RAC says new headlights 'blinding drivers'
- Thread starter Eddie
- Start date
Soldato
What car do you drive?
or a night vision windscreen... hmmmMaybe every car should come with night vision goggles instead
Cheaper than Xenon/LED headlights too!
Associate
Same as you in the Z4 it's a mixture of more taller vehicles on the road plus brighter lights. So happy my mirrors dim so I'm not blinded from behind.
I live in a small down and I quite regularly see cyclists doing dumb or illegal stuff. Going straight out over a busy crossroads in the center of town and getting missed by inches seems to be the favorite. Also hopping off the pavement and across the road without looking.
Don
In the signature. A 2010 Jaguar XJ.
Soldato
Don't have signatures enabled.
I'm surprised you don't seem to have any problems then as I assume your ride height is pretty much the same as mine (Mazda 6) and I've been saying for some time that it's a significant problem.
Don
I didn't have a problem in my S2000 either. Maybe I'm just not sensitive to it or something?
I also see this with 1-2 cyclists that regularly come the other way when commuting to work - they have these ultra bight LED lights, some some reason set on flashing, on the front and at a bad angle so the first thing you notice about them being there is being dazzled and disorientated by a sudden burst of ultra bright flashing light and more likely to knock them down in the initial moment of confusion
The other problem with ultra bright LED cycle lamps is that they arte essentially point sources. Like having a Laser shone into your eye. It is impossible to tell how far away they are.
Could be 10ft away, could be 50 yards.
Had this a couple of months ago waiting to pull out of a mini roundabout. To my right I saw a set of "Car" headlights (Two bright lights side by side) 50 yards away.
Unfortunately it wasn't a car. It was some poor SOB on a bike practically within touching distance who probably thought that he was doing his best to make himself visible while totally failing to appreciate that sometimes, Less is more..
(See also Motorcyclists who use headlights on sunny days (If the Sun is behind you, this makes you invisible) and/or dress in razzle dazzle hi-viz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage) )
Fortunately, on this occasion, nobody was harmed. But I dare say the poor chap needed some fresh underwear...
Soldato
I would also be in the 'its the stupid SUV trend' camp
higher riding cars at eye level when you are sitting in your lower car
higher riding cars at eye level when you are sitting in your lower car
Soldato
I see drivers doing dumb stuff all over the country but that doesn't explain the massive hate cyclists overall get.
Soldato
Most cyclists seem to point them straight ahead and not down towards the road, which doesn't help.
Associate
Haha!
What I don't understand is why the regulations didn't require lights on at both ends? This way, idiots who don't understand that grey/rain/dark = lights on are seen by all
In that case they might as well have just legislated to have headlights turned on permanently. I don't think they took stupidity into account when developing the rules!
Plus rear DRLs could affect the visibility of brake lights in daylight, especially when the same bulbs are used for both functions.
Soldato
I don't have any issues with any headlamps dazzling me, unless they're left on full beam and I drive an a4 sline with sports suspension. I also have matrix headlamps and never been flashed once either. That rac survey is the biggest load of twaddle and those who replied to it should put their dummies back in and get a life. One of the most unscientific surveys I have seen for a long time..
Soldato
In a twist over what, all that survey has managed to do is discredit itself. If you wish to make a point through a survey about a 'so called' safety issue then at least make it plausable. Like who sits there counting when, supposedly, having been dazzled? Nearly had a collision, really???
I reckon the rac went a to a pub and asked the questions..
I reckon the rac went a to a pub and asked the questions..
Associate
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Biggest gripe is with SUV's and newer vans, I'm almost tempted to retrofit an auto dimming RVM. The middle break light bar that runs across the back of the Civic can actually be a help with this, if they're following at a certain distance.
Soldato
Or with people fitting xenon's into halogen headlamp units, how did anyone who took part in the RAC survey discern between what type of headlamps were actually dazzling them because you can't really tell from head on, when being 'dazzled'...