Headlights.....

[exkay]

I`m just wondering, do we really need headlights on whilst driving in town ?
I often think how much "kinder" it would be on our eyes if we just drove on sidelights.
I mean, when we see a car without any lights on at all, we all see ok, because we flash like mad to tell them they have`nt got there lights on ! so surely with just sidelights on, that would be sufficient ?
Just a thought.......
Happy new year everyone...

[LeeThr]

Fair point, but you would get all the numptys who as they where leaving the towns with all there street lights would completly forget to turn them back on to main beam. They would just carry on thinking the lights are on on all the instuments I must be ok.

[CypherP]

LeeThr said:

Fair point, but you would get all the numptys who as they where leaving the towns with all there street lights would completly forget to turn them back on to main beam. They would just carry on thinking the lights are on on all the instuments I must be ok.

The above is true. It would be all well and good for the people who are conscious of their own lights whilst driving in town, but the number of people I see at the moment driving around in the dark with no lights on at all is crazy.

[varsas]

Doesn't the highway code say you never need your headlights (just sidelights) on on 'restricted' (which I think means 30mph) roads?

[shogun001]

Highway code states sidelight use is ok if the speed limit is under 40mph and the area is streetlit iirc?

[LeeThr]

CypherP said:

LeeThr said:

Fair point, but you would get all the numptys who as they where leaving the towns with all there street lights would completly forget to turn them back on to main beam. They would just carry on thinking the lights are on on all the instuments I must be ok.

The above is true. It would be all well and good for the people who are conscious of their own lights whilst driving in town, but the number of people I see at the moment driving around in the dark with no lights on at all is crazy.

Yep, nearly had a head on on a blind corner on a backroad with a golf this evening. Luckily due to the wet weather I wasnt doing more than 15mph, came around the corner to be met by said Golf with ONE sidelight on. This was at about half 8 at night. So pitch black. No houses and no street lights. How the hell I didnt go into him I dont know.

[madala]

exkay said:

I`m just wondering, do we really need headlights on whilst driving in town ?
I often think how much "kinder" it would be on our eyes if we just drove on sidelights.
I mean, when we see a car without any lights on at all, we all see ok, because we flash like mad to tell them they have`nt got there lights on ! so surely with just sidelights on, that would be sufficient ?
Just a thought.......
Happy new year everyone...

As a taxi driver in London I would rather see dipped headlights than try and strain my eyes to see crappy sidelights of various sizes and sited on different places on the front of some cars....at least headlights are normally in the same place for most cars so it is dipped headlights all the way for me.

[exkay]

It seems to me, that the so called "safe" drivers, who have got all the airbags and all the lights on that they can possibly have, feel that everything is gonna be ok and they are exempt from accident if there headlights are on.
I`m sure its a mind thing, and i know that if everyone thought about it, it would definately be a nicer way to get around at night, i.e driving witout headlights.
So many bad drivers about these days tho,and just while on on my moaning box, how bout when they come to a gap, you`d think they were driving a bus !!! i`m allways behind shouting "you can get a bloody artic through there !! "
Well thats got that off me chest ... cheers lads.

[Mastodon2]

Having seen enough people driving on unlit roads in the country on only sidelights lately, I don't think you can trust most of our braindead population to regulate their own lighting. I was blinded last night by some chav tt in one of those pokey Astra SRI things with fullbeams and fogs on while driving down a well light town centre road, on a crystal clear night. With mongs like that on our roads, it's far safer just to say "Put them on and leave them on" with regard to normal headlight usage, as most drivers are just too braindead for anything else.

[RegMolehusband]

Back in my young days <cough 1973> I turned right at some lights in town. The roads were wet and there were lots of street light reflections. However I failed to see the car coming the other way on side lights and he smashed into the side of me spinning the car around.

My fault, but I definitely would have seen him if he'd had his headlights on. They are to help others, including pedestrians, to see you. Turn them on please.

[scenario8]

Put me into the "dipped beam" camp, please. Some sidelights are laughably candle-esque in their luminosity - really really awful. The argument against sidelights-only that we all know they're there because we flash them doesn't hold much water with me I'm afraid. We don't see them anywhere nearly as swiftly or recognise them as cars (opposed to other road users) or determine their distance, speed and direction as would be the case with dipped beams.

Sure I have issues with misaligned lights, broken lights and fog lights, too, but I'd rather everyone had their dipped headlights. To me it is a bit like when I was boy I had dynamo lights on my bike. Utterly dreadful luminosity, but still "a light". Today I have a very bright LED with a flashing unit above it. I don't blind anyone but I'd imagine I am very very much more noticable to other road users. Still just "a light".

Over the last couple of days the differences in visibility between cars driving with only sidelights, sidelights with fogs, dipped beams only and dipped beams with fogs has been literally eye widening. The huge differences between brand new cars and some only a few years old is interesting, too.

Turn them on please guys (but leave off the fogs, thanks)

[exkay]

Fair enough chaps...a good few points aired there me thinks....