4 ms·

Same in europe, since a few years. It should be illegal, but there you are. There is the possibility (as said by an apologetic driver) that it sometimes may b

by mdp2021 5mo ago

Same in europe, since a few years. It should be illegal, but there you are. There is the possibility (as said by an apologetic driver) that it sometimes may be a badly functioning automation ("Too high? Oh but it's automatic").

jmclnx 5mo ago
I wish they would go back to the old headlights from the 70s, they and a slight yellow tint to them and all headlights were at the same level. Since the late 90s I think, no matter what setting is used, everyone is blinded when by people in back of you and people coming towards you.
torginus 5mo ago
The US is worse - an F150s headlights are at eye level if you're sitting in a Corolla. Nothing on European roads is quite as bad.
- mitthrowaway2 5mo ago
  I don't understand why headlight elevation isn't standardized.
  - bradfa 5mo ago
    It was. We had sealed beam headlights for a while till we didn’t. There were common rules for aiming and it worked. The lights weren’t all that bright and the styling was not stellar, however.
    - dylan604 5mo ago
      I remember having to take my car in to adjust the aiming of the headlights after it didn't pass inspection. So we used to take things like this seriously. I just had my car inspected last month, I don't even remember them hitting the horn. I'm guessing they pretty much just shove a sensor up the exhaust pipe and call it a day while accepting your payment.
      - bradfa 5mo ago
        No shoving sensors required, the data is all in the ECU accessible over OBDII interface. The car knows if it’s compliant in real time using the sensors it already has.
        dylan604 5mo ago
        Wouldn't the VW dieselgate show that we can't trust the manufactures? A third party sensor would be more trustworthy to me.
        bradfa 5mo ago
        In states in the USA which perform emissions testing, many of them did not mandate it for diesel cars. For example, I owned a VW Jetta TDI and in New York (which has yearly emissions testing where an OBDII computer is mandated to be connected to gasoline powered cars in order to pass the yearly emissions inspection) and I was exempt from the emissions testing entirely. A 3rd party sensor would be incredibly expensive for inspection stations to purchase as it would need to meter the air and fuel which enter the engine (assuming we aren't going to trust the car's computer which already knows these figures) as well as to measure the emissions out of the tail pipe. This is economically unrealistic to implement without a dramatic price increase in the cost of regular emissions testing. Trusting the computer is the economical and realistically widely implementable solution. But yes, it has it's blind spots.
- retired 5mo ago
  First generation Audi Matrix LED lights would have a word. Those blind oncoming traffic for a full second before dimming. They were banned in the US, ironically.
- Melatonic 5mo ago
  Theoretically the higher headlights could be angled down more to at least sort of help this ? Unless you were right in front of the vehicle. The worst are the trucks with the insane aftermarket light bars
nottorp 5mo ago
> Same in europe, since a few years. Yeah, since they started to introduce super duper led headlights and 144 Hz animations on turn signals it's been more and more blinding to drive at night even across the ocean.
rconti 5mo ago
Actually, it's worse in the US due to our regs.
- retired 5mo ago
  Many European active headlights solutions were banned in the US upon release thanks to the NHTSA. Meanwhile us Europeans got blasted by them daily.
  - milch 5mo ago
    Instead NHTSA still allows automatic high beams, which blast you instead in the US... Or just regular old drivers that don't realize/care. Even as a pedestrian, I constantly see people driving through my neighborhood with high beams on... and these are side streets with a 20mph/30kph speed limit. Anecdotally at least people in Europe are a lot better about only turning high beams on outside of city limits
retired 5mo ago
As an EU citizen, I notice that our regulators tend to target industries that operate outside of the EU. There is a massive car lobby in Europe with dozens of big companies and regulation would have a big effect on them. There are headlights that are illegal in the US but legal in Europe. Opposite world of what we normally have.
Theodores 5mo ago
My observations from the UK, formerly almost 'Europe': Boomers need cataract operations! A huge part of the car dependent population are elderly. These folks need ten times the light to see anything when compared to the seventeen year old learner driver (that doesn't go out at night, because their driving instructor clocked off hours ago). My thoughts regarding this are somewhat anecdotal, however, I have heard a mystery boomer rant and rave about the headlights on his 'Italian car' (they make them in Eastern Europe and slap an Italian flag on). My observation from being in the offending car, shouting here because aforementioned elderly person had hearing issues too: I CAN SEE EVERYTHING FOR MILES!!! Next: state of the roads As a pesky cyclist, I used to prefer roads to cycle paths because of the smoother riding experience and improved speed. Not nowadays. In the UK, and dare I say it, the West, we have a problem with potholes. Cars also come with low profile tyres and they weigh 50%+ more than the cars we had before airbags and electronic safety systems came along. This is a combination that results in frequent flat tyres. What was something that rarely happened is now practically inevitable. As a pesky cyclist, I should be the one getting punctures and fixing tyres, not the motorist. To compound the misery, few cars come with a genuine spare wheel, partly because of the weight problem with today's cars. My bicycle with kit and caboodle weighs far less than that spare wheel, so this nobbling of the spare wheel makes sense to me, but still, a normal car is two orders of magnitude heavier than what I roll with. Back to the headlights, the elderly cohort with money for new cars, the boomers, don't live in cities, they have nice places in the countryside that require car dependency. With this, and the usage of B-roads, there is a genuine requirement for super-bright lights. Some brands, such as Audi, sell into the market for those that want innovative lights, where the primary innovation is yet more light. As for built up areas, the lighting situation has also changed. Even as a cyclist, I am running what amounts to 'daytime running lights' because of the light pollution. I put my lights on well before sundown, whereas I never used to. The law is 'after sundown' and I used to be okay with that, but if it is four in the afternoon, mid-summer, I am putting the rear light on, at least. It does not seem that I am alone in this, many cars have full lighting rather than what we used to call 'sidelights' on. It is no longer pitch black inside a car, SAAB style. There is so much lighting going on, with a glowing iPad style screen at the minimum, ambient lighting strips on the deluxe cars. The headlights have to compete with this. So more brightness, please! As I see it, we are caught in a cycle of degrading roads, heavier cars, brighter lights and an elderly cohort that actually needs massive amount of light to see anything. Sure there is clever tech so nobody has to dim their lights, and we have it on posh AUDIs and the like, but this is the spiral we are in, and the good old USA shows where it is going, what the end game looks like. Into the mix we also have cyclists playing the stupid-lights game. Nowadays cycling is conspicuous leisure, not transport, and plenty of the carbon fibre crew spend hundreds on these stupid lights. Obviously I am somewhat 'shadow fleet' so I don't do that, I just have what heavy goods drivers 'want' from the well-behaved cyclist, which is standard issue, basic flashing lights, a complement of reflectors, high viz and manners. I yearn for being able to see the Milky Way and the moon providing variable amounts of light throughout the night, with anything moving at night having modest levels of lighting. The situation as it stands means that, along with pedestrians, pets and other animals, I am as good as invisible at night on my bicycle. Fortunately it looks like we will be losing cheap oil thanks to the tangerine person, unfortunately many millions will starve, but a lot of lights will be getting turned off soonly and the age of car dependency will be over.

