# What is the legality of your car's brights? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 9, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355 "2011-11-09T03:11:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/41 "2011-11-11T22:01:08Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > I live smack in the middle of deer country. We use our brights whenever possible. > > I also \*\*\*dim my lights as soon as I see the headlights of an oncoming vehicle (unless, of course, I’m on a looooong straightaway and they’re still a mile away). \*\*\*Often I’ll _ **dim my lights just before the oncoming car’s light crest the hill** _. That way they can see me do it and still have time to dim theirs before they’re in my face. > > When you regularly use your brights, dimming them just becomes habit. (bolding mine) +1 The majority of folks that grew up in or have been living out in the ‘country’ (sparsely populated areas) for a while do this, and like **Scarlett67** states “dimming them just becomes habit”. (For those that are a little “slow on the uptake”, it’s also called ‘being considerate’.) It also makes it easy to pick out the ‘city slickers’ from the locals. IME people that aren’t used to driving in the ‘country’ don’t dim their lights until you ‘flick’ your high beams to signal that “Hey ‘nimrod’! You’re blinding me, dim your damn lights!” ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/42 "2011-11-12T02:50:41Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > So what you’re seeing probably isn’t the “brights” left on accidentally or maliciously. Just a side-effect of a bigass car. You are right, but I know what I’m talking about when I call them “high beams”. They are – high – beams ! ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/43 "2011-11-14T03:21:27Z")
Headlights are generally regulated tightly, so it’s usually not a case of manufacturers putting needlessly bright headlights in cars. Rather, studies have found that HID type headlights, because of the nature of their lighting element, give the perception of being brighter and more uncomfortable to observers than they really are as measured in terms of light output in lumens. I too have often found them to be uncomfortable at first glance (so to speak) but once I became aware of this effect they don’t bother me nearly as much. There is an SAE paper online explaining this that I can’t link to right now from this connection but you can find easily enough with google. Another article that you can also find is one from the New England Journal of Meidicine indicating that older people, for physiological reasons related to the ageing of the eyes, are much more succeptible to the above noted effect than younger people. So, in conclusion, it’s mostly in your head, and also you are an old man and you just hate everything. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/44 "2011-11-14T13:32:17Z")
My guess is that cataracts are a big problem for older people from headlights at night and in bright sunlight. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/45 "2011-11-14T14:07:31Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > I question if SUV’s should be allowed to have the lights so high. Likely nothing will be done about that. My parents claim that back when they were young, that measuring if your lights had the proper tilt to them used to be part of the MA car inspection: they’d see how far out the lights hit or something, and if yours were cant too high and didn’t hit the ground by X feet, you had to fix them or not pass inspection. If this is truly the case, is the path of headlight beams no longer something anyone regulates? ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/46 "2011-11-14T14:17:25Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > My parents claim that back when they were young, that measuring if your lights had the proper tilt to them used to be part of the MA car inspection: they’d see how far out the lights hit or something, and if yours were cant too high and didn’t hit the ground by X feet, you had to fix them or not pass inspection. If this is truly the case, is the path of headlight beams no longer something anyone regulates? From [here](http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/vi/misc/faq/faq_item.htm): > [@](#): > > The Department conducted a study and determined that: > > 1. Over 50% of the complaints received by the agency on vehicle inspection concerned headlight aim testing. > 2. Each year almost 50% of the citizens were being charged for headlight aim testing as they received their vehicle inspection. > 3. Through review of a substantial number of vehicles, only 3% actually required headlight aim adjustment. > 4. Newer vehicles were being manufactured that did not provide for headlight aim adjustment (or the adjustment required disassembly of the headlights). > > By the late 80’s most other states had stopped doing headlight aim testing. As a result through an administrative rule proposal that was approved on March 15, 1990, the headlight aim-testing requirement was removed from the inspection procedures chart. