Blazing headlights

[Michael Rolls]

I always felt that driving on just sidelights could cause problems for other road users, so never did it -always drove on dips. Also - well lit roads were a bit of a rarity around our way
Mike

[klondike]

Also - well lit roads were a bit of a rarity around our way

They are here too since the changeover to tiny low power LED street lights.

[Michael Rolls]

I always felt that driving on just sidelights could cause problems for other road users, so never did it -always drove on dips. Also - well lit roads were a bit of a rarity around our way
Mike

Perhaps that deserves amplification. An office colleague had a very narrow escape from driving on sidelights. He had a very blue or black Jag Mk II and drove in town on sidelights. One dark evening he was driving along when a lorry emerged from a side road on the right and Reg just managed to brake in time. The lorry drive was quite upset, accusing Reg of ‘creeping around in the dark’! Clearly, he simply hadn’t seen Reg, probably due to other vehicles in the vicinity having dipped lights on.
Reg was moaning about the near miss, saying he could ‘see perfectly well on sidelights’ but I pointed out to him that it wasn’t only what he could see that counted - it was also who could see him.
Oh, all this must be about 50 years ago – modern car lights are much better. In fact, some are too bright on dips or DRLs
Mike

[xetog]

Hardly any cars use the old filament headlights these days, the norm for many years has been HQI (Halogen).  These are far brighter and safer at the speeds travelled in modern cars.  You are probably complaining about the increased use of HID lamps that work without a filament (the weak spot in any lamp), but instead rely on an electric discharge inside a bulb striking atoms of special gasses in the envelope producing a very white, slightly blueish light. Only currently fitted to high end cars.  Some newer models are now fitted with LED headlights which are said to be as bright as HID's, but last much longer and use less energy.  The latest type are laser headlights.  They are even brighter, so can be very small, being almost four times as bright as an LED.  Frightening!


Mike.X

[zoony]

Dunno about headlights but the combination of a bright, low sun and shiny, wet road surface very nearly had me in trouble today..

[Scrumpy]

The low winter sun is scary ..

[Michael Rolls]

Dunno about headlights but the combination of a bright, low sun and shiny, wet road surface very nearly had me in trouble today..

Horrible combination. Last winter just such a combination saw me having to pull into the side of our lane, which is wide enough for two cars to pass each other with a little care, but not wide enough for anything bigger. The glare was so bad that an oncoming lorry was within about thirty yards before I saw him
Mike

[sparky]

Crawling around at walking pace in London fogs in the 40/50s was far better with side lights, because headlights reflected back from the fog, making it more difficult to see.

[Scrumpy]

My first husband Harry.. what a character. !!
 He loved his darts matches and insisted on going , whatever the weather..
We lived near common land and lakes.. Back then we had very bad fogs and the mist used to roll off the common and across the road.. When we got to a really bad part I used to get out of the car and walk in front of it to guide him..
 Bloody stupid.. I must have been in love..!!

[Michael Rolls]

Crawling around at walking pace in London fogs in the 40/50s was far better with side lights, because headlights reflected back from the fog, making it more difficult to see.

Very true, but those were exceptional circumstances. More than once in such conditions, as a passenger, I have had to walk in front of a car. All that was missing was the red flag!
Mike

[klondike]

When I was working I'd often drive in the dark. Sometimes both morning and night. These days I rarely do and don't like it much when I do.

[Michael Rolls]

Must admit, neither do I. My eyes get tired much more quickly than used to be the case
Mike

[klondike]

I think it s like most things that require a bit more concentration - the less you do them then the harder they get. My wife has left the driving to me to the point where she is reluctant to do anything other than local trips any more. It doesn't inhibit her from giving me (unsolicited and usually incorrect) advice on which lane I should be in.

[Michael Rolls]

It is the privilege of female passengers!
Mike 😁😁

[zoony]

That would be a ball of the ocks variety while riding in my car..