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Car headlights don't have to be this blinding

theatlantic.com

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Re: Car headlights don't have to be this blinding

#101

Post by anon7000 »

tstrimple wrote: post #98
realo wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forget about EVs. Most regular SUVs should be taken off the road. Look at this example: a dozen kids aligned in a neat row in front of the SUV and the soccer mom drivers can see none of them! https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/driveway-danger...

This is one of the things I really like about driving a minivan. Excellent visibility compared to just about any other vehicle, including sedans. A combination of higher sitting position with larger windows and sloping hood really opens up sight lines. My son has a Mazda 2 and I hate driving that thing. Feels like the columns and ride height really kills visibility.

100%. I have a Mazda cx-5. Visibility sucks looking left & right because the A frame is so thick.

My thought: demand a certain level of visibility from car manufacturers, and they can figure out how to design around it. Like, I must be able to look left and see the pedestrian 3 feet away from walking into my car. Blind spots like that in the front are ridiculous

Re: Car headlights don't have to be this blinding

#102

Post by alberto-m »

retired wrote: post #67
yboris wrote: post #43

I heard in Germany when a vehicle is being inspected (yearly?) the headlights' angles are checked to not be beaming into oncoming traffic. Feels like useful regulation to include in every country. I have blue eyes, it hurts to drive at night.

Unfortunately the first TUV inspection is three years after initial registration. In Spain it’s four years. Plenty of time to blind people.

I very much hope newly-produced cars in Germany must obey the TÜV regulations from the start. Imported cars also must immediately undergo certification.

Fun fact: some Italian cars have the left light pointing somewhat lower to avoid blinding incoming drivers, and the right one higher to see further along the road margin. The TÜV did not like this, so I had to adjust my lights to be symmetrical when I moved to Germany.

Re: Car headlights don't have to be this blinding

#104

Post by ErroneousBosh »

njarboe wrote: post #69

A big problem is bright screens and displays inside of cars at night. Your night vision never kicks in so you need extra bright lights to see, thus these bright lights that only light up a small section of the road. The more dispersed and even lighting of the old lights is so much better.

One of the things I loved about my old (like 15 years old at the time) Volvo is that I could black out all the dash backlighting completely. I can nearly do that with my 30-year-old Range Rover but the LCD for the odometer and the heater panel stay dimly lit.

I just want it dark.

It's why I never ever want any sort of screen on my dashboard.

Re: Car headlights don't have to be this blinding

#105

Post by ErroneousBosh »

Theodores wrote: post #89
mdp2021 wrote: post #2

Same in europe, since a few years. It should be illegal, but there you are. There is the possibility (as said by an apologetic driver) that it sometimes may be a badly functioning automation ("Too high? Oh but it's automatic").

My observations from the UK, formerly almost 'Europe': Boomers need cataract operations! A huge part of the car dependent population are elderly. These folks need ten times the light to see anything when compared to the seventeen year old learner driver (that doesn't go out at night, because their driving instructor clocked off hours ago). My thoughts regarding this are somewhat anecdotal, however, I have heard a mys…

> With this, and the usage of B-roads, there is a genuine requirement for super-bright lights.

No, there is a genuine requirement for normal 60W/55W dual-filament H4 halogens.

There is a genuine requirement for driving to the conditions, which means slowing down a bit in the dark.

Re: Car headlights don't have to be this blinding

#106

Post by culi »

calmbonsai wrote: post #18

This is largely poor regulation. The assumption that "more bright = more safe" and the lack of enough real-world testing. The only other product analogy that comes to mind is "thicker = better" for hiking socks. When they got too thick, they applied too much pressure to the heal and also provided additional moment distance making it far easier to roll an ankle.

The larger contrast of very bright lights can actually make visibility worse. In urban planning it's well known that having more smaller lights is always best for safety and visibility than having a few very powerful ones. I'm not sure how that can translate to car headlights but certainly we're all less safe when car headlights are blinding everyone and SUVs with comically tall bonnets are becoming the norm in the US

Re: Car headlights don't have to be this blinding

#107

Post by realo »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #100
realo wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forget about EVs. Most regular SUVs should be taken off the road. Look at this example: a dozen kids aligned in a neat row in front of the SUV and the soccer mom drivers can see none of them! https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/driveway-danger...

How often do you come across kids sitting on the ground in a parking lot? If they want to make a point about visibility at least have them standing up.

Well... if you just take 2 minutes to read the article, you will see that a mother killed her own son in the driveway.

That alone should be enough to get SUVs off the road, in my book.

Re: Car headlights don't have to be this blinding

#108

Post by everfrustrated »

yostrovs wrote: post #56
yabones wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do this on long drives, but always have to put it back to normal when it's time to park. It would be neat if cars would implement some sort of automatic switch between this configuration and the straight-back mode when reversing.

Many cars do this. Typically they point the mirrors in and down when the car is set into reverse, so you can see the curb.

Teslas allow setting separate mirror position configurations for forward and reverse direction. Very handy.

Re: Car headlights don't have to be this blinding

#109

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

realo wrote: post #107
HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How often do you come across kids sitting on the ground in a parking lot? If they want to make a point about visibility at least have them standing up.

Well... if you just take 2 minutes to read the article, you will see that a mother killed her own son in the driveway. That alone should be enough to get SUVs off the road, in my book.

Yup, and I still don't know how she was able to do that, knowing that he was there. If you know that you can't see well out of your vehicle, make sure the kids aren't anywhere near it when you're driving. Hell, when my kids were young, they weren't even allowed to be outside on the same side of the house that I was mowing.

Re: Car headlights don't have to be this blinding

#110

Post by bradfa »

dylan604 wrote: post #96
bradfa wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was. We had sealed beam headlights for a while till we didn’t. There were common rules for aiming and it worked. The lights weren’t all that bright and the styling was not stellar, however.

I remember having to take my car in to adjust the aiming of the headlights after it didn't pass inspection. So we used to take things like this seriously. I just had my car inspected last month, I don't even remember them hitting the horn. I'm guessing they pretty much just shove a sensor up the exhaust pipe and call it a day while accepting your payment.

No shoving sensors required, the data is all in the ECU accessible over OBDII interface. The car knows if it’s compliant in real time using the sensors it already has.
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