10 ms·

There are too many cars with this problem. Especially high trucks and SUVs whose beams blinds drivers in front of them..

kelseyfrog 2y ago
I keep a hand mirror for just this case. Most passengers are more than eager to reflect it back and it almost always solves the problem.
- ASalazarMX 2y ago
  Feedback at its finest.
- Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
  Another option, if the headlights are at eye level, is to move the rear-view mirror so that you see the passenger seat headrest. That makes it the perfect angle to make their headlights reflect right back at them.
  - JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B 2y ago
    Is it because of the dual mirror system? Do you have to actually lower the mirror? Asking for a friend who is blinded daily by these idiots.
    - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
      It's because that will square up the mirror. From a top down view, the mirror will be perpendicular to the light rays
- everdrive 2y ago
  Solas tape is another potential option.
alephxyz 2y ago
Adaptive driving / glare-free lighting is legal in the US and Canada now and is supposed to reduce that problem
- Bluestrike2 2y ago
  Glad we got around to closing that barn door. It only took nearly twelve years from when adaptive headlights hit the market. Heads should have rolled years ago when the problem became glaringly obvious.
clumsysmurf 2y ago
If there was one invention that made its way into every car - I wish it would be some kind of oncoming active light dimming / compensation system. Maybe in the glass, or glasses / goggles a driver wears. What I do now on the highways is point my side mirrors all the way out and flip the rearview mirror. I already have deeply tinted windows. Of course this doesn't help with oncoming traffic.
- ms512 2y ago
  Some cars already do this, like Tesla's Adaptive Headlights feature [1]. [1] https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_sg/GUID-1C209641-AA23-47AC-B0D1-3FE3779CF222.html#:~:text=are%20not%20met.-,Adaptive%20Headlights,-When%20Adaptive%20Headlights https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_sg/GUID-1C20964...
  - mistercheph 2y ago
    Tesla's are the worst offenders outside of big trucks imo
  - close04 2y ago
    > High beams are currently turned on, and Adaptive Headlights is ready to turn off the high beams if light is detected in front of Model 3. The description makes it sound like the Tesla implementation of "Adaptive headlights" is actually just "automatic high beams". The most common extra feature of adaptive headlights is corner-adaptive, the ability to pivot into the direction of travel. For the past years adaptive headlights could even mean "smart headlights" with selective dimming. Does Tesla include these features as well? Anecdotally I can say that what stands out with (some?) Tesla headlights is that they keep the high beams shining for way too long and even the low beams seem to be overly bright. I can't say if this is down to the driver manually controlling the high beams or the general calibration of the incoming light sensor and the auto leveling of the headlight.
- gambiting 2y ago
  My Volvo automatically dims both side mirrors and the rear view mirror when bright lights are detected, it actually works really well.
notyourwork 2y ago
With respect to trucks, it’s people who modify the trucks height and don’t readjust the lights. This should be enforced much more!
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
  Lifted trucks should have a season, like deer season. Control the population.
  - LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago
    With RPGs and Gatling Guns!
Reason077 2y ago
It's bad with cars but even worse with bikes that have flashing or even strobing lights. Busy cycle lanes in London can be horrible on dark winter evenings with all the LED lights that can be incredibly bright and are very often not installed/adjusted/aimed correctly. I appreciate that cyclists want to make sure they're seen by car drivers, but beaming ultra-bright flashing lights straight into the eyes of oncoming cyclists on a cycle lane surely creates a hazard that outweighs any benefits?!
- jeffbee 2y ago
  Yes, American bike lights are totally out of control. They almost all have circular flashlight beams, totally inappropriate for use on the road. If you try to show someone a proper cutoff optic light they will say it's dim because it doesn't blind them with useless near field light. The only ones I've been able to find are imports from Europe like B+M or Supernova, and a few expensive domestic ones like Outbound Lighting. If you walk into almost any bike shop in America they will have only circular optics that blind everyone.
- lifestyleguru 2y ago
  This irritates me as well. Every vehicle on the road is supposed to have solid white front light and solid red back light, no reason why bicycles should be different. Strobing bright white light directed at the eye sight level is just aggressive and extremely selfish. The manuals usually state that in blinking or strobing mode the lights work longer on one battery charge.
  - hgomersall 2y ago
    Flashing rear is much more noticeable and marks you out as a cyclist. Certainly in the UK, it's perfectly legal.
  - KennyBlanken 2y ago
    You're getting exactly what you asked for. The reason they're so bright and annoying is that you, dear motoring public, love complaining we're "not visible enough" in the comments of newspaper articles about people killed while riding a bicycle. Or in letters to the editor. Or to your legislators. Or at hearings about road infrastructure. Or hearings about road safety legislation. Or after you've plowed into one of us. If you all would like to work on the whole "not killing large numbers of vulnerable road users", we can certainly look into the whole "make our bike lights not blink." My state requires, at night: * a rear light visible more than 500 feet * a rear reflector * pedal reflectors or ankle reflectors (both ankles) * front reflector (+500 ft) * front light (+500 ft) * wheel reflectors Our state used to only require a rear light, but a state legislator refused to let a road safety bill pass unless he got put his paws all over it and increase equipment requirements for cyclists to "balance" out requiring drivers must give cyclists a minimum of three feet passing distance. And yes, sometimes it is necessary to use a blinking mode to assure that we won't run out of battery (and thus have NO light) before we get home. On a long ride, for example, or in wintertime when lithium ion battery capacity plummets.
blackhaz 2y ago
Fucking Teslas are pain in the rear. Even the stop lights on some models are so bright it burns a hole in the head every time you're behind one.
TacticalCoder 2y ago
I agree. I've got a Porsche Panamera and the headlights are too bright. At times people flash their headlights at me, thinking I've got my high-beams on: I then cannot do much else then quickly flash back the real high-beams to mean "sorry mate, no, these were the regular beams, THAT is the high-beams so stop flashing at me". Now even the regular beams they sure do work fine (the car even does fancy stuff as lighting the interior of a turn when you take a sharp turn at night) but honestly I find many cars, including mine, have headlights to bright. Worse: on these new cars with super fancy headlights if I'm not mistaken you cannot even configure where they aim at anymore. It's all automated. It used to be the case on older cars where it was easy to configure and you could aim the regular beam moderately low as to be sure to not annoy anyone. I don't bother flashing at people anymore because I figured out they may simply have a car where the regular beams are simply too bright too.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- bradleyjg 2y ago
  Don’t buy such an antisocial car next time?
- marliechiller 2y ago
  Just in case - have you tried directing the beams down a bit? Not sure what the situation is on that model but there is a dial to the right of my wheel (right hand drive) which controls for this. Maybe worth investigating if you have something similar
  - vladvasiliu 2y ago
    I think one of the points of these "smart" systems is to do the aiming themselves and adjust to the conditions, including the vehicle's load. My dad's 20yo Citroën had self-leveling lights, which weren't user adjustable (at least not in an obvious way). However, even though the lights were relatively bright (Xenon), nobody ever "complained" about them, they somehow always found a way to not blind oncoming cars while lighting the road very well. They were fixed pattern, with the high beam on a manual switch, though, so they never tried to guess whether there was someone in the oncoming lane.
ErigmolCt 2y ago
We need an automatic adjustments to ensure everyone's safety on the road
- everdrive 2y ago
  We don't need automatic adjustment. The lights never needed to be this bright. Ultra-bright lights are not solving a real problem. People think brighter == better, but it really doesn't help whatsoever. It's an emotional salve.

