# 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:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/61 "2011-11-29T18:49:39Z")
> [@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. But I was the one driving and using the roadways, this cop wasn’t even driving. He didn’t even have his headlights on and he wasn’t on the road. He was completely invisible to any car on the road. Why did he _need_ good visibility at that moment? ---
**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, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/62 "2011-11-29T19:06:22Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > But I was the one driving and using the roadways, this cop wasn’t even driving. He didn’t even have his headlights on and he wasn’t on the road. He was completely invisible to any car on the road. Why did he _need_ good visibility at that moment? Because anyone at the controls of a motor vehicle needs visibility. How do you know how soon he might have to start moving? And a cop _always_ needs good visibility. Why do you think he’s sitting by the side of the road? Being able see what’s happening on the road is probably quite helpful to his job. If you blind him with his brights, he’s not going to be able to do that. And I’d think the same goes for pedestrians. You don’t blind them with your brights either. You don’t think people walking alongside a darkened road need to see? Bright lights at night can effectively knock out your vision for minutes at a time. That’s not safe for anyone. Brights are for use when your headlights are not shining in someone’s eyes. He was just letting you know that you were shining them in his eyes. ---
**Author:** ![abel29a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@abel29a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abel29a)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/63 "2011-11-29T21:27:00Z")
I’m a little taken aback by some of the people in this thread who apparently aren’t using their high-beams whenever possible driving at night. I thought this was commonly taught in all driving schools in at least the western world. I cannot remember ever driving around Europe in a location where the vast majority of people wouldn’t run their high-beams during night. Of course, one have to remember to dim the lights when meeting traffic, overtaking traffic or in residential arease, but to not run the high beams in apropriate situations boggles my mind 🙂 ---
**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, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/64 "2011-11-29T21:31:51Z")
I do 90 percent of my driving in urban areas or freeways where there is always oncoming traffic or traffic ahead of you and even if there isn’t, 70 percent of the time there’s already adequate lighting. So putting on my brights is something I do only a handful of times a year. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/65 "2011-11-30T00:20:04Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Because anyone at the controls of a motor vehicle needs visibility. How do you know how soon he might have to start moving? > > And a cop _always_ needs good visibility. Why do you think he’s sitting by the side of the road? Being able see what’s happening on the road is probably quite helpful to his job. If you blind him with his brights, he’s not going to be able to do that. > > And I’d think the same goes for pedestrians. You don’t blind them with your brights either. You don’t think people walking alongside a darkened road need to see? > > Bright lights at night can effectively knock out your vision for minutes at a time. That’s not safe for anyone. Brights are for use when your headlights are not shining in someone’s eyes. He was just letting you know that you were shining them in his eyes. Yeah, I guess you’re right. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355/66 "2011-11-30T00:50:53Z")
> [@abel29a](#): > > I’m a little taken aback by some of the people in this thread who apparently aren’t using their high-beams whenever possible driving at night. I thought this was commonly taught in all driving schools in at least the western world. > > I cannot remember ever driving around Europe in a location where the vast majority of people wouldn’t run their high-beams during night. Of course, one have to remember to dim the lights when meeting traffic, overtaking traffic or in residential arease, but to not run the high beams in apropriate situations boggles my mind 🙂 because for a hell of a lot of us, it’s never “possible” to run them. I’ve used my high beams exactly once in the last 5 years or so, simply because most of my driving is on interstates or metro roads where I’m pretty much always facing oncoming traffic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-legality-of-your-cars-brights/602355.md?page=3)