+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!”
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.
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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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 sometimes.
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.
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.