Cyclists blinding drivers!

Surf-Matt

I know it's usually the other way round but yesterday on my way to a surf, I was driving down the road in fairly poor light - an MTB/hybrid came the other way and had lights so bright that I temporarily couldn't see properly.

Car headlights have "rules" and are set not to blind people - I think some modern bike lights need similar - some kick out more light than car lights after all.

Oh and I cycle every day so am not anti bike.

UndercoverElephant

Not sure about that, even the most basic car headlight kicks out about 1500 lumens, HID ones are over twice that. My torch is pretty bright, and it only manages 230. I do agree though that some people need to point them down a bit, but really, the brighter the better.

Buckled_Rims

One biker I sometimes see on a cycle track during my commute has a beam focused that is parallel to the ground ie, biker riders and walkers eye height. For a good 50 metres I'm blinded.

I lost my temper the 3rd time I saw him last year and shout "turn the beam down mate!". He just laughed. I still see him once a fortnight usually on a Wednesday night at 6, so I try and be ready! Seems deliberate to me.

Surf-Matt

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Not sure about that, even the most basic car headlight kicks out about 1500 lumens, HID ones are over twice that. My torch is pretty bright, and it only manages 230. I do agree though that some people need to point them down a bit, but really, the brighter the better.

A lot are kicking out over 1000 lumens (a headlight on dipped is 700ish). Possibly the type of light too on bikes - very focussed, very "white."

My Hope 1 is 240 lumens and even that is slightly blinding.

always_tyred

Surf-Matt wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Not sure about that, even the most basic car headlight kicks out about 1500 lumens, HID ones are over twice that. My torch is pretty bright, and it only manages 230. I do agree though that some people need to point them down a bit, but really, the brighter the better.

A lot are kicking out over 1000 lumens (a headlight on dipped is 700ish). Possibly the type of light too on bikes - very focussed, very "white."

My Hope 1 is 240 lumens and even that is slightly blinding.

Its definitely the angle, not the brightness. There are a small number of £400 ish lights brighter than a single car headlight, and cars have more than one headlight (usually!).

Personally, I don't get it - I use an HID lamp so I can see **the road** i.e. I need to have it pointing down at the tarmac 10-20m in front of me.... oddly enough like I do in the car.

mudcovered

Buckled_Rims wrote:

One biker I sometimes see on a cycle track during my commute has a beam focused that is parallel to the ground ie, biker riders and walkers eye height. For a good 50 metres I'm blinded.

How antisocial (much more polite than what I really want to write). Given that I use a 480lumen front light I've been very careful to position it on the bars so it is effectively dipped (pointing down and to the left) and I still turn it down when I see an approaching cyclist or walker. About the only people that get blinded by me now are those that think riding along an unlit towpath with no lights and no reflectors is a sane idea. I'd dip it for them as well but by the time I've seen them its a bit late. :evil:

Mike

cat_with_no_tail

Deja Vu

I know that if I angle my 900 lumen magicshine light down enough I get no bother, but have come straight off a MTB ride and forgotten to alter it a couple of times now and been flashed at (oo-err) by motorists.

greasygrinder

I've experienced this a lot in Richmond Park at night. It's fair enough having a bright light to pick out your way down the road (no lights in RP) but it's agonizing to get caught in the glare coming the other way: it's no fun coming down those steep hills with toasted retinas and no night vision.

As someone who's just got some dealextreme monster lights, I'm now a bit wary of putting them on the bike. Now these lights are extremely bright, I wonder if manufacturers need to put some kind of dipping mechanism on them.

bails87

mudcovered wrote:

by the time I've seen them its a bit late. :evil:

You need brighter lights

the_hundredth_idiot

I just won a pretty fancy Lupine Tesla 4 (see other threads) which puts out 700 lumens and am a little concerned about this. My only riding in the dark is on London roads and I wonder whether the benefit of having a really bright light is out-weighed by the anti-social effect.

Still, there are plenty of car drivers out there who drive around with badly adjusted headlights which are more blinding than my little, battery-powered thing could be.

cat_with_no_tail

The Hundredth Idiot

Tell you what, as I'm such a nice guy, I'll swap your Tesla for an AA powered Aldi light set. Problem solved

gaz545

I find a lot of these new audi's bmw's and mercs headlights far to bright when i'm in my car. can barely see where i'm going most of the time!

Stevo_666

Surf-Matt wrote:

I know it's usually the other way round but yesterday on my way to a surf, I was driving down the road in fairly poor light - an MTB/hybrid came the other way and had lights so bright that I temporarily couldn't see properly.

Car headlights have "rules" and are set not to blind people - I think some modern bike lights need similar - some kick out more light than car lights after all.

Oh and I cycle every day so am not anti bike.

