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[NewtronStar]

These new cars with 24/7 hid lights seem to blind or dazzel me it's has become so annoying that i've purchased a set to dazzel other road users this can't be the right course of action but it's the only way that i know to ban them if we all get together.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13143206

[roseway]

I agree, I've always thought that they are dangerously bright.

[oldfogy]

20 April 2011 Last updated at 13:11

Well I suppose it could still be classed as 'early days' but at least I now know it's not just me.


Last year when my car went in for it's MOT the mechanic said the lights were too high so adjusted them, I later noticed the headlamp adjuster on the dashboard was set for high, so I now need to reset them again, but for this years MOT (if it gets one) I'll make sure the dashboard adjuster is set at low, because even with Xenon lamps I still find at times I need just that extra bit of distance being lit-up.

[jid]

My new car has factory fitted Xenons, and I've been in a friends car with these aftermarket kits.

The difference is phenomenal, the amount of glare from the aftermarket is terrible, my lights are auto levelling, and give a fantastic beam of light on the road. Downside of xenons, which is why people add them on aftermarket, is that they were a £600 extra. I drive a lot at night, so for me worth extra penny

But I do agree these aftermarket kits need to be banned and/or regulated.

[oldfogy]

Or is it more a case of people not having their lights adjusted properly, so maybe they should be being pulled over more and random headlamp checks being carried out 'then again that requires the Police' and they are in short supply.

[jid]

Or is it more a case of people not having their lights adjusted properly, so maybe they should be being pulled over more and random headlamp checks being carried out 'then again that requires the Police' and they are in short supply.

I agree with this!

[Jasonkruys]

20 April 2011 Last updated at 13:11

Well I suppose it could still be classed as 'early days' but at least I now know it's not just me.


Last year when my car went in for it's MOT the mechanic said the lights were too high so adjusted them, I later noticed the headlamp adjuster on the dashboard was set for high, so I now need to reset them again, but for this years MOT (if it gets one) I'll make sure the dashboard adjuster is set at low, because even with Xenon lamps I still find at times I need just that extra bit of distance being lit-up.

Sigh.

In reality it is this that may be contributing to the problem. Your lights should be set at the correct level when the adjuster is set so the lights are at their highest or 'normal' position. The sole intention of the adjuster is that when your car is heavily loaded, or towing a trailer such that the rear of the car is lower than usual, you can adjust the lighting DOWN so as not to blind other road users! By rigging you car up so the MOT station adjusts the lights to the correct position on a lower setting, you are effectively making your car 'unroadworthy' by adjusting the lights higher. You will probably find that the MOT tester deliberately adjusted your 'adjuster' before he set you lights uo correctly!

Also Xenon or HID lights should have auto-leveling from the factory, so if you have an adjuster and also Xenon then they are aftermarket and not strictly legal. Not the end of the world if they are adjusted properly AND fitted to 'projector' housings. If they are adjusted incorrectly (as yours would be with your plan) or fitted to reflector housings, then they are likely dazzling everyone. HID lamps are not designed and are no good for reflector bowls, not even the ones that claim the are because they have a little ring around the back of them to reduce the glare!

Incorrect car lighting really gets my goat with the amount of time I spend on the road lol. Can you tell? :-) don't get me started on fog lights!

[broadstairs]

I think the main problem is the number of cars with badly adjusted lights, together with those who have one light out and are determined to run on main beam whatever is coming towards them. I dont find any problem with correctly adjusted high power lights.

Stuart

[renluop]

I was once followed from Fordingbridge to Ringwood, a winding dark road notorious for accidents by a car equipped with some sort of pulsating lights. I was dammed glad when it passed me, as it made forward vision a problem, especially with developing cataracts.

Could the problems of this thread be augmented by our own deteriorating vision?

[oldfogy]

Many years ago I remember wanting to let other cars past me simply because my own headlamps were so poor I was then able to see better from the car in front 'especially and even with a good safe distance because most of the time it was in narrow winding country lanes'

Then again that's also another problem with car headlamps Vs motorbikes, when going around bends and corners our headlamps always want to carry on in a straight line in front of us and not turning to the way the steering wheel is actually going.

[captainkirk]

I find those headlights really dazzling but perversely have been considering whether to put them on our Fiesta.  The dipped headlights on the Fiesta are really poor for driving around country roads.  My daughters 2008 Micra is loads better and my old Renault would have put these ones to shame...maybe I'm just getting older and grumpier and bad sighted 

[pooclah]

My pet hate to do with head lights is cars parked on the wrong side of the road with them still on.

My journey to work takes me through a village with no street lamps but has a newsagents.  I can guarantee that if I drive though there early in the morning when it’s dark that there will be at least one car/van parked outside the shop, on the wrong side of the road, and with its headlights on while the passenger is in the shop.

Even main beam back at them doesn’t seem to register that they are causing a problem.

[sevenlayermuddle]

Unfortunately we seem to have entered an age of 'lighting wars', with everybody wanting brighter and brighter lights just to keep up with, and compensate for the lights of others.   I agree, for some at least - self included, the amount of glare makes night driving quite unpleasant.

Even cyclists have joined in, with powerful LED torches on their handlebars, pointed straight in the eyes of car drivers.  Apparently it makes them feel safer, being noticed.   Though I'd not feel safe at all on a bike faced by car drivers suffering temporary blindness.

Most of it is, if I understand right illegal, if only police had man-power to enforce and prosecute. 

Aftermarket Xenon HIDs are illegal for all manor of reasons including as stated absence of self-levelling, but also because the reflector, unless replaced,  is the wrong shape and only approved for conventional bulbs.  IIRC Even factory-fit HIDs are technically not really legal under UK Construction and Use regulations, but we have to tolerate them as European Type Approval effectively takes precedence.

My view has always been, those who feel the need for for brighter headlamps, should (a) visit the optician for an eye test - new glasses can work wonders, (b) replace the existing bulbs as they can degrade, (c) avoid driving at night.

[pooclah]

Cyclists – please don’t get me started on them.  We have a local cyclist club and I can’t understand why when they take to the road that they can’t ride in single file so that a motorist has some chance of passing them.

And as for them flashing lights that they use

[oldfogy]

I just go for option (C).

I don't mind so much running into the odd pedestrian who just happens to step off the pavement or even the cyclist without any lights or as stated the ones with dazzling handlebar torches, but I do object to being fed hospital food because of the other road idiots who still don't seem to know which side of the road to drive along so just stick to the centre of the carriageway.