4 ms·

Headlights are an arms race. I used to be able to safely drive my 1982 Jeep CJ5 at night with its 5 3/4" sealed-beam 55W halogen 5006 headlights. Once my eyes

Headlights are an arms race. I used to be able to safely drive my 1982 Jeep CJ5 at night with its 5 3/4" sealed-beam 55W halogen 5006 headlights. Once my eyes adjusted, I could safely see far enough ahead to drive at 55 mph and - experimentally verified - stop in time for deer standing in the road, even with a wobbly vehicle and without ABS). Then HIDs and came out, and people with sealed-beam and replaceable bulb halogens started putting in painful blue-tinted bulbs. I upgraded to replaceable bulbs with high-brightness 65W H4 bulbs, but didn't go blue because I'd never look like a new, fancy HID vehicle and I didn't want to blind other drivers. Now my 65W bulbs are the least bright lights on the road, and I don't drive the Jeep at night because it's just not safe. I suppose that I could get an LED ring and new high-brightness LED bulbs with a fan on the back, but I'm already higher than the trunk of smaller cars and I don't want to be "that guy" who I often see behind me with the lifted truck inches from my bumper when I'm not driving the jeep. At least it's a little safer than the people who don't understand their auto headlights and drive in the rain with only the DRLs illuminated and no running lights visible from the back. Bulbs are cheap, and they last forever these days, there's no reason to drive with them turned off.

rascul 4y ago
> and I don't drive the Jeep at night because it's just not safe. I rarely drive at night anymore for the same reason. When I have to, I try to do so with a freshly cleaned windshield, that helps a decent bit. Another trick is to watch the outside line of the lane/road so you're not looking into the oncoming headlights as much. But I do agree that headlights seem to have gotten brighter and brighter. And many aren't adjusted at the proper angles, either. But also, my eyes probably aren't as good as they were in decades past.
aidenn0 4y ago
What gets me is how so many stock trucks and SUVs have their headlights so high up. I can deal with the occasional "that guy" because most people just don't go through the trouble of raising their vehicle, but when popular stock vehicles start out so high, I'm basically always blinded.

rascul 4y ago

> and I don't drive the Jeep at night because it's just not safe. I rarely drive at night anymore for the same reason. When I have to, I try to do so with a freshly cleaned windshield, that helps a decent bit. Another trick is to watch the outside line of the lane/road so you're not looking into the oncoming headlights as much. But I do agree that headlights seem to have gotten brighter and brighter. And many aren't adjusted at the proper angles, either. But also, my eyes probably aren't as good as they were in decades past.

aidenn0 4y ago

What gets me is how so many stock trucks and SUVs have their headlights so high up. I can deal with the occasional "that guy" because most people just don't go through the trouble of raising their vehicle, but when popular stock vehicles start out so high, I'm basically always blinded.