I feel safer already
Blue Meanie
Posts: 495
Or do I?
"Better car lights can save lives, according to the European Commission, though sceptics fear they could result in pedestrians and bikers becoming less visible"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16215106
"Better car lights can save lives, according to the European Commission, though sceptics fear they could result in pedestrians and bikers becoming less visible"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16215106
FCN16 - 1970 BSA Wayfarer
FCN4 - Fixie Inc
FCN4 - Fixie Inc
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Comments
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I'm in favour of having to put your lights on in the daytime. Having commuted on the M1 for 4 years I've seen plenty of cars who forget to put they lights on when the weather turns bad or its approaching dusk. You look in your mirror and those guys are virtually invisible.
One thing that absolutely gets my goat is the drivers who only click the lights onto the first setting, and then, also, venture out on the motorways. Again virtually invisible in bad weather. If we are going to make lights safer why not get rid of pointless side lights?
With respect to making lights brighter that's a tw4t of an idea!Critics insist efforts to do so are motivated by a greedy industry eager to sell more lights and light bulbs
It makes it harder driving on dark unlit roads when you have traffic coming the other way.0 -
I agree with everything in the above post, particularly to do with pointless side lights. How does anyone pass a driving test without knowing how to turn on their headlights?0
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I hate, loathe and despise excessively bright lights. Phucktards that drive around in town with their foglights on because they think it looks cool should be shot.
The times it annoys me most are riding a motorbike in light rain, the bright lights hit the rain on the visor and scatter the light rendering the rider almost completely blind. At other times they just make it impossible to see anything other than the lights themselves.
Funny how the quote on saving lives comes from the guy in charge of automotive products at a light manufacturer.0 -
Yep, car lights don't need to be brighter, but they do need to be used!
"How does anyone pass a driving test without knowing how to turn on their headlights?"
The thing is that you're taught to put your side lights on when it gets dusky. I go straight to headlights if there's any doubt because a paramedic I used to....'know' was taught on her blue light driving course to never use sidelights because they're rubbish.
Is it true that HIDs have to have a system that adjusts the beam based on the angle of the road/car? If so, it explains why newer cars fitted with them are so blindingly bright when they go over speed bumps/humps in the road.
And what's the betting that this ends up delivering "targeted beams of light" directly at cyclists?!BBC news wrote:A demonstration of the technology at Toyota's global research and development centre in Higashi Fuji, Japan, shows how tomorrow's lighting systems use cameras to spot oncoming cars, thus dimming the headlights.
"To the meeting car, it looks like an ordinary low beam," explains Toyota's chief safety technology officer Moritaka Yoshida.
The cameras also spot pedestrians early, before targeted beams of light make sure they are clearly visible to the driver.0 -
Exactly what I was wondering. I'm sure the number of headlights that are a) poorly adjusted and b) too bright anyway has increased steadily over the years - hence the embarrassing situation when you flash your lights at some plonker who hasn't dipped his, only to get totally blinded to show you they were actually dipped.bails87 wrote:And what's the betting that this ends up delivering "targeted beams of light" directly at cyclists?!0 -
I've just remembered, re foglights, I was nearly home one night when I saw someone waiting outside a house with sidelights and foglights on. So I went over to tell her that she had her foglights on (it was dark, but crystal clear). She looked very confused and panicked, turned all of her lights off, then put her main lights and fog lights on, then back to side lights and fogs, then headlights on again, then finally, with me pointing out where the dial in her car should be, she managed to turn her foglights off.....
I just think people don't RTFM! Same goes for the dial that adjusts the angle of the headlights, which makes the dazzling problem worse.0 -
My car has auto everything, including lights. Never touch the switch except for fogs, when it's foggy, which it hasn't been since I got it.
One major problem with this however.....
Took it to the garage to replace the bluetooth module that was playing up, and they turned the lights off. I was driving around (on lit streets) for half an hour that evening before I realised I was being a ninja!! I wonder how that one would have played in court if I'd caused a crash...FCN 5 belt driven fixie for city bits
CAADX 105 beastie for bumpy bits
Litespeed L3 for Strava bits
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.0 -
I'm sorry, but auto-lights are for feckwits. Every driver should be in complete control and KNOW when to put their lights on. If they can't remember such a simple thing about driving then they shouldn't be on the road at all !!
