To want leaving your lights on full beam to be an offence?

[stinkingbishop]

I just passed my test a few weeks ago so maybe I am hyper sensitive because I am still bricking myself every time I go out! Plus I'm not exactly tall, so people's headlights are in my exact field of vision.

But with these dark mornings and afternoons I have lost count of the amount of times I have been literally dazzled - ie the windscreen whites out and I can't see the side of the road/central line. It's really dangerous. It's quite rural here, with narrow and very windy roads, that are mostly (insanely I think) national speed limit.

Are they being lazy? Can they not be bothered to turn them off? Selfish? Do people just forget? My instructor (I'm doing Pass Plus) was saying the other problem is even if they're not on full beam, people who have the new halogen lights are blinding enough anyway, particularly if they're raised because of being on a hill.

Or AIB an unreasonable newbie driver?

I had my first road rage as a result yesterday. I shouted 'pillock!' v loudly. Gosh he must have been quaking in his driving shoes .

No, it's a pain. It troubled me when I first learned to drive . My husband used to say just dont look, and id call him names and say how stupid is that? How can you just not look? Prat.

But thats what I do now. I dont look.
by looking slightly down and to the side - very slightly. You dont get the full force but it doesnt affect your ability to see the road.

YABU simply because sometimes you can just forget. I sometimes think people are flashing me when my lights are normal - they may be hitting dips in the road I suppose - but we have a BMW with bright lights so perhaps people mistakenly think they are full beam.

I think if there is an accident where this was a factor you could mention it but making a crime the rest of the time would be unenforcable. If the police saw it they could do someone for 'Driving without due care & attention' anyway I expect.

YANBU But it would be pretty unenforceable.

As a seasoned driver, I punish those who leave their full beam on for an unacceptable length of time myself by flicking my beam on full seconds before they pass

It is illegal (or at least a highway code offence, which means that it can be held against you if it results in an accident) to drive with main beam on as you describe.

Section 114

You MUST NOT...use any lights in a way which would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders

(and on a technical note, halogen headlights date back to the 1970s: your instructor, when talking about new lights, is referring to high intensity discharge lights).

However

ie the windscreen whites out and I can't see the side of the road/central line.

sounds extreme. Is your windscreen clean? And are you wearing either contact lenses or have you have your eyes lasered?

You'll get used to driving in the dark, it's unnerving at first.

However, YANBU to want to throw the new bright headlights, especially the sort that flash police car blue as the come over a brow, into room 101

friday no, eyes and screen are fine (though it's v cold here at the moment and have the screen clearing on religiously but sure there will be some issues). I think it might also be the dips/tight bends/my height...am going to try a cushion and see if being raised helps. Plus the tip to look slightly to the side is a good one, cheers.

People just forget - you will too at some point. The really bright lights should be banned however.

am going to try a cushion and see if being raised help

Have you got the seat wound to its highest setting. It's pretty unusual for a driver seat to not be height-adjustable these days.

I mentioned at an eye test that I find driving in the dark difficult because the head lights seem to blind me. I needed glasses and they have helped. I take your point and agree. I tend to flash at people when they do that to me.

I have an astigmatism and wearing my summer glasses I find car lights blinding, with my winter glasses (stronger astigmatism correction) I don't find the lights nearly so bad.
Maybe worth an eye test and mentioning to the optician that you find them so dazzling.

It's a pain in the backside round here. Tiny little lanes where you have to pull in reverse to pass each other, and if the person coming the other way has their full beam lights on, you can't see whether there's room to pass or not. There are a lot of commuters who cut through the lanes and seem not to realise about dipping their lights, or leave it to the last minute.

The other thing I wish people wouldn't do - although they are no doubt doing it out of courtesy - is flash their full beam lights in the dark to say thank you. They get right up close and then flash a massive bright light in your eyes - not my chosen method of being thanked for something! I always do a quick dip of mine.

Yanbu. Alot if cars seem to be on full beam at moment but think its those new light bulbs. I struggle with 4x4 lights as they seem very bright as they are high up. Mind you when i first drove my car in the dark the lights were on full and in the 10 metres i drove down the road i couldnt find out to dip them. Two people flashed me whilst i tried to locate it. Turned into next garage 10 metres down the road and a lovely man showed me how to dip them. Note to self be prepared before driving..... :-)

Punish them by putting your lights on for several seconds when close?

