How to get drivers to dip their lights?

Bucksspeedyboy

The dark nights are here again and once again the thing that pee's me off the most arises - car drivers not dipping their lights! I live in a village in the countryside and so out of necessity have to ride and also run on country lanes. I have been a runner for years and have got used in the evening to gesticulating to drivers coming towards me that they should dip their lights - I wear high-viz clothing and a headlight and I know from driver's reactions that they can see me a long way off, but still a significant minority do not dip their lights so I'm dazzled as they come towards me (funny how they seem to be able to see me if I stick two fingers up).

But in the last couple of years I have started cycling as well and if I want to keep my cycling fitness up I have to ride in the dark - and that's when a car coming towards you without its lights dipped becomes dangerous because all you can see is the lights and can't see where the side of road or where the verge/ bank starts or ends . I wear high-viz top and have front/ rear lights and again I know I can be seen. Out last night and the number of drivers I had to try and get to dip their lights drove me nuts. I have noticed that usually those that are driving the slowest are the ones that don't do it, so have come to conclusion that it could be older drivers who don't have good eyesight and can't see properly. Oh, and drivers of Mercedes, Audis, BMWs and 4X4's of course!

Bordersroadie

Get a light that is as bright in their eyes as a car main beam is in your eyes (eg Exposure Toro or various other brands).

They will dip theirs, almost guaranteed.

Then you "dip" yours.

If they do happen to stay on full beam, your bright (full beam) light maintains a safely lit road ahead of you.

Monty Dog

I only need to ride a mile before I'm into unlit lanes - sadly, some drivers seem to believe that full-beam is some sort of forcefield. My advice is to wear a peaked cap to shield your eyes until they pass. I'm not sure blinding oncoming drivers is a good idea.

sumosprintstar

Try a pair of glasses with yellow tint lenses. It works very well for me. I understand your frustration though.

cyberknight

Yellow tinted lens... check

very bright light... check

I have the above and i normally do not get a problem with car headlights on unlit lanes.

cougie

Yes bright light and a cap. Sorted.

ColinJ

For me, wearing a bright head torch did the trick. If drivers dazzle you, point the head torch straight back at them, then 'flick' your beam down towards the road. If they don't get the message first time, repeat until they do. I found most drivers reacted the first time.

Hector10

Need to make sure your own lights are aimed properly and don't dazzle in the first place. I find its a big problem.

pneumatic

I used to commute on unlit country roads and had this problem almost every evening. My technique was to put my hand over my front light for a few seconds and then take it away. Repeating this a few times seemed to wake the driver up and make them think "lights!". Worked almost every time.

In those cases where it didn't, an appropriate hand signal as they got really close made me feel slightly better (for a short time).

Pickled Pig

Though you shouldn't have to, to preserve night vision it is sometimes a good idea to shut one eye when dazzled then open it after the culprit has passed

rick_chasey

Pickled Pig wrote:

Though you shouldn't have to, to preserve night vision it is sometimes a good idea to shut one eye when dazzled then open it after the culprit has passed

This helps.

I once crashed quite badly after being dazzled in some headlights. Ended up crashing into the near side. Sprained my wrist.

cougie

i dont really experience this any more since I got a bright light. Just order one of the torches off dealextreme - cars will see you and wont dazzle you.

If they still do - then they're tw@ts and you'll need to block them out - so use a peak on the helmet or a cap underneath your helmet. Sorted.

DavidJB

Yep bright light...they always dip...must be fooled into thinking its another car or something

ai_1

I think a lot of drivers who don't dip their lights leave them on high beam because they're trying to work out what you are. The more visible and identifiable the cyclist the less likely this is to happen. Of course there are also plenty drivers who just don't seem to realise cyclists need to see just as much, if not more than other motorists. Bloody annoying but mostly ignorance rather than drivers being malicious.
I often wave my hand in front of my light and this does often get the desired response.

Is it just me who thinks that the bicycle light market is in desperate need of at least one properly designed road light?
I'm about to order a Philips Saferide 80lux light since I need more light but don't want to blind oncoming traffic. It looks like the best available but it's far from perfect (bulky and short duration).
I'd love to see a relatively affordable (say less than £120, €140, $200) controlled-beam light with a built-in high beam on a remote switch you can place at a convenient position near your hands. This is very do-able with the battery and LED technology currently available. It would allow us to cycle with good light coverage of the road, without blinding other road users, give us the ability to signal with the high beam as we do when driving and we'd also have passable high beam available for the occasional offroad excursion.