If my next car has auto lights I would have them disabled. I see so many cars that have lights that come on going under bridge and then go off when they come out the other side. Completely idiotic !!
Sorry for the rant, but I'm in a bad mood. :evil:Planet-X SL Pro Carbon.
Tifosi CK3 Winter Bike
Planet X London Road Disc
Planet X RT80 Elite0 -
Hmm, 'tis a bit of a rant.
Don't consider myself a feckwit TBH, and with twenty five years of driving including a year or two as a motorcycle courier and an advanced test, figure that I probably know when to turn on my lights.
What's the problem with lights coming on in tunnels?
My car has perm-on running lights then low beams at a given darkness level and 'around the corner' beams when the steering wheel is turned sufficiently. No auto-high-beam that could dazzle and no auto fog (which would be bloody stupid).
Apart from the obvious idiocy that I confessed to above I fail to see the problem?FCN 5 belt driven fixie for city bits
CAADX 105 beastie for bumpy bits
Litespeed L3 for Strava bits
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.0 -
My car's got auto headlights. If it's dark or dull they come on. No auto fog/main beam/round corner lights.
They're great, they mean I don't forget, I always check that they're on 'auto' rather than off anyway, but it means I can't forget.
"Every driver should be in complete control and KNOW when to put their lights on. If they can't remember such a simple thing about driving then they shouldn't be on the road at all !!"
True, but they don't. I saw someone blasting down the outside lane of the M6 at 80mph on Sunday night with no lights on. People are plebs.0 -
My rant is not necessarily directed at you Simon, but but at the lazy, incompetent drivers who want auto-everything because they haven't got the wherewithall to be responsible for their own driving actions. As I said, every driver should be in complete control of everything they do in a car, whether that is speed, positioning, observation, indicators & lights. The more drivers don't have to think about these things, the more lazy they will become about all aspects of driving.Planet-X SL Pro Carbon.
Tifosi CK3 Winter Bike
Planet X London Road Disc
Planet X RT80 Elite0 -
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I cant stand the way modern cars are going with all the auto sh*te, and diverting everything through the computer.
Bloody indicators now are horrid things that get confused and start indicator the wrong way if you try to cancel them, etc.0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:Who forgets to turn their lights on?
Not being able to see should be a good enough clue.
And the fact that the dashboard isn't lit up. Which shows how often they're checking their speedo!
Same goes for people who drive around without realising that their wing mirrors are folded in. I almost did it once, but as soon as I went to pull out of the parking space I looked in my mirrors, realised they were folded in and unfolded them. Disaster averted!
But if you're driving in a streetlit, urban area, only paying half attention, and never looking at your speedo or in your mirrors, you're probably not going to notice that your lights are off or your mirrors are folded in.
As for people who clear a letterbox from the frost/snow on their windscreen......if that was enough to drive by, cars would have portholes, not windows!0 -
bails87 wrote:[...]
As for people who clear a letterbox from the frost/snow on their windscreen......if that was enough to drive by, cars would have portholes, not windows!
Disappointingly, this elderly motorist was only warned over her snow-covered windscreen
Always a Micra, eh?Location: ciderspace0 -
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I was turning right into our industrial estate one frosty, but sunny, morning. When I was nearly collected by a car coming the other way pulling into the "lay by" in the central reservation because the sun on her frozen windscreen meant she couldn't see. She was turning into what was for me a right turn lane, but she couldn't see that.
When I asked her what the f@#* she was doing she told me she had to pull in because she couldn't see. She got quite annoyed with me when I told her she should clean her blinking windscreen before she drives off in the morning. I might have used words describing a lazy overweight female hound.
A few moments later one of my colleagues appeared and gave her a remarkably similar mouthful.0 -
sfichele wrote:Again virtually invisible in bad weather. If we are going to make lights safer why not get rid of pointless side lights?
No.bails87 wrote:I go straight to headlights if there's any doubt because a paramedic I used to....'know' was taught on her blue light driving course to never use sidelights because they're rubbish.
Sidelights are for when light is poor, but not so poor that headlights help to see stuff. Leave them on all the time, if you like.
If it's not so dark that headlamps help you see, do not use headlamps.
If we're not in fog or a snowstorm, or a torrential downpour that makes visibility very poor...
