other people's headlights

[rayofleamington]

Halogens are basically the same as a conventional headlight but 'a bit better' in terms of lumens.

HID's are a different animal - testing can prove the same 'brightness' but that's not the problem. The HIDs gives a much clearer defined boundary between dipped and bright areas (i.e. there is no gradual blend at the border)
What the eye needs is time to react, which you get from the fuzzy zone of a normal light between dipped and bright. With a HID it is immediately one extreme to the other, so if the oncoming car goes over a bump your pupils have no time to react to the change in light and therefore it 'appears' to dazzle more.

[xpress]

i am sure a variation of the "up middle finger" vaccuum pump type novelty for the back window could be devised for such people ...

[robbiesmith]

Another thought chain of mine, xpress, Night Clubs have message boards with moving, digital letters. I have been tempted to adapt one for the rear window with a selection of pre-programmed messages for the car behind.

I leave the content of my imaginary message board to your imagination......

[d_harris]

They featured one of those on top gear a while back, it self censored

[chrisryder]

i've thought of getting one of them, but for a nicer purpose. such as it reading 'Thankyou ' when somebody lets you pull out in front of them. Or 'By the way, you've got a headlight out, you might want to get that seen to some time in the near future' but i think i'd need a wider car

[robbiesmith]

You have made me feel rather guilty about my imaginary message board, chrisryder, you're obviously a much nicer man than me.

Here's a thought though, if these things are available, how come I've never seen one?

[chrisryder]

Here's a thought though, if these things are available, how come I've never seen one?

not been looking hard enough?

they're often in the back windows of UK police cars, i've seen them flash up infront of OTHER(!) motorists on the motorway just saying 'slow down' but sometimes 'follow me' or 'pull over'.

you can get these signs in t-shirts too if you've got enough money to waste! so you can have your own message scrolling accross your chest. usefull for ordering drinks in a noisy pub i suppose!

[rsawatson]

Another thought chain of mine, xpress, Night Clubs have message boards with moving, digital letters. I have been tempted to adapt one for the rear window with a selection of pre-programmed messages for the car behind.

I leave the content of my imaginary message board to your imagination......

I'm not the only one who's often thought of this, then!

[SGTBILKO]

That's assuming that the driver behind you can READ!

[chrisryder]

and assuming they've got their eyes open...

[rayofleamington]

Or 'By the way, you've got a headlight out, you might want to get that seen to some time in the near future'

I might get that one but I'd need to leave it on permanently in the UK!

[Stig]

How about "Switch your foglights off, it's not foggy"

I could see that getting used daily.

[skodge]

people with headlights that are out annoys me more. at least if they're bright, you know they're there! i overtook a car on my side of the road once, as i thought it was just a motorbike coming the other way and he was right over to his side of the road. that was ok until i noticed it was a car with a headlight out!

i can be a grumpy old man too, even if i'm only 21

Off topic I know and forgive me for this, but it strikes a chord, but you really shouldn't be making this manoeuvre because you thought it was 'just a motorbike' Firstly, if it had have been a motorcyclist, his road positioning would have been wrong he really ought to be positioned towards the centre white line. Notwithstanding that point if it had been 'just a motorbike' how do you know that he wasn't about to move over to avoid something like a pothole or piece of debris in the road.


You may be able to tell that as well as being a driver of the greatest car on Earth , I also ride a motorcycle

No offence intended or implied

[chrisryder]

none taken, it was in my innocent youth... I'm much better now!

[Kevin]

This problem also seems to have started around the same time they started fitting an adjustable beam switch with the excuse it was so that laden cars could lower the beam but if you talk to some drivers they found it useful in the lanes on the higher position and left it there which only adds to the blinding problem. I really dont know why they ever bothered with this so called improvent when it wasnt really a problem in the first place.

[Innovator]

Go for a halogen conversion so at least you can see. Also check the condition of your windscreen. A scratched dirty screen will make things worse.

However not all halogen kits are the same. The quality of the lense and reflector varies. When I messed with these sort of things Cibee were the ones to have with some high quality bulbs in the region of 130W / 100W.

I used to get cars flashing me and I would dazzle myself with the reflection from road signs.........

[Nuffles]

I got a halogen conversion set from eBay. They're clear lens types that have contoured buckets to help direct the light to make up for the clear lenses. With standard 60/55W H4 bulbs they're as bright as my Dad's modern Astra. That said I'm tempted to fit some 100W spot lights to supplement the main beam. In the Land Rover I had 4x100W spots plus 'extra bright' halogens in the headlights so I'm a little spoilt in terms of full beam light output.


I also have major problems with other cars blinding me, at the ripe old age of 19 I often wonder why I'm getting flashed at before I realise they were simply going over a bump in the road. People seem to have incredibly slow reactions and blast me with their full beams for a few seconds before they remember to dip, which doesn't really help because their lights are so bright anyway

I drove 10 miles behind someone with their rear fog light on the other day. It was slightly misty but there was a good 100m visibility. They slowed riiight down for every slight bend and never really got above 30 on the straights. I was getting badly dazzled and found myself zoning in on the light rather than concentrating on driving. Blasting them with my main beams repeatedly didn't faze them either I finally managed to overtake them and got on my way but that sort of ignorant driving is becoming a common sight on our roads.

[MarkyB]

It sounds like their windscreen was so filthy they thought it was foggy.

I'm not impressed with the beam pattern on my modern car, even with the load adjuster on maximum they seem too high, even close to another car, in traffic they seem to be lighting up the rear view mirror of the car in front.

Maybe it's because they are streamlined, but surely the beam pattern should have been designed better.

As it's quite new I doubt they've been messed with, but when MOT time comes around I'll find out if they are OK.

[Nuffles]

The lights in my Moggy (pictured further up) have a very good dipped beam pattern. Nice and low and visibly pointed to the left a little. Very happy with them. I could find the eBay link if anyone else is interested.

[mike.perry]

Unfortunately bulbs over 60W are illegal for road use. I used to have 130W main beam and 100W driving lights on my Daimler XJ6, 460W total on main beam, superb for driving down country roads and shifting lane blockers out of the overtaking lane.