[nitpick]
Thats acutally been around for something like 20 years on some North American models. Nothing terrible new there.
[/nitpick]
Slightly off topic but the one and only time so far I thought I was roast beef was when I was overtaking some vehicle at night and this asshole in a pick-up truck coming the opposite way, out of a turn (it was safely away, I had plenty of room and a good engine) freaks out and lights the high beams directly to my face. Leaves them on! I WAS TEMPORARILY BLINDED!
Still makes me fuming mad thinking about me, my brush with death. I really tried to turn around and exchange a few words with this fucker but it was too narrow to turn safely. I am usual cool and self-restrained (although bad drivers tend to get on my nerves) but this time I just wish I could have made a very strong point.
Most modern cars (dare I say all?) have a manual “switch” on the rear view mirror for this purpose, it will divert the beam from the driver’s eyes.
Missed bernse’s post.
EJsGirl I didn’t mean to say it isn’t cool to have the automatic thing but you may not be aware that it isn’t required.
Also add my utmost agreement with what bernse said before. High beams serve a very useful purpose, which is visibility on poorly lit roads and it is much safer to drive with them on at night. Furthermore at high speeds the visibility that medium lights provide is not enough to buy sufficient space, you’re focusing too close on the road to keep a safe reaction window.
Another point which is very important is that high beams provide visibility for the cars trying to overtake (on two way roads). All too often I’m trying to pass a truck or other slow-moving vehicles, no sign of incoming traffic and I can’t see the road ahead for curves because the vehicle ahead is not using the high beams.
Proper procedure is: truck cruising along with high beams (signaling with flashes on blind turns, turned off for incoming traffic), car aproaches, has enough room to overtake safely, turn signals to overtake, flashes the high beams to warn the aforementioned vehicle, as the cars are side by side the one behing overtaken switches off and the other on, and everybody is much happier and safer.
It is just common sense and courtesy to turn them off for incoming traffic or cars ahead. Anyone who doesn’t shouldn’t drive at all.
This reminds me of a story my brother-in-law told me. He was working construction, and a guy he knew took two of those big stand lights they use for working on roads at night, put them in the back of his truck, pointed them backwards, and hooked them up to a switch in the cab. Then whenever someone blinded him from behind, he’d switch those suckers on. He only did it once or twice out of fear of killing someone, but you can imagine the effectiveness…
Those damned fog lamps are WAY too bright to have one with your other headlights!! When they’re yellow, it’s even worse!
[Am I wrong, or isn’t is supposed to be illegal in Illinois to be driving with them on? (Though no one ever gets pulled over that I’ve seen)]
Those new bluish headlights are positively evil and should be banned! I’m blinded far earlier that I used to be with the old halogen lamps.
blink
Yellow is worse???
Well, maybe for normal driving, but when driving on rural, northern roads, where fog settles in low patches (or the snow blows around in front of you), it’s easier to see things* with yellow lamps (or maybe I mean amber…like with turn signals) than any of that halogen/bright white/blue shit.
*What kind of things? Oh, I don’t know…when you live in no-street-lamp country, though, you kind of like to see things like…ditches.
Yes, “Yellow is worse”.
It may be good for the driver who has the lights on for THEM to see, but it blinds the hell out of the driver on the other side of the road!
Deserted country roads are one thing, but when another car is coming, I think they should be turned off like brights to avoid blinking the others on the road.