Motorway at night

[missyksmt]

I've always been told that when driving on a motorway at night which has no lights, only cats eyes, that you can't use full beam. I used the motorway last night in heavy rain, and the cat eyes were absolutely useless. Am I just blind as a fucking bat or do you need to use full beam? Had to come off. Absolutely terrified me. Never again.

Nice 'don't blind on-coming drivers with full beams' is hardly a pointless minor rule.

I guess you think you're fine so fuck anyone else eh?

I was driving in the storm last night on the motorway. Slowed right down to 40/50 and has dipped lights on. Full beam didn’t help at all.

Astigmatism?

google it. This is my issue i think.

Yes, agree it's horrible on the motorway at night, I hate driving where there's no street lights in general

You’ve driven at 20mph on a motorway?

@nutellachurro
There's always one prick in a bunch of roses eh
The no overtaking lines are for a reason, for safety and to prevent rta's, utter selfishness from you.

Driving at night is much more difficult in general now with the new led lights. Quite a lot of people seem to have them at odd angles too. It's a problem.

Just because you have excellent vision in daylight doesn’t necessarily mean you can see well in the dark.

I sometimes wear my polarised sunglasses to cut down on the glare although I must look like a loon.

Your lights may need to be cleaned. I had this issue, I thought I was losing my sight 😂
Huge difference when I get them cleaned on inside.

Many (but not all) cars have a little wheel somewhere on the dashboard which allows the driver to change the angle of the headlights,

Only on cars fitted with traditional halogen lights. Xenons and LEDs are auto levelling.

From me and 99% of drivers on the road

I have astigmatism and my night vision is terrible, even with my glasses. I try and avoid night driving, especially if it’s raining too

Op I had this issue when I used to regularly drive at night on a motorway that had a long stretch that was unlit. I hadn't been driving long and thought it was just me, I asked a friend who was a more experienced driver to come with me on a trip. He was shocked at how poor the visibility was and suggested we take the car to a garage to check the lights were ok. Mechanic said the lights were fine and when friend queried the brightness, mechanic said that was just what modern (more energy efficient) lights are like, plus my car was small so relatively low down. Some cars now have very bright LEDs but there was nothing 'wrong' with my lights and I was surprised how short the distance was that I could see ahead.

On a side note, do you have blue eyes by any chance? People with light coloured eyes are more likely to find contrast difficult, and be affected by glare - so to someone with blue or green eyes the blackness of an unlit road, especially contrasted with the bright lights of the traffic on the other side of the motorway, seems 'blacker' if that makes sense! I can't remember what the reason is, but I remember learning about it years ago and it made sense.

You absolutely do not use full beam when there are other cars in front of you. No matter what direction they're going. You think you couldn't see? You were massively impairing everybody else's sight. You could have caused a serious accident. Next time just slow right down and come off, you were right to come off but do not put your full beams on.

Also, 55mph in last nights rain is really too fast. Stick as far left and slow right down. We have been in the 30s in both rain and snow (even 20s in heavy snow) on the motorway and everyone was doing the same. Sometimes you can't get over 50 even on a motorway.

I have a small mini and blue eyes yeah! How interesting! Thanks for that x

What car do you have? I struggled with mine when I was driving in lockdown on dual carriageway with just enough cars to not use full beam but not enough to light the road for me. Even on full beam on a straight empty country road I couldn’t see far enough. I adjusted the beam up which made a little difference.

But I googled my car and ‘poor lights’ and there was common theme of the standard bulbs being too dim to drive at any speed even on full beam.

There were recommendations for brighter (legal!) bulbs that I can get at Halfords, thanks for the reminder I need to get them before driving in the dark this autumn.

And I have blue eyes and astigmatism.

There are some kind of special glasses you can get too, not sure what but I need to check them out

I didn't use the full beams so couldn't have caused an accident.

How old are you OP?
Night blindness gets worse with age and is a possible sign that you may need cataract surgery earlier than others
My mild night blindness in poor weather conditions actually is more manageable when wearing polarised sunglasses as it’s the glare of bright lights on wet roads that confuses my brain

Thanks so much for this. I'll look them up. It's the first time I've been on an unlit motorway at night. X

You can get night driving glasses , not very flattering with the yellow lenses but they make a difference.

Early 40's.

Oh christ, definitely stick with the coach then. That drive sounds like absolute hell. That would make me properly sick with nerves!

Wow look at the rebel you are.

never mind that your full beams could cause someone to crash… as long as you’re alright…

absolute embarrassment the people who are allowed on UK roads.