The vast majority of bike lights, even the ridiculously expensive ones are very simple devices that a small producer can throw together very quickly to keep "up to date" and use the newest and brightest LEDs. A proper reflector akin to a car headlight needs a bit more expertise and development time. It would probably also need to be specific to the LED being used which means these won't be an attractive investment for producers as long as people are buying lights based almost exclusively on lumen figures (not really that useful since it tells you nothing about the beam and the figures are mostly lies anyway).
I know this isn't quite on topic but it's close!

Aidan

daxplusplus

To get a dip\mean beam effect I have two of the really bright torches (1000 chinese lumens) mounted on my road bike handlebars .. one pointing down quite aggressively so that it focuses just a few feet in front of my front wheel and the other one only angled down slightly and focused on the road maybe 20-30ft further ahead of the bike. Both are on medium power settings. I just turn off the level light if there's any oncoming traffic.

It's not perfect (I would prefer more spread of the light from the dipped light - for instance; in the rain, with oncoming cars dazzling me and narrow lanes) but for all other scenarios it's spot on. I feel a hell of a lot safer from the cars (cars dip before they come around corners!), I can see the road pretty well and it makes the commute home more interesting (I can see things so rather than peering down at a tiny bubble of light I get to see the whole road). Also, importantly, I'm not blinding other road users.

Works for me.

Oh and back to the original question: if some one is not dipping their headlights then I'll dip mine, wait and then turn them back on if they don't get the hint .. they always get the hint.

gmacz

Wear a cap or a peak on the helmet, high or low beam has no effect as they are all blocked from the eyes.
A flashing CREE XM-L T6 1600L LED bike lamp will get you noticed from a long distance and lights usually get dipped long before they can dazzle.
A lot of drivers flash their lights in appreciation of the fact that you have a very bright flashing light on your bike and there is no way they cannot see you.

rick_chasey

gmacz wrote:

A lot of drivers flash their lights in appreciation of the fact that you have a very bright flashing light on your bike and there is no way they cannot see you.

I want to live in your head for the day.

Lucky Douglas

gmacz wrote:

A lot of drivers flash their lights in appreciation of the fact that you have a very bright flashing light on your bike and there is no way they cannot see you.

dunno if this is meant as irony but it made me chuckle

gmacz

Some will chuckle and others just won't get it.
I like the chucklers.

wyadvd

Ai_1 wrote:

I think a lot of drivers who don't dip their lights leave them on high beam because they're trying to work out what you are. The more visible and identifiable the cyclist the less likely this is to happen. Of course there are also plenty drivers who just don't seem to realise cyclists need to see just as much, if not more than other motorists. Bloody annoying but mostly ignorance rather than drivers being malicious.
I often wave my hand in front of my light and this does often get the desired response.

Is it just me who thinks that the bicycle light market is in desperate need of at least one properly designed road light?
I'm about to order a Philips Saferide 80lux light since I need more light but don't want to blind oncoming traffic. It looks like the best available but it's far from perfect (bulky and short duration).
I'd love to see a relatively affordable (say less than £120, €140, $200) controlled-beam light with a built-in high beam on a remote switch you can place at a convenient position near your hands. This is very do-able with the battery and LED technology currently available. It would allow us to cycle with good light coverage of the road, without blinding other road users, give us the ability to signal with the high beam as we do when driving and we'd also have passable high beam available for the occasional offroad excursion.

The vast majority of bike lights, even the ridiculously expensive ones are very simple devices that a small producer can throw together very quickly to keep "up to date" and use the newest and brightest LEDs. A proper reflector akin to a car headlight needs a bit more expertise and development time. It would probably also need to be specific to the LED being used which means these won't be an attractive investment for producers as long as people are buying lights based almost exclusively on lumen figures (not really that useful since it tells you nothing about the beam and the figures are mostly lies anyway).
I know this isn't quite on topic but it's close!

Aidan

it exists:
http://road.cc/content/review/46927-exp ... ront-light

ai_1

wyadvd wrote:

Ai_1 wrote:

I think a lot of drivers who don't dip their lights leave them on high beam because they're trying to work out what you are. The more visible and identifiable the cyclist the less likely this is to happen. Of course there are also plenty drivers who just don't seem to realise cyclists need to see just as much, if not more than other motorists. Bloody annoying but mostly ignorance rather than drivers being malicious.
I often wave my hand in front of my light and this does often get the desired response.

