SUVs with very bright fog lamps and headlights (trucker, buy, drivers)
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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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It's called "seeing." With an aging population, the inconvenience of the bright lights is a small price to pay for the people in their 70s who have some night blindness running around the roads being able to stay in their lane. Younger people that don't need them may turn them on for no good reason, but next time you are behind some old timer crawling along 5 mph under the speed limit, think about how much slower he would go if he had dimmer lights.
It's called "seeing." With an aging population, the inconvenience of the bright lights is a small price to pay for the people in their 70s who have some night blindness running around the roads being able to stay in their lane. Younger people that don't need them may turn them on for no good reason, but next time you are behind some old timer crawling along 5 mph under the speed limit, think about how much slower he would go if he had dimmer lights.
Buying Sylvania Silverstars is one thing. They are great and increase visibility. But I think the OP was referring to the aftermarket HID kits and bright blue or yellow fog lights which don't help increase visibility for the driver - they only distract other drivers.
I was commuting on Sunday morning at 2 am from Reno, NV to the Bay Area CA, and being over 50 the lights really bothered me, and especially going over Donner with everything being black, and then bright. Some people including trucker will not turn down their brights, and occasional wrecked car with one odd light shinning in your mirror illuminating the inside of my cab.
Personally, I'd like to see more enforcement of this misuse, and action taken to limit lumen output to not blind others.
I bet those guys with those really bright headlamps and fog lamps loves stopping close behind other cars to blind people with their lights.
I also love my adjustable rear view mirrors right back at them.
It's not something I love but I have blinded a few Miata drivers. I generally try to etch forward a little when I notice my lights shining bright in folks mirrors. This helps cut narrow the lighting down to the rear of the vehicle. But this trick doesn't work on Miatas, there just too small and narrow.
It's called "seeing." With an aging population, the inconvenience of the bright lights is a small price to pay for the people in their 70s who have some night blindness running around the roads being able to stay in their lane. Younger people that don't need them may turn them on for no good reason, but next time you are behind some old timer crawling along 5 mph under the speed limit, think about how much slower he would go if he had dimmer lights.
Not true. Bright lights do not make it easier to see, the quality of the light being thrown is more important.
Many of the very high intensity lights provide less contrast and less depth perception. I think the OP was referring to the idiots that buy aftermarket lights not designed for use on public roads.
That old timer crawling along the road? How do you think they became an old timer? By driving slower and thinking instead of being the fastest person on the road, they've managed to stay alive amongst the gotta get ahead of everyone fools who end up piling up into someone else.
An aging population has little to do with the brightness of headlights or fog lights. Less bright lights but allow for better contrast of objects and better depth perception are superior than the brilliant white lights that do little except blind others. Human eyes are adapted to sunlight which is why you see better in sunlight than any artificial light. You aren't reading books when driving, you are looking at objects out in the open, things which are almost always easier to see when light mimics natural light.
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