Why are other drivers "flashing" at Dd?

[paranoidmum9]

By flashing I mean their lights not their bits 🙈
The obvious answer is her lights don't work properly but we've checked and they are fine.
It only happens at night so it's not anyone warning her off a speed van.
She's a new driver restricted to 45mph (NI) and I've her app that tracks her driving score which is always high so she's not driving like a boy racer.
When she told me I thought she was maybe just mixing up the lights on oncoming traffic jumping when going over pop holes/speed bumps etc but I was in the car with her last night and it happened twice so I know she's telling the truth.
She drives a typical small new driver car and even though she's got the pass plates on and has to drive slow it's only ever oncoming cars that do it as they are passing her so it's not like it's knob drivers behind her getting frustrated by her driving.
I feel like I'm missing something really obvious here?

Is it accepted by everyone? Or do people get frustrated at new drivers? I’m just wondering if other cars are expecting the DD to let them pass? Or maybe the DD’s R plates aren’t visible enough?

Why would an oncoming car be bothered enough to flash a car driving below the speed limit?

Will try and answer a few questions.

She does know how to use the fog lights as she called me the first morning it was foggy so I could show her how to turn them on. They are on a switch on the dash board so she won't be using them accidentally.

As I've said I thought it was maybe bumps in the road but it happened when I was in her car and it was definitely flashing.

We've had the young boy from round the street come round at tea time to check the lights and he says there is no problem with how they are set or how she says she is using them

She's a sensible girl and pretty clued up and it's driving her mad as much as me.

My car is higher then hers so I'm going to drive past her again tonight in dhs car when it's dark which is lower to see if that shows anything (like I say it's driving me mad)

I was hoping someone would say "oh I had then once and it turned out to be xyz" but everyone seems to think like me that it must be the lights.

The car was Mot'd the day before we bought it and we put it through a service a few months after and no problems were picked up. Dh (not a mechanic) and neighbour (is a mechanic) have both looked and can't see a problem and I've driven past her in the dark and can't see a problem.

Most people in NI are good about the whole new drivers/45mph thing. It's obviously not ideal if you're on a long winding road and can't pass but it's a bit like being behind a tractor- bit of a pain but you have to accept it.

This always happens with oncoming traffic though who won't see the R plates I only really added it to my post to show that she's not speeding and other drivers are thinking she's a hazard.

The app I was talking about was through her insurance company Adrian Flux. I have it on my phone and she has it on hers. Every day I get a list of every journey she's made in list form and if you click on one of the journeys it shows you a map route and the whole route is marked green/Amber/red so you can see how well she's driven at every part of her journey. It's great for new drivers and scores there driving and shows how much they can save at renewal if they carry on driving well.

At this point I'm getting close to asking all Belfast Mumsnetters to drive one way along Newtownards road while dd drives the other way and you can all report back to me.

@Crumpleton no she doesn't. Where? Show me where she corrects herself before my post at 2.10. I don't see any posts from her correcting this.

Are they actually flashing her? I drove a low down car and because of the angle i would think people were flashing at me but they weren't, it was just how the angle was.

If you click on 'show quote history' is shows where it was corrected..
But...

@Sleepingagent

She's driving with full beam lights on as other posters have said. Explains why it only happens at night.

@JuneOsborne no there’s no restriction/adaptation on/to the car, you just have to maintain that speed as an ‘R’ driver.

In fact, even a non ‘R’ driver, driving a car with ‘R’ plates, should technically also maintain an upper limit of 45 mph when driving.

Apparently the scheme was initially introduced many moons ago in NI as a pilot before being rolled out throughout the UK but it was abandoned everywhere else, but remained here.

It’s a ball ache in some respects, but also handy to spot the cars full of wee dicks (around my parts, almost invariably driving a VW Golf), who will likely cause an accident with their shite driving, lack of indication, lack of any sort of road awareness, car full of occupants and definitely NOT sticking to 45!

Btw I once owned a Rover whose lights were bright and looked like they were on full beam even when they weren't. I got flashed at night a lot and there was nothing I could do about it. You don't need to ask the whole of NI what the problem is. You just need to drive towards your daughter in a different car after dark and make your own assessment.

OP I'm in NI and have just asked DH who is a driving examiner-he says it's very likely to be the headlight alignment, it's worth getting them checked out at Magowans or somewhere for £20/30.

Also the Newtownards Road isn't bumpy and usually fairly slow moving traffic (maybe quicker at night though) so I can't imagine it's cars going over bumps looking like they're flashing.

Belfast dweller here!

I honestly think it's bumpy roads, maybe combined with whatever affect going over bumps has on newer led headlights. We moved back home 2 years ago and I am constantly asking my DP "why is that car flashing me". He's insistent that it's bumps/potholes in the road, I've been driving for 12 years and never, ever had this issue when we lived overseas so I think he's right!

It seems unlikely as her mother has been in the car and also seen it being driven. However it might be that the OP has a much greater tolerance of those dreadful white lights and hasn't realised how bright they are. You haven't actually said what lights she has? If they are the yellow ones, I am stumped, but if they are the white ones, it's that. I flash people with them too and then realise too late they were the white ones.

You don't need to ask the whole of NI what the problem is. You just need to drive towards your daughter in a different car after dark and make your own assessment the OP has done that and thinks they are ok

@JocelynBurnell @EmmaH2022

I did my bit by getting the lights checked. There’s not much else I can do. MINI wouldnt dip them further or change the direction as said it would be unsafe. Hardly going to go out of my way to get that modded myself by a dodgy garage.

And I do assume it’s the other drivers issue as only happens a few times a month.

It's after dark now, I wanna know what happened in the other car

She's not driving in a bus lane or something?

I was going to say this. I drive a mini and did a lot of night driving for a while . It really pissed me off how many cars have ridiculously bright halogen bulbs, don’t dip their full beam until the last minute and have front fog lights on. I would be seething by the time I got to work every night!

It’s not just occasional, it’s happening a lot, so she needs to have them looked at for alignment and to read the manual to make sure she’s only got the correct lights on and not fogs.

It really pissed me off how many cars have ridiculously bright halogen bulbs

Halogen bulbs are not ridiculously bright

Is she driving with her fog (bottom, round shaped) lights on? A lot of people seem to do that and it would make sense to flash her as its illegal to drive with them on unnecessarily.

That or she needs to angle her beams downwards, it may be that her lights are angled so that they blind other drivers whose cars are lower seated than hers.

I think she means the LED lights. I have them on my car and people often think I am on full beam when I am not.

I had this previously - it was an intermittent fault with a headlamp. A loose connection so only out sometimes. Looked fine when I first checked it.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/653793