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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

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

66 replies

stinkingbishop · 12/12/2013 07:23

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 .

OP posts:

samandi · 12/12/2013 08:57

YANBU, it's difficult to see sometimes when you are being half-blinded. Anyone who "forgets" what lights they've got on is a moron. Would you "forget" that you didn't have your lights on?

nomorecrumbs · 12/12/2013 09:03

YADNBU.

New BMWs, Audis and Mercs tend to be the worst offenders, especially round here. I flash my lights at them (not by putting on the fog lights, but dipping mine on and off) if they're annoying me and gesture that they're blinding! It's so dangerous.

Success rate at getting them to turn them down is only 1 so far! Well done, Range Rover driver.

ViviPru · 12/12/2013 09:03

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to anyone in north Leicestershire for blinding them with my headlights. They are not on full beam, there's a fault with the sensor so they're not leveling properly and I can't get it booked in to the garage until the new year as they're too busy. SORRY SORRY.

BerylStreep · 12/12/2013 09:12

OP, it can be annoying, but something I think you will probably get used to.

Of more concern to me, is you shouting at other drivers and calling them names. Please don't be tempted to do this - you could end up being involved in a road rage incident.

DeWe · 12/12/2013 09:32

I think it's not so much people on full beam as the lights that are now much brighter than they used to be. Sometimes I think someone's on full beam, then they flash and I realise they weren't.

I also hate the really blue lights (and flashing blue Christmas lights outside houses) as I have mistaken them for emergency vehicles before now.

Meerkatwhiskers · 12/12/2013 09:42

I think you will find those lights that look like they are on full beam aren't actually on full beam. They are either xenons or halogen lights and are bright and do look like it. I drive home in pitch black country roads so I know what it appears like.

My old car used to have xenons and I could get away with not having full beam on but in my new one without I have to put full beam on to see the road. There is a massive difference in brightness.

I am with the PP on the fog lights! Especially with the fog we have had in the south east the last couple of days. People drive about in normal weather with them on but thick fog and no bugger puts them on!

ViviPru · 12/12/2013 09:44

Sometimes I think someone's on full beam, then they flash and I realise they weren't.

I've been doing that ALL WEEK (due to my faulty sensor issue) its actually quite satisfying in a nah-na-na-naaaah-na kind of way

MidniteScribbler · 12/12/2013 09:44

I used to get the rage at this, but then I got a 4WD and I was following someone late one night and when we got home they went off at me for having my high beams the whole way. I hadn't, it was just the fact that my car was that much higher than many others on the road. Knowing that, you can generally distinguish between vehicles where the lights are mounted high and cars with their high beams on.

Original poster

stinkingbishop · 12/12/2013 09:48

Yes, I'm in Wagland, so there are a fair few 4WDs. And Mercs, BMWs, Audis...

beryl that was a bit tongue in cheek! Shouting 'pillock' in the comfort of my own car whilst listening to the Archers doesn't really qualify as full blown road rage does it?

OP posts:

Wabbitty · 12/12/2013 09:59

"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."

I do this - it does work!

friday16 · 12/12/2013 10:01

I was following someone late one night and when we got home they went off at me for having my high beams the whole way.

We had a thread a few weeks ago in which is became apparent a large number of people didn't know how to dip the rear view mirror in their car.

Night driving: it's about time it was on the test, isn't it?

Original poster

stinkingbishop · 12/12/2013 10:06

It's on the Pass Plus. On another note, I think they should put SatNav on the test for 5 mins (a bit like they currently do Independent Driving) to check that people a) don't get distracted and b) can still apply common sense...

OP posts:

stayathomegardener · 12/12/2013 10:08

I found that when I dipped my lights early,for example when the oncoming car was round a bend that they did not dip.
I now leave my lights on full till the last minute and also if I dip and they don't I tend to flash them (all before the oncoming car is in my field of vision)
Do you think you could be dipping too early?

CooEeeEldridge · 12/12/2013 10:17

I just done see how you'd forget full beam was on?! There's an extra light on your dash for one and you should be hyper aware of blinding other drivers!

I hate it too op, I also find it bizarre when people have them on behind me, (I do dip mirror) but what's the point?!

PrammyMammy · 12/12/2013 10:18

I don't think I've ever had this problem. I only passed in July, but everyone seems to use the 'side lights' when it's dull or their dipped beam in the dark? Do you maybe mean the blue/halogen lights that you sometimes see?
Driving at night on a farm road everyone turns their beam down straight away when they see me coming.
I can honestly say I haven't been blinded by headlights (except if someone flashes to give way). So maybe pump your seat up to the correct level?

Sallyingforth · 12/12/2013 10:52

Sometimes I think someone's on full beam, then they flash and I realise they weren't.
But many cars have a dipped beam height adjustment on the dashboard. Some people leave it at the highest level when it isn't appropriate for the load in the car.

PrimalLass · 12/12/2013 11:03

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.

So you have never, ever forgotten to dim them? Not once? Well done.

lljkk · 12/12/2013 11:16

YABVU

MaidOfStars · 12/12/2013 11:16

Yes yes to flicking your rear view mirror. Thus was something my Dad showed me to do, some time after passing my test. I wonder why my instructor never highlighted it...

Stinkyminkymoo · 12/12/2013 13:07

Yes I do flash them just as they pass. I live rurally and of course I don't do it if there's someone behind me but ffs, if I can see you coming with your full beam on and manage to dip mine, why can't they? I don't do it to every person that hasn't doped their lights in 5 nanoseconds, only the twats who dip them when I'm right in front of them. They don't care if I end up in a hedge so why should I?

friday16 · 12/12/2013 13:43

Yes yes to flicking your rear view mirror. Thus was something my Dad showed me to do, some time after passing my test. I wonder why my instructor never highlighted it...

How often did you have a lesson in the dark on a road that had people using main beam?

The last few cars we've had I've had an automatic rear mirror fitted. They're about 80 quid as an accessory. They work by comparing light coming into the mirror and light hitting a sensor on the back, and dimming when there's a big imbalance. Some cars you can get the same thing for the door mirrors, too, but it's less common.

TheBuskersDog · 12/12/2013 17:18

So you have never, ever forgotten to dim them? Not once? Well done.

Don't know why you feel the need for that attitude, it's quite important not to forget you're in control of a potential killing machine when driving.

Like most people I only ever use them when I can't see the road ahead, I do not drive in rural areas that often so when I turn them on I am aware that I have done so and that I will need to dip them if I see lights approaching, it's hardly difficult.

Showy · 12/12/2013 18:20

Do people really leave their fog lights on because it 'looks good'?

I only passed this year and the biggest bugbear of mine is the number of people driving round with their fog lights on at all times. I always assume they just don't realise or at least don't realise it's illegal. But they think they look good do they? I mean, why?

Showy · 12/12/2013 18:21

And yes op, get a cushion. My carseat won't raise up and I got a cushion as I'm short. Really helps.

DameDeepRedBetty · 12/12/2013 18:29

On another thread on this subject a couple of months ago, a poster admitted she'd had her foglights on permanently in her new car for weeks, as 'she couldn't find the switch'. So 0/10 for manual reading skills.

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