How do all you drivers cope with glare or dazzle by others headlights?

[Westley]

11 minutes ago, Vince Green said:

Cars with automatic dipping headlights do that. My stepdaughter has a car thats terrible in that respect. They don't dip till the last minute.

She was told to drive on full beam and let the car do the rest. I wince when you see the oncoming cars getting the full blast and they are powerful lights too

It CAN be switched off though.

[udderlyoffroad]

50 minutes ago, Westley said:

I would add that I am paranoid about a clean windscreen.

This, amazing how many people look through layers and layers of dross and complain about glare or their own headlights being dim.

[cuffy]

I just squint at where the kerb should be but if I think the oncoming lights are too bright I whack em  with a couple of 100 watts - let them have it !

[Vince Green]

1 hour ago, Westley said:

It CAN be switched off though.

She is totally unaware that it is a problem. Like a lot of other drivers I would imagine.

Everything is automatic, the lights come on automatically when it gets dark. The wipers come on automatically when it rains etc

[shaun4860]

I close my eyes till the other vehicles have passed 🫣

[Westley]

8 hours ago, shaun4860 said:

I close my eyes till the other vehicles have passed 🫣

From what I witness on the roads, you AND a lot of others too. Due to the speed that people are driving at, they are totally unable to stay on the correct side of the centre line, mostly on bends. If they are driving like that in daylight, they are not going to improve when it is dark  !

[old man]

10 hours ago, Vince Green said:

She is totally unaware that it is a problem. Like a lot of other drivers I would imagine.

Everything is automatic, the lights come on automatically when it gets dark. The wipers come on automatically when it rains etc

Have to say that the wipers and lights I have are superbly fit for purpose.

[Mice!]

9 hours ago, shaun4860 said:

I close my eyes till the other vehicles have passed 🫣

I really wanted to put that 😅😅

36 minutes ago, Westley said:

From what I witness on the roads, you AND a lot of others too. Due to the speed that people are driving at, they are totally unable to stay on the correct side of the centre line, mostly on bends. If they are driving like that in daylight, they are not going to improve when it is dark  !

I don't know, I drive in the dark a lot, and it amazes me how slow some go just because its dark.

Driving on dark roads in good conditions is great because you know well in advance if there's something else coming especially on country lanes, if they have lights 😬

Anybody remember when we had good roads to drive on 😳😳 the A590 lately has been unbelievable with the amount of water on it.

[Dougy]

5 minutes ago, Mice! said:

Driving on dark roads in good conditions is great because you know well in advance if there's something else coming especially on country lanes, if they have lights 😬

Thats fine till you meet a dog walker, or a cyclist with their coat over the back light, or someone just taking a walk.  We've had 3 recent deaths on roads withing a 20 miles radius pedestrians hit by vehicle's at night. 

[Westley]

7 minutes ago, Dougy said:

Thats fine till you meet a dog walker, or a cyclist with their coat over the back light, or someone just taking a walk.  We've had 3 recent deaths on roads withing a 20 miles radius pedestrians hit by vehicle's at night. 

Well if they WILL dress all in black, does it surprise you   ?

[Vince Green]

27 minutes ago, Mice! said:

 

Driving on dark roads in good conditions is great because you know well in advance if there's something else coming especially on country lanes, if they have lights 😬

 

You clearly don't spend much time driving in the dark in Cornwall.

 

18 minutes ago, Dougy said:

Thats fine till you meet a dog walker, or a cyclist with their coat over the back light, or someone just taking a walk.  We've had 3 recent deaths on roads withing a 20 miles radius pedestrians hit by vehicle's at night. 

We get deer on the road at night this time of year. Plus the pot holes. The road surfaces are appalling. 

Plus the local inbred community drive down the middle of the lanes irrespective of how wide the lanes are and the fact that you coming the other way.

[Dougy]

33 minutes ago, Westley said:

Well if they WILL dress all in black, does it surprise you   ?