by mdp2021 5mo ago

jmclnx 5mo ago

I wish they would go back to the old headlights from the 70s, they and a slight yellow tint to them and all headlights were at the same level. Since the late 90s I think, no matter what setting is used, everyone is blinded when by people in back of you and people coming towards you.

torginus 5mo ago

The US is worse - an F150s headlights are at eye level if you're sitting in a Corolla. Nothing on European roads is quite as bad.

mitthrowaway2 5mo ago
I don't understand why headlight elevation isn't standardized.
- bradfa 5mo ago
  It was. We had sealed beam headlights for a while till we didn’t. There were common rules for aiming and it worked. The lights weren’t all that bright and the styling was not stellar, however.
  - dylan604 5mo ago
    I remember having to take my car in to adjust the aiming of the headlights after it didn't pass inspection. So we used to take things like this seriously. I just had my car inspected last month, I don't even remember them hitting the horn. I'm guessing they pretty much just shove a sensor up the exhaust pipe and call it a day while accepting your payment.
    - bradfa 5mo ago
      No shoving sensors required, the data is all in the ECU accessible over OBDII interface. The car knows if it’s compliant in real time using the sensors it already has.
      - dylan604 5mo ago
        Wouldn't the VW dieselgate show that we can't trust the manufactures? A third party sensor would be more trustworthy to me.
        bradfa 5mo ago
        In states in the USA which perform emissions testing, many of them did not mandate it for diesel cars. For example, I owned a VW Jetta TDI and in New York (which has yearly emissions testing where an OBDII computer is mandated to be connected to gasoline powered cars in order to pass the yearly emissions inspection) and I was exempt from the emissions testing entirely. A 3rd party sensor would be incredibly expensive for inspection stations to purchase as it would need to meter the air and fuel which enter the engine (assuming we aren't going to trust the car's computer which already knows these figures) as well as to measure the emissions out of the tail pipe. This is economically unrealistic to implement without a dramatic price increase in the cost of regular emissions testing. Trusting the computer is the economical and realistically widely implementable solution. But yes, it has it's blind spots.
retired 5mo ago
First generation Audi Matrix LED lights would have a word. Those blind oncoming traffic for a full second before dimming. They were banned in the US, ironically.
Melatonic 5mo ago
Theoretically the higher headlights could be angled down more to at least sort of help this ? Unless you were right in front of the vehicle. The worst are the trucks with the insane aftermarket light bars

nottorp 5mo ago

> Same in europe, since a few years. Yeah, since they started to introduce super duper led headlights and 144 Hz animations on turn signals it's been more and more blinding to drive at night even across the ocean.

