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The lights today have a much more divided cutoff so if a car hits a bump, it looks like the car is flashing their high beams, but they aren't. They are also brighter, but not shining into your eyes directly so it is OK.
I get flashed every now and then with people thinking I have my brights on when I don't. I just flash them back real quick to let them know, sorry, but I don't have my brights on. I have checked the adjustment and everything is as it should be. I have also had my wife drive behind and in front of me and yes, they are brighter than say lights on cars 10-15 years ago, but they aren't blinding or aimed improperly. People just need to get use to new technology and move on.
It seems anymore that new vehicles are supposed to look like christmas trees. Lights everywhere. LED this, LED that. Super-bright LED headlights, accents, brake lights, and I see a lot of jacked up trucks here with leds in their front grills for crying out loud. It all looks ridiculous, first, and second, it's distractingly bright.
I remember the night I drove my halogen equipped '13 Charger down to a small town PA dealer 100 miles away, to trade it in on a '16 Charger with bi-xenon headlights. It was rainy, mild fog, through twisty roads and pitch black. The ride down was slow and scary, where I could hardly see anything. The ride back was fabulous, with the brighter HID lights with more modern aiming technology (projector beams instead of the reflected halogens) lighting more of the roadway and shoulders, I was convinced to their safety factor to the driver.
Now, I do agree bi xenon can produce more glare to oncoming drivers and I have been blinded more than once by them too. I think this tends to be a problem more when they are misaligned.
Unlike old style headlights, and even halogen projectors to some degree, the HID lamps have a definite visible line above which very little to no light is projected. If aligned properly, that line will be below the eyesight of oncoming traffic and should not cause too many unreasonable problems for oncoming drivers.
A nicety some but not all HID cars have is a controller to raise and lower the beam as well. My BRZ had this. It lets you adjust the beam on the fly, if you have a heavy load or are towing, which may bring the front end up and cause the beam to raise right into the vision of oncoming traffic.
Anyway, I would never want to go back to the old sealed beam headlights of years ago! Those are like driving with candles on the bumper compared to modern lighting!
I'm with you. My car has HID headlights and my truck has LED headlights. Both are a vast improvement over halogen headlights. My Jeep Wrangler had headlights whose brightness was one step above hallway night light. I finally installed after market LED headlights.
There was a new Jeep Grand Cherokee on the other side of the traffic light. Those xenon were so bright, it had a wide arc. Because its a SUV it sits higher than any normal car would get be seeing those lights.
Of course it's a new car not some retrofit headlight.
Last edited by vision33r; 09-14-2016 at 08:56 PM..
I mean we do live in a "me" culture nowadays. If it's beneficial for me then why should I care for others? *rolls eyes* I'm not a fan of aftermarket and excessively bright headlights anyways which is great since I'm a fan of older styled cars.
If you ride a bicycle, the ultra-bright headlights make you suffer more than anyone. Only about half the drivers who have them, bother to dim them for a bike rider. Anti-glare goggles help a lot, but they take away an edge of perception that you need to ride safely. I do many of my hard training rides later at night, because of the reduced traffic. I feel safer at night, because my three bright, blinking taillights show up very well, hopefully even to those who are stoned on something. With all the impaired drivers out there, you can't depend on them to see and avoid you in daytime.
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mclasser
LED accents are becoming an industry norm now. So many cars have parking lights, low beams, fog lights and LED accents on at the same time. When aimed correctly, I don't have an issue with this. I've read about cars having incorrectly aimed lights from the factory, which is probably what you're encountering. Aging eyes don't help either.
The morons who drive with their high beams on are annoying. You flash them but they don't respond. Probably busy yapping on the phone or too dumb to know how to work the headlight switch.
They are dangerous on a two lane highway. I have resorted to keeping my 2 million candle power search light on the seat beside me, and aim it right in their eyes as they go past me if they do not lower their beams.
Passive aggressive? You bet. I've seen a few sudden brake lights go on.
Of course, I will not do that if there are vehicles behind me or the person being the twit. I don't want to cause any accidents. Other than perhaps the one who makes it dangerous for us all.
I would be careful with that, cupper. You may just hit a cop in the face with that search light. I once had a car coming at me on a two lane road in the country with it's high beams on. After a couple flashes of mine with no response, I lit up my high beams and 4 off road lights. Yeah...............it was a cop. Wasn't too happy. lol
Turn in your license, sell your car, and move into a golf cart retirement community. The lights aren't going anywhere.
True, things change with the times. For instance: I no longer bother to "dip" my high-beams any more; I mean, what's the point? Also, I walk the dog with a killer bright little flashlight for those annoying times when I'm blinded by oncoming cars. People just keep getting nicer and nicer...
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