Sunglasses

[Buckman]

I am wondering if we should wear sunglasses at night? Sometimes the lights on an oncoming car are so bright that it blurs your vision. Actually with soemc ars that applies in the daytime

 

[borderbilly]

Do what I do, don't drive at night 👍

 

[Buckman]

Do what I do, don't drive at night 👍

Yep try and avoid that as much as possible, but in winter months not always possible.

 

[RogerL]

I am wondering if we should wear sunglasses at night? Sometimes the lights on an oncoming car are so bright that it blurs your vision. Actually with soemc ars that applies in the daytime

That's a question best discussed with your optician next time you have an eye test.

 

[Sam Vimes]

I have a feeling that a lot of people are fitting LED lights to their cars which have a higher output and also are more white than the usual orangey colours of some incandescent bulbs.

I thought there was a legal limit to the power of headlights.

 

[otherclive]

There is a limit to the strength of tint in glasses used for driving. That limit assumes the sunglasses are used in daylight, so using them at night would be illegal. There are yellow or brown tints offered for night driving but they get mixed reviews. It was discussed on the Forum a while back.

My bete noire are cars with LED or HID lights which come on to main beam either because they are on auto ,or the driver is on auto. At nights I take the dog a walk and as cars turn off the main road into the long straight road I’m on up come the headlights. Invariably they are the super bright LED or HID. With some I raise my arm up to mask them and eventually they go to dip or just drive on by oblivious to the world. What makes it doubly irritating is that our street lights have been converted to LED lights and the light output is pathetic compared to the old ones. Clearly not enough Lumens being emitted to pick up the damaged paving and kerbstones. ☹️

It’s not all down to young lads fitting illegal LEDs as a lot of newer cars have LED or HID lights and auto. Plus others fit high output halogen ones too. Like moi.

There are noises being made about lights in UK and EU.

 

[Buckman]

That's a question best discussed with your optician next time you have an eye test.

In case you missed it, it was supposed to be a humorous joke so no need to discuss anything with my optician as they have no control over the brightness of car lights!

 

[JTQ]

As a side issue, I have found my auto dipping lights respond to reflective road signs, and that begs the question if non vehicles, like dog walkers might be treated the same with highly reflective trimmed coats?

My vehicle has to be travelling at in excess of 37 mph for the headlights to come on, whist set to "auto", my normal. Therefore given the speed limit in lit areas, I have not as best I recall encountered this with dog walkers.
But, that speed restriction, whilst likely conceived to address perceived safety reasons, actually means, I have to over ride the auto dip. Then I have to be overly attentive to seeing people out walking at night, to be able to dip. Making the speed feature a bit counter effective.

One of my challenges is even with dipped high intensity lights, that most cars lights don't sense the car being on an incline, so still are blinding. None to the best of my knowledge can sense on coming inclines till the vehicle gets there, so still blinding those come up from lower levels.

I have to say car lighting, as it is in real life, illegal and legal, has IMO gone too far for other than that car's driver best interest.

Though a cyclist myself I also find some of these opting for near laser lights and set to dazzle are a big hate when I am driving. I know from cycling forums, that can be very intentional.

 

[RogerL]

In case you missed it, it was supposed to be a humorous joke so no need to discuss anything with my optician as they have no control over the brightness of car lights!

No, but they can advise if you have any conditions that makes car lights uncomfortable, eg cataracts or other serious eye conditions.

 

[toad a caravan]

Is it still unlawful for a vehicle to be parked with headlights on or is it ignorance on some peoples behalf?

 

[Mel]

[QUOTE="otherclive, post: 624183, ]


There are noises being made about lights in UK and EU.
[/QUOTE]

Are those noises:
Aaaaargh!
I’m blind!
Sacre Bleu!
Oh Sugar!
and
Mein Gott!

Mel

 

[toad a caravan]

Who said that?😎

 

[Jcloughie]

In case you missed it, it was supposed to be a humorous joke so no need to discuss anything with my optician as they have no control over the brightness of car lights!

Well I missed it. But then I have a friend with exactly that problem, and it is not the result of headlights. Street lights, side lights and just normal urban driving got very bad for him. He found that judging position and distances scary. Eventually he refused to drive at night. He tried opticians but to no avail. He now uses cheap, supermarket driving glasses and they work fine for him.

John

 

[Jcloughie]

As a side issue, I have found my auto dipping lights respond to reflective road signs, and that begs the question if non vehicles, like dog walkers might be treated the same with highly reflective trimmed coats?

My vehicle has to be travelling at in excess of 37 mph for the headlights to come on, whist set to "auto", my normal. Therefore given the speed limit in lit areas, I have not as best I recall encountered this with dog walkers.
But, that speed restriction, whilst likely conceived to address perceived safety reasons, actually means, I have to over ride the auto dip. Then I have to be overly attentive to seeing people out walking at night, to be able to dip. Making the speed feature a bit counter effective.

One of my challenges is even with dipped high intensity lights, that most cars lights don't sense the car being on an incline, so still are blinding. None to the best of my knowledge can sense on coming inclines till the vehicle gets there, so still blinding those come up from lower levels.

I have to say car lighting, as it is in real life, illegal and legal, has IMO gone too far for other than that car's driver best interest.

Though a cyclist myself I also find some of these opting for near laser lights and set to dazzle are a big hate when I am driving. I know from cycling forums, that can be very intentional.

