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Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

caranddriver.com

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Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#61

Post by alistairSH »

bri3d wrote: post #5
coding123 wrote: post #4

Even more idiotic is my truck. I put a camper on it. I can't drive it at night because the weight of the camper tilts the entire truck back just a bit so that the head lights are aimed right at driver's eyes even on the lowbeams. Everyone flashes me and gets pissed off. Hopefully Adaptive headlights account for things like this.

self-leveling is required on bi-xenon headlights even in the US, so this is quite strange. if you have older-style headlights, there should be manual adjustment screws on the lamp housing you can fix this with in a matter of minutes.

Bi-xenon lights are mostly reserved for luxury cars in the US.

And despite the MSRP, many trucks don't have them (not without buying the fanciest trim level).

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#62

Post by detaro »

bstar77 wrote: post #48
heipei wrote: post #28

Even more importantly: Why is America still stuck with cars that honk when they're locked and that have indicator lights flashing in the same color as the tail-lights? One is a nuisance, the other one a straight-up safety issue.

When I lived in Canada we had to turn on the honk mode because there were too many people using devices that block remote vehicle locking. The honk is an obvious indicator that the car did, indeed, lock.

Too annoying to look at the car for the 2 seconds it takes to see the indicators flash, which seems to be the common alternative?

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#63

Post by missedthecue »

bob1029 wrote: post #57
serf wrote: post #14

groups like Audi/Porsche/BMW have trouble bringing their fancy LED setups to America due to laws pertaining to high / low beams -- meanwhile every Jack and Jill on the road has glaringly illegal aftermarket Xenon bulb setups in refractor headlight housings rather than proper projectors, blinding the hell out of everyone on the road, and the police seem to do nothing about it. I mean, hey -- i'm usually happy about au…

I challenge you on the assertion that this trend of illegal lighting is many times worse than obnoxiously loud exhaust. Life safety is certainly a bigger factor with the headlights, but all other aspects are orders of magnitude more disruptive on the acoustic side. Having bright-as-sun headlights driving around town at 3am is not going to cause a lot of trouble for most residents (as they would be indoors sleeping pe…

Make it 9pm rather than 3am. I'd say the headlights are worse.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#64

Post by giancarlostoro »

aaomidi wrote: post #54
dominotw wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

shows basic lack of concern for other people's lives on the road, same as drunk driving. > because they used bright lights. Why are people doing this in the first place. I don't understand.

what does jailing someone achieve here? what is with this gross authoritarianism? most of these people using these bright LEDs dont realize how bright it is for the other drivers - it's probably just to make the roads brighter because driving in America is extremely different than the rest of the world (very very rural highways - with essentially no extra lighting)

When you are literally blinded by somebody's headlights making you momentarily blind, you are a danger to yourself and others and could kill yourself and / or others which is not even your fault to begin with! Jail time doesn't sound too insane then. I've literally had to close my eyes whilst driving due to someone's ridiculous headlights being super bright on the opposite side of the road.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#66

Post by boring_twenties »

zenexer wrote: post #42
dominotw wrote: post #20

I really hate led headlights here in USA, They are too bright and need to be banned. People using these should be jailed for endangering lives. I don't know why but This seems to be particularly common here on big pickup trucks, which is even worse because they hit you right in your eyes if you are driving a regular car due to height difference. Also, I've had adaptive headlights on my subaru forever.

Good LED headlights aren’t blinding. It’s often aftermarket nonsense that causes problems. As someone else mentioned, the culprits aren’t often LEDs; there are some crazy bulbs out there, and the people using them just don’t care if they’re blinding other drivers. It’s ridiculous.

There doesn't appear to be any dearth of traffic enforcement in general in the United States. They carry special devices with them just to measure your window tint, FFS. Is there some reason they can't be incentivized to enforce actual safety laws like this one, too (or instead)?

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#67

Post by rootusrootus »

boring_twenties wrote: post #3

I installed the (OEM) European headlights on my car. It's, well, a night and day difference. It's been 8 years and no one has noticed.

I imagine in most cases that's just swapping halogens for HIDs. Lots of cars these days have HIDs (or LEDs, which look very similar to most people). I can't imagine you'd stand out. Maybe if you imported matrix lights.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#68

Post by justin66 »

I am grimly curious how many Americans would view a primitive combination of high beam/low beam/fog lamps/accent lights as being preferable to a sophisticated headlight that can do it all, simply because they get off on dazzling people with their absurd headlights.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#69

Post by acd »

Some European cars are sold with laser head lights as an optional extra. As a driver meeting usch a vehicle I ponder if that is safe for my eyesight? After recent scandals I don’t fully trust the car industry to self regulate as they have mislead consumers before for example Dieselgate. Thus I think it’s good that there is car safety regulations but that led lights probably should be allowed. I think too many consumer decisions are made on the basis of ego what is good for me/self as a consumer and not necessarily what is good for others.

Re: Why is America stuck with bad headlights?

#70

Post by vsareto »

decafninja wrote: post #27
serf wrote: post #14

groups like Audi/Porsche/BMW have trouble bringing their fancy LED setups to America due to laws pertaining to high / low beams -- meanwhile every Jack and Jill on the road has glaringly illegal aftermarket Xenon bulb setups in refractor headlight housings rather than proper projectors, blinding the hell out of everyone on the road, and the police seem to do nothing about it. I mean, hey -- i'm usually happy about au…

re: "aftermarket xenon bulb setups" Is this still a big problem? While I would have agreed with you, say, back in the 2000s when the whole "import tuner" craze was in full swing, I don't think this is popular anymore. The car mod scene seems to be close to extinct now, with whats left being a lot less crazy than those in the past.

You will see them far more often on large trucks in the USA these days.

Especially true for midwest drives across long stretches at night where the brightness is much more annoying than in the middle of a city.

If the truck is lifted, the brightest points of the light can hit you from further away, worsening the problem.

It is also bad when someone is behind you with this setup, especially lifted trucks. Some cars have a rear mirror that can dim them to tolerable levels, but not the side mirrors. So you'll get flashes from them as you drive unless you lean forward or angle the mirrors away.

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