Was I BU to slow down this much?

[FedupofbeingtoldIcantusemyname]

I ride a small motorcycle.

I'm doing a lot of riding in the dark at the moment due to working late.

Was riding home the other day and a car was behind me with those really bright blue/white headlights. Unfortunately for me my mirrors are at just the right height/angle that often the light from cars behind me catches in my mirrors and is very distracting at best, blinds me at worst. It was also raining so visibility wasn't great anyway, the lights were so bright that they illuminated my mirrors and visor to the extent where I really couldn't see much.

So I slowed right down to 35/30mph, which I know is really slow but I just couldn't see. I really wanted to pull over and let him pass but there was no where safe/convienient to do so.

Dp says I should have indicated and pulled over to the side of the road anyway to let him pass rather than going so slow. Wibu? Should I have pulled over?

I think the best thing to do would be continue at the speed you felt to be safe, and then pull over when you reached a safe place. Chances are there would have been one within a few seconds or minutes at the most. Dithering about and trying to get people to pass you with hand gestures is likely to be more dangerous. You have every right to go an a speed that is safe for the conditions.

Some bizarre replies on here....you must go faster because visibility is poor??? surely the opposite is true? The speed limit is an upper limit and there is no lower limit. If people get frustrated because someone is going slower than they would like, that's their problem! Most slow road users will let them get past at a safe point but they don't have the right to make you get out of their way.

50-60 mph is a guide NOT a target.
On a small bike in the dark and the rain 35 is a perfectly OK speed to travel.

I'm sure it's been asked but could our DP teach you to drive?
As a provisional driver it shouldn't be too much to add you to his insurance!

Maid I'm with OP and Laiste. Keeping enough distance to light the road and not the rider is the way to go. Thanks for being so considerate! You are awesome!

Laiste You are awesome too! even though you drive a 'wanky BMW'

:)

Thanks for the replies. I hope I'm never close enough that my circle of light falls on a bike but I actually have never taken great note of how big it is! I will do so next time and ensure I follow this rule (although in adverse conditions, I leave lots of space anyway).

(this is my indicator that I need to adjust the tracking, which has obviously floated slightly over the previous year or so - solves the problem for another few months).

Adjust the what? If you have legal xenon lights, there is no user adjustment to make.

Do people no longer dip their lights? Why didn't the driver realise what he was doing - surely he could see what his lights were doing to your mirrors and he should have dropped back and/or dipped his lights.

No one seems to do that any more. The number of times we've been blinded by oncoming cars with ridiculously bright headlights on full beam. Lights that bright are surely not safe unless used responsibly, which many people don't seem to do.

I often struggle with the lights on 4x4s in particular as their higher position seems to catch my eyes easily (I'm short and sit close to the steering wheel- DH doesn't seem to have the same issue anyway!). I frequently find that I have to flick the rear view mirror to dim, and use my right hand to block the glare from the wing mirror. I've ended up slowing down when my night vision is being impaired by glare.

No specific motorcycle advice as I've only driven cars, but a speed limit is a maximum. Yes, in good conditions you should drive as close to it as is safely possible, but poor conditions will reduce that speed. Rural roads will have hazards such as wildlife emerging from hedgerows so still need care in poor visibility.

Adjust the what? If you have legal xenon lights, there is no user adjustment to make

Maybe

What I know (my husband does this stuff):
They are xenon.
Every so often, I'll start to get flashed, meaning they are pointing too far up.
My husband has some machine that he shines against our driveway wall to give a line and then fiddles with the headlights.
The flashing stops.
This has been explained to me as a "tracking" issue although that might be just a layman's use of the word.

I have no idea if they are legal or not. Given my husband's general nature, I would be astonished if they are illegal. He's not that kind of guy.

Do people no longer dip their lights?
The OP didn't mention that the lights were on full beam, just that they were newer HID types?

I'm not sure if they were dipped or not, a lot of people don't seem to dip their lights these days. Either way they were too bright!

a lot of people don't seem to dip their lights these days.

Maybe this is regional - everyone drives 99% of the time (when it's dark) on dip around here and I very very very rarely experience anyone who doesn't dip them for oncoming traffic (even then a quick reminder flash) works.

Glad I don't live in these places where no-one's using dipped lights.

I wonder how many people know what this is for -

Yellowed driving glasses are great. I ride a bike (cycle, motor) and drive a car too.

Were there really no places you could have slowed down for them to pass, even if it meant you stopped for a second or two? I would have now I've matured and would avoid road rage or simply antagonising another driver. Signalling left and pulling right over may have even meant they passed you still entirely on your side of the road.

Funnily, I felt I had a point to prove and would hold up arsehole drivers when I had a smaller bike / car. Now I can do NSL in 1st or 2nd, I care less.

I wonder how many people know what this is for
Yep.

I wonder how many people who do and have it actually use this function.

Emmanuel on the bit of road I was on there really weren't. In that part it was quite narrow, so much so that a big lorry/truck would have filled the road completely on that side. It was quite a wind-y road too so really nowhere safe. If it had been further down the road I could have pulled over in a village but the driver had turned off by then.