Driving at night
Discussion
ericmcn said:
Biker's Nemesis said:
nickfrog said:
MC Bodge said:
TREMAiNE said:
Clive-sz8cz said:
S100HP said:
ericmcn said:
If you can't drive at night hand your license in, people are unable to overtake in broad daylight or drive at the NSL let alone at night.
Of f
k off you sanctimonious dick.
Genuine question Eric, although I don't expect you will answer, but how do you honestly rate your own driving in the face of this onslaught based on what you see in your own videos with disabled comments ?
Borrowed my dad's new Mini last week and was being flashed up at least once per journey because, I assume, the dipped beams must be very bright.
Someone brought up a good point though - car size. Driving it dark of course makes judgement harder, but we're now in much bigger cars which requires better judgement on the same roads.
As has been said, I look for a reference point like a white line or kerb and stay focused on that. You only get blinded if you're looking at their lights.
My missus moans about it a lot... has been to the opticians once in adulthood. I think if you're one of the people that flashed people up for having 'bright lights', you need to first check yourself out first.
Someone brought up a good point though - car size. Driving it dark of course makes judgement harder, but we're now in much bigger cars which requires better judgement on the same roads.
As has been said, I look for a reference point like a white line or kerb and stay focused on that. You only get blinded if you're looking at their lights.
My missus moans about it a lot... has been to the opticians once in adulthood. I think if you're one of the people that flashed people up for having 'bright lights', you need to first check yourself out first.
greenarrow said:
Definitely car lights on moderns are a problem, great for the driver, terrible for those coming the other way...
..and we've definitely gone backwards in many ways. A lot of the modern tech is I think a hindrance to driving and not necessary. My old school analogue Ford Focus highlights the failings of these moderns.... small wheels (and cheap tyres), great ride quality, -feel-some steering, responsive n/a engine. Also the lack of those annoying "driver aids".... auto lights, auto wipers, collision awareness, lane assist. You just don't need them if you're a competent and half awake driver!
It's not just terrible for other drivers. ..and we've definitely gone backwards in many ways. A lot of the modern tech is I think a hindrance to driving and not necessary. My old school analogue Ford Focus highlights the failings of these moderns.... small wheels (and cheap tyres), great ride quality, -feel-some steering, responsive n/a engine. Also the lack of those annoying "driver aids".... auto lights, auto wipers, collision awareness, lane assist. You just don't need them if you're a competent and half awake driver!
Anything not lit up on the road is totally invisible when set against some of these modern lights. If the oncoming car has lights that emulate the sun, then peds are invisible, obstructions are invisible. You stand no chance of seeing an animal or ped if they're in the darkness to the LHS of an oncoming car - however good your lights are.
33 here and also find modern extremely white headlights quite unpleasant, it's quite humourous when most of the light from my headlights is drowned out by the shadow of my own car cast by the laser beams of the car behind me
I am generally quite insensistive to light, sunny days I'm not one to wear sunglasses etc. so who knows I've probably just fried my eyes and thus it's the sudden contrast at night that causes the issue?
I'm realistic enough to know it's quite feasibly me changing as opposed to the entire rest of the world, it'd be lovely if I could briefly be 10 years younger to see how I felt about new LED / laser headlights mounted at retina height on the SUVs that make up (presumably) a much higher percentage of traffic than 10 years ago
I am generally quite insensistive to light, sunny days I'm not one to wear sunglasses etc. so who knows I've probably just fried my eyes and thus it's the sudden contrast at night that causes the issue?
I'm realistic enough to know it's quite feasibly me changing as opposed to the entire rest of the world, it'd be lovely if I could briefly be 10 years younger to see how I felt about new LED / laser headlights mounted at retina height on the SUVs that make up (presumably) a much higher percentage of traffic than 10 years ago
Monkeylegend said:
ericmcn said:
Biker's Nemesis said:
nickfrog said:
MC Bodge said:
TREMAiNE said:
Clive-sz8cz said:
S100HP said:
ericmcn said:
If you can't drive at night hand your license in, people are unable to overtake in broad daylight or drive at the NSL let alone at night.
Of fk off you sanctimonious dick.Genuine question Eric, although I don't expect you will answer, but how do you honestly rate your own driving in the face of this onslaught based on what you see in your own videos with disabled comments ?
Johnnytheboy said:
I predict this thread will include the killer "hand in your driving licence" in a page or two.
I've often wondered if the DVLA have a special dept. devoted to receiving the licences of people who are respodning to commands from others on the internet to hand their licences in; it must happen a lot!
I've often wondered if the DVLA have a special dept. devoted to receiving the licences of people who are respodning to commands from others on the internet to hand their licences in; it must happen a lot!
Mr Pointy said:
Depending on your age you could be developing cataracts so maybe get your optician to check. You wouldn't believe how much brighter & whiter the world is after a cataract operation - it can literally be painful in bright sunlight.
