People who sit on their brake lights give me the rage

[Tusktusk]

When I’m stuck in a traffic jam and it’s dark, I inevitably end up behind a huge car with super bright brake lights and the driver just sits there for the whole wait time - a good 15 minutes tonight as I was caught up in traffic leaving a big football match - with their foot on the brake, half blinding me with their brake lights!

It seems most people do this now and most modern cars have these super bright in your face brake lights - especially big family 4x4 type of cars. I find it really inconsiderate. Why don’t people use the handbrake in these situations? It’s so much nicer to take all your feet off the pedals and relax while you wait. Plus you won’t be blinding the poor soul sitting behind you!

Is it just me?

Wishing you the best in getting said rules altered.

Happy to watch from the stands.

Mine doesn’t have a handbrake, it does have automatic engine switch off when sitting at lights but I need to press on the break pad

Don't buy a Tesla.

Wouldn’t dream of it

It doesn't annoy me but I do wonder why people are sitting for ages with their foot on the brake and not getting a sore leg. Maybe they are all fancy cars with these auto brakes and hill assist (I don't know what that is but a PP mentioned it) it it seems unlikely.

I had an automatic for a few months. Wasn't a big fan. Partly because I'd read somewhere you're not meant to put in Park unless you're actually parked but I wasn't prepared to sit at lights for ages getting a dead leg with my foot on the brake so I did use Park. Daft to do otherwise.

"HelplessSoul
I'm sure car lights exceed comfort levels for a great many people. But its still a subjective point.

My point is, that from a regulatory, safety and certification standpoint, car makers are making vehicle lights the way that these laws/policies instruct - so they arent doing anything wrong.

They are conforming to the rules that they have to abide by.

And sometimes rules are wrong and need changing"

Exactly. Often the rules take time to catch up with modern technology.

The amount of people that now say they struggle to drive at night due to these ultra bright lights is staggering. In all honestly I'm surprised these lights have not been quoted as causing accidents. They are often so bright, even on dipped, that you can't see anything on your own side of the road.

I drive at night because I have to. But honestly hate it

Every single person I speak to about this also seems to have an issue with the brightness of lights in general and driving at night but I appreciate that it's definitely not a equal study and a representative sample.

I would think the accident statistics due to them are also vastly affected by the fact that many of us are choosing, where possible, not to drive in the dark.

I don't live in a particularly large place and it's in Scotland so in winter, daylight hours are especially short and getting to many places means driving on "country"/unlit roads. So, in winter my parameters of driving area are vastly reduced and since I work, it means i have to do a lot of things/errands at the weekend that I could conceivably do in the evening like I do in the light evenings.

It is a case where technology in terms of vehicles and their lights developing much quicker than in the vision industry, I'm sure that the car industry has much greater access to funding.

There is definitely an element where increased automation has reduced peoples inclination to do things that those of us that have driven for a long term without these things still do as normal practice in our slightly less automated vehicles.

Certainly in town, the function of lights is to be seen rather than to help the driver see but given the ubiquitous daytime running lights, lots don't bother to put on their lights at all during dull or rainy or as it's getting dark/light. This is fine for the front but it means they have no rear lights on at all unless they are actively braking.

How many people adjust the height of their headlights on a regular basis in terms of how many people they have in their vehicle or if they have a full boot?

I adjust mine pretty often. I used to do it multiple times a day as half my daily commute was with a full car and the other half with just me. Now it's really only when I have passengers or have done my weekly shop. And don't get me started on the tyre inflation level decisions!

It just seems that automation has made people lazy and then chuck in a good dose of just never thinking about other road users and here we are.

@tigger1001 "The amount of people that now say they struggle to drive at night due to these ultra bright lights is staggering. "

Gov.uk states theres around 50m licensed drivers and approx 40m licensed vehicles.

You say the numbers of people struggling to drive is staggering.

Do you have a number at all please to confirm and support the "staggering" statement?

(Just that if the figure was "staggering", the rules on head/brake lights would have been changed ages ago. That it hasnt suggests the "staggering" number may not be a big a sample as you believe it to be).

Not what you were trying to say before is it luv xxx

Well given the number of petitions on it it certainly seems that a staggering number of people struggle with the brightness of the new vehicle lights. I've signed a couple of these myself.

