[Closed] Driving with dipped headlights

Why do dipped beams bother you?full beams, fair enough, but dipped?.

It'll be DRLs, annoyingly which most cars don't have rear DRLs, so there's loads of folk driving about in the semi dark unaware they have no rear lights on.

Eh? Main beam, Shirley?

Also, it’s probably those (not that)new LED/HID lights, that need active beam levelling to make them legal as they are so effing bright. Which is all very well on a flat road, but on an undulating one still manage to dazzle about 50% of other road users.

Yeah sorry, meant main beams.

It gets on my nerves too, but I do think that it’s either automatic lights, newer bulb/light tech, my eyes deteriorating or levelling as mentioned above

However the other night an on coming driver flashed me, my lights were on dipped, were level and I have an 07 plate car so old light tech

There's many a car with poorly adjusted lights too, and modern bulbs (including dodgy LED aftermarket jobs) can throw more light out in odd directions.

+1 on the stoopid DRL's that are only the front lights. So many cars in bad weather with no rear lights on as the automatic lights are only front DRL's.

Edit. Please ignore.

It’s like the folk who invent this new light tech don’t test it by driving towards one of their vehicles at night

Some of them new auto lights are utter shit. Don't recognise my landy or van

A quick flash of the suplimentary light bar soon has the owners looking for the light stalk .

@Houns - I think they do, but only bothered about the view out, not other road users.
Moar is better.

Imo it's selfishness.

Yeah, agreed - those auto-levelling things are useless on undulating roads and they are bloody bright. My 07 era lights are like small puddles of yellow glow by comparison.

at night drive whilst looking at the nearside curb, not straight ahead.

Dad taught me that.

Then you don't get blinded by oncoming cars that kill your night vision.

Also as an army cadet I was told that, when looking out at night, rely on your peripheral vision to see moving things as the centre of the eye is better for colers and not so good with black/white, and the peripheral is better for black/white, and it does work. Especially for moving things.

but I do think that it’s either automatic lights,

This is the problem. My car has them and I don’t think they react that quickly TBH. It’s fine down south for the relatively mellow undulations of the South Downs, but in Yorkshire with its more pronounced humps and bumps and speed bumps... it’s quite different reaction times.

I turn the auto dip off in Yorkshire, turn it back on on the A1 when going home..

Slightly OT but my car has DRLs with no rear lights on, but you can tell it's just DRLs on as the instrument display is only lit when it's light outside - i.e. whilst I don't have automatic lights, I clearly have at least most of the sensors (or those for fairly dumb dipped/DRL switching).

Why a mfr would choose to illuminate the instruments without appropriate external lights on is beyond me.

But yeah also undulations combined with modern lights = dazzling. Not the driver's fault really.

On a related note, people driving on their sidelights with fog lights on instead of dipped beam can **** right off.

I find urban driving quite difficult now-  my headlights put out a bright puddle of light which doesn't seem to have much spread (the brightness falloff is rapid) and this combined with the brightness of oncoming lamps seems to be killing my night vision. With the move to lower powered streetlights which are more marker than illumination, and the increased distance between lamps, I'm finding it more difficult to make out stuff happening on the edge of roads, whether it's pedestrians at a crossing or unlit bikes.

Some of the newer leds are even smarter than that. They sense the oncoming car, and dip just the fraction of the beam pointing at it, either by making the light up of multiple small leds each focussed on a small bit of road that can be individually switched off, or by moving a small mirror on a servo infront of the bulb to shield it.

Quite cool and much better than relying on an arbitrary cut off.

I've noticed a lot more unnecessary full beamers lately too. It's either an increase in selfish ****tishness, or a result of the new LEDs being blinding to anyone coming in the opposite direction, but actually quite shit to see with when your car has them. Or a combination of the two, which is far more likely.

DRLs and LED car lights are a real bugbear of mine. The claim is that the headlights are no brighter than existing halogen lighting. Bollocks!

With my halogen lights on if there's a car behind with LEDs then my car casts a distinct sharp edged shadow and the lights behind completely swamp mine. Even the DRL side lights are at least as bright as my main dipped beam.

DRLs? Why no rear lights at the same time? I've followed vehicles at night (under low level street lights) with no rear lights - the DRLs are bright enough that the driver doesn't realise and if there's an ambient light sensor then it wasn't working. It's worse in fog because drivers seem to think that DRLs are also suitable for driving in fog. Idiot lights I call 'em.

A while ago I followed a Tesla (first one I've ever seen) and his rear lights were flashing on and off at frequent intervals. At first I thought it was the driver braking as earlier he'd brake whenever a car was coming the other way despite there being room for two vans to pass. Then I realised it was the light sensor reacting to the light and shade as he went under trees, that one was a bit too sensitive methinks.

Im totally with the comments re DRL, why TF would you ever need the dashboard illuminated without rear lights also being needed?
The legislation needs changed imo.
No point making comments about the stupidity of some drivers, we’d be here all day 😂😂😂

DRLs and LED car lights are a real bugbear of mine. The claim is that the headlights are no brighter than existing halogen lighting. Bollocks!

