For instance, doesn’t work when you need to pass a snowplow or piece of construction equipment.
Doesn’t work when the cop car/emergency equipment is parked on the side of the road having pulled someone over.
Should we stop 100 yards away and wait until they are done with their business?
Just today, a cop car had someone pulled over on the the other/oncoming side of the road. Not just where all of his lights going, but he had his spot light on (I know this is SOP, and a safety issue for the cops.) BUT he did not have the spotlight aimed at the car as much into oncoming traffic.
After re-reading this, I am curious why you “need” to pass snowplows and construction equipment, especially the plows? I suggest you leave earlier if you are cutting your arrival times that closely. As for the rest, don’t look directly at the lights.
Oh please. I’m not going to follow a snowplow or construction equipment going 20 MPH under the limit for 20 miles. You know exactly zero about the conditions that I drive every day.
My arrival times aren’t being cut it close at all. Don’t suggest things that you know nothing about.
Of course you don’t look directly at the lights :rolleyes:
There seems to have been a contest among the makers of those lights to see who could make their’s the brightest. I remember one ad that something like, “Visible from 20 miles away!”. I believe that there are at least two brightness settings on the newer strobes and the lower setting is encouraged at night. I think they’ve gone way past the point of practical utility and now are a hazard themselves.
Speaking of Meat Cove… we tried to go camping there several years ago but a major rain event a couple of nights prior flooded the area and washed out bridges. Our whale watching captain in Bay St. Lawerence said, “Sorry, I have to run medicine and reporters out there.” Apparently, it was pretty bad. What a beautiful area, though.
No, but I’m getting a very strong vibe of you as an angry, impatient driver. They come from all over.
Snowplows around here go slowly only when they are actually plowing. While they are plowing they are also, usually, spreading a salt/anti-skid mixture. So, you’re in a big enough hurry to drive through the flying salt/anti-skid (nicking your paint and risking a cracked windshield) in order to drive on a road that is likely still slick with snow or ice. From my point of view, you’re in a hell of a hurry to take unnecessary risks and make yourself into a hazard.
And you would be wrong. I have been driving a two lane mountain highway for every day for the last 26 years. I travel over the continental divide at 11,500 feet. I go into 4x4 every day 6 months out of the year. Passing snow plows is what is done.
I happen to be the guy that drives the speed limit. I pull over nearly every day on this road for people that get behind me. It’s a very leisurely drive that I enjoy.
Unless you come upon one of these traveling light shows.
ETA - I’ve been driving since 1975 and have never been in any kind of accident regardless of fault.
You seem to think that makes you neither angry nor impatient. Try to remember that everybody on the road is just trying to get somewhere and nobody set out with the goal of discommoding you, as important as you are. Also try to remember that 4x4 does absolutely nothing when it is necessary for you to stop on slick road surfaces. You remind me of my dad, in conclusion. He was an angry, impatient, aggressive driver who was fiercely proud of never having been in an accident. My dad profited mightily from shit-ass good luck and other people on the road not having their egos caught up in their vehicles.
Where did I even suggest that anyone is trying to ‘discommode’ me. Snowplows are just doing their job. I pull over for others that want to go faster than I nearly daily as I already said.
I am just agreeing with the OP (and others) that many of these emergency vehicles now have lights that are ridiculously bright.
I absolutely guarantee you that I understand driving in snow/ice and a 4x4’s abilities. After all we only average 30 feet of snow a year at my house.
Enipla, Do not mind the folks who have decided you are a hazard to the rest of us Colorado drivers.
I highly doubt that you are a problem. If you have driven here in the hills east of me daily for 25 years, & have never had an accident, you are good.
Some folks just like to hassle others. Blow the hassle off, & let the rest ride.
I have chosen to put in my 2 cents worth here because you are wasting way too much energy trying to defend yourself.
BTW, I concur that the bright lights on emergency vehicles can be so bright that they are causing a bigger hazard to the driving public & to the emergency crew than the original issue was. I wish that these crews would consider the created hazard before turning their light on so bright.
Yep, not worried about it. And I see that scumpup has his own special thread in the pit about snipping at people.
I’ll bring up another special case of light problems. Here in the mountains, many snow remove equipment is big 6 wheel drive graders and articulated loaders. Of course they have a shit load of lights on them. But when roading it (traveling down the highway) the operators sometimes forget to turn off there rear ‘driving’ lights.
It’s very interesting to come upon a vehicle IN YOUR LANE with head lights pointing right at you.
The operators seem to think that it makes them more visible. Well, sure. But it’s sort of like looking into the sun.
I manage fine. But it does aggravate me a bit that CDOT seems to think bigger and brighter is safer. It’s not.
I hate those. You can’t tell of they have their brights on, but you find out if you flash yours because they turn theirs on and leave them on as they pass you. It’s even worse when they follow you.
Of course, there are some people who do have their brights on constantly. It’s as if they are saying, “Look at me in my pretty truck! You should not be on the road when I am driving because my truck is so tremendous, so I will make you so uncomfortable you will want to pull off as I pass!”
I use night-driving glasses, the one with the yellow lenses. They don’t darken the brights very much, but they do take down the brightness somewhat.
When I get followed by these dimwits, I also end up aiming the side-view mirrors down. I figure not using them is a little safer than being blind.
I created a thread about blinding headlights years ago, and came to the same conclusions.
I often run after dark and my path along a semi-rural road is enlivened by drivers who see me coming and for “safety” reasons turn on their super-bright headlights.
Now, I make an effort to wear light-colored clothing and and LED-flashing bracelet, so it’s not like I’m difficult to see, plus when I spot an oncoming car I run on the far edge of the road in the opposite lane. By using their brights, these drivers are partially blinding me and increasing the risk that I’ll trip over something at the road’s edge - plus, they can see me just as well with their regular headlights.