Headlamp Glare

[Marchrider]

Tell him to read the handbook. Even automatic lights can be manually dipped for just that scenario.

That is a moving traffic offence and you have video evidence of it so shop him.

seriously though he probably has no idea that the nuclear glare lights can be switched between manual and auto, there will be loads of features on his car that he will never be able to understand and worryingly there will be loads of drivers like him on the road

 

[Drago]

You just pull the stalk like a normal car and it overrides the high beam. Someone so ignorant of the safe operation of their vehicle really shouldn't be on the road.

 

[Marchrider]

You just pull the stalk like a normal car and it overrides the high beam. Someone so ignorant of the safe operation of their vehicle really shouldn't be on the road.

its as simple as that is it.
never drove one

 

[Drago]

Yarp, it's that simple. But still to complicated for the chap you met.

 

[Arjimlad]

Modern LED lights can seem like they're being flashed sometimes, in my experience.. I stopped my car once because it looked like the driver behind kept flashing his lights, he denied it & it seemed every imperfection in the road caused the lights to glare.

 

[Jody]

Just measured the Qashqai, and did my pi r squared to get an area of 11 sq cm per headlamp compared to the 240 of my first car from .. er .. some decades ago.

So the newer car emits light from an area that is only one twentieth that of my older car.

So if perception of brightness is linear, then the same bulb output will look a massive 20 times brighter on the qashqai.

Now consider brighter technologies than bulbs....

Small projector headlights have been a thing for many decades so it's not a given that they are brighter than others. Their advantage at first was to offer a clean cuttoff and decrease scatted like you had with glass lenses.

 

[lazybloke]

Small projector headlights have been a thing for many decades

Yes, the problem has been increasing for decades

so it's not a given that they are brighter than others.

Even if the lumens are the same, physics says a smaller headlight will emit a more intense beam of light. Sounds like a given to me.
Plus the actual bulbs emit more lumens, so the dazzle is a double whammy.

Their advantage at first was to offer a clean cuttoff and decrease scatted like you had with glass lenses.

View attachment 759653

I don't see why a larger headlamp couldn't deliver the same benefits without the disadvantages.

 

[Jody]

Yes, the problem has been increasing for decades

Even if the lumens are the same, physics says a smaller headlight will emit a more intense beam of light. Sounds like a given to me.
Plus the actual bulbs emit more lumens, so the dazzle is a double whammy.


I don't see why a larger headlamp couldn't deliver the same benefits without the disadvantages.

Reflector headlights offer some of the advantages but not a clean sharp cutoff in the same was a projector can. They also offer an esthetics advantage as the lights can be smaller.

My point about physics is that given the size of the projector lense something like a 1980's E30 should have had substantially brighter headlights than the competition. But that's not the case as the light is still distributed over the same area.

Lights have been increasing for decades due to lighting technology advancement. Started in about '95 with Xenon introduction, then LED and now laser LED's

The self limiting factor of old was the wattage and an incadnescent bulb. There has never been a mandate on maximum intesnsity which is why we have an arms race for the whitest and brightest light.

 

[presta]

Modern LED lights can seem like they're being flashed sometimes, in my experience.. I stopped my car once because it looked like the driver behind kept flashing his lights, he denied it & it seemed every imperfection in the road caused the lights to glare.

The narrower the beam the less the car has to tilt in order for a viewer to pass in and out of it.

 

[Alex321]

Yes, the problem has been increasing for decades

Even if the lumens are the same, physics says a smaller headlight will emit a more intense beam of light. Sounds like a given to me.
Plus the actual bulbs emit more lumens, so the dazzle is a double whammy.


I don't see why a larger headlamp couldn't deliver the same benefits without the disadvantages.

Your second paragraph is the reason why for your last one.

It is a more intense (i.e. Narrower) beam, so easier to direct - or should be. Dipped headlights with a narrow beam should be much less of a problem for oncoming traffic.

But by the same token, they do (as pointed out by @Arjimlad) seem to be "flashing" when going over the smallest of speed bumps, or any significant irregularity in the road.

 

[simongt]

Way back in the early 70s ( ? ) a discussion took place around the shape of headlamps. It was reckoned that rectangular headlamps gave less glare than round ones. The physics appears to make sense, but obviously no further 'action' was taken on the matter.
Around the same time, on Tomorrow's World, a new design of the reflector behind the actual lamp was shown, I think it was a sort of three section triangular shape, which claimed to cut out most of the 'wasted' upward shining light. Never took on for whatever reason.
Does anyone else recall this novelty - ?

 

[lazybloke]

Your second paragraph is the reason why for your last one.

It is a more intense (i.e. Narrower) beam, so easier to direct - or should be. Dipped headlights with a narrow beam should be much less of a problem for oncoming traffic.

But by the same token, they do (as pointed out by @Arjimlad) seem to be "flashing" when going over the smallest of speed bumps, or any significant irregularity in the road.

Hang on, there are two separate problems with some modern headlamps;

1) Aim is the obvious one; even under light acceleration, a lot of (dipped) headlamps will lift enough to directly shine in the eyes of oncoming drivers. Not sure why the shape of the beam would be an issue here, it's the aim that's poor due to some combo of poor headlamp adjustment, uncontrolled pitch in the suspension, or a lazy implementation of matrix/self-levelling headlights.
2) the 2nd issue of isn't about aim, just that a very intense light source causes dazzle even when it's not pointing directly at the eyes; this is the biggest issue i have with small modern headlamps. They all fail in this manner.

 

[Bristolian]

It may depend upon the make of vehicle, but there are sellers on line, (not the Bay of e), who can provide the code for activating Apple Car Play. - Assuming of course your head unit is compatible.
My youngest daughter did it for her VW, after her previous car was written off by an inattentive taxi driver. Mainly because she wanted Waze on the head unit. I think she paid £60 for the code on a USB.

Fortunately, I have discovered that my tame mechanic/new friend has the Mercedes Star system on his laptop so anything the dealer can do he can too. Activating Apple car play was the first thing he did for me

 

[lazybloke]

Saw an article about one of thr Tesla models being revamped, with indicator stalks!
Sounds like common sense, far better that buttons on the wheel.

But then i saw the pic of the front - and you guessed it, the smallest 'slot' shaped headlamps that cause so much glare/dazzle even when not pointing directly in your eyes.👎
Minus 100 points for that design flaw.


I was quite taken by another pic, showing the rear of the car. I actually thought 'wow, massive improvement on the old shape'...
..the 2nd photo was actually an Audi ad 🤣

 

[RRCC]

the other issue is the lights are so bright that they swamp the indicators, I thought it was just me getting old but both my daughters say the same.