It's the subject of many internet threads. Not just here.

I would put it to you this way - I think much more people struggle than you realise.

It's dangerous to have lights so bright that drivers are blinded and can't see their own side of the road, you might want to argue that point, but that's the reality for many drivers these days.

I've spoken to my optician about it the last few eye tests - and their comments each time is it's a very common complaint people ask about during an eye test as they assume it's their eyes rather than the super bright led lights newer cars have.

Why can't some people understand that it's a real issue these days?

As I said earlier - rules and laws tend to lag considerably behind new technologies - I'm not surprised that these haven't caught up yet. But hope they do soon.

Jeeeeeesus happy fucking Xmas, people! Why so snippy!? It's only a a chat about fucking car lights...I know it's aibu but seriously! 🤨 Some of could have a row in an empty fucking room!

I read a study that suggested that when cars switched to LED lights, the reflectors in the car weren't changed, and that is the problem, rather than the lights per se. As to the solution, anti glare coating on your glasses may be a good shout.

What was I trying to say before?

@BigBoysDontCry

It just seems that automation has made people lazy and then chuck in a good dose of just never thinking about other road users and here we are.

Nail on the head for both counts.

Car lights have to fit all driving situations. That includes narrow lanes and no street lights. I want to see. I also want to be seen.

I had a 4x4 tailgate me last week & blind me in the process with the glare shining back from all 3 mirrors. I had to slow right down fortunately the driver then backed off & I could see straight again

these lights are a menace

Auto hold keeps the brakes applied when in traffic to stop a car rolling forwards or backwards - people aren't sitting with their foot on the brake getting a sore leg 🙄.

Yes, as I said in the post you've quoted there may well be a lot of them with this new tech I don't know about but I doubt it's all of them. Some of them must just be getting a sore leg.

What is this auto hold? Do you press a button or something? How is that different to putting the handbrake on?

@DappledThings you have your foot and the brake slowing down and then come to a stop and auto hold engages. You don't press a button or anything

So you just take your foot off the brake and it stays as if it is depressed? Disconcerting till you get used to it i guess.

I still don't think 100% of people in queues have it.

Jeez! Some of you need some driving lessons in automatic cars before you go on the road for real.

P is on the gear shift in an automatic. It’s nothing to do with a hand brake. You shift the lever to P and leave it there with your foot off the brake pedal. When you want to move off, engage D. Never use N as the car is not controlled. Just use P, D or R as required. Any other brake is not needed.

If you are on a hill, most automatics will sit there with D engaged. They don’t roll back and they won’t go forward unless you want them to and press the accelerator. You can engage P and then D if you wish. No hand brake button or lever is required at any stage. Nor a foot on the brake. I virtually never use my handbrake buttons. P is sufficient.

Regarding electric. Mine can be switched into P with a separate button. Then I have to engage D via the gear paddle after I have released P. I can see plenty won’t bother to switch into P but will just use the brake pedal and stay in D. It’s much easier to do this but obviously annoying.

Many newer cars have brighter lights. Just dim your interior mirror! You can pull in wing mirrors too. Or just let the car go past you.

@TizerorFizz “Just dim your interior mirror! You can pull in wing mirrors too. Or just let the car go past you”

A good solution if the car with dazzling lights is behind you. I often dim my rear view mirror and it works a treat.

It doesn’t help with oncoming traffic blinding you to the point of not being able to see your own side of the road.

Or my original problem - brake lights! Specifically on stationary vehicles directly in front of me when they are stationary for more than half a minute or so.

I was responding to the post about dazzling from behind.

I’ve explained why I think sitting on the brake pedal is increasing. There’s little anyone can do. It’s safer to have bright rear lights in drizzle, rain and light fog. Ditto front lights. Auto dimming headlights can slow to dim on some cars but this can be overridden. Some cars have poorly adjusted lights too. I have to say I’m rarely bothered by bright headlights. I think it’s an age issue but I’m nearly 70 and I don’t want to go back to yellow glow worms on my country lanes. See and be seen is generally safer!

You said let’s just ignore it all. Which isn’t how it works. There’s must follows and advisories. Anyone with half a brain who drives knows this. If you don’t then you shouldn’t be driving. HTH.