4 ms·

Last year I did a little roadtrip along the West Coast and through parts of Nevada and one thing that boggled my European mind was that, at night, on ordinary r

Last year I did a little roadtrip along the West Coast and through parts of Nevada and one thing that boggled my European mind was that, at night, on ordinary roads cars coming from the other direction always had their high beams on and never switched to their low beams as we got closer to each other. Same thing when cars were behind me. Is switching to your low beams to avoid dazzling other drivers not a thing in the US?

williamstein 2y ago
It is a thing. Your experience doesn’t at all match my experience driving on the West Coast for the last few decades.
lupusreal 2y ago
It's absolutely a thing. Sometimes people forget, and you can remind them by flashing your highbeams at them. However that's maybe one in fifty encounters in my experience, most people remember most of the time. A lesser known trick is you can flash your highbeams before cresting a hill or going around a blind turn to warn drivers on the other side. I rarely encounter other drivers who do this, but when I do it almost always works.
seiferteric 2y ago
Maybe, but also I get flashed by people thinking I have my high beams on when I don't, so could be mistaken.
- SoftTalker 2y ago
  Because your headlights are too bright.
- crims0n 2y ago
  Same, I drive a new model Suburban and constantly get flashed. I think it is the combination of the LED headlights and height at which they sit. I wish there was something I could do about it, but it isn't user adjustable.
  - rpdillon 2y ago
    I'm not an expert, but it's likely to be an alignment issue they could address at a shop.
  - DiggyJohnson 2y ago
    You can absolutely adjust the angle of your headlights in any modern vehicle. There's usually a screw somewhere reasonably accessible. Drop it literally like 1 degree.
  - neuralRiot 2y ago
    Check with your dealer, there was a recall on some GM lines due to a DRL not dimming at night causing excess glare. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2022/RCLRPT-22V903-6333.PDF https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2022/RCLRPT-22V903-6333.PDF
- myself248 2y ago
  You are hurting them. Take the hint and complain LOUDLY at your dealer until they do something about it.
joe_the_user 2y ago
I am currently having that experience here in Eastern Mountain California now that it's dark and winter. It's hard to tell really if always-on high beams are now common or if SUVs + superbright beams makes it seem that way, especially given there are a lot of hills that can make any car's high beams seem on. Still, I feel like "civility" here is breaking down and not turning off high beams may be a part of it (though I'm aware that feeling may be coloring my perceptions).
- jghn 2y ago
  > always-on high beams are now common or if SUVs + superbright beams I think it's a little bit of both. I believe the latter started the trend, and that confusion has led other people to just say screw it.
xeromal 2y ago
It is in the Southeast at least for about 90% of cases
hn_user82179 2y ago
Given that you said "always", I suspect they were the regular headlights of those cars. Which is really what the article is getting at. Especially because the height of cars in the US can be much higher than you might see in Europe (e.g. a lifted F-250), which point directly into the face of a driver in a smaller car. I hate it.
_yb2s 2y ago
Those are almost certainly not the brights! You'll find that out real quick if you flash your brights at them, and see the real brights! In Europe lights have much better quality optics, that are less blinding to oncoming drivers at the same light output. For the most part, these are not US legal, and the even same European car models when sold in the USA have much worse lights that dangerously blind oncoming drivers. I have always (illegally) retrofitted my vehicles with European versions of the headlights, and I can see much better, and blind other drivers less. It is absolutely insane that having safe headlights is illegal in the USA.
- keane 2y ago
  This feels like the real story. Why are European headlights deemed unacceptable in the US?
  - _yb2s 2y ago
    The answer is constantly changing, but there is a general trend of the USA being slower to make improved lighting technology legal, and USA car companies having no interest in adopting improved lighting technology, often even after it is legal. In general car headlights in the USA have to be DOT compliant, meeting a strict set of regulations... and the new and innovative or unusual designs on high end foreign cars can fall outside those for one reason or another. For example, back in the 70s and 80s the only compliant lights were extremely dim disposable sealed beam light bulbs with an integrated lens and reflector. European cars had high end optics with large glass lenses and mirrors that used a replaceable H4 style bulb, but the American versions had to swap that entire system for something with a low quality disposable bulb. Car enthusiasts would often buy the better lights from overseas and swap them in. While technically illegal, not cop is going to ticket you for not blinding them enough. Nowadays at least American cars do have replaceable lights and not sealed beams. A more modern example, is that European cars have long used dynamic/adaptive lights that actively detect and block the light going towards oncoming vehicles by dynamically reshaping the beam- a much more effective system than just having low beams that point lower. They also have steerable headlights that point away from oncoming traffic into turns, and automatically point the lights down if the vehicle suspension squats in the rear from a heavy load or bump. While they've long been legal and widely used in Europe, they are now legal in the USA as of 2 years ago- for example you can now order a new VW with "Dynamic Light Assist" option, which actively reshapes the beam.... but this is so recently legal almost no vehicles on the road have it yet.
MisterTea 2y ago
> Is switching to your low beams to avoid dazzling other drivers not a thing in the US? It 100% is when I was learning to drive in the 90's. Growing up I remember driving up the desolate back-roads of upstate NY on our way to VT and my father loosing his shit when some moron kept their high beams on. It was rare. I bet a lot of it has to do with modern car automation where auto dimming and other features are expected by newer drivers to just work and they blissfully drive around expecting the car to do everything for them. Laziness rendered by convenience.
- jimmydddd 2y ago
  Both of my cars (BMW and Nissan) have the ability to auto-switch to low beams when oncoming headlights are detected. It works great. But you have to press a button on the end of the turn signal wand to enable it. And it disables when you turn the car off. My wife and kids have no idea how to use this feature. I tried to explain it a few times, but they weren't interested.

