Headlight wars

[No_Regerts]

I greatly dislike driving the I-5 Corridor at night precisely because of these reasons. Too many idiots with misaimed headlights and super bright lights.. as well as the State Stormtroopers with the dazzlers. If one or three have them on and are parked on the Southbound lane, more often theyre at the Jefferson exits area and visible going downhill from Enchanted Lane area its also due to the dazzlers that EVERYONE slows down to like 45 on I-5 until they pass the cops

I always wonder why people slow down when they see lights on the side of the road. Those guys are usually busy at the moment.

 

[CamoDeafie]

I always wonder why people slow down when they see lights on the side of the road. Those guys are usually busy at the moment.

Its too dang bright and they wanna see what happened

 

[Camelfilter]

I always wonder why people slow down when they see lights on the side of the road. Those guys are usually busy at the moment.

To be ready for the MORON in the lane adjacent to the shoulder the Trooper is stopped in (R or L) who ALL OF A SUDDEN realizes they need to change lanes. The whole "give em" room thing. .. but everyone else saw the blinky lights a mile back.

Also, at night, I slow a bit down in the area of blinky lights just to give myself extra stopping distance in case the blinky lights are for a crash. Because there may be crap in the roadway.

 

[jvp]

I always wonder why people slow down when they see lights on the side of the road. Those guys are usually busy at the moment.

not sure they still do it but there is usually a backup near by but you already passed them before you get to the one who has someone stopped.

 

[NW Backpacker]

"Just by design of ride height, most pickup truck head lights are aimed right into the passenger compartment of an ordinary sedan if anything like close behind. There's no adjustment for that."

Head lights of taller vehicles are also aimed into the passenger compartment when the sedan is coming toward the taller vehicle - directly into the drivers' eyes.

There is apparently little consideration for safety regarding other vehicles - headlights for all vehicles should be the same height and that height should be lower than the top of the concrete barriers between freeway lanes. And on urban freeways a light barrier between opposing traffic should be required where the lanes are close.

 

[The Heretic]

First, the "sealed beams" were tungsten filament lamps. Today they are halogen with a quartz filament. Initially they were about one fourth as illuminating as headlamps on european cars - very inadequate. Then they doubled in the late 70s when halogen were brought over and have gone up from there.

Today most cars do not have sealed beams - they have a separate 'bulb' with reflector, the bulb usually being halogen/quartz. 'Upgrading' these to HID (high intensity discharge - essentially an 'arc' betwee two electrodes in a xenon gas) is hit and miss, because the HID bulb may or may not be at the right place for the reflector - it usually isn't. Brighter but usually the lens doesn't have the cutoffs correct either - so these can blind people.

Replacing the whole headlamp assembly works better as usually the light source, reflector and lens are designed correctly, but there is still a piece missing; the automatic leveling system which all cars with HID lighting in the USA are required to have - when there are passengers in the back seats and/or a load in the trunk/cargo area, then these 'upgraded' lights can blind oncoming traffic.

LED headlamps are highly directional and generally the LED replacement bulbs for halogens again do not work well with the lens and reflectors that are not designed for LEDs. Also, until at least recently, the illumination was poor - I have not looked into this recently. Purpose built LED lights are great for off-road, but there are few that are DOT legal and the bulb replacements are not legal as far as I know.

My daily driver - a BMW X1 has 'adaptive' lighter HID headlights. They adjust not just for leveling, but also follow the corners left and right, to keep the illumination on the road on curves and hills and reduce any glare/blinding of oncoming traffic. This is important to me as half of my commute is a rural area, ten minutes of which is a winding mountain road that is dark and wet in the winter with lots of deer. Also, while my vision is still 20/15, my night vision is not as good as it used to be. So while my headlights are not as bright as some HIDs they are a definite improvement over the halogens I used to have - I only shopped for the cars with this lighting package.

What is ironic is that the lighting many people upgrade to from existing lighting, actually has less illumination than their original lighting.

As for upgrading the wiring, this is a common thing for many road motorcyclists, especially older bikes as the wires and relays cut down on an already minimal voltage and limited amperage because of small batteries and small low power charging systems. LED and HID lighting are popular upgrades because both are more efficient in that regard. Many motorcycles, especially 'dual sports' have very poor headlamps that are improperly positioned - the front fender usually interfering with illuminating the road. My Husaberg FE570 is a very good example of that - on or off-road it is very hard to see where I am going when it gets dark.