My car has all singing all dancing LED headlights. They don’t just dip, but adjust so as not to blind while keeping the nearside lit. (So possible worse for pedestrians, so I will bear that in mind).

I am weary of them. But so far they have worked impeccably. Though I find it hard to get used to having a blue warning light even though the lights have dipped.

I agree with the overpowered cycle lights particularly when fitted on the helmet. When I used to come home from work down a single track road I often came across the same cyclist coming towards me. Trying to be safe, he would look straight at me, so his headlight was trained straight in my eyes. Even when I had pulled over and stopped. I do not think he was aware of the problem he was causing.


John

 

[birdman101]

My present Glasses I got a month ago are Driving Glasses, Varifocals, and Reactions, and with Antiglare for night driving with oncoming LED lights. Most expensive glasses I have ever had but do the job.

 

[Sam Vimes]

Is it still unlawful for a vehicle to be parked with headlights on or is it ignorance on some peoples behalf?

Unlawful or not, when I collect my Grandson from his Taekwondo Classes I'm amazed at the number of people who park up waiting with the engine off but the headlights on - most of them are EVs as well.

 

[JTQ]

What makes you think that using a bathroom scale is even possibly close to being accurate?

Unlawful or not, when I collect my Grandson from his Taekwondo Classes I'm amazed at the number of people who park up waiting with the engine off but the headlights on - most of them are EVs as well.

Nothing like the power drain of the halogen days, but way more dazzling and it is so inconsiderate.

 

[Jcloughie]

Is it still unlawful for a vehicle to be parked with headlights on or is it ignorance on some peoples behalf?

I do not know the law in this respect. But my LED headlights come on, day or night, when I unlock the car, and, if it is daylight, will go off when the engine starts.

Perhaps I am technically illegal for that time.

My present Glasses I got a month ago are Driving Glasses, Varifocals, and Reactions, and with Antiglare for night driving with oncoming LED lights. Most expensive glasses I have ever had but do the job.

I have just purchased a similar pair £490 from Boots. My second such pair. The last ones lasted 5 years so not to bad when spread out. Another pair will be half price, I am considering it.

John

 

[Sam Vimes]

Here's an interesting statement from Halfords web site. Note that retrofitting an exterior standard bulb with and LED version is not road legal although they say there is no legislation to cover it. They do sell external LED bulbs but state for Off Road use only.

LED bulbs​

There are two types of LED bulbs: Original Equipment (OE) and retrofit.


OE LED bulbs are completely road legal and fitted as standard by car manufacturers. However, OE LED bulbs are a non-replaceable part and so if the bulb fails then the entire headlight needs to be replaced.


Retrofitting is when you replace a standard bulb with an LED version. At the moment, it’s completely road legal for you to replace an internal bulb with an LED bulb. However, there’s no legislation to cover retrofitting external facing light sources and therefore LED exterior bulbs in this instance are not road legal.

*****

Here's another one....

HID bulbs​

High intensity discharge (HID) bulbs have their own UN legislation, although it’s largely similar to the overarching rules. As long as an HID bulb meets the specifications in this legislation then it’s road legal.


One important rule with HID bulbs is that they should only be fitted in a vehicle that originally had HID bulbs. If your car originally had halogen bulbs, then it’s not road legal to install HID bulbs.

 

[otherclive]

My present Glasses I got a month ago are Driving Glasses, Varifocals, and Reactions, and with Antiglare for night driving with oncoming LED lights. Most expensive glasses I have ever had but do the job.

I gave up on reaction varifocals as despite being very effective the reaction going from sunlight into shade wasn’t quick enough. Going along tree lined roads they took too long for my liking. Such is life amongst Warwickshire”s leafy lanes. The anti glare coatings are good though.

 

[Sam Vimes]

I gave up on reaction varifocals as despite being very effective the reaction going from sunlight into shade wasn’t quick enough. Going along tree lined roads they took too long for my liking. Such is life amongst Warwickshire”s leafy lanes. The anti glare coatings are good though.

I find my reaction varifocals don't dim very much when in the car - if at all. So I have a pair of clip on polaroids. Problem is with these on I can't see the Sat Nav on my phone very clearly if I need it.

But outside the car the reaction varifocals dim very well but yes, they are slow to recover and this causes problems going in and out of places, particularly my shed when I need to get something. I resort to looking over the top.

 

[toad a caravan]

Come back Joseph Lucas (the prince if darkness) all is forgiven. H4 filament lamps anyone ?😄

 

[otherclive]

Come back Joseph Lucas (the prince if darkness) all is forgiven. H4 filament lamps anyone ?😄

Early in my apprentice days I worked at AEI Lamp and Lighting in the development department. New high output lights for cars were being developed. These were quartz halogen and the company kept tight control on the inventory too. But I still managed to acquire a couple for my motor bike and when leaving the site at night would only have its side light on as the security guards would have spotted the light from the quartz halogen, and would be instant dismissal. Fortunately they were released on to the market after not too long a delay. Bike also had to be upgraded from 6v to 12v to use them. But what a difference they made to night riding.

 

[JTQ]

Come back Joseph Lucas (the prince if darkness) all is forgiven. H4 filament lamps anyone ?😄

They were a total transformation in their day, I fitted a Hella kit upgrade.

 

[otherclive]

They were a total transformation in their day, I fitted a Hella kit upgrade.

What did an upgrade kit consist of? At one time Cibie headlights started to become after market accessories.