Car headlights BBC News

The lights are supposed to dip automatically on the car we bought recently, but on the one occasion we've been out in the dark we quickly discovered that they weren't doing that.

Not a problem now we are aware of it and can continue to do it manually the same as we have done for the last 40 or 50 years.

I suspect though that some drivers have so much confidence in the automatic lights system (especially any who have only ever driven modern cars) that it barely crosses their mind that they might sometimes have to dip their lights manually.

Then again, I imagine most of us have occasionally forgotten to do it until flashed at by an approaching car at some time in the past. I know I have. Though it was definitely not as dangerous then, before these awful LED lights.

It's not car lights I find a problem, it's the lights cyclists wear on their head. Direct at eye level. Most modern cars lights dim when sensing an oncoming light. The headlights cyclists wear don't.

bikergran

My little 14 year old car has a lever on the driving mirror underneath.
If someone is up my arse backside, I can flick the lever and it sort of tilts the mirror to take way the dazzle from the car behind. But yet still allows me to see what is behind me.

Is arse ruder than backside then?

It doesn’t really happen on motorways, it happens on small, unlit, country roads.

The government should legislate to make dazzling rather than dipping a crime punished with a sizeable fine. The culprits should be easy enough to see and registrations caught on motorway cameras.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets blinded by car lights at night. I just don't do it any more - it's bad enough in daylight the way some people push their way in to traffic.
Oh dear I'm getting old!

There are far too many people who are simply selfish. They don’t dip their headlights because they don’t want to. All that matters is if they can see. When driving home from my son’s house in the country, I’m actually amazed by how many people fail to dip their headlights, simply preferring to dazzle other drivers. Selfish!

Markings on sides of narrow roads in the countryside have been very neglected. No white markings any more on those roads near me. 40 is too fast at night, no cats eyes, tall hedges and a ditch each side

I decided not to drive at night

The people behind should be keeping their distance, Luckygirl3.

Luckygirl3 I am lucky in that I live close to two bus stops and a mainline station. There is a downside as well, of course.

When dazzled, I used to have to try and pull in, not always an option, in order not to be harassed from behind when I slowed down.

I became aware of an increase in aggressive driving, mainly men but women too, which probably hastened my decision to stop driving.

I live in the country with no public transport so it is car or nothing. Once the evenings draw in I am pretty stuck. But I do drive to the nearest town at night because the roads are full of speed limits and most cars are doing around 30 ... it feels safer to be moving at that speed with bright oncoming lights.

I read advice about this problem and it said to slow down if you feel blinded, but that does not go down well with the people behind.

My little 14 year old car has a lever on the driving mirror underneath.
If someone is up my arse backside, I can flick the lever and it sort of tilts the mirror to take way the dazzle from the car behind. But yet still allows me to see what is behind me.

Our car has automatic dipping and full beam lights, so it knows when other cars are coming and we’re in lit areas. Don’t ask me how!
Maybe all new cars should have this facility.

I have an antiglare coating on my glasses, which does help. I also do not see many people forgetting to dim their headlights, but headlights are just inherently much brighter than they used to be and can shine in your eyes because of the slope or camber of the road and with bigger cars, lights are much higher off the road and will shine into the eyes of drivers in smaller cars, even if dipped.

I try to avoid driving at night, but sometimes needs must. I had to take DH to A&E, after dark, last week. The journey is 15 miles but takes upwards of an hour. I have two specific routes I use, one to drive to the hospital and a different one on the way home.

My biggest fear, when I get into the urban area, is taking out a cyclist. When driving through residential areas, houses, shopping parades, there are so many light sources, street lights, shop lights, reflectors, buses etc, that I often find it difficult to see and identify cycle lights, I am not talking about unlit cyclists (curses be upon them) but even those what have lights can be dificult to identify..

I have been thinking about starting a thread on the subject - perhaps I will.

I am sure that there is something in the Highway Code about dipping lights so as not to dazzle other drivers but it seems some cars have undippable, blinding lights.
There is also a bit about not driving too close to the vehicle in front. There is nothing worse than having some idiot driving right up your backside on full beam, especially when you are keeping to the speed limit and they want to overtake. I have been honked on several occasions by by people who need a refresher course in how to drive safely.

I don't regret getting rid of my car.

I drove back from m sons at rush hour the other day. Not going to do that again. I have anti glare glasses but they didn’t help.

Does anyone remember the television road safety ad that stated 'Dip don't Dazzle' with regard to headlights. When did it become okay to dazzle other drivers?
Is obviously unsafe if drivers are blinded whilst driving.

Don't get me started on LED headlights and SUV cars. The former should be banned and the latter restricted. I thought the lights were going to be debated in parliament. They certainly should be. They're bloody dangerous and completely unnecessary unless all those drivers are on army reconnaisance missions. What the hell do they need these blinding lights for.

The LED lights are absolutely blinding. I try not to drive at night if at all possible, but DH doesn’t mind and he still has much better eyesight than me.

Totally agree, I don’t drive but my OH can’t drive at night now because he drives a smaller car and bright lights from oncoming traffic blind him, the glare is so excessive that they have also affected me and caused migraines. This seriously restricts the places we can visit in winter when driving in the dark can occur from 4pm onwards.

I have decided not to drive at night . It’s not just oncoming cars, it’s also the road markings.

A lot of cars are so high off the ground now - especially 4x4s and SUVs with LED headlights - that it makes life very difficult for people like me who drive small cars (I drive a Mini). As a result I hate driving at night and feel vulnerable to being completely blinded by headlights as I was on a few occasions on Sunday driving back from DDs.