williamstein 2y ago

It is a thing. Your experience doesn’t at all match my experience driving on the West Coast for the last few decades.

lupusreal 2y ago

It's absolutely a thing. Sometimes people forget, and you can remind them by flashing your highbeams at them. However that's maybe one in fifty encounters in my experience, most people remember most of the time. A lesser known trick is you can flash your highbeams before cresting a hill or going around a blind turn to warn drivers on the other side. I rarely encounter other drivers who do this, but when I do it almost always works.

seiferteric 2y ago

Maybe, but also I get flashed by people thinking I have my high beams on when I don't, so could be mistaken.

SoftTalker 2y ago
Because your headlights are too bright.
crims0n 2y ago
Same, I drive a new model Suburban and constantly get flashed. I think it is the combination of the LED headlights and height at which they sit. I wish there was something I could do about it, but it isn't user adjustable.
- rpdillon 2y ago
  I'm not an expert, but it's likely to be an alignment issue they could address at a shop.
- DiggyJohnson 2y ago
  You can absolutely adjust the angle of your headlights in any modern vehicle. There's usually a screw somewhere reasonably accessible. Drop it literally like 1 degree.
- neuralRiot 2y ago
  Check with your dealer, there was a recall on some GM lines due to a DRL not dimming at night causing excess glare. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2022/RCLRPT-22V903-6333.PDF https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2022/RCLRPT-22V903-6333.PDF
myself248 2y ago
You are hurting them. Take the hint and complain LOUDLY at your dealer until they do something about it.

joe_the_user 2y ago

I am currently having that experience here in Eastern Mountain California now that it's dark and winter. It's hard to tell really if always-on high beams are now common or if SUVs + superbright beams makes it seem that way, especially given there are a lot of hills that can make any car's high beams seem on. Still, I feel like "civility" here is breaking down and not turning off high beams may be a part of it (though I'm aware that feeling may be coloring my perceptions).

jghn 2y ago
> always-on high beams are now common or if SUVs + superbright beams I think it's a little bit of both. I believe the latter started the trend, and that confusion has led other people to just say screw it.

xeromal 2y ago

It is in the Southeast at least for about 90% of cases

hn_user82179 2y ago

Given that you said "always", I suspect they were the regular headlights of those cars. Which is really what the article is getting at. Especially because the height of cars in the US can be much higher than you might see in Europe (e.g. a lifted F-250), which point directly into the face of a driver in a smaller car. I hate it.

_yb2s 2y ago

Those are almost certainly not the brights! You'll find that out real quick if you flash your brights at them, and see the real brights! In Europe lights have much better quality optics, that are less blinding to oncoming drivers at the same light output. For the most part, these are not US legal, and the even same European car models when sold in the USA have much worse lights that dangerously blind oncoming drivers. I have always (illegally) retrofitted my vehicles with European versions of the headlights, and I can see much better, and blind other drivers less. It is absolutely insane that having safe headlights is illegal in the USA.

keane 2y ago
This feels like the real story. Why are European headlights deemed unacceptable in the US?
- _yb2s 2y ago
  The answer is constantly changing, but there is a general trend of the USA being slower to make improved lighting technology legal, and USA car companies having no interest in adopting improved lighting technology, often even after it is legal. In general car headlights in the USA have to be DOT compliant, meeting a strict set of regulations... and the new and innovative or unusual designs on high end foreign cars can fall outside those for one reason or another. For example, back in the 70s and 80s the only compliant lights were extremely dim disposable sealed beam light bulbs with an integrated lens and reflector. European cars had high end optics with large glass lenses and mirrors that used a replaceable H4 style bulb, but the American versions had to swap that entire system for something with a low quality disposable bulb. Car enthusiasts would often buy the better lights from overseas and swap them in. While technically illegal, not cop is going to ticket you for not blinding them enough. Nowadays at least American cars do have replaceable lights and not sealed beams. A more modern example, is that European cars have long used dynamic/adaptive lights that actively detect and block the light going towards oncoming vehicles by dynamically reshaping the beam- a much more effective system than just having low beams that point lower. They also have steerable headlights that point away from oncoming traffic into turns, and automatically point the lights down if the vehicle suspension squats in the rear from a heavy load or bump. While they've long been legal and widely used in Europe, they are now legal in the USA as of 2 years ago- for example you can now order a new VW with "Dynamic Light Assist" option, which actively reshapes the beam.... but this is so recently legal almost no vehicles on the road have it yet.

MisterTea 2y ago

> Is switching to your low beams to avoid dazzling other drivers not a thing in the US? It 100% is when I was learning to drive in the 90's. Growing up I remember driving up the desolate back-roads of upstate NY on our way to VT and my father loosing his shit when some moron kept their high beams on. It was rare. I bet a lot of it has to do with modern car automation where auto dimming and other features are expected by newer drivers to just work and they blissfully drive around expecting the car to do everything for them. Laziness rendered by convenience.

jimmydddd 2y ago
Both of my cars (BMW and Nissan) have the ability to auto-switch to low beams when oncoming headlights are detected. It works great. But you have to press a button on the end of the turn signal wand to enable it. And it disables when you turn the car off. My wife and kids have no idea how to use this feature. I tried to explain it a few times, but they weren't interested.