Driving at night
Discussion
sparkythecat said:
Are those yellow tinted specs any good?
I'm presently getting inundated with fantastic adverts for them on my Facebook feed
Makes you look like a 1970s nutjob though. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nglh-BExEusI'm presently getting inundated with fantastic adverts for them on my Facebook feed
My everyday car is from 1996 so lower than most modern cars let alone the 4x4, SUVs, etc so their headlights are usually straight in my eyes.
Nothing wrong with my eyes as just had eye test.
I'm thinking of fitting Xenons. They may be illegal on my car due to its age but screw that I want to see where i'm going.
Nothing wrong with my eyes as just had eye test.
I'm thinking of fitting Xenons. They may be illegal on my car due to its age but screw that I want to see where i'm going.
The main issue I have is that in my MX5 I'm sat low enough that my head is below the height at which SUV headlights are mounted, which means that even if they're on dipped beams I get a face full of light, and vans/SUVs behind are good at bouncing it into my face off my wing mirrors, and they're usually wide enough and an mx5 is skinny enough to get near and offside mirrors at the same time......
I don't really get too bothered by it, I just see it as coming with the territory if I must insist on enjoying my driving in a fairly low car when SUVs are fashionable....
The flip side is that it's easier for me to see at night now my car has a full LED setup, certainly whilst I get more light in my face from other cars now, its still easier to see what is ahead of me than it was using the frankly awful Halogens my old BMW had.
I don't really get too bothered by it, I just see it as coming with the territory if I must insist on enjoying my driving in a fairly low car when SUVs are fashionable....
The flip side is that it's easier for me to see at night now my car has a full LED setup, certainly whilst I get more light in my face from other cars now, its still easier to see what is ahead of me than it was using the frankly awful Halogens my old BMW had.
Johnnytheboy said:
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 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 ?
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!
Jagmanv12 said:
My everyday car is from 1996 so lower than most modern cars let alone the 4x4, SUVs, etc so their headlights are usually straight in my eyes.
Nothing wrong with my eyes as just had eye test.
I'm thinking of fitting Xenons. They may be illegal on my car due to its age but screw that I want to see where i'm going.
Roof light?Nothing wrong with my eyes as just had eye test.
I'm thinking of fitting Xenons. They may be illegal on my car due to its age but screw that I want to see where i'm going.
https://youtu.be/CiQNPGhK8Lc?t=38
Mits said:
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.
My BMW 335d has LEDs, and auto-dip. The auto-dip works and reacts fine, but in the first winter of night driving, the dipped beam seemed a bit high. They were adjusted at the dealer - the mechanic said they were a bit high - since then, I have had no-one flash me. 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.
I must say a few years ago, I came to hate driving at night. Now I am used to it, and most A-roads around me have white lines at the side of the road, which help a great deal. The B-roads are mostly single width with passing places, so seeing a car ahead at night is actually a help. I usually get all-singing-and-dancing driving glasses (not yellow-tinted though) and have had the same prescription for a few years, a month ago I was tested and there was no change (I’ll keep my licence then, as long as certain posters are OK with that). In over 50 years of driving,
I have used and found fog lamps useful only 3 times; twice in heavy fog, and once in driving snow; and that is when fog lamps really are useful, the light goes under the driving snow, whereas with dipped headlamps, you are just totally unable to see anything other than the snow a few feet from the windscreen.
Davie said:
I had what is becoming an all too regular experience last night. Raining, dark, single track and met a Discovery who stopped to let me squeeze past but I couldn't see a thing such was the glare and intensity of his lights.
I tried to gesticulate for him to turn them off, which is something many rural dwellers around here do whilst you pass... but in the end I reversed back, I simply couldn't see what was in front of me (ie, the ditch!)
I had this the other day. He helpfully turned off his headlights but forgot to turn off his lower lights which were an order of magnitude brighter. It was pitch black and my reversing light is totally weedy. Every time I looked forward to check the mirrors I couldn't see a bleeding thing. I tried to gesticulate for him to turn them off, which is something many rural dwellers around here do whilst you pass... but in the end I reversed back, I simply couldn't see what was in front of me (ie, the ditch!)
In daylight I'll happily rip backwards. This took around 3-4 minutes to make it a few hundreds metres back with countless adjustments.