Two things that have greatly improved my resistance to glare were having the op for cataracts and a decent pair of Zeiss anti-glare (NOT yellow) driving glasses. Surely yellow lens just reduce the amount of light reaching the eyes under all conditions? SturdyHSV said:
t new LED / laser headlights mounted at retina height on the SUVs that make up (presumably) a much higher percentage of traffic than 10 years ago
I think this is the main issue, driving my RX8 at night is hard work due to how low the seating position is, I've retrofitted a auto dim mirror to it which helps but it ideally would need auto dim mirrors as well as anytime another cars behind you just get glare reflected back from the mirrors.When swapping cars the difference in eyelevel is immediately noteable.
Glosphil said:
Mr Pointy said:
Depending on your age you could be developing cataracts so maybe get your optician to check. You wouldn't believe how much brighter & whiter the world is after a cataract operation - it can literally be painful in bright sunlight.
Two things that have greatly improved my resistance to glare were having the op for cataracts and a decent pair of Zeiss anti-glare (NOT yellow) driving glasses. Surely yellow lens just reduce the amount of light reaching the eyes under all conditions? The effect was a sort of starburst effect around headlights. Eventually this effect made it very hard to tell where the limits of the approaching vehicle were.
And of course the problem starts small and increases very slowly over years so it's easy to put it down to being tired or a dirty windscreen or whatever.
Another thought...
Can we have quick mention of the new breed of super bright LEDs that a lot of cyclists have now? 95% are fine, some are on the helmet or set badly on the handle bars so that you get blinded by a stupidly bright beam if they are oncoming. (even worse with the helmet mounted ones - if they look at you, you get blinded.)
Can we have quick mention of the new breed of super bright LEDs that a lot of cyclists have now? 95% are fine, some are on the helmet or set badly on the handle bars so that you get blinded by a stupidly bright beam if they are oncoming. (even worse with the helmet mounted ones - if they look at you, you get blinded.)
Interesting topic. I have been driving since I was 18 in 2002 and never liked driving at night, I guess it is probably down to all my cars having crap headlights (either due to age or design). I don't tend to have the need to drive at night but found myself doing a 140 mile trip down the A303 in the early hours of the morning.
What struck me was how little of the road my low beams covered when I needed to dip my lights and how many cats eyes had been removed. I also got to thinking the use of high beams on dual carriage ways if both cars are in the left hand lanes. I have always dipped but noticed a lot of people just keep on high.
What struck me was how little of the road my low beams covered when I needed to dip my lights and how many cats eyes had been removed. I also got to thinking the use of high beams on dual carriage ways if both cars are in the left hand lanes. I have always dipped but noticed a lot of people just keep on high.
Daston said:
Interesting topic. I have been driving since I was 18 in 2002 and never liked driving at night, I guess it is probably down to all my cars having crap headlights (either due to age or design). I don't tend to have the need to drive at night but found myself doing a 140 mile trip down the A303 in the early hours of the morning.
What struck me was how little of the road my low beams covered when I needed to dip my lights and how many cats eyes had been removed. I also got to thinking the use of high beams on dual carriage ways if both cars are in the left hand lanes. I have always dipped but noticed a lot of people just keep on high.
The dual carriageway, High-beam thing could be down to auto-dip lights. The central barrier is preventing one car from picking up the lights of the oncoming car, and so staying on main beam. Wait until you upset a truck driver high up in his cab; you will get a full squirt of the roof-mounted high-beams! That is one reason trucks have roof-mounted outline-marker lamps, then you can see there is a truck, despite its headlamps being hidden.What struck me was how little of the road my low beams covered when I needed to dip my lights and how many cats eyes had been removed. I also got to thinking the use of high beams on dual carriage ways if both cars are in the left hand lanes. I have always dipped but noticed a lot of people just keep on high.
Since the clocks changed I go to work and back home in the dark. Headlights not usually an issue as its mostly motorway, but when I have to take country lanes you can get blinded by led headlight over a crest.
Most annoying is that some headlights don't actually point to the road, but light up the back of the car in front. Both my cars have adaptive LEDS, never been flashed by oncoming traffic, but do notice the majority of beam is pointed at the road, not the car in front.
HID headlights for cars with normal headlights are just completely blinding as the beam is not focused, just "flares" everywhere.
Also why when it gets dark, do people need to drive around with front fog lights on? If your lights are that bad you need a new car or an eyetest.
Most annoying is that some headlights don't actually point to the road, but light up the back of the car in front. Both my cars have adaptive LEDS, never been flashed by oncoming traffic, but do notice the majority of beam is pointed at the road, not the car in front.
HID headlights for cars with normal headlights are just completely blinding as the beam is not focused, just "flares" everywhere.
Also why when it gets dark, do people need to drive around with front fog lights on? If your lights are that bad you need a new car or an eyetest.
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