Get one of these and angle it up a bit next time he is due to show up:
http://www.lumicycle.com/product/195/2240-lumen-spot-flood.htm
That'll teach the f****r :twisted:

Surf-Matt

2240 lumens?!!!!! Feck!

bails87

Ok, I like my torch/light combo, with a claimed lumen output of over 1000, but why on earth would you need 2240? :shock:

bails87

bails87 wrote:

Ok, I like my torch/light combo, with a claimed lumen output of over 1200, but why on earth would you need 2240? :shock:

Stevo_666

bails87 wrote:

bails87 wrote:

Ok, I like my torch/light combo, with a claimed lumen output of over 1200, but why on earth would you need 2240? :shock:

Scaring large animals that cross your path/burning away obstructing vegetation before you hit it? The most likely explanation is they are in a 'power race' with other light manufacturers like Tiger and Seca. Put simply, willy waving translated into lumens

They claim you might need it for very fast downhill sections off-road, but you're going to need some big cojones to do that at night, even with an aircraft searchlight strapped to your handlebars.

shouldbeinbed

I've recently mounted my bright flashy 'to be seen by' light on my helmet - it is more adjustable on its mount there and if I realise that i am causing a driver grief I can easily move my head a touch and problem solved. It is amazing how far its reach is judging by the flashing road signs and hi viz jackets disco'ing in the distance and it definitely has the effect of making cars think twice and they'll invariably dip their beams now on seeing me coming.

It also works wonders on drivers edging over give way lines, a deliberately aimed Paddington Bear Hard Stare stops them dead and lets me past safely.

(Rant mode enabled) Apart from one Taxi driving c0ck whom I regiularly see early mornings on quiet back road, he leaves me unable to see my front tyre let alone the road for 50 yards as he's approaching me, his lights are so badly adjusted (cars flash him regularly too) that he is literally blinding the skies and barely lighting the road. I'm sure it is deliberate.
his driving is not good either, he's an absolute anus. (and breathe)

jimmypippa

Stevo 666 wrote:

They claim you might need it for very fast downhill sections off-road, but you're going to need some big cojones to do that at night, even with an aircraft searchlight strapped to your handlebars.

I'd imagine that would play merry hell with any balance. I have a mental image of someone having the fromt perfectly illuminated, but not being able to see around the back of the searchlight....

I was going to suggest a mirror.

scottgeniusltd2005

brighter is better. blind them they will slow down. if they slow down they don't hit you.

merkin

brighter is better. blind them they will slow down. if they slow down they don't hit you.

You are joking aren't you? :?
Hands up who wants a blind driver heading towards them? :roll:

scottgeniusltd2005

:roll:

always_tyred

Well, you guys are right.

I've decided that I need to use another light. So, no more Hope HID (which was an unreliable piece of crap anyway) and I'll make do with.....

....
:oops: :shock:

scottgeniusltd2005

for £150 they will upgrade it to the hope vision4. which is amazing

BentMikey

That's my light, Always Tyred! I have a joystick too, which I helmet mount, usually for skating training at night.

always_tyred

BentMikey wrote:

That's my light, Always Tyred! I have a joystick too, which I helmet mount, usually for skating training at night.

You like?

I figure its about twice as bright as what I have, has a low setting for towns, so how far can you go wrong?

I got the redeye too. Current set up all have loose connections. Will maybe fix them for the mtb.

asprilla

Folks with wrongly adjusted lights are always pishing me off in RP; coming home at night I don't really want to lose any semblance of night vision because some selfish twonk coming the other way doesn't know they have to point their light at the road in order to make it work properly.

nwallace

Surf-Matt wrote:

Car headlights have "rules" and are set not to blind people - I think some modern bike lights need similar - some kick out more light than car lights after all.

So do bike lights.
Main set
Must be BS approved
Must be on the centre line of the offside of that line
Must be used accompanied by a rear reflector meeting the appropriate BS during Lighting up time.

Main set and Auxilliary lamps
Must not be set up so as to dazzle other road users.

Dazzling other road users with a light is at best Inconsiderate Driving/Cycling.

supersonic

Car headlamps typically output 800-3000 lumens - but just like bike lights, the area over it is spread and beam patterb dictates how bright parts of it will be.

The P7 equipped MTB torches usually have a wide throw.

BentMikey

Always Tyred wrote:

BentMikey wrote:

That's my light, Always Tyred! I have a joystick too, which I helmet mount, usually for skating training at night.

You like?

I figure its about twice as bright as what I have, has a low setting for towns, so how far can you go wrong?

I got the redeye too. Current set up all have loose connections. Will maybe fix them for the mtb.

I certainly do! It's bright, very bright, and has a wide flood as well as loads of reach.

As for the dazzling thing, I think it's probably boll0cks. Running it on full power on the road, it seems between 1 in 100 to 1 in 1000 cars will flash me. Can't be that dazzling then.

daniel_b

I use one set of these intermediate beam 280 lumen puppies for my commute, angled down to hit the tround about 6-8 ft in front of my front wheel.


For offroad fun, I also have a narrow beam version of the ayups mounted on my helmet.

And now, thanks to the superb 'what lights' thread on the mtb forum, I have 2 of these on the helmet as well either side of the ayups:


And a pair of these P7's on the bars, again either side of the ayups:




Yes it may be overkill, and turning night into day, but hey, I like it 8)

But with regards to the Ayup's for commuting, as long as you have them pointing down towards the ground, I do not see the issue, and yes people can be blinded if you look into any light, but it's the same when driving, you keep your eyes focused on your side of the road, and do not look into the lights of oncoming cars.

Cheers

Dan