kelseyfrog 2y ago

I keep a hand mirror for just this case. Most passengers are more than eager to reflect it back and it almost always solves the problem.

ASalazarMX 2y ago
Feedback at its finest.
Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
Another option, if the headlights are at eye level, is to move the rear-view mirror so that you see the passenger seat headrest. That makes it the perfect angle to make their headlights reflect right back at them.
- JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B 2y ago
  Is it because of the dual mirror system? Do you have to actually lower the mirror? Asking for a friend who is blinded daily by these idiots.
  - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
    It's because that will square up the mirror. From a top down view, the mirror will be perpendicular to the light rays
everdrive 2y ago
Solas tape is another potential option.

alephxyz 2y ago

Adaptive driving / glare-free lighting is legal in the US and Canada now and is supposed to reduce that problem

Bluestrike2 2y ago
Glad we got around to closing that barn door. It only took nearly twelve years from when adaptive headlights hit the market. Heads should have rolled years ago when the problem became glaringly obvious.

clumsysmurf 2y ago

If there was one invention that made its way into every car - I wish it would be some kind of oncoming active light dimming / compensation system. Maybe in the glass, or glasses / goggles a driver wears. What I do now on the highways is point my side mirrors all the way out and flip the rearview mirror. I already have deeply tinted windows. Of course this doesn't help with oncoming traffic.

ms512 2y ago
Some cars already do this, like Tesla's Adaptive Headlights feature [1]. [1] https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_sg/GUID-1C209641-AA23-47AC-B0D1-3FE3779CF222.html#:~:text=are%20not%20met.-,Adaptive%20Headlights,-When%20Adaptive%20Headlights https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_sg/GUID-1C20964...
- mistercheph 2y ago
  Tesla's are the worst offenders outside of big trucks imo
- close04 2y ago
  > High beams are currently turned on, and Adaptive Headlights is ready to turn off the high beams if light is detected in front of Model 3. The description makes it sound like the Tesla implementation of "Adaptive headlights" is actually just "automatic high beams". The most common extra feature of adaptive headlights is corner-adaptive, the ability to pivot into the direction of travel. For the past years adaptive headlights could even mean "smart headlights" with selective dimming. Does Tesla include these features as well? Anecdotally I can say that what stands out with (some?) Tesla headlights is that they keep the high beams shining for way too long and even the low beams seem to be overly bright. I can't say if this is down to the driver manually controlling the high beams or the general calibration of the incoming light sensor and the auto leveling of the headlight.
gambiting 2y ago
My Volvo automatically dims both side mirrors and the rear view mirror when bright lights are detected, it actually works really well.

notyourwork 2y ago

With respect to trucks, it’s people who modify the trucks height and don’t readjust the lights. This should be enforced much more!