Doesnt make it OK though.

Edited December 15, 2023 by Dougy

[JohnfromUK]

Firstly, it is hard as you get older as the eyes don't adjust so well (or so quickly).  Having good lights yourself helps see the verge much better.

The cars with 'self dipping' lights I have driven are all slower to dip than I would do manually - so I use manual.

My Defender originally had VERY poor Lucas sealed beam lights.  When I bought it (27 years ago) I upgraded to Wipac H4 halogens, but over time the glass became slightly misty, the bulbs slightly blackened and the reflectors a bit yellowed.  Light outpiut must have been well down, and the pattern was undefined.  In short, they were past their 'sell by' date.  I looked into LED replacements, and there are many, and from my research divide into three groups;

1. Legal UK/EU approved whole headlamp units (sealed) - which MUST be CE marked and should be checked for such at MoT.  Must also have dip for RHD.  Available from LandRover, or a few independent specialists.  All fairly expensive and complete plug in units.
2. Non approved (for UK/EU) whole headlamp units (sealed) - these are illegal here and may have other approvals - notably USA.  No CE mark, which is mandatory in UK/EU.  Some even 'dip' the wrong way for RHD.  Some relatively cheap.
3. Replacement (headlamp) bulbs (only) - It in illegal to replace a filament bulb with an LED replacement 'bulb' in a headlight unit.   Headlamp CE marks are invalid if the type of bulb is changed to a non approved type and no LED bulbs have CE approval for use in headlights, plus (I think) no CE marked LED headlamp units have replaceable bulbs (i.e. they are all sealed units).  Cheap and illegal.

When I did fit approved CE marked LEGAL units (that have successfully been through MoT twice now) it helps a lot when driving at night;

• The verge is MUCH better illuminated
• Illumination on main beam is fantastic
• Illumination on dip has a VERY sharp cut off.  Correct adjustment is essential.  I had this checked at an MoT centre.  I have experimented with friends and they are not dazzling to oncoming traffic.

On dog walking etc, I do have to walk on country roads both I and my dog wear Hi Viz.

[Mice!]

1 hour ago, Dougy said:

Thats fine till you meet a dog walker, or a cyclist with their coat over the back light, or someone just taking a walk.  We've had 3 recent deaths on roads withing a 20 miles radius pedestrians hit by vehicle's at night. 

Like I said IF THEY HAVE LIGHTS, I see people every day leaving work with a tiny little bike light, so small and weak it's not really visible, and our place is like wacky races with a thousand or so finishing shift at the same time, I wear hi vis just crossing the road to the car park, and generally come out ten minutes late deliberately to let the idiots get-away. 

Any pedestrians or cyclists getting killed by cars is tragic, but there are a lot of options these days to make yourself very visible,  when I'm on the lanes I'm normally going very reasonably with main beams on, because a red deer jumping out won't be lit up!

[amateur]

Yellow tinted glasses.

[Westley]

4 minutes ago, amateur said:

Yellow tinted glasses.

If a pedestrian has their back to you, you can't see their glasses  !

[Yellow Bear]

1 hour ago, Vince Green said:

Plus the local inbred community drive down the middle of the lanes irrespective of how wide the lanes are and the fact that you coming the other way.

Must be like Derbyshire where we no longer drive on the left but drive on what's left.

[RyanMc]

13 hours ago, cuffy said:

I just squint at where the kerb should be but if I think the oncoming lights are too bright I whack em  with a couple of 100 watts - let them have it !

If they don't dip, they get around 550W from me! You can nearly hear the retinas sizzle. I drive an L200 and have LED dips with proper cut off, and set correctly (pass MOT no issues). Maybe the elevated position helps in terms of glare, but for the most part I tend to drift the focus to the verge when meeting oncoming traffic and this helps, sort of looking away and past the glare. 