rconti 5mo ago

Actually, it's worse in the US due to our regs.

retired 5mo ago
Many European active headlights solutions were banned in the US upon release thanks to the NHTSA. Meanwhile us Europeans got blasted by them daily.
- milch 5mo ago
  Instead NHTSA still allows automatic high beams, which blast you instead in the US... Or just regular old drivers that don't realize/care. Even as a pedestrian, I constantly see people driving through my neighborhood with high beams on... and these are side streets with a 20mph/30kph speed limit. Anecdotally at least people in Europe are a lot better about only turning high beams on outside of city limits

retired 5mo ago

As an EU citizen, I notice that our regulators tend to target industries that operate outside of the EU. There is a massive car lobby in Europe with dozens of big companies and regulation would have a big effect on them. There are headlights that are illegal in the US but legal in Europe. Opposite world of what we normally have.

Theodores 5mo ago

My observations from the UK, formerly almost 'Europe': Boomers need cataract operations! A huge part of the car dependent population are elderly. These folks need ten times the light to see anything when compared to the seventeen year old learner driver (that doesn't go out at night, because their driving instructor clocked off hours ago). My thoughts regarding this are somewhat anecdotal, however, I have heard a mystery boomer rant and rave about the headlights on his 'Italian car' (they make them in Eastern Europe and slap an Italian flag on). My observation from being in the offending car, shouting here because aforementioned elderly person had hearing issues too: I CAN SEE EVERYTHING FOR MILES!!! Next: state of the roads As a pesky cyclist, I used to prefer roads to cycle paths because of the smoother riding experience and improved speed. Not nowadays. In the UK, and dare I say it, the West, we have a problem with potholes. Cars also come with low profile tyres and they weigh 50%+ more than the cars we had before airbags and electronic safety systems came along. This is a combination that results in frequent flat tyres. What was something that rarely happened is now practically inevitable. As a pesky cyclist, I should be the one getting punctures and fixing tyres, not the motorist. To compound the misery, few cars come with a genuine spare wheel, partly because of the weight problem with today's cars. My bicycle with kit and caboodle weighs far less than that spare wheel, so this nobbling of the spare wheel makes sense to me, but still, a normal car is two orders of magnitude heavier than what I roll with. Back to the headlights, the elderly cohort with money for new cars, the boomers, don't live in cities, they have nice places in the countryside that require car dependency. With this, and the usage of B-roads, there is a genuine requirement for super-bright lights. Some brands, such as Audi, sell into the market for those that want innovative lights, where the primary innovation is yet more light. As for built up areas, the lighting situation has also changed. Even as a cyclist, I am running what amounts to 'daytime running lights' because of the light pollution. I put my lights on well before sundown, whereas I never used to. The law is 'after sundown' and I used to be okay with that, but if it is four in the afternoon, mid-summer, I am putting the rear light on, at least. It does not seem that I am alone in this, many cars have full lighting rather than what we used to call 'sidelights' on. It is no longer pitch black inside a car, SAAB style. There is so much lighting going on, with a glowing iPad style screen at the minimum, ambient lighting strips on the deluxe cars. The headlights have to compete with this. So more brightness, please! As I see it, we are caught in a cycle of degrading roads, heavier cars, brighter lights and an elderly cohort that actually needs massive amount of light to see anything. Sure there is clever tech so nobody has to dim their lights, and we have it on posh AUDIs and the like, but this is the spiral we are in, and the good old USA shows where it is going, what the end game looks like. Into the mix we also have cyclists playing the stupid-lights game. Nowadays cycling is conspicuous leisure, not transport, and plenty of the carbon fibre crew spend hundreds on these stupid lights. Obviously I am somewhat 'shadow fleet' so I don't do that, I just have what heavy goods drivers 'want' from the well-behaved cyclist, which is standard issue, basic flashing lights, a complement of reflectors, high viz and manners. I yearn for being able to see the Milky Way and the moon providing variable amounts of light throughout the night, with anything moving at night having modest levels of lighting. The situation as it stands means that, along with pedestrians, pets and other animals, I am as good as invisible at night on my bicycle. Fortunately it looks like we will be losing cheap oil thanks to the tangerine person, unfortunately many millions will starve, but a lot of lights will be getting turned off soonly and the age of car dependency will be over.