Are sidelights pointless?

rG-tom said:
let's be objective here....if they're blinding you during the day, when the ambient light far far far outweighs the amount of light output by even the brightest xenons thus your pupils are adjusted and only let in a small amount of light, how on earth do you not crash and burn at the first site of a headlight at night, when your pupils are adjusted to very minimal ambient light thus the exposure is MUCH higher to your retina...
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Well I'm on about that evening hour where it is actually darker, but most people don't require lights to see the road ahead of them, sidelights are good because other drivers and pedestrians can notice other cars quicker, but dipped lights in certain conditions are too bright and if you work in the car for hours in the evening this gets irritating and affects your eyesight.

Everyones eyesight is different so you know its not black and white.
 
Meh, I turn the sidelights on when it gets to dusk or whatever the term is, then I turn the headlights on when it gets dark (sidelights are for other people to see you, headlights are for you to see things).

Don't modern cars have the sidelights on by default now anyway? they are refereed to as daytime running lights.
 
phil675 said:
Well I'm on about that evening hour where it is actually darker, but most people don't require lights to see the road ahead of them, sidelights are good because other drivers and pedestrians can notice other cars quicker, but dipped lights in certain conditions are too bright and if you work in the car for hours in the evening this gets irritating and affects your eyesight.

Everyones eyesight is different so you know its not black and white.
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my point still stands, if they dazzle you at dusk, when there is STILL more ambient light than at night, then are you incapable of driving at night? if not, you're moaning for the sake of moaning.
 
Howard said:
Absolute rubbish. Dipped beams are not blinding on any cars unless they're a badly-fitted xenon kit into reflector lenses, or their boot is full of cement and they haven't adjusted them. Even then, it doesn't bother me that much.
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So opinions are automatically rubbish when they don't match yours? M'kay :rolleyes:

a BMW this evening had dipped beams on, as it was coming towards me the road level rose, so what was dipped was now right in my face and I had to squint to see past it. Absolutely no need to have lights on at all, it's still daylight and everyone can see for miles.

I'll make an exception for motorbikes, as really they need everything on to stand a chance of being seen.
 
bitslice said:
So opinions are automatically rubbish when they don't match yours? M'kay :rolleyes:

a BMW this evening had dipped beams on, as it was coming towards me the road level rose, so what was dipped was now right in my face and I had to squint to see past it. Absolutely no need to have lights on at all, it's still daylight and everyone can see for miles.

I'll make an exception for motorbikes, as really they need everything on to stand a chance of being seen.
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do you actually crash and burn at night then?
 
There is nothing illegal about driving around with headlights on 24/7, and if it is dull/raining/foggy or something where I think headlights will help me be seen then I will turn them on.

The sidelights on my car are so small I don't see any point in having them on without headlights as well. If I were parked somewhere unusual at night on a unlit road then I might leave sidelights on - in fact the highway code states that you must do this if speed limit is greater than 30mph, road unlit and not in a parking bay.
 
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