Am i just going blind or....

[EazyDuz]

Do 70% of cars on the road have poorly adjusted aftermarket or factory HID lights? It never used to bother me being on unlit twisty, dark, damp roads 5 years ago. Now it seems 1 in every few cars dazzles me despite having a clean windscreen.
One dick behind me had such dazzling lights i had to move my mirror out the way so i could see infront, yet almost as if he was trolling, the light still dazzled me through my wing mirror.

[CX53]

Seems that way to me too, very annoying

[rongagin]

EazyDuz said:

Do 70% of cars on the road have poorly adjusted aftermarket or factory HID lights? It never used to bother me being on unlit twisty, dark, damp roads 5 years ago. Now it seems 1 in every few cars dazzles me despite having a clean windscreen.
One dick behind me had such dazzling lights i had to move my mirror out the way so i could see infront, yet almost as if he was trolling, the light still dazzled me through my wing mirror.

Agree. I have the option of coming along a 9 mile stretch of winding country road or driving an extra 5 miles on a main road. I take the country road in daylight but at night it is ridiculous how many really st headlights there are coming the other way, really quite dangerous, So take the longer, busier route.

Must be me because these HID kits don't dazzle do they, apparently, bds.

[Riley Blue]

70% of cars have badly adjusted HID lights? Really, 7 out of 10?? Not where I live, it's probably no more than one in two hundred, possibly less. I did see something worse just now, a car with no lights, I see that more and more recently.

[mwstewart]

Xenons wer ebad enough with imperfect auto levelling, but now auto main beam and matrix headlights have made the situation worse - they aren't perfect and are totally dazzling from certain angles and over undulations.

[Seesure]

It's not just after market... some of the OEM are just as bad if not worse...

Combined with dick heads who think it's cool to have fogs lights on as well, it's a bloody nightmare.

I've also noticed more and more drivers seem to think it's acceptable to use high beam on dual carriageways as they come towards you...

[mwstewart]

Seesure said:

I've also noticed more and more drivers seem to think it's acceptable to use high beam on dual carriageways as they come towards you...

Me too.

[CS Garth]

You are going blind - I'd probably lay off milking the man trumpet for a few days.

Only jesting I agree

[Skyedriver]

It's the fact that you haven't got a clue if there's a grea big pot hole or if there's someone lurking in the verge that worries me.
They come around a bend with lights blazing like John Wayne and it's total blindness
Never mind they can see ok assuming they are looking out of the windscreen rather than texting phoning etc

[EazyDuz]

rongagin said:

Agree. I have the option of coming along a 9 mile stretch of winding country road or driving an extra 5 miles on a main road. I take the country road in daylight but at night it is ridiculous how many really st headlights there are coming the other way, really quite dangerous, So take the longer, busier route.

Must be me because these HID kits don't dazzle do they, apparently, bds.

I take the country road at night which is about the same distance home as the main road, but as its not quite as busy i get home 8-12 minutes quicker.
But like you, i dont think i will anymore. Not worth it

[Conscript]

Seesure said:

It's not just after market... some of the OEM are just as bad if not worse...

Combined with dick heads who think it's cool to have fogs lights on as well, it's a bloody nightmare.

I've also noticed more and more drivers seem to think it's acceptable to use high beam on dual carriageways as they come towards you...

I fear you may be right. My car had it's first MOT on Saturday. As expected, it didn't fail on anything, but while I was watching them check the headlight levels, I saw them open the bonnet and fiddle with the adjusters on the back. I queried it because I've had the car almost since new and the lights are factory fitted bi-xenon. There's been no modification to the lights, nor to the suspension or anything which should affect their aim, but he said that they were aiming a little too high and there was a risk they might dazzle others.

I'm perfectly happy with them adjusting them down slightly, but it did confirm my suspicion, which is the same as yours - that even OEM HID lights are not always very well adjusted. There's been several times where I've been dazzled by them in my mirrors even when the car behind is maintaining a safe distance, for example.

[Timfy]

It seems pretty bad, not 7/10 cars bad but there are a lot out there with dazzling lights.

Probably as vehicles get older and auto-levelling bits start to go wonky.

It'll be really fun in a few years time when everyones fancy new (now) laser/led/matrix etc lights start to go wonky.

[rayny]

I think it is a combination of the following things :

1) The lights are getting brighter
2) Vehicles seem to be getting taller, so the oncoming lights are often at eye level
3) Our eyes do not adjust to the change of light as quickly as they did when we were young.

[gnc]

+ 1 to overbright / misadjusted headlights and use of fogs in normal conditions, you cant see any further, SWITCH THEM OFF

[silent ninja]

Seesure said:

I've also noticed more and more drivers seem to think it's acceptable to use high beam on dual carriageways as they come towards you...

I flash and if they continue, I high beam them back.

Modern headlights are dazzling. I hate them

[bobski1]

Found this but not just HIDs recently saw people driving in the dead of night with dipped beam rather than full & even muppets driving with full beams when there is full traffic.

One plank in a qashqi, overtook a car then pulled in directly behind another and put his beams on full.

Can't believe people can be so stupid

[EazyDuz]

Nevermind just ordered a HID kit for my car without projector lenses.
Can't beat 'em join 'em

[ILoveMondeo]

mwstewart said:

Seesure said:

I've also noticed more and more drivers seem to think it's acceptable to use high beam on dual carriageways as they come towards you...

Me too.

Could this be a reaction to the continual dazzling of cars coming the other way. Can look a lot like they've got main-beam on too, or your night vision never really gets going due to constantly being dazzled.. main beam gives a better chance to actually see where you're going.

Completely agree with the OP observations, seems a lot of very modern cars suffer from this, particularly cross-over/SUV stuff..

[LordGrover]

I recently had the pleasure of a hire car for a few days, bog standard cheapo Hyundai i10. Not a terrible car but I was dazzled by cars behind me, so mostly had the rear view mirror dipped. It wasn't until I got my car back that I realised the difference is my car has a dark tint to the rear screen which pretty much eliminates the glare.

I get more peeved by dazzling rear and brake lights on some of the current recent Audi/Mercedes models,especially when it's wet.

[V8RX7]

It's a ridiculous when the regulation brightness has been overtaken by technology so that the light emitted bears no relationship to the rules.

Never mind the headlights try following a modern BMW with 3000 red LED brake / rear lights down a country lane.