Uberingenieur said:
The main issue I have is that in my MX5 I'm sat low enough that my head is below the height at which SUV headlights are mounted, which means that even if they're on dipped beams I get a face full of light, and vans/SUVs behind are good at bouncing it into my face off my wing mirrors, and they're usually wide enough and an mx5 is skinny enough to get near and offside mirrors at the same time......
I don't really get too bothered by it, I just see it as coming with the territory if I must insist on enjoying my driving in a fairly low car when SUVs are fashionable....
The flip side is that it's easier for me to see at night now my car has a full LED setup, certainly whilst I get more light in my face from other cars now, its still easier to see what is ahead of me than it was using the frankly awful Halogens my old BMW had.
May I ask which LED headlights you have installed?I don't really get too bothered by it, I just see it as coming with the territory if I must insist on enjoying my driving in a fairly low car when SUVs are fashionable....
The flip side is that it's easier for me to see at night now my car has a full LED setup, certainly whilst I get more light in my face from other cars now, its still easier to see what is ahead of me than it was using the frankly awful Halogens my old BMW had.
I do get flashed regularly in my amarok which has xenon lights- I understand it is annoying as I drive my corsa van all week so I too get blinded by other amarok etc drivers.
The problem is when I drive my amarok and the guy coming toward me starts flashing like a nutter or worse puts his full beam on until I dip my lights......... problem is my lights are already dipped so if he continues to full beam me and my family then I have no choice but to light him up in return- funny how quickly the car dips his light then.
Actually what’s far more dangerous than this is the idiots who drive at night with only day running leds on and no rear lights on
The problem is when I drive my amarok and the guy coming toward me starts flashing like a nutter or worse puts his full beam on until I dip my lights......... problem is my lights are already dipped so if he continues to full beam me and my family then I have no choice but to light him up in return- funny how quickly the car dips his light then.
Actually what’s far more dangerous than this is the idiots who drive at night with only day running leds on and no rear lights on
Modern headlights are awfully bright.
I had to upgrade to LED's on my Defender, It's really is the only way to combat it. The TVR however is very unpleasant to drive at night. Poor headlights just great drowned out.
Even my partners Volvo v40 headlights struggle. The higher driving position does helps greatly in the Defender. So now contemplating chopping in the V40 for a Discovery.
I had to upgrade to LED's on my Defender, It's really is the only way to combat it. The TVR however is very unpleasant to drive at night. Poor headlights just great drowned out.
Even my partners Volvo v40 headlights struggle. The higher driving position does helps greatly in the Defender. So now contemplating chopping in the V40 for a Discovery.
I have very good night vision (had to have it tested for driving airside at Frankfurt Airport), and have no issues driving at night, other than absurdly bright/maladjusted headlights of oncoming cars. If people need headlights like the sun to see well enough to drive at night they should stay indoors.
MC Bodge said:
It is an arms race.
M A D
Will the end point be everybody having to wear welding goggles to drive or auto-dimming windscreens?
M A D
Will the end point be everybody having to wear welding goggles to drive or auto-dimming windscreens?
CanAm said:
Back in the 1960s I read an article about a proposed major improvement to headlights. A polarising filter would be fitted to headlights and windscreens would also have polarised glass, but at a 90°angle to the lights. Drivers would see everything illuminated by the lights (because the reflected light is no longer polarised) but light coming directly from the headlights would be vastly reduced.
If you want to see how this works, hold another polarised lens in front of your glasses and rotate it; when it's at 90° it's virtually black.
I assume it was too expensive unfortunately.
If you want to see how this works, hold another polarised lens in front of your glasses and rotate it; when it's at 90° it's virtually black.
I assume it was too expensive unfortunately.
Mdm83 said:
Johnnytheboy said:
You AND your family?
Don’t your family ever travel with you? Or do they all face the rear while driving? For me it evoked images of a gun advocate explaining that if anyone was to threaten him and his family he'd have no excuse but to let off a magazine or two as a warning.
Not a criticism, it just sounded funny the way it was written
BrettMRC said:
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.)
Unfortunately, you get lost in the haze without them. My only crash so far only happened because I was heavily backlit and the chap couldn't see me.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.)
BrassMan said:
Unfortunately, you get lost in the haze without them. My only crash so far only happened because I was heavily backlit and the chap couldn't see me.
NOT correct, set your lights correctly on a bike, m'bike car or truck and you WILL be seen and will not blind the oncoming person..Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff