Whats even worse is seeing people with high beams on during broad daylight. How does that even happen.

Majority of the times the high beam bulbs are towards the center of the vehicle so I can usually tell when the highs are on.

There should be a reminder like the seat belt chime what goes off every 30 seconds when the high beams are on. I cannot tell you a time in my life I drove more than 30 seconds without the need to turn off the high beams.

I'm finding more MC riders using high beams during the day.

I don't care if it's daytime, it's damn bright!

quote:

Originally posted by Vanwall:
I'm finding more MC riders using high beams during the day.

I don't care if it's daytime, it's damn bright!

They want you to see them!

quote:

Originally posted by Vanwall:
I'm finding more MC riders using high beams during the day.

I don't care if it's daytime, it's damn bright!

You know why? Because we're now lost in a danged ocean of other lights!

It used to be that MC riders were required to run their headlights all the time... makes 'em easier to see, you see? Then along came stinkin' daytime running lights and all the add-on gizmos, and motorcycles are lost among the crowd again.

So now, in the ongoing and escalating arms race that is automotive lighting, MC riders are running their high beams and installing what are virtually miniature aircraft landing lights, just to be seen among all the other goofy lights out there.

It's a constant one-upsmanship thing, not entirely malicious, and not likely to get better.

That's my opinion, and worth every penny you paid for it.

My in-laws have a old Honda Accord 2002 with very bad yellow lights. They tell me they just drive with the high beams on all the time to see

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
Because we're now lost in a danged ocean of other lights!

It used to be that MC riders were required to run their headlights all the time... makes 'em easier to see, you see? Then along came stinkin' daytime running lights and all the add-on gizmos, and motorcycles are lost among the crowd again.

This. I ride with my high beams on until dusk in hopes of increasing my chances of being seen. And even then I can’t tell you how many times people still don’t see me (or act like they don’t)

High beams, or no headlights at dawn or dusk and never use turn signals.

This is the not-so-new normal.

quote:

Originally posted by mojojojo:

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
Because we're now lost in a danged ocean of other lights!

It used to be that MC riders were required to run their headlights all the time... makes 'em easier to see, you see? Then along came stinkin' daytime running lights and all the add-on gizmos, and motorcycles are lost among the crowd again.

This. I ride with my high beams on until dusk in hopes of increasing my chances of being seen. And even then I can’t tell you how many times people still don’t see me (or act like they don’t)

Heck, if you want to be invisible drive a school bus!

I know what you mean about the bright lights, I think a lot of it is people that have incorrectly installed "upgraded lighting" in the wrong housing and also not correctly adjusting them.

Also, how hard is it to turn on your lights in the rain, fog or snow? Come on people, this isn't rocket surgery!


ARman

Just met a guy riding a bike on the sidewalk. He had an LED light on the bike and was wearing a LED headlamp. He damn near blinded me,

Cop here, and I get duped by newer LED headlights on occasion. I driver a 2016 Explorer at work and have people flash me thinking MY brights are on all the time.

Another thing I've seen recently is newer cars that have automatic high beams. The problem is that they rarely turn off in time to avoid causing a problem (and a traffic violation) so they're kind of pointless.

Failure to dim is a really big pet peeve of mine. I stop folks for it all the time. Don't think I've ever written a ticket for it, but you'd be amazed how many people think it's actually OK to do that.

No such thing as bright enough. The local ranchers started running Angus cattle this year not to mention deer, elk, and bear. I need all the help I can get, just not around other traffic.

Vacationers that over load their car/truck/trailer and don't readjust the headlights are the worst offenders around here.

Anyone else see Blue running lights and turn signals on non-LEO / non-Fire department vehicles?

A certain demographic group here seems in love with blue lights. Illegal in this state, but doesn't seem to be enforced.

quote:

Originally posted by phydough:

Functional, for sure!

But likely Hella-illegal on the roads.

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:
Anyone else see Blue running lights and turn signals on non-LEO / non-Fire department vehicles?

I've seen it around here recently. Also likely illegal here.

- - -

Side rant: Local police have started using RED flashy-blinkies now. What the heck?! It used to be simple... blue lights on police vehicles, red on fire and rescue vehicles. Not any more!

quote:

Originally posted by Icabod:

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:
Since we're on the subject...
PUT YOUR HEADLIGHTS ON IN THE RAIN!

I blame the automatic headlights.
Both our cars have sensors to automatically turn on the headlights.
However, I’ve had these same sensors shut the headlights off. I was driving in the rain, headlights on, then they were shit off. Best I can figure is these sensors run on the light level and maybe on the time of day. They sure aren’t connected to the wipers.
People have become used to the lights coming on without their doing anything. They just assume that the lights are on and will stay on.

this,

and the position of the high beam light on the dash,

on my honda civic, the high beam indicator is hidden by my steering wheel,


had auto lights on the mini cooper,

my tundra I can turn on , and they will cut off automatically ,

this time of year I tend to just leave them on,

My Cadillac Escalade has ridiculously bright lights. Weekly I get people flashing me thinking I have brights on, then I flip those and the other drivers seem to cower to the side of the road until I pass. MUHHHAHHHAHAHAHHA king of ROAD!!. No seriously, they are stupid bright, but as a driver I love them.

quote:

Another thing I've seen recently is newer cars that have automatic high beams. The problem is that they rarely turn off in time to avoid causing a problem (and a traffic violation) so they're kind of pointless.

We have a Mazda CX-9 with automatic everything including automatic bright dimmer. It actually works surprisingly well. Too well sometimes. They turn off when they see any sort of brighter light in front of us whether is be a street light or a reflector lit up by our own headlights.

quote:

Anyone else see Blue running lights and turn signals

Those should not pass inspection in Missouri as headlights are required to be "white" and secondary lighting "white, yellow, or amber".

Our laws only restricts red lighting from being visible on the front of a vehicle as it pertains to emergency vehicles.

I have adaptive Bi-Xenon, very nice and I don't get the bright lights from oncoming vehicles like regular xenons even though I am on dims. There is no high or low bulb just a shade that comes down on dims that covers part of the bulb. They also swivel right and left as you turn. In auto they have a camera in the front that detects oncoming cars and dims automatically. I don't think I have ever used the auto dim because wherever I drive is most times heavy traffic.

Police here.

I stop a lot of cars for driving without headlights and more than a few for failure to dim. Driving without lights seems to mostly be a combination of cars with dashboards that illuminate all the time (albeit very brightly when the lights are off, and you ought to know the difference), the prevalence of automatic lights (and people who inexplicably turn them off "sometimes"), and then folks driving a rental or borrowed car and assuming it works like their car...

BUT...

The high beams work exactly the same in nearly every car built in the last 30-40+ years (since the foot high beam switch went out of style) and they all have the same exact status indicator. Despite that, the exchange I have with these people are all the same and ends with me having to show them how to disable the high beams. How can you not know that? How can you not notice the bright blue indicator? You know every damn one of them knows how to wirelessly play music from their phone on the car radio, but the brights are a mystery...

...that and the folks that forgot when they got off the highway.

quote:

We have a Mazda CX-9 with automatic everything including automatic bright dimmer. It actually works surprisingly well. Too well sometimes. They turn off when they see any sort of brighter light in front of us whether is be a street light or a reflector lit up by our own headlights.

Have a 2017 Mazda. The auto dimmer works perfectly, in plenty of time. I can't remember a single time it failed to dim quick enough and needed human intervention.

Sometimes, very rarely, it does get fooled for a second into dimming when not needed.
Single points of light will cause it to dim, but as I understand in my reading about the system, the computer provides extra preference to two points of light if spaced such that it can assume it is an approaching car. Sorry motorcycles! It also analyzes the color of the light in it's deciding to dim or not, giving preference to white and red.

The headlights also turn with the steering wheel up to 10°, and adjust in height automatically as the load in the car / trunk changes. There is a sensor on the rear suspension that raises or lowers the headlight beams as needed. Every time the car is started it does a self calibration. If parked in front of something you can see them move around sort of a circle and snap into position. Amazing amount of tech in these new cars...

...but with all that I still get flashed at occasionally when I'm on dim already, the LEDs are just so bright. They are factory legal and they have a nice cutoff but they look brighter on dim than any of our 3 other cars do on bright.

Other things to take into consideration is the process that the DOT uses to approve newer technology is more thorough and also takes longer. Compound headlights only came into play in the last few years. They've been around much longer elsewhere. Volvo has patented the technology to block light and not have it projected onto oncoming traffic. It also has the ability to track raindrops and not illuminate them (greatly increasing visibility) during a storm. Can't have them here yet...