Not all headlights are equal (vehicle, 2014, lane, trucks)

[turkeytrot]

I live in the Panhandle and drive at night on I 27 between Amarillo and Lubbock. I 27 is a great stretch of highway day or night but I just don't understand why most drivers will not dim their headlights to on coming traffic on a four lane highway. This include truckers as well as four wheel vehicles.
Some lights are misaligned and even dimmed they can be very bright to oncoming drivers, on high beam they're painfully bright.
So I ask...
IS there a good reason not to dim your lights?

[FalconheadWest]

Brights should only be used when no other cars are around so why are people driving with their brights on when they're on a highway with other cars?

[txtea]

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

Brights should only be used when no other cars are around so why are people driving with their brights on when they're on a highway with other cars?

Probably because they were never taught the rules of the road. I see this and other driving etiquitte ignored all the time...such as getting out of the left lane when another car comes up...they just don't know any better.
They don't teach these things in drivers ed anymore.

[explorer2014]

Some lights are brighter than others. After I bought one car (it was new and the lights were perfectly in alignment), I had a few situations where other drivers flashed their lights to indicate that my lights were not dimmed when in fact they were. I figured out that the lights were just new and very bright even when dimmed.

[need4speed2012]

Your headlights must be on low beam when you are within 500 feet (150 m) of an oncoming vehicle or within 200 feet (60 m) of a vehicle ahead of you, even if the vehicle ahead is in a different lane.

The misalignment issue that you brought up has to do with many of the people of Texas complaining that they were charged to align their lights and in some case this was done several years in a row !!!

I've done state inspections for 35 plus years and we did charge a whopping .75 cents per light to adjust them and they needed it !!!

Now that its not part of the inspection, you'll see thousands of vehicles on the roads where their lights are going all over the place except in front !!!

Remember this important rule that's in many states: Any fog, driving lights or headlamps your vehicle has must be arranged, adjusted or operated to avoid dangerous glare to other drivers !!!

Plus you can and I've seen where people are ticketed for not dimming their lights, they didn't need to because they were misaligned !!!

[BCB]

My pet peeves are

1) trucks who have on both their bright headlights, which are already blinding at eye-level, along with their fog lights. It's incredibly rude to use your fog lights when there is no fog! My guess would be that some vehicles are unable to turn off their fog lights, but for those who leave them on...please turn them off!

2) Jeeps, which already have bright headlights, that feel the need to turn on the extra lights mounted in front of their grill.

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by explorer2014

Some lights are brighter than others. After I bought one car (it was new and the lights were perfectly in alignment), I had a few situations where other drivers flashed their lights to indicate that my lights were not dimmed when in fact they were. I figured out that the lights were just new and very bright even when dimmed.

My husband recently bought a Ford pickup and it has the brightest "dim" lights I've ever seen, with a huge range as well. I feel sorry for other drivers coming toward us sometimes, and we often get "flashed" but there's nothing we can do about it.

[turkeytrot]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

My husband recently bought a Ford pickup and it has the brightest "dim" lights I've ever seen, with a huge range as well. I feel sorry for other drivers coming toward us sometimes, and we often get "flashed" but there's nothing we can do about it.

I can understand that because it's how some lights are manufactured, I'm not wild about them but it is what it is. No harm no foul on the driver. The willful act of keeping them on high does get under my skin though.
Last night I just couldn't win. I got off I 27 and drove on highway 87 between the city of Canyon and the town of Happy (yep, Happy Texas) anyway an oncoming semi had on his brights so flashed my brights, he dimmed his but the oncoming train turned on his bright light and kept them on.
Some days a person just can't win!

[wintersbone]

I think its funny the people who complain about "blue headlights" and they aren't even hids just cheap walmart knock offs.And most of the time it has nothing to do with halogen,hid,led; they are aimed improperly. Yes the people with hids in reflector and not projector housing are blinding no matter what.

[texdav]

Originally Posted by explorer2014

Some lights are brighter than others. After I bought one car (it was new and the lights were perfectly in alignment), I had a few situations where other drivers flashed their lights to indicate that my lights were not dimmed when in fact they were. I figured out that the lights were just new and very bright even when dimmed.

I have to say some of the new lights seem to scatter more light over some of the better more expensive normal lights with specially reflectors.