Shit people on trains don’t have to deal with, volume 41,872.
And fuck the manufacturers for making headlights as bright as nuclear fusion.
My dad was recently telling me that (in the USA) headlights were regulated to something like 130 watts (or amps, idk. It was something about the amount of power used by the bulbs). This was back when halogen bulbs were used for headlights, and there was an effort to try and pump the most amount of brightness out of them while staying within the power limits.
Then LED became more and more common and that power limit was basically a nonissue. Manufacturers could then turn up the brightness as much as they wanted and that’s why headlights are such a problem now
130 watt LED is used to light a warehouse or construction zone.
Or my rearview mirror while blinding me…
It’s why some people angle their mirrors to reflect all that light back to the driver of the car behind them. Cars should come with a mirror shield that automatically folds out over the back window
You just described my drive home last night. Had someone with blinding headlights behind me almost the entire time. Finally got the bright (ha ha) idea to adjust my mirrors. Not sure if it worked on them, but at least my eyesight was restored.
I though I was the only one petty enough to do that… Now I now there must be dozens of us!
But how else will a soccer mom driving her 2 precious children in nothing less than an 8 seater see where she’s going in a well lit city??
She NEEDED that upgraded suspension and if her headlamps don’t compete with Star Destroyer turbolasers she won’t be able to go anywhere!
Oh I live in Texas. So fuck idiots that don’t adjust their lights after getting a lift kit. My poor poor retinas.
As a pizza delivery driver, i advocate for leaving your brights on being punishable as attempted murder, why do you need a nuclear blast to be able to see? This road’s longest straight part is not even a quarter mile long
Anyone who always needs brights to drive at night, probably shouldn’t be driving at night.
Don’t forget fog lights 24/7 365 because why should you pay attention to how the moving thing works
Idk how it works in USA or whatever you’re from, but in my country either those or low-beams can to be turned on during the daytime. Granted, on more modern cars there’s a dedicated set of lights for that purpose, but still they aren’t everywhere (also, more modern cars suck ass).
Same is generally true here. I’ve never had a car that doesn’t turn off the fog lights when you turn on the high beams. Maybe on older cars that had them. I think the idea is that if it’s foggy, you shouldn’t have your high beams on ever.
When you flash your brights at someone because you think their brights are on (because they are too bright) and it’s their low beams and they flash you to show you they’re not a jerk, blinding you in the process.
It still irks me that the lumen level laws about headlights were circumvented by “unless installed from the dealer”
Bright lights mean higher contrast between the lights and everything else making it fucking impossible to see anything but the car ahead of you.
I always thought it was more of a “see an optometrist” flash. Even misaligned HID high beams aren’t more than a minor nuisance for people with normal night vision. But if even factory installed and aimed LED headlights are bothering you enough to completely blind you, you have an underlying condition that may or may not be treatable. Driving at night may not be something these people can do safely. All the more reason for better transit.
LED headlamps don’t bother me as much when I’m driving in a lit area. My main issue is driving in more rural areas (most of my driving) and it takes my eyes a moment to adjust back to the ambient darkness. You’re saying that’s a me problem? I was under the impression that was a pretty normal physiological response?
It’s a commonly commiserated problem because it impacts different people to differing degrees. Some are actually impaired by the light, and I imagine others just complain because they have to avert their gaze to the edge of the road but don’t actually lose their night vision. But if you have ever had LASIK, have a vitamin A deficiency, a genetic condition impacting vision, or a more common condition such as diabetes or cataracts, the way light passes through your eye is different than normal and bright lights at night can blind you. You may not notice that you don’t have particularly good night vision unless you are around someone who does. If in doubt, it probably doesn’t hurt to get it checked out, especially if it didn’t bother you when you were younger but does now.
That’s all true.
But it doesn’t change that the headlights are still too fuckin bright.
The LEDs are getting so bright they hurt my eyes in the daylight. The newer F350s are noticeably the worst.
Recently bought a new vehicle and the headlights were adjusted about 2 feet higher than legal (at 50 feet distance). That can be a large part of the problem. If you are getting flashed by people for your normal beams, look this up online and correct it.
Yeah absolutely this is an issue - people’s low beams are adjusted to point too high (not dipped enough toward the road). Also people get LED lights or high power halogens installed and don’t even think about the beam height.
I’m increasingly getting blinded by oncoming traffic while driving in the city. They haven’t got their high beams on, but they drive high vehicles and the low beams are not dipped correctly. Head on and also people behind me reflecting in my side mirrors.
It’s happening 2-3 times on a 15 min commute for me, and for the first time in my life I’m getting scared about night driving.
Recently saw a video of a German train driver who is also suffering from this nonsense and sometimes has difficulties seeing signage, etc.
I got a loaner with the l.e.d. beams, back when they were not common, they night not have been aimed perfectly, it might’ve been because there were lots of hills that caused the beams to go up and down, every now and then someone would flash their high beams in the “hey buddy you have your high beams on” at me, and I’d feel a little bit bad, but I had to show them that those weren’t the high beams, the high beams were the ones that made them wonder if the sun was still shining. Some day I’ll own a car with those beams again.
But yeah, high beams shouldn’t be on unless you’re in a position to turn them off when you see another car coming, I don’t care if you’re looking for your lost puppy on the side of the road, if I’m coming and I can’t see because you’re in front of your car with the high beams on, now it’s you, your puppy, and traffic in the other direction at risk.
Speaking of trains: if you happen to drive on a road that parallels a train track, and you see train lights: switch of your brights.
There’s a train driver in that train, and he has to watch his track just as you have to watch the road. And no, they don’t have magical eyes that don’t get blinded by those bright lights.
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