There is a lot of research into this, and new standards for manufacturing process to bring them into line.

I think the main problem here is as lights seem to get brighter (clear blue’ish, as opposed to warm yellowish) beams the reflection within the lenses are now clear as opposed to the “serrated” or channeled lenses of old. The serrated lenses were there to both focus the beam and diffuse the light to oncoming vehicles.. now the lenses are clear and the light unit itself is almost mirror like it allows much more light to beam out.

And SUV’s are pretty much at eye level these days. I still don’t know why we don’t have headlight height standards to compensate for the head high level lights of SUVs.. JLR are a particular PITA.

Why a mfr would choose to illuminate the instruments without appropriate external lights on is beyond me.

I had an old Citroen that has the instruments lit the whole time, caught me a few times driving round town at night with no lights on before I realised!

This whole thread makes me realise how behind car tech I am - who knew auto-dip was a thing*?

I know I’m a Luddite about these things, but it all seems like more to go wrong, and be expensive to fix. It I guess I’d miss them if they were taken away. I still remember being *gobsmacked* when the rear wiper started up just because I had the from ones on and I’d selected reverse! Genius!

*many people, other than me. That’s who.

Why a mfr would choose to illuminate the instruments without appropriate external lights on is beyond me.

This is my personal bugbear. I live in a city and cycle it every day to work and back. In basically every season but summer, the mornings and evenings are darker than normal or dark. As such, lights are mandatory on cars and domestically sold vehicles have lights always on.

EXCEPT... The damn things with shitty LED DRLs. They are the fig leaf that allows a manufacturer to say that the lights are always on and the dash is illuminated, so the driver has no idea that they are driving a car with no lights on. Around a city. In the dark. I have now taken to knocking on car windows and asking the drivers to turn their lights on. Almost every time, they have been surprised that they are not already on.

LED car lights are a real bugbear of mine. The claim is that the headlights are no brighter than existing halogen lighting. Bollocks!

There's also an element of where the brightness is measured....

Measure the brightness of the pool of light they throw onto a surface at X meters and you'll probably find the overall amount of light isn't that much different, what is different is what you see when you look at the headlight as the LEDs appear as intense point sources instead and that is what does the dazzling.

This can be mitigated to a degree with decent reflector geometry, especially if the LEDs aren't actually forward facing, but a lot of designs aren't great and still present as very intense point sources, not to mention DRLs made up of arrays of small LEDs that although not bright are dazzling.

You're eyes can deal with a LOT of light as long as it's not from a small area, it's those small areas/intensity that cause the issue.

Why a mfr would choose to illuminate the instruments without appropriate external lights on is beyond me.

I don't know about your car, but on mine the instruments actually dim when the external lights are on. ie the instruments are lit more brightly during daylight hours than when it is dark.

I assume that the thinking behind this is that the instruments need to be brighter in the daylight to stand out against the higher ambient natural light. When it is dark out, and the headlights are on, the instrument lights are dimmed to prevent having bright distracty things in the cabin.

philjunior

On a related note, people driving on their sidelights with fog lights on instead of dipped beam can **** right off.

Isn't that exactly what you're supposed to do? Otherwise the dipped beam just illuminates the fog and you can't see anything.

eta: talking about proper "can't see where you're going fog and have to slow right down", not mist

@amedias - They are like mountain bike lights turned up to eleven! Motorists complain (rightly) about MTB lights blinding them then buy cars with something far worse stuck on the front.

The LED lights are effectively point sources of bright light. They are also white rather than a yellow hue and there's no diffusers on the front of them in the same way that halogen have. Any one of these would be a problem, having all three is a perfect s***storm!

yes to all of the above but.......

make sure your windscreens clean inside and out. The dazzle is due to poorly adjusted lights but the degree to which that is problematic to you  comes from how clean your screen is as the light will flair on grubby glass.

When the dark nights come in if I'm parked near bright streetlights or security lights I use the opportunity to clean the windscreen on the inside - you can be sure its clean in daylight but you can only  see the effect any residue is having when you clean it in the dark

I was on the A27 a while ago - it's a fully lit dual-carriageway most of the way.
Overtook one car with full beam on, they left full beam on. I accelerated away, windy bit of road, left them behind, idiot moron stupid ignorant **** but fair enough, they're gone... approaching Arundel, I catch another car, go past, their full beam on, leaves them on. **** this thinks I (I'm very easily wound up in the car, unfortunately). I brake, drop behind them, flash my lights, leave them on full beam - they STILL don't dip theirs! Behind the wheel and the brain just goes off doesn't it. Nothing malicious, they are simply morons. (Yes, I am too, but at least I'm aware of it)

The DLR thing is really annoying.

I see loads of cars driving around in semi darkness with no other lights on. I don't get it the majority of cars have auto headlights these days, just stick it on auto and leave it there, the dipped headlights will come on automatically as soon as its a bit dull. Mine also come on when I use my wipers.

Still, I wouldn't be remotely surprised if a fair number of drivers don't actually know how all their controls work.

Still, I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if a fair number of drivers don’t actually know how any of their controls work.

This is so true.

I think it should be mandatory for dealers to spend 1hr explaining the controls, a small test at the end should suffice.
Yeah I know about “wot abooot private sales etc..” but the education element at the forefront of the purchase of the vehicle would trickle down over time.

My dealer spent 20mins with me, I spent about three days reading the manual...

I've just moved from the a city to a rural village location. After years where most of my driving is on well lit dual carriageways, I now need to navigate twisty turny up and downy country lanes. My night driving is very poor. I have the full beam on far too much and judging by the impatient drivers behind me I'm going too slow. I tend to stick to the speed limit but thats obviously too slow. (My full beam isn't down to selfish ****ttiness but my not so great driving skills and not knowing where I'm going on unfamilair country roads - I dip back to normal as soon as I see the headlights of an approaching vehicle)
I'm fine in my van but not in the car. I know nothing about cars or lights - I presume they are the same and just the slightly elevated driving position in the van helps.

Im totally with the comments re DRL, why TF would you ever need the dashboard illuminated without rear lights also being needed?

Instrument panel on my Passat can get very hard to read well before it's time for external lights. A bit of subtle backlighting would help.

'Automatic' dipping lights are one of those 'advances' that seem such a good idea on paper but in practice are hopeless and soon become a right pain. others in modern cars are powered lifting hatches, going to touchcreen infotainment, keyless entry etc.etc

Still, I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if a fair number of drivers don’t actually know how any of their controls work.

Some of the fault lies with the manufacturer - some of the fords I've driven recently have the same issue of the dash and DLR lights being on when your main / rear lights aren't but even the subtle clues like the green 'dipped headlights' symbol on the dash is the same whether you have main/dipped light on or just the side lights.

My experience, and that of my friends, it's probably not so much the lights, it's your eyes. Driving at night gets more difficult as you age. It was easy until my late 30s.

Instrument panel on my Passat can get very hard to read well before it’s time for external lights. A bit of subtle backlighting would help.

What is this well before it's time for external lights you speak of ?

I drive on dip headlights all the time. Thus illuminating my dash cluster.

Can't say I've noticed any more people driving around on full beam. Perhaps it's your eyes? Difficulty driving at night is a good clue that you might be developing cataracts.

What is this well before it’s time for external lights you speak of ?

Yes, daytime when on DRL.

I drive on dip headlights all the time. Thus illuminating my dash cluster.

I don't but have to resort to that sometimes when the dash is difficult to read (and no it's nowhere near dusk). Maybe it's my ancient eyes (actually no, it's way the instruments are shrouded).

Well I don't need to.

But there's no reason not to.

My car and the camper van dont have DRLs. So in order to not fall by the way side of people being conditioned only to look for vehicles with lights on as moving vehicles I just get into the habit of turning my lights on when I get into the vehicle.

Can’t say I’ve noticed any more people driving around on full beam. Perhaps it’s your eyes? Difficulty driving at night is a good clue that you might be developing cataracts

Wise words there

I find the biggest visibility issue with dipped headlights is that the light doesn't shine through the guacamole very well...

...IGMC...

+1 on the stoopid DRL’s that are only the front lights. So many cars in bad weather with no rear lights on as the automatic lights are only front DRL’s.

That’s ‘cos they’re Daylight Running Lights, the emphasis being on Daylight; the purpose to make cars more visible when oncoming in daylight with poor visibility, like rain or mist, or just flat lighting conditions like you often get in autumn and winter. It’s not necessary for cars to have their taillights on in those sort of conditions because you’re approaching from behind, relatively slowly, unlike approaching head-on.
Of course, the human/machine interface falls on its ass when conditions get really poor and drivers fail to turn the full lights on, but that also applies to the same sort of jackass who just leaves their rear fogs on all the time, just in case, like.
Personally I find that a damned sight more irritating than front fog/driving lights on when it’s not foggy, I use mine sometimes on unlit roads, just because they highlight the nearside curb making it easier to place the car when oncoming headlights dazzle

I think, I don't know for a fact , that the output from DRL's is not added to the wattage from the headlight bulbs
IIRCC its 55-60w , with 55w being the max for dipped and 60w for main beam
Obviuosly when we cast off from europe next week we can set our own wattage limits
But with lumens pre watt being greater for LED V filament bulbs it doesn't take many watts of multiplle LEDS to ramp up the lumens significantly
Add in the fact they are not inside the reflectoor assembly and therefor , very much like mtb lights , spill the output in a barrage effect out front , maybe

Just tried driving whilst looking at the nearside kerb a distance in front of me and it's no problem and no issue with bright lights - just try it.