Not 40 yet but years of looking at screens is starting to creep up on me I think, have to squint the odd time especially when tired. 

[Westley]

6 hours ago, RyanMc said:

If they don't dip, they get around 550W from me! You can nearly hear the retinas sizzle. I drive an L200 and have LED dips with proper cut off, and set correctly (pass MOT no issues). Maybe the elevated position helps in terms of glare, but for the most part I tend to drift the focus to the verge when meeting oncoming traffic and this helps, sort of looking away and past the glare. 

Not 40 yet but years of looking at screens is starting to creep up on me I think, have to squint the odd time especially when tired. 

Yes, I believe watching some of those movies can affect your eyesight   !    I can recall my old man saying to me "You'll go blind if you don't stop that "   Ha Ha, I fooled him..........I went deaf instead  !

[Spr1985]

The yellow lensed glasses do the job as they disperse the light. when I’m driving the artic I just flick my full beams on and turn night into day, I then don’t even notice the oncoming lights. 

[RyanMc]

On 15/12/2023 at 19:27, Westley said:

Yes, I believe watching some of those movies can affect your eyesight   !    I can recall my old man saying to me "You'll go blind if you don't stop that "   Ha Ha, I fooled him..........I went deaf instead  !

😇No idea what you're talking about 👀

[39TDS]

Bought some yellow tinted polarised glasses this last week. Only been out once at night and it was not raining, which makes things worse, but impressed so far.

Like many that have commented I find dazzling lights at night a real bane. 

I find my lightbar does help educate some serious offenders but haven't fitted it to my latest vehicle. I don't go out much these days really, day or night as it is much nicer at home.

[Pushkin]

Well thank you all very much for your interest and attention to my query.  

shaun4860

• Posted Friday at 00:35
   

I close my eyes till the other vehicles have passed 🫣

 

Shaun, I admit I burst out laughing at your response

All good advice folks and most seem to be in favour of the yellow lenses or polaroids.  As a quick fix I will ensure from now on that my screen is really clean and not covered with grime etc.  Something I was accustomed to ensuring when I was younger. I think there may be no solution in the end, I have Diabetes and my eyes are checked every year in the hospital by the specialist for retinotherapy .  She has not been worried up to this point but I will be telling her about what has been happening. I really, really, really, do appreciate the responses you have all given and will keep you updated as to how things go. Regards Pushkin 

 

 

 

image.webp

[amateur]

26 minutes ago, Pushkin said:

Well thank you all very much for your interest and attention to my query.  

shaun4860

• Posted Friday at 00:35
   

I close my eyes till the other vehicles have passed 🫣

 

Shaun, I admit I burst out laughing at your response

All good advice folks and most seem to be in favour of the yellow lenses or polaroids.  As a quick fix I will ensure from now on that my screen is really clean and not covered with grime etc.  Something I was accustomed to ensuring when I was younger. I think there may be no solution in the end, I have Diabetes and my eyes are checked every year in the hospital by the specialist for retinotherapy .  She has not been worried up to this point but I will be telling her about what has been happening. I really, really, really, do appreciate the responses you have all given and will keep you updated as to how things go. Regards Pushkin 

 

 

 

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It's not so much retinopathy that may affect night vision as cataracts, which affects almost everyone as they age. The blurring creeps up insidiously.

[Westley]

On 15/12/2023 at 09:53, Mice! said:

I really wanted to put that 😅😅

I don't know, I drive in the dark a lot, and it amazes me how slow some go just because its dark.

Driving on dark roads in good conditions is great because you know well in advance if there's something else coming especially on country lanes, if they have lights 😬

Anybody remember when we had good roads to drive on 😳😳 the A590 lately has been unbelievable with the amount of water on it.

There is a Family I know who may disagree with you. After a car hit a tree and the young driver was killed instantly.  It is 40mph on the road, but it is also a long straight stretch, which is unlit. That Families Christmases will NEVER  be the same again.