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/47 "2011-11-14T18:21:48Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Headlights are just getting brighter. LEDs are a prime offender - the newer Audis (I think) have a weird-shaped array of LED lights that are almost painful. I’d hate to see the “bright” version. > > Around here, it seems like everyone’s in a game of one-upmanship with wattage and number of bulbs. Pickups, in particular, are notorious for having the regular lights, fog lights, “driving” lights and so forth all on at the same time. In California, at least, the maximum number of driving lamps, as opposed to marker lights, is limited to two pairs. There are folks out there with more, no doubt about it. I wonder how often they’re getting popped by the LEOs? ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/48 "2011-11-14T18:38:02Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Around here, it seems like everyone’s in a game of one-upmanship with wattage and number of bulbs. Pickups, in particular, are notorious for having the regular lights, fog lights, “driving” lights and so forth all on at the same time. I see lots of people driving with their auxillary lights on all the time, even thought the law says that aux lights are to be operated on and off the same way that bright/high beams are. I really wish the cops would crack down on all the extra lights, but the law seems to be ignored. > [@](#): > > When a car is using fog or auxiliary lights, it is visually distracting for oncoming drivers. According to Oregon law, fog and/or auxiliary lights must be used like the high beam headlight system of your car. They must be turned off when within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle and within 350 feet when following another vehicle. The color of fog and/or auxiliary lights is also regulated. Fog lights may be either white or amber (yellow). Rules prohibit other colors such as blue. From here: > **[Oregon Department of Transportation : Transportation Safety : Safety : State...](https://www.oregon.gov/odot/safety/pages/index.aspx)** > > Transportation Safety Office Homepage ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/49 "2011-11-14T18:53:19Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > A big-ass-enough SUV might appear to have its brights on just because it sits so high. Low-beams have a pretty sharp cutoff a few degrees below horizontal. On a small car, that means the low-beams would look like “brights” if you were looking at them from one foot off the ground. But with the bigger trucks and SUVs, the low-beam cutoff might just happen to be above the rear window of a small car. > > So what you’re seeing probably isn’t the “brights” left on accidentally or maliciously. Just a side-effect of a bigass car. In addition addressing **thelabdude** ’s observation, in California mounting height is of no consideration (CVC Sec. 24407.) The aiming of the beam is not addressed in angle downward but rather whether the brilliant portion of the low beam can strike any driver’s eyes at the aforementioned 300 feet (following) or 500 feet (approaching.) Drivers with lamps mounted high above the ground are obliged to have them pointed downward at a steeper angle than say a compact sedan’s. It’s be interesting to see what beam adjustments would have to be made if the target vehicle was a Ford GT40. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/50 "2011-11-14T18:54:39Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > I’d gladly pay more taxes to have a traffic cop do just one trip a day during evening rush hour on the 10 major expressways in the Chicago area – just to ticket the ass-wipes with the behemoth SUVs and the high beams constantly on and riding up to 0.5" inch on your tail in stop-and-go traffic. > > Idiots. As others have said, this is just the result of the lights being higher and perhaps aimed differently. I live in Chicago, drive a lot (in a normal sedan car), and have never noticed high beams being a problem with other traffic. There are certain types of lights and vehicles that _seem_ like they’re high beaming, but they are not. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/51 "2011-11-15T02:10:27Z")
I wonder if there’s a study done about increased safety due to increased lumens, higher angle, etc etc. I wonder because the only “scary” moments I have on a regular-ish basis in the car are when I’m driving at night, and a vehicle with very bright headlights is oncoming, and I am functionally blinded until we pass each other. I feel much more ‘at risk’ in those frequent moments, than I do driving with my old-school low beams on. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/52 "2011-11-25T05:27:09Z")