Ridiculous. So you find someone who has bright headlights dangerous and you think you will make the situation safer by blinding them too???

Sometimes people forget. A quick flash will remind them.

Sometimes the angle of the road means lights which are dipped still dazzle.

All lights should be dipped when another car is around. Fog lights should be used when foggy not in the rain. People don't always of this and you have to find a way to cope as a driver and not let it stress you out.

Equally, it would be nice if people would stop using sidelights when it's foggy. Yesterday there was a very near miss as I was walking to the office when someone pulled out in front of a car that was travelling quite quickly, on sidelights, in dense fog.

There is never any reason to use sidelights while your vehicle is moving. Ever. Either you don't need your lights, or you should have dipped headlights. Thankfully, daylight running lights (which older readers will recall were standard on Saabs and Volvos in the 1980s) are now mandatory so the problem will go away, but it seems to be a particular problem on the school run with nervous drivers who for some reason won't turn on dipped headlights. The highway code is quite clear on this:

115 You should also...use dipped headlights, or dim-dip if fitted, at night in built-up areas and in dull daytime weather, to ensure that you can be seen

(Dim-dip is irrelevant, because it was a brief experiment twenty years ago which virtual no car on the road today will be fitted with).

The new halogen headlights are horrendous but yes there are a number of people driving about with full beams on. Around here we also have people driving with fog lights on when there is no fog which I wish would be clamped down on. I'm sick to death of being blinded by idiots who put them on because they think it looks good - a lot of these people only have one in because the bulb has blown since they're not meant to be on all the bloody time like that. It's inconsiderate driving and as bad as tailgating and the like.

A few people have said sometimes drivers forget, I don't see how- I only use full beams on roads with no street lights and no oncoming traffic, I have my hand ready to switch to dipped lights as soon as I see the lights of a car coming towards me.

Don't most cars have a dashboard light that tells you if your full beam is on? Mine always have. Also, I don't believe there should be a need for them on most roads in this country apart from poorly lit country lanes. You certainly don't need them in town or where there is street lighting.

A few people have said sometimes drivers forget

Oh look, there's a blue light on the dashboard, I wonder what it means?

But after seeing this letter in the Telegraph some years ago, I'm no longer surprised at the inability of idiots some drivers to understand the information in front of their noses.

I have been told how useful my 2002 VW Passat's ESP (electronic stability program) is, so why isn't it on all the time? You have to select it every time the ignition is turned on.

S.N., via e-mail

It is on all the time. By pressing the switch, you are turning it off - that's what the light on the dash panel indicates. Read the manual!

I've been driving less than a year and I'm really struggling with it too. I agree it's the 4x4's and newer cars that seem to be the main culprits.

No, it is a pain, especially in the mornings when everything is damp

You mention you're short - you do have your seat pumped up as high as it can go (assuming your seat does that - most modern cars can). I see loads of people around here in new enough cars just peering over the steering wheel and I want to jump up and down screaming at them to just RAISE THEIR SEAT SO THEY CAN SEE

Actually the 'don't look' comment while aggravating is not entirely impossible. My driving instructor taught me to look away by focusing my left eye on the side of the road which ensures you're not staring at the full beam and still have a fix on your road position.

It kind of works but not sure I explained it very well.

'Punish them by putting your lights on for several seconds when close?'

and punish the poor bugger coming the other way they are going to hit?

friday - that's not true. Sidelights are there to increase a cars visibility to others but not to light up their surroundings.
You are supposed to use them legally in the half hour after sunset and the half hour before sunrise on non street lit roads or roads with long spacings between lights. You also should use them in slightly poor visibility such as light rain.
I use mine on the motorway if it is at all dim as my 'thunder grey' (muddy grey) car seems to be invisible otherwise.

wonkylegs, the Highway Code has been changed in recent years.

Sidelights are a legal requirement. They're a MUST in Section 113, because there's a legislative requirement (Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations). That clause can't go without amending the RVLR.

However, section 115 is a SHOULD. Breach of that can be held against you if you have an accident, and following the advice is always legal. "Dull daytime weather", which is the test for using dipped headlights, certainly covers light rain.

Why on a motorway would you turn on sidelights and not dipped headlights? What's the problem?