Ignoring Vine which is my default setting anyway, there is a problem. We are lucky in the sense that although we ride dark country lanes several time each week it is very rare to see another cyclist which is probably just as well. About a month ago I was out in the lanes at night when 2 bright lights appeared in the distance coming towards me, too far away to be dazzling, so for the time being I also kept my bike light on full beam. The road twists about a bit so although I lost sight of the light source I could still see the upper tree branches lit up. Another bend into a straight stretch of road and suddenly the lights appear again, this time I could not make out what was coming towards me but I was erring towards a [silent] tractor, the ones with their headlights closer together. A tad worrying as they are often pulling wide trailers and this one was on full beam, I dipped my light but no response from the approaching vehicle so I flicked back to high for a couple of seconds and still no response. By now I cannot see much at all so I concentrate on looking at the grass verge hoping there is enough clearance. It is almost upon me and I am proper dazzled [sometimes it is not a problem as I wear a cap and the peak cuts out the light but that night it was cold and I was wearing a beanie] Just as the tractor reaches me I hear 2 voices, it is 2 women on road bikes riding side by side chatting away and utterly oblivious to the effect their lights are having, Hi they shout, I am unable to immediately reply, too surprised to see 2 women out on road bikes this late at night. I thought about turning round and letting them know what I thought about their lights but I was in a rush to meet my better half so left them to carry on dazzling all and sundry.
If cyclists want to be counted as legitimate road users then we have to obey the law and treat others with respect. I hear some of you saying, yes but I am constantly being dazzled by vehicles that will not dip their headlights. My answer is that is down to the individual driving that vehicle and not the technology at their disposal, there are nobs on both sides of the fence. We do not have the wherewithal in the current market to use a front bike light that has a dip and main beam without paying vast amounts of money. If we did then we could also flash drivers that stay on main beam, again we decided to invest in such lights complete with a remote switch because we spend a lot of time riding in the dark, they work really well and have never had a car coming towards us that stays on main beam.
This is over a year old now so lights are brighter still:
http://www.ctc.org.uk/blog/chris-juden/bobby-dazzlers