Ok, now I’m really flummoxed. I have begun, due mostly to the posts in this thread, to put my high-beams on when driving through non-residential, deserted areas at night. And it _has_ seemed to be a good thing, making my visibility much wider and deeper. Well the night before last I was driving down a deserted stretch of rural M-15, which I use to come home when coming home from a southern destination. It really is nothing but sticks and grass. Well I was driving behind another vehicle for a while, so I didn’t have my brights on. But after this car turned, I had nothing but wide open space ahead of me so I switched them on. However, off the side of the road; with their headlights off; was an idling police officer (I know, how unlucky). As soon as I had turned my high beams on, this police officer flashed me with headlights. Now if I can’t have my high-beams on in a situation such as this, what in the world are the things for?? Could this cop have been mistaken? I couldn’t have been impairing _his_ vision, as he wasn’t even on the road. 😕 And his vehicle didn’t even have headlights on at all. I was in a rural, deserted area-at night-and still was flashed by a cop. I’m playin’ it safe and stickin’ to the low-beams. It hasn’t caused me any problems thus far. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/53 "2011-11-25T06:09:13Z")
If it had been really unsafe, the cop would have pulled you over. He just flashed his so that you could be courteous and dim yours. It’s a perfectly reasonable response to a very minor slight on your part. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/54 "2011-11-25T06:59:26Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > If it had been really unsafe, the cop would have pulled you over. He just flashed his so that you could be courteous and dim yours. It’s a perfectly reasonable response to a very minor slight on your part. My point is…_What_ was my slight? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/55 "2011-11-25T07:24:10Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > My point is…_What_ was my slight? 😕 I don’t think there was any slight at all. Possibly he was checking his own lights or he bumped the switch with his knee, or maybe he was just being a dick. If he was just sitting on the shoulder with his lights off and there was no oncoming traffic and nobody in front of you, you were perfectly correct in having your brights on. I can’t imagine driving without brights around here. They’ve saved me from multiple car-deer crashes (and even a few crashes with multiple deer at one time), and I’d hardly let one questionable episode with a random cop convince me to drive less safely. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/56 "2011-11-25T23:16:01Z")
I’m thinking that cops don’t pull over folks with mis-aimed headlights, unless they are WAAAAAY outta alignment. Not enough cops, too many vehicles on the road. However…if a cop needs a REASON to pull over a vehicle, mis-aimed headlights is a dandy violation. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/57 "2011-11-26T00:06:48Z")
The other day I was driving home. Half a block from my house I was waiting in the left turn lane, and another car was in the left-turn lane opposite me. All of a sudden he just turned his brights on, which pretty much blinded me. So I turned my brights on, just to let him know that I wasn’t already sitting there with my brights on, and he turned his off, and I turned mine off. I was so blinded from that little encounter that I nearly drove right past my own driveway, and I kept seeing flies out of the corner of my eye for half an hour (there were no flies). If i’d had to keep driving, I would definitely have been driving impaired. So, do you want to blind somebody in oncoming traffic? No? Then dim your damn lights! As soon as you see them. Also dim your lights as soon as you realize you are behind another vehicle. They’ve got rear-view mirrors just like you do. In nonresidential deserted areas, brights are the thing to have on. But if another vehicle is coming toward you, you can see from its lights where the road is, and the same if you’re behind someone, so you don’t need them and they may blind the other driver. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/58 "2011-11-29T13:16:10Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > maybe he was just being a dick Possibly he was just doing his job. Lone car out late at night on a deserted road and the cop is bored so he pops up out of no where and flashes his lights to see if you flinch or if you fail to dim your lights. Possible DUI suspect. Part of his job is being a [dick](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tracy) sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/59 "2011-11-29T14:32:59Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > My point is…_What_ was my slight? 😕 I don’t think there’s any big mystery here. You were shining your brights in his eyes and flashed to request you turn them down. There was no “slight.” He was simply letting you know that someone was there so you would turn them down. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/60 "2011-11-29T15:08:38Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I don’t think there’s any big mystery here. You were shining your brights in his eyes and flashed to request you turn them down. There was no “slight.” He was simply letting you know that someone was there so you would turn them down. That’s what I think too. The rules for shining your brights on pedestrians and parked cars and such are sort of fuzzy. Apparently the cop was just signaling you to get your brights out of his eyes. Whenever you can have your brights on without blinding someone I would do it, much safer to be able to see farther ahead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355.md?page=4)