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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

#881

Post by fouc »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #878
fouc wrote: post #768

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By definition, zipper merge means late merge [0]. The problem is that if some cars merge too early, other cars will keep driving down the road and then merging in front of the early mergers, it ends up being disruptive in heavy traffic conditions. If everyone consistently merges at the same point in heavy traffic conditions it's more predictable, leading to better through flow. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merge…

> By definition, zipper merge means late merge Tell that to the site linked above, because even though they say "like a zipper" they want it to happen early. > The problem is that if some cars merge too early, other cars will keep driving down the road and then merging in front of the early mergers, it ends up being disruptive in heavy traffic conditions. If everyone consistently merges at the same point in heavy tra…

> Cut off half of each lane at the merge point.

Good point, even in a situation that necessitates a favored lane, could still setup this half-of-each-lane merge point well in front of that.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#882

Post by nrds »

0xfeba wrote: post #380
Wistar wrote: post #324

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. As for LEDs, to me, the Tesla Model 3 headlights are the worst offender, but not all of them, just the majority. I can look down a column of oncoming cars and pick out the Model 3s from a few blocks distance. I suspect that the Model 3 head…

> 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…

> If this blue indicator is on, you're blinding everyone

Your information is outdated. My Tesla with matrix headlights keeps the high-beam indicator on but oncoming drivers are not blinded.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#883

Post by nrds »

pksebben wrote: post #415
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…

I have become an aggressive counter-flasher. This has yielded in some cases new knowledge - that the low beams of a lot of cars these days look like high beams (indicated when they flash back, and it's the brightness of a thousand suns). For those behind me, I've discovered that my side mirror has an angle where it reliably bounces the beams back. I've gotten more than a couple of drivers to turn their beams down wit…

When I get incorrectly flashed I force my high beams on and keep them on, FYI. Don't do it.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#884

Post by nrds »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #442
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…

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…

> BLUE MEANS BLINDING

ONLY IF YOU'RE LIVING IN THE '90S! THE REST OF US HAVE MATRIX HEADLIGHTS! ALSO TURN OFF YOUR CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL!

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#885

Post by macintux »

hexbin010 wrote: post #737
mikestew wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In stationary queues of traffic, drivers should apply the parking brake and, once the following traffic has stopped, take their foot off the footbrake to deactivate the vehicle brake lights. I’m sure that might have been fine 30 years ago when cars had actual handbrakes. I doubt most folks these days can even find the little switch that activates it. Now it comes off as a bunch of monkey business.

They know where it is as they have to press it when first getting in their vehicles. They're just lazy and selfish

> They know where it is as they have to press it when first getting in their vehicles.

That's definitely not true of all vehicles. I helped a friend recently find hers; she'd never used it, didn't even know it existed. And I've never used it on rental cars.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#886

Post by Wistar »

qmr wrote: post #790
pksebben wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have become an aggressive counter-flasher. This has yielded in some cases new knowledge - that the low beams of a lot of cars these days look like high beams (indicated when they flash back, and it's the brightness of a thousand suns). For those behind me, I've discovered that my side mirror has an angle where it reliably bounces the beams back. I've gotten more than a couple of drivers to turn their beams down wit…

I've half jokingly told my wife I'm going to make a parabolic mirror for her to aim back at such drivers.

… or a steerable corner-cube array or retroreflector prism. Steerable in that it needs to slightly redirect its reflection to above the light source—to the windshield area of the offending vehicle—rather than exactly back to the light source.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#888

Post by Viliam1234 »

avidiax wrote: post #758
paradox460 wrote: post #567

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

My friend ended up in a hospital, when some jerk moved into the small space in front of him, and then had to jump on the brakes because the first car unexpectedly slowed down. My friend also jumped on the brakes but the distance was too small.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#889

Post by mikestew »

hexbin010 wrote: post #737
mikestew wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In stationary queues of traffic, drivers should apply the parking brake and, once the following traffic has stopped, take their foot off the footbrake to deactivate the vehicle brake lights. I’m sure that might have been fine 30 years ago when cars had actual handbrakes. I doubt most folks these days can even find the little switch that activates it. Now it comes off as a bunch of monkey business.

They know where it is as they have to press it when first getting in their vehicles. They're just lazy and selfish

Haven’t driven a new car lately, eh? A lot of them set the brake automatically, and automatically release it when the car is put into a forward gear and the accelerator is pressed. I’d have to take a good look on the dash of our Hyundai to remind myself where that switch might be.
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