Is it just me who thinks that the bicycle light market is in desperate need of at least one properly designed road light?
I'm about to order a Philips Saferide 80lux light since I need more light but don't want to blind oncoming traffic. It looks like the best available but it's far from perfect (bulky and short duration).
I'd love to see a relatively affordable (say less than £120, €140, $200) controlled-beam light with a built-in high beam on a remote switch you can place at a convenient position near your hands. This is very do-able with the battery and LED technology currently available. It would allow us to cycle with good light coverage of the road, without blinding other road users, give us the ability to signal with the high beam as we do when driving and we'd also have passable high beam available for the occasional offroad excursion.

The vast majority of bike lights, even the ridiculously expensive ones are very simple devices that a small producer can throw together very quickly to keep "up to date" and use the newest and brightest LEDs. A proper reflector akin to a car headlight needs a bit more expertise and development time. It would probably also need to be specific to the LED being used which means these won't be an attractive investment for producers as long as people are buying lights based almost exclusively on lumen figures (not really that useful since it tells you nothing about the beam and the figures are mostly lies anyway).
I know this isn't quite on topic but it's close!

Aidan

it exists:
http://road.cc/content/review/46927-exp ... ront-light

The Strada has a remote switch but other than that it's not really what I'm talking about. I'm pretty sure it's not a properly controlled beam (with cutoff). Also I'm not talking about a low and high power setting controlled via a remote switch. The "low" beam I'd like to see would be similar to a typical car dipped beam. When I said "Low" I wasn't referring to the power so much as the orientation of the beam. It should be a shaped beam with light concentrated at the top of the beam and a cutoff to prevent excessive spill above the horizon. This is needed if you want even intensity out to say 80m without the nearfield being overlit or oncoming drivers being blinded. I don't think this can be done without a reasonably large and well designed reflector rather than the normal direct light focused primarily by a lens. To date the Philips light seems to be best in terms of providing this type of beam.
The high beam I mentioned would be equivalent to a car high beam, giving lots of light and more illumination above the horizon. This would probably have to use a separate relector/lens but could be the simpler typical symetrical beam most lights use. The high beam would only be used on the road if you need it for signalling drivers to dip their lights or when there's no oncoming traffic - exactly the same use as car dipped/high beams.

There's no existing light I've seen, including the Strada, that does this.

Aidan

CarlosDSanchez

Exposure strada? Expensive, but i think it has a remote switch for "low" and "high" beams. I have a philips saferide btw, ugly thing it is but cars seem to see you. A lot of my comute is down country lanes and they wait for me at the passing places.

desweller

Take a look at any of the German dynamo lights. My Edelux has a great beam pattern that does not dazzle oncoming road users.

ai_1

DesWeller wrote:

Take a look at any of the German dynamo lights. My Edelux has a great beam pattern that does not dazzle oncoming road users.

Yeah, I think that's as a result of the German StVZO requirements for bike lights. That's the origin of the Edelux and Philips lights. Very detailed and interesting reviews of these and lots of other lights here by the way:http://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/verlichting/index_en.html#koplampen_met_afkapping_voor_dynamo
I've considered a dynamo light but not sure if I want to go to the expense of a new hub-dynamo equipped wheel. Still deciding.

ai_1

CarlosDSanchez wrote:

Exposure strada? Expensive, but i think it has a remote switch for "low" and "high" beams. I have a philips saferide btw, ugly thing it is but cars seem to see you. A lot of my comute is down country lanes and they wait for me at the passing places.

If the battery life was better and it was just a little prettier I'd have already bought the Philips light. I'd like at least 2.5hrs duration and there's no reason you shouldn't be able to get that but apparently the current model of the Philips light cuts you to low power after 70mins at high, regardless of the remaining battery capacity and can only be turned back to high after a recharge. I might get it anyway and tinker with it if I'm not happy with it off the shelf. I can live with the ugliness.... if I have to.

Aidan

desweller

If you can build your own wheels you can get a budget Shimano dynamo hub for less than £30 from Rose.

ai_1

DesWeller wrote:

If you can build your own wheels you can get a budget Shimano dynamo hub for less than £30 from Rose.

I've never tried but might consider giving it a shot. I'll have a look at the Rose site, thanks!

ai_1

Well, I decided to order a Philips light which I should get my hands on today or tomorrow. I'll let you know what I think and whether it helps with car drivers dipping their lights.

MattC59

Cycle naked.

You'll probably find that drivers will happily switch off their lights completely. Nobody wants to see that........

Monty Dog

MattC59 wrote:

Cycle naked.

You'll probably find that drivers will happily switch off their lights completely. Nobody wants to see that........

The most rational response yet - but we need photos to be convinced (side-on shots are fine, thanks )

ai_1

MattC59 wrote:

Cycle naked.

You'll probably find that drivers will happily switch off their lights completely. Nobody wants to see that........

That might not work for everyone..... Especially the female cyclists among us.