Something needs to be done about aftermarket HID !!!!!!

londonTiger

I got so frustrated behind the wheel of my car today that I slapped on the horn 3-4 times and flashed my full beam on 3-4 times as well.

I was turning right on a busy main road to my house. The traffic isn't filtered fully.

I neede dto turn right and the car opposite me was turning right too. SO we were both idle on the middle of the road. The other driver had those aftermarket HID on which shon straight into my eyes. It was so bright that it made everything else around it pitch black. If there was a cyclist coming along beside him with weak light I don't think I would have been able to spot it because the HID was overshadowing everything else.

Peeved me right off and it felt very dangerous for me to turn right because it felt like I was trying to cross the roads blind because I couldn't trust what I was seeing.

I got frustrated at the driver, flashed my full beam at him and then hit the horn a couple of times as I drove off.

scotsbob

If you followed the Highway Code and lined up nearside to nearside so you each turned behind the other vehicle, then you would not have seen his lights.

londonTiger

I was the first in line to turn right on my side, and the guy with aftermarket HID was 2nd in line to turn on his side. So he was facing straight towards me.

facade

scotsbob wrote: »

If you followed the Highway Code and lined up nearside to nearside so you each turned behind the other vehicle, then you would not have seen his lights.

You mean offside to offside to pass behind;)

That rather supposes that there isn't an impenetrable line of vehicles queued up behind both parties waiting to turn.

Round here most junctions are marked for turning nearside to nearside across the front of opposing traffic. Then if one direction clears, a whole line of traffic just streams to their right.

motorguy

londonTiger wrote: »

It was so bright that it made everything else around it pitch black.

I mean this most sincerely, but if that happened to you, you should see a doctor as you have a medical issue.

londonTiger wrote: »

I got frustrated at the driver, flashed my full beam at him and then hit the horn a couple of times as I drove off.

And thats where in the highway code?

If he has badly fitted lights of any sort, then it'll either be picked up by the local Plod OR at next MOT time.

Strider590

motorguy wrote: »

If he has badly fitted lights of any sort, then it'll either be picked up by the local Plod OR at next MOT time.

They either get their mate down at Crapfit to do the MOT "for a few beers", OR they replace the old bulbs for the day.

It's when they've been fitted to the older cars where you had to fit a cap over the dipped bulb, they leave the cap off (won't fit) and then blind everyone with their aftermarket HIDs.

I have no issue with the rest of them, when used in projection headlamps they're not much of an issue.

As for braking, flashing and using the horn, most of us have done this at some point when people forget to switch off the main beams. I very often find myself using the horn when morons park facing oncoming cars with their headlights on, blissfully unaware that they're blinding oncoming traffic.

But i've also seen people over react on seeing any sort of white/blue light coming the other way, regardless of brightness. In fact when white xenon lights first hit the road, my father was enraged every time he saw some coming the other way and would always flash/honk, he eventually saw the error of his ways when he did it to a Police car. :rotfl:

Joe_Horner

Don't agree with LT's reaction flashing lights etc, but he does hae a point about the aftermarket HIDs.

Very few, if any, produce a "correct" beam pattern even fitted in projector units. More to the point, thanks to the extremely sharp cut-off they produce, they can be worse than a normal high beam because of the sharp flashing effect as they bounce - your eyes don't have a chance to react.

There are very good reasons why these lights need self-levelling and washers to gain type approval and fitting them without is actually illegal (again, for very good reasons).

Sadly, even though every HID installation must have levelling and washers to be road legal in the UK, the MOT only checks that those systems are not "obviously faulty if fitted". So an illegal installation without the required systems at all won't fail as long as the static beam pattern is about right.

facade

motorguy wrote: »

I mean this most sincerely, but if that happened to you, you should see a doctor as you have a medical issue.

Obviously, do get your eyes checked regularly, but I, and most people I talk to have the same problem.

I put this down to 3 factors

1) Age, the eye takes longer to adjust/recover as it ages.
2) "Modern" lights are more intense than in The Olden Days.
3) Drivers are more selfish, increasing their light output/adjusting their lights/unnecessarily using headlamps in town so that they can "see" better without any thought for other road users.

Don't even start me on the red rear blinding lights, the most unnecessary and antisocial/downright dangerous piece of Euro conformist equipment that I can think of :mad:

Strider590

facade wrote: »

using headlamps in town so that they can "see" better without any thought for other road users.

Makes no sense........

Headlights are about being seen, as is evident from the number of idiots that drive about on side/parking lights in the dark, fog, snow, rain, whatever. You don't always need lights to see.

I could see the road quite easily with no lights at all in a street lit town, but I use my lights so that others see me, try explaining why you ran over that pedestrian, when witnesses tell the Police you were driving on parking lights.
How many collisions are caused by people not using headlights (or any lights at all) in fog??
I dread that time of year when I have to drive to work in foggy conditions, knowing that around the next bend there could be some muppet with no lights on, doing half my road speed....
Of course THEY don't feel they need lights, because they can see the 5m in front of their cars just fine.

Mobeer

re: OP
I understand your frustration, but you need to concentrate more on your own driving that that of other. If as in your example there "was a cyclist coming along beside him", and you then hit the cyclist because you cannot "trust what I was seeing" then you would be at fault (driving whilst unable to see) whilst the cyclist would be hurt. Flashing lights and using your horn would make you look like an aggressive driver if questions were raised.

I would suggest a visit to the opticians, as eye sight does change over time.

facade

Strider590 wrote: »

I could see the road quite easily with no lights at all in a street lit town, but I use my lights so that others see me, try explaining why you ran over that pedestrian, when witnesses tell the Police you were driving on parking lights.

I suggest that you respectfully refer them to the Highway Code section 113 2nd clause

"You MUST
use headlights at night, except on a road which has lit street lighting. These roads are generally restricted to a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h) unless otherwise specified"

You do not need 500W of badly adjusted aftermarket HID lamp to be seen, it simply makes road users who are not so equiped less visible by contrast.

Strider590 wrote: »

How many collisions are caused by people not using headlights (or any lights at all) in fog??
I dread that time of year when I have to drive to work in foggy conditions, knowing that around the next bend there could be some muppet with no lights on, doing half my road speed....
Of course THEY don't feel they need lights, because they can see the 5m in front of their cars just fine.

Once again the Highway Code , this time section 226

"You MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet). You may also use front or rear fog lights but you MUST switch them off when visibility improves (see Rule 236). Law RVLR regs 25 & 27"


Personally, I have little trouble not running into the back of a moving car going in my direction with sidelights on, or even a stationary one with its brake lights on, It is the parked cars with no lights on at all that cause a problem