for a few weeks around the shortest day, so I've resisted the temptation to spend any money... Laughing
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ukdave2002



Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 4100
Location: South Cheshire

PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 12:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most moderns or certainty the ones we have had in the last 5 years, have led projector headlamps that don't require any dipping. The illumination for the driver is fantastic, they never actually dip but just don't project light that's going to blind other users.

Dave
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lowdrag



Joined: 10 Apr 2009
Posts: 1585
Location: Le Mans

PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 6:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I see those blue-tinged headlights coming towards me in the distance I know I am not going to enjoy the moment. Seeing this though, I have just seen that a full kit for converting the E-type's two candle-power lights is only £210. Mind you, I don't use the cars a lot at night now so I'll ruminate.
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alastairq



Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1950
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 11:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I noted a comment on the BBC site, which suggested one focuses one's eye to the left of oncoming headlights?

I didn't respond, as what was obvious to my mind was , the poster was quite happy to actually drive [or ride] at speed into a space that they assumed would be 'clear?'

In fact, I suspect nearly all drivers drive 'blind' at some point...relying on 'assumption?'

Assumption has taken on the properties of being 'OK'....

[How many here drive down a motorway at 70 mph [plus?], at night...on dipped headlights? Relying on illumination from others? Worth asking oneself exactly how far ahead, on one's own dipped headlights, can one 'see' clearly?
Could one stop, comfortably, within that distance?
Or, do we apply 'assumption?'........or should I say, 'so far so good?'.....repeated every now & then?]

The issue I feel when confronted by modern HiD headlamps is one of 'contrast'.

The 'contrast' between the very bright light source, and the area just to one side, is acute...more so than with older-type halogen lights. Regardless of whether the light sources are correctly adjusted so as not to dazzle?

In fact, I rarely get dazzled, oddly enough....but really struggle with the acute contrast between light and dark.

Also...we have an ageing driver population.

With that aging driver population, which is almost becoming the majority on the roads......[or certainly will be in the future, if statistics are anything to go by?]...comes subtle changes in eyesight...how we see things?
I'm not talking about eyesight issues [mine are OK..my chum's are diabolical]...but about differentiation between light, and dark...or the ability to recover some night vision?
BMW certainly couldn't care a jot about other older road users.....just as long as their own customer/drivers can see much much better at night...therefore drive, much much faster?

''I'm all right, Jack, s#d you??''
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Mog



Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 661
Location: Sydney

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 7:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some years ago , I did flash a truck as I thought he was on high beam . So he flashed me back with low and high beam as you could do if you held it in the middle , with some systems . He will never know how close he was to having a head on .
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Rusty



Joined: 10 Feb 2009
Posts: 202
Location: Bunbury, Western Australia

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 12:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A friend of mine fitted HID conversions into his Toyota Landcruiser that he does a lot of long distance country driving in and he only left them there for about 3 months because a lot of the truckies must have thought he was on high beam and were flashing him with their full array of lights regularly. He reckoned they were wonderful to drive with but he didn't want to be responsible for an accident so took them out and fitted them into an old unlicensed hack that he does some shooting out of. I have seen them in that vehicle and they were definitely far "too" bright for use on the road.
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ukdave2002



Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 4100
Location: South Cheshire

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 10:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is it HID or LED projector lamps we are talking about? Projector lamps blank out light directed at on coming traffic and the rear of cars in front, in 4 years I have not had anyone flash me; my car has projector lamps, but I did on a BMW with HID lamps that I bought about 9 years ago.

Dave
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Bitumen Boy



Joined: 26 Jan 2012
Posts: 1733
Location: Above the snow line in old Monmouthshire

PostPosted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 11:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ukdave2002 wrote:
Is it HID or LED projector lamps we are talking about? Projector lamps blank out light directed at on coming traffic and the rear of cars in front, in 4 years I have not had anyone flash me; my car has projector lamps, but I did on a BMW with HID lamps that I bought about 9 years ago.

Dave


From my own experience, obviously I don't know which type of lamp has dazzled me other than one that's "too f****** bright", but I can tell you that I gave up flashing them a long time ago. Either they take no notice at all or give you something even brighter in retaliation!
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