Sidelights are lights to be seen by.
Headlights are lights to see with.
Rear lighting is the same for a motor vehicle in either case, and the output of the sidelights and tail lights is similar. Why is that ?
Using headlights (or fog lights), or other unnecessarily powerful front/rear lights is bad, because it can dazzle, distract, and make judgement of distance more difficult for other road users.
So a lot of jurisdictions have traffic laws like this:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989 ... on/27/made0 -
Er, yes actually. That is what she was taught.jejv wrote:sfichele wrote:Again virtually invisible in bad weather. If we are going to make lights safer why not get rid of pointless side lights?
No.bails87 wrote:I go straight to headlights if there's any doubt because a paramedic I used to....'know' was taught on her blue light driving course to never use sidelights because they're rubbish.
Because not seeing a car that's driving away from you is better than not seeing a cat that's driving towards you, so headlights are brighter than rear ones.Rear lighting is the same for a motor vehicle in either case, and the output of the sidelights and tail lights is similar. Why is that ?0 -
I'm not in favour of these daytime running lights, completely distracts your attention during the day (I am not allowed to have my driving lamps on though !) and on darker mornings, modern cars have these on and their sides and there stupidly bright xenons, upshot being nobody can see the road or a pedestrian on a crossing or stepping out because of being temporarly blinded. Also making it much harder to see indicators day or night.Team4Luke supports Cardiac Risk in the Young0
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jejv wrote:sfichele wrote:Again virtually invisible in bad weather. If we are going to make lights safer why not get rid of pointless side lights?
No.bails87 wrote:I go straight to headlights if there's any doubt because a paramedic I used to....'know' was taught on her blue light driving course to never use sidelights because they're rubbish.
Sidelights are for when light is poor, but not so poor that headlights help to see stuff. Leave them on all the time, if you like.
If it's not so dark that headlamps help you see, do not use headlamps.
If we're not in fog or a snowstorm, or a torrential downpour that makes visibility very poor...
Sidelights are lights to be seen by.
Headlights are lights to see with.
Rear lighting is the same for a motor vehicle in either case, and the output of the sidelights and tail lights is similar. Why is that ?
Using headlights (or fog lights), or other unnecessarily powerful front/rear lights is bad, because it can dazzle, distract, and make judgement of distance more difficult for other road users.
So a lot of jurisdictions have traffic laws like this:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989 ... on/27/made
In my experience dipped headlights are more visible than sidelights, and do not cause dazzle. There seems to be nothing prohibiting this in the link you provided, as long as they do not dazzle.1) (2) (3)
Item No. Type of lamp, hazard warning signal device or warning beacon Manner of use prohibited
Headlamp
(a)
Used so as to cause undue dazzle or discomfort to other persons using the road.
(b)
Used so as to be lit when a vehicle is parked.0 -
I'm paricularly fond of the assertion that new-fangled led brake lights will reduce stopping distances, as led light travels faster than incandescent light :-) Unfortunately, we're a risk taking species and anything that's done to reduce preceived risk is normally, and quite quickly taken into account in our risk assesment processes resulting in zero gain.
I read of a study where your brake lights would flash when you take your foot quickly off the accelarator as you would in an emergency stop. Meaning your brake lights would come on before you'd actually hit the brake pedal, and meaning you could 'safely' tailgate that little bit closer.FCN16 - 1970 BSA Wayfarer
FCN4 - Fixie Inc0 -
jejv wrote:Sidelights are for when light is poor, but not so poor that headlights help to see stuff. Leave them on all the time, if you like.
Sidelights are lights to be seen by.
Headlights are lights to see with.
hmmm? So wrong! Sidelights are pointless cr4p!
When the weather turns, or its even spitting the side lights become virtually useless and are practically invisible. So many people turn these on, and forget to turn on the main lights when dusk or bad weather ensues. I've seen it so many times on the motorway where idiots are driving with just sidelights and you can only just make them out in your mirror
To make it worse your dashboard doesn't differentiate between sidelights and headlights - which makes its easier to forget.0 -
bails87 wrote:sfichele: Good point about the dashboard, maybe it shouldn't light up until you put your headlights on. Afterall, if it's dark enough to not be able to see the dashboard, it's dark enough for headlights.
+1 - Sensible idea0
