night driving difficulties

puddy

I agree with the OP and for all those who are asking if the OP can see properly, that is not what the point of this thread seems to be, its not that she cant see, its that the lights from other cars are too bright and dazzling.

I also have this problem and when you need your car to do long commutes, you are inevitably going to be driving in the dark (ie after 4pm in the winter).

I have trained myself to look at the road in front of me, or at the most the white line on my right when cars are dazzling, otherwise you end up with white lights in your eyes way after the car has passed you and this impedes your visiion

Its also the case that the oncoming car lights are so bright, that you cannot see immediately in front of you because of the effect of lights in a non lit street, I often notice that if there was someone stepping out right in front of me with a bright car oncoming I wouldnt see the person.

My driving is in rural area so there is no street lighting. I also have a long motorway commute where about 30 miles of it is unlit but the other side's lights are visible and glaring.

There is also the inevitible idiots with their front fog lights on. Lights are brighter today from years ago, theres no doubt about it and I think its dangerous.

Lum

piratefairy wrote: »

I've also noticed a lot of people with one headlight out recently - i don't understand why you wouldn't check, even if you were stupid enough to not notice

Plenty of people have their headlights checked regularly.

Of course, by regularly I mean they have them checked at the same time every year, when their MOT runs out.

Lum

puddy wrote: »

There is also the inevitible idiots with their front fog lights on. Lights are brighter today from years ago, theres no doubt about it and I think its dangerous.

Very true. Most noticeable after I had a recent encounter with a new Mercedes something alongside a Triumph TR7 on the M4. At first glance it looked like they were both braking as both sets of lights were of the same intensity, but in reality only the Triumph was braking. When the Merc started to brake too they were bright enough to leave after images on my eyes even though it was still light enough for me to identify the car models.

Strider590

piratefairy wrote: »

I've also noticed a lot of people with one headlight out recently - i don't understand why you wouldn't check, even if you were stupid enough to not notice

"Because the MOT isn't due yet".....

That is literally the attitude people take :mad:

Inactive

Having a pristine windscreen, both inside and outside certainly helps when driving in the dark, good quality wiper blades as well as cleaning the inside of your screen, even if you think that it is clean, will stop much of the " halo " effect.

Inactive

puddy wrote: »

There is also the inevitible idiots with their front fog lights on. Lights are brighter today from years ago, theres no doubt about it and I think its dangerous.

Indeed, as well as the numpties with their illegal headlight kits fitted.

Strider590

First people moaned about xenon bulbs 10 years ago, now they moan about HID headlights.
Yes i've seen some badly fitted after market HID's, but most have been perfectly acceptable.

Personally I think people just don't like having something inferior to the next person and even more so if it requires getting their hands dirty or picking up a screwdriver.

Inactive

Strider590 wrote: »

First people moaned about xenon bulbs 10 years ago, now they moan about HID headlights.
Yes i've seen some badly fitted after market HID's, but most have been perfectly acceptable.

.

They may well be " acceptable " to you, they are not to the poor sods that are frequently dazzled by them.


They are fitted by selfish individuals who do not give a toss about anybody else.

exup

wba31 wrote: »

If anyone driving in the opposite direction to me, regardless of a bend, has their main beam on, they will get the main beam and the horn back. it still dazzles, regardless of corner angle

er no it doesn't and you obviously don't have a clue what I'm talking about - If you are going around a right hand bend then your headlight beams will shine straight off the left hand edge of the road and cannot possibly dazzle any oncoming road users - In fact this a technique taught in advanced riding and driving.
we drive on the left side of the road in this country, or are you still stryggling with the UK's first rule of the road ?

puddy

I would imagine they mean just as the car swings round to become oncoming to you

thats another thing thats hard, when a car is swinging round corners or especially coming up hill or at a particular angle the lights are blinding