 

[mkwerx]

The reason EVs angle in the roadway is to create a safe working buffer. Notice the direction of their tires too, its typically positioned so that if struck from the rear, the vehicle will roll away from the person on foot.

The "dazzlers" are simply a product of modern leds. Most new emergency lightbats have dimmer functions, high and low settings or day / night mode. Some change brightness automatically. Then there is flash pattern, which is important.

Back when I was towing, my truck had a full width LED strobe bar, programmable flash. I would experiment with patterns to see which got the best reactiob from approaching traffic, evetything from having the entire bar synch'd blinking on/off like thr hazard lights, to random flash from each individual head. That particular type of pattern made me sick to look at, and did not seem to make people move over or slow down. My non scientific findings were that running a medium paced wig-wag pattern got people's attention the best. It was also not flashing so fast as to induce seizures.

Our local PD has a lot of their rigs setup to go steady burn at the roadside, or at an accident scene, and their bars shimmer, not a flash per se, but every 30 seconds them twinkle for a few seconds then go steady again.

I recall a WSP cruiser trying to move tgrough traffic on the freeway up in Bellvue a while back, all steady burn blues except the outboard lights which were flashing. I think agencies are realizing what their new lights can do, good and bad, and are trying to maximize both safety and visibility. The further away motorists see the EV, the more time they have to slow and move over, or prepare to stop. Roadside stops are one of the most dangerous places for emergency service personnel or roadworkers. Between the drunks, the distracted fools, and the in general piss poor drivers, the road is a damn scary place to hang out.

 

[The Heretic]

I sure wish people who get stopped for a traffic infraction would not stop in the middle of the road. I always try to wait for an exit or side street. Not only does this not block traffic, but it makes it safer for everyone on the road. Stopping someone for doing 7 MPH over the speed limit and having them half block the lane on a congested highway does not make anyone safer.

 

[Heyjoe]

Yep insanely bright lights suck. I remember reading something about bmw developing a headlight that was deemed unlawful in the USA - some type of blue laser technology. So they had to change them.

One thing I find odd- these fancy new led's that last 200 million years seem to go out more frequently than the good old incandescent bulbs. I see far more late model vehicles with burned out lights these days.

 

[The Heretic]

Yep insanely bright lights suck. I remember reading something about bmw developing a headlight that was deemed unlawful in the USA - some type of blue laser technology. So they had to change them.

One thing I find odd- these fancy new led's that last 200 million years seem to go out more frequently than the good old incandescent bulbs. I see far more late model vehicles with burned out lights these days.

Generally LEDs are more durable and last longer than anything incandescent. The LED tail/stoplights on my BMW coupe (now owned by my daughter) are 14+ years old and still working fine. The halogen bulbs in the headlights had to be replaced yearly when I drove it - she drives it about a third to half the miles I did. I've had my X1 for about 2.5 years now and neither the LEDs nor the HIDs have needed to be replaced.

I have yet to have any LED light source burn out on me.

BMW makes some of their cars with LED headlights now that are even more 'adaptive' than their HIDs:

Another nice thing about LEDs is their on/off time; much faster than incandescents, allowing drivers to react sooner when a vehicle in front of them is braking.

 

[Heyjoe]

Generally LEDs are more durable and last longer than anything incandescent. The LED tail/stoplights on my BMW coupe (now owned by my daughter) are 14+ years old and still working fine. The halogen bulbs in the headlights had to be replaced yearly when I drove it - she drives it about a third to half the miles I did. I've had my X1 for about 2.5 years now and neither the LEDs nor the HIDs have needed to be replaced.

I have yet to have any LED light source burn out on me.

BMW makes some of their cars with LED headlights now that are even more 'adaptive' than their HIDs:

Another nice thing about LEDs is their on/off time; much faster than incandescents, allowing drivers to react sooner when a vehicle in front of them is braking.

Maybe the burned out lights I see all over are just a result of poor wiring/connections?

No too sure.

One things for certain, they don't make 'em like they used to.

 

[The Heretic]

Maybe the burned out lights I see all over are just a result of poor wiring/connections?

No too sure.

One things for certain, they don't make 'em like they used to.

I have seen some rear third stop lights that have had LEDs that were not functioning. Mostly on Ford Explorers (which I kind of like the fogged lens of the light because it seems more like one light instead of a number of discrete LEDs, but once one or more LEDs have stopped functioning it is apparent that they are not one light). I suspect it is wiring or circuitry.

LEDs today are built better and better as time goes on. They are brighter and more efficient and produce more illumination. It used to be that they could not be used as headlights, but increasingly they are.