01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
Lifted trucks should have a season, like deer season. Control the population.
- LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago
  With RPGs and Gatling Guns!

Reason077 2y ago

It's bad with cars but even worse with bikes that have flashing or even strobing lights. Busy cycle lanes in London can be horrible on dark winter evenings with all the LED lights that can be incredibly bright and are very often not installed/adjusted/aimed correctly. I appreciate that cyclists want to make sure they're seen by car drivers, but beaming ultra-bright flashing lights straight into the eyes of oncoming cyclists on a cycle lane surely creates a hazard that outweighs any benefits?!

jeffbee 2y ago
Yes, American bike lights are totally out of control. They almost all have circular flashlight beams, totally inappropriate for use on the road. If you try to show someone a proper cutoff optic light they will say it's dim because it doesn't blind them with useless near field light. The only ones I've been able to find are imports from Europe like B+M or Supernova, and a few expensive domestic ones like Outbound Lighting. If you walk into almost any bike shop in America they will have only circular optics that blind everyone.
lifestyleguru 2y ago
This irritates me as well. Every vehicle on the road is supposed to have solid white front light and solid red back light, no reason why bicycles should be different. Strobing bright white light directed at the eye sight level is just aggressive and extremely selfish. The manuals usually state that in blinking or strobing mode the lights work longer on one battery charge.
- hgomersall 2y ago
  Flashing rear is much more noticeable and marks you out as a cyclist. Certainly in the UK, it's perfectly legal.
- KennyBlanken 2y ago
  You're getting exactly what you asked for. The reason they're so bright and annoying is that you, dear motoring public, love complaining we're "not visible enough" in the comments of newspaper articles about people killed while riding a bicycle. Or in letters to the editor. Or to your legislators. Or at hearings about road infrastructure. Or hearings about road safety legislation. Or after you've plowed into one of us. If you all would like to work on the whole "not killing large numbers of vulnerable road users", we can certainly look into the whole "make our bike lights not blink." My state requires, at night: * a rear light visible more than 500 feet * a rear reflector * pedal reflectors or ankle reflectors (both ankles) * front reflector (+500 ft) * front light (+500 ft) * wheel reflectors Our state used to only require a rear light, but a state legislator refused to let a road safety bill pass unless he got put his paws all over it and increase equipment requirements for cyclists to "balance" out requiring drivers must give cyclists a minimum of three feet passing distance. And yes, sometimes it is necessary to use a blinking mode to assure that we won't run out of battery (and thus have NO light) before we get home. On a long ride, for example, or in wintertime when lithium ion battery capacity plummets.

blackhaz 2y ago

Fucking Teslas are pain in the rear. Even the stop lights on some models are so bright it burns a hole in the head every time you're behind one.

TacticalCoder 2y ago

I agree. I've got a Porsche Panamera and the headlights are too bright. At times people flash their headlights at me, thinking I've got my high-beams on: I then cannot do much else then quickly flash back the real high-beams to mean "sorry mate, no, these were the regular beams, THAT is the high-beams so stop flashing at me". Now even the regular beams they sure do work fine (the car even does fancy stuff as lighting the interior of a turn when you take a sharp turn at night) but honestly I find many cars, including mine, have headlights to bright. Worse: on these new cars with super fancy headlights if I'm not mistaken you cannot even configure where they aim at anymore. It's all automated. It used to be the case on older cars where it was easy to configure and you could aim the regular beam moderately low as to be sure to not annoy anyone. I don't bother flashing at people anymore because I figured out they may simply have a car where the regular beams are simply too bright too.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
bradleyjg 2y ago
Don’t buy such an antisocial car next time?
marliechiller 2y ago
Just in case - have you tried directing the beams down a bit? Not sure what the situation is on that model but there is a dial to the right of my wheel (right hand drive) which controls for this. Maybe worth investigating if you have something similar
- vladvasiliu 2y ago
  I think one of the points of these "smart" systems is to do the aiming themselves and adjust to the conditions, including the vehicle's load. My dad's 20yo Citroën had self-leveling lights, which weren't user adjustable (at least not in an obvious way). However, even though the lights were relatively bright (Xenon), nobody ever "complained" about them, they somehow always found a way to not blind oncoming cars while lighting the road very well. They were fixed pattern, with the high beam on a manual switch, though, so they never tried to guess whether there was someone in the oncoming lane.

ErigmolCt 2y ago

We need an automatic adjustments to ensure everyone's safety on the road

everdrive 2y ago
We don't need automatic adjustment. The lights never needed to be this bright. Ultra-bright lights are not solving a real problem. People think brighter == better, but it really doesn't help whatsoever. It's an emotional salve.