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Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

bbc.com

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Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#751

Post by pipes »

MichaelBurjack wrote: post #640
pipes wrote: post #619

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuine question (as in not a passive aggressive question!) why do you and your friends child mask?

Not sure why you'd ask me that vs. use Google, feels like cornering a random driver to defend "Why do you use seatbelts?". But I'll offer one reply at your word that it's genuine and not passive-aggressive. 1. I am currently dealing with the after-effects of a previous Covid infection that requires expensive, ongoing medical treatment. I'm not anxious to test what additional infections may cause. 2. Wearing an N95 re…

I genuinely didn't think to use Google for this. I had no idea about the list of reasons. It wasn't passive aggressive, I was curious. Thanks for sharing this.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#752

Post by frm88 »

onion2k wrote: post #628
m463 wrote: post #624

Ok, here's where this becomes a problem: older people. As you age, you gradually develop cataracts. These are deposits in the lens of your eye that make them cloudy, and you get glare from bright lights. When looking at bright lights, it is like looking through a dirty windshield. Light reaches your retina indirectly from the deposits which makes it incredibly hard to see, reducing or eliminating contrast. https://en…

There is a legal minimum standard for vision to be able to drive in the UK (basically you have to be able to read a number plate at 20 metres, not have double vision, and have a normal field of vision in one eye.) The punishment for failing to stop driving if you fail that is a £1000 fine. People with serious cataracts shouldn't be driving.

I have implants after cataract laser surgery with now 94% vision. Like with every other laser surgery the problem of halos persists for the rest of your life. As a small person in a small car I have repeatedly been forced to stop at the curb until the halos reduce enough to be able to reliably drive. SUVs are the worst offenders in this regard. This just to say that people with their cataracts cured and a really good eyesight are still majorly impacted by this.

Edit: I have no problems with incandescent or the old Led lights.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#753

Post by imp0cat »

mikestorrent wrote: post #719
DoomDestroyer wrote: post #688

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The N chevrons away on those roads are often ludicrously far apart. It it well over the 2 second rule and nobody follows it.

What are these chevrons?

Safe distance markers.

https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/Road_Markings/Chevrons_(...

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#754

Post by StopDisinfo910 »

jackvalentine wrote: post #621
BrenBarn wrote: post #586

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say just in general people have become way more cavalier and oblivious as drivers. I frequently see people doing wild stuff like driving at night with no headlights, or driving for several blocks in a bike lane. Every single yellow light is pushed to the limit, with often at least one (and sometimes multiple) drivers running the red light as well. I feel like a lot of is connected to a more general post-COVID dec…

I’ve noticed the same, and also people’s behaviour generally everywhere has bottomed out and not recovered. I was speaking to an ED nurse who said people have just forgotten how to relate and violence is through the roof every night in the hospital. Did we all get subtle brain damage?

I have legitimately been wondering for quite some time if we are not in a leaded gas kind of situation where something is adversely affecting the global population as a whole and we are left in the dark. Plenty of contenders between industrially processed food, social media, mobile phones. It might just be me getting paranoid however.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#756

Post by pengaru »

mtoner23 wrote: post #219
lan321 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What bothers you about tints? I've never bothered to get one since it's illegal where I'm at but the new ones seem pretty cool for cave dwellers who fear the light. They tint well during the day but you can still see at night from what I've seen on friends cars.

most aftermarket tints are too dark and dont allow pedestrians to see into the car to see if they going to be hit by the driver. its illegal in most places but cops dont do anything about it.

what driver?

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#757

Post by duskdozer »

webnrrd2k wrote: post #584
LeifCarrotson wrote: post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My other pet peeve is the opposite - they've got LED daytime running lights, and use those instead of headlights. They're driving around at 11pm with no taillights and abysmal forward lighting, but there's enough of a glow from the DRLs that they assume their lights are on. Or worse, they're accustomed to "automatic" lights and don't even know where the switch is, so they're driving around at dusk or in fog, rain, or…

This hit on a peeve of mine, that automatic high beam systems really suck for pedestrians. Manual control is genuinely better in this regard. Try walking around at night in a wealthy neighborhood, and about 1/8 of the cars just blind every pedestrian.

This is a big reason why "high-beams as default" is not the right choice

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#758

Post by avidiax »

paradox460 wrote: post #567
pipes wrote: post #536

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might just be getting old, but more and more I see people not using indicators and not understanding the rules of junctions. Tail gating also really annoying. I was in a mates car recently and it scared the hell out of me, he was tail gating for most of a 3 hour journey. Eventually we got to a bit with chevrons and he wasn't obeying the rule staying N chevrons away from the car in front. I told him and he replied "…

My favorite is that if you try to follow a safe distance, some jerk will immediately move to fill the space

Just realize that the sort of people that move to fill the space are not the sort to leave even 2 seconds of following distance.

So once you restore your following distance, that person has cost you less than 2 seconds.

Is it a bit annoying? Sure. But it's not a reason to start tailgating (not that you were necessarily claiming that).

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#759

Post by branko_d »

gblargg wrote: post #730
0xfeba wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Lately, I see a lot of drivers who turn on their brights and just leave them on and this includes cars with the older halogen and even incandescents. This is a change in behavior. This is one of my pet peeves. I've categorized it into what I believe are the main causes: 1. People just don't know as well today that the blue indicator means you're blinding people 2. People with newer cars which will automatically tur…

A big cause on older cars is haze on the clear plastic that develops over the years. This makes even low beams spread so they blind oncoming drivers. There are kits where you polish and re-finish them, and they do make a noticeable difference in beam directionality.

According to Project Farm, Sylvania is the best headlight restoration kit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyVCEbfrU-c

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#760

Post by Manfred »

jlarocco wrote: post #367

As a cyclist and pedestrian, these new headlights and the cars with the "auto brights" are just terrible. When you're in another car their car's sensors might detect your headlights and dim a little bit. But as a pedestrian? You basically just get blinded - from low light right to 10000 lumens straight in your eyes. It's overpowering. Can't make them illegal fast enough, IMO.

During dusk, which is pretty long around winter here, I have to wear sunglasses when I out training on bike. It's worst on hilly terrain.
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