To think a fine would sort this problem out

[Fatandknowit]

Headlights.

Far too many cars aren't dipping their headlights. I know of several people (directly and indirectly) who dont even know what the little wheel with numbers does!

Driving home this evening and was on a notoriously quiet but dark and narrow road with parked cars either side. A mini pulled in and allowed me to pass. Their headlights were so unbelievable dazzling that I physically couldnt see my surroundings/parked cars. It was like putting a torch inside my eyelids. I took my time and thankfully got through with no bother but they flashed to tell me i was too slow or I have room as I was creeping past, which is how I know they didnt have high beams on by mistake. They could obviously see me just fine - because mine are dipped - and probably thought I was a brand spanking new or overly cautious driver or something (I'm really not!)

There's nothing wrong with my eyesight or spatial awareness.

Another example, driving through a dark tunnel and the car behind was blinding me through my rear view mirror, so much so that I had to move my mirror.

Im not talking SUVs in these examples, we all know they're terrible for it due to height differences regardless, I'm talking ordinary hatchbacks/saloons.

I think I can confidently say that everyone these days hates car headlights, but if people knew how to set them correctly that would at least help. Would the threat of a fine reduce these occurences?

IABU - Nope. Nothing to do with end user. All headlights are shite. End of story.
IANBU - Yep. That would actually help or at least reduce some of the issues.

Newer cars, unfortunately, have much brighter lights. My new car has the lights dipped as low as the number dial will allow and i still get people flashing angrily and repeatedly, I assume because they think I have my main beams on still when I haven't. Tbh, the car turns the main beams off for me as soon as another car approaches! I think there needs to be some kind of legislation around maximum brightness that car headlights are allowed to be

What wheel with numbers? My car doesnt have one. My headlights are auto adjusting so they move slightly to the left and down if they detect another vehicle. I use a stalk to put them onto full beam when needed, they are dipped as standard. They are also not the new super bright, very white headlights.... A Mini is bigger than my A1 and its lights are higher so I use the little switch to adjust the rear view mirror to prevent blinding by even dipped lights right behind me. (Previous car auto darkened the rear view mirror and I miss that feature! My wing mirrors auto darken...) Also more people drive bigger SUV type cars which have much higher headlights so even when dipped they are at eye level if you are driving a 'normal' car.

How would fining people work? There aren't enough police to deal with general crime, people using phones whilst driving, not wearing seat belts, doing 50 in a 30......

No ‘little wheel’ on my car, it does it automatically and I would have no idea if it failed or not unless people flashed. Nearly all new cars these days headlights are way too bright. They cause my daughter migraines if it catches at the wrong angle and then she can be in bed for a couple of days, it’s a bit of a nightmare.

I agree in principle

But i think thats just newer cars, op

I never have my full beam headlights on, as i was warned during my theory test 15 years ago!!

I think part of the issue here is the design of the Mini headlights. When I drove a mini I used to get flashed by so many other cars who assumed I had my full beams on, so thought they should tell me off, I’d them flash them back to show that actually I didn’t have them on full.

Not unless we reform the fine system. So we give fines according to how much each person earns/their wealth.

Because a fine of say £1000 is devastating for a low earner with no assets but small change for a rich person so it feels like an unequal and ineffective punishment .

I was driving home last night when it was dark and naturally met oncoming traffic but one car definitely didn't dim their lights. It is so scary when you can't see in front of you due to being dazzled. I do wonder if some cars think their lights are on auto when they aren't.

I think most peoples are set correctly OP, it’s an MOT fail to have them angled too high or low

It’s leds that are too bright, not main beam in the majority of cases.

I agree the lights can be way too bright, I’m struggling now the nights are darker and I have to drive. I really hate any roads with oncoming traffic on the other side!

When I took my car for its service, I asked the garage to look at my headlights because I sometimes get flashed by oncoming cars and I'm worried that I'm dazzling them. He said the angle was fine and within the legal limits, and my car dips its lights automatically. So I don't think I'm doing anything wrong, but you might think I am OP. It's because headlights are brighter these days than they used to be.

Modern headlights are too bright and this is something motoring organisations are calling on the government to address. It’s a regular thing now to be completely dazzled when driving at night.

and those of you who don’t dip because your car does it automatically should know that this technology does not work on undulating roads. People dip their headlights when they see the glow in the distance. Your car does it when it fully detects a car, after you’ve dazzled them

The blue light on the dashboard will go on and off as the main beam does if they’re set to auto so you can tell if they’ve sensed oncoming vehicles and dipped.

I ageee OP it’s a nuisance but as PP said, the practicalities of fining people are not realistic. I think it’s already possible to be fined for that but doesn’t.

DH has just got a brand new car. I was driving in the dark the other night and noticed the lights were set to auto (dashboard displays an A to confirm), but they absolutely were not dipping the main beams for every oncoming set of headlights so god knows how many people I inadvertently blinded before I realised.

Would also like you to confirm what the wheel with numbers is.

I agree with you. There needs to be something done about it. I know new cars have brighter lights but that not what is happening, it’s because people aren’t dimming them. It’s so dangerous.

Fining people would work the same way as fining people for speeding. With cameras

A lot of newer cars have " High Beam Assist", ie, automatic headlight dipping. The cars with this can react too slowly, and you need to take manual control. Its not always clear how you can take manual control though. Many cars do not have a "little wheel" sign.
There is on-going pressure for legislation to correct both the high beam LED lights and make it clearer how to take manual control.

There are several things contributing to this problem, and it’s interesting that some posters appear to be unaware of the different factors.

Angle of the headlights. It can be adjusted to account for the weight distribution in the car. The front half of the car doesn’t change weight significantly, but a fully-loaded boot can pull the back end down and make the headlights point higher up than they should. You shouldn’t need to change it for the drive back from the supermarket. When you’re setting off on holiday to drive through the night with the whole family in the car and the boot full of suitcases, you should adjust the angle downward. And reset it again when you arrive and unload. That’s what the ‘little wheel with numbers’ is for. Though maybe some cars adjust for weight distribution automatically, or via a Settings menu.

Auto dip beams. If you are driving along an unlit road, you can see the beams of an oncoming car before you see the car itself. Good practice is to dip your own beams before the oncoming vehicle comes around the bend or over the crest, and they should do the same of course. Because if you’ve got your beams on and you can see the lights, front or rear, of another car, you’ve dazzled them. But auto-dippers don’t do this. They don’t recognise that there is another car until they see the two spots of light of the actual headlights. So by the time the auto dipper dips, the oncoming driver has already been dazzled. I’ve turned mine off and I dip manually.

LED headlights. Yup, too bright. And nothing the driver can do about it AFAIK.

Most new cars, including Minis, will have automatic lights that will dip as needed. Yes the newer cars have brighter lights but they aren't all that bad, it's still possible to see and drive sensibly either way.

In the US they have recognized that the regulations around vehicle headlights are so out of date (due to new tech) that they have just started the process to review and update them. Maybe the UK needs to do the same

The government announced they are reviewing headlights months ago

The other point is that our eyes cgange as we get older. They recover slower from changes in light.

You’ve just explained how the court fine system works, it’s a multiplier of income.

That’s not what the OP means by dipped headlights, they mean the angle of the lights. My car has a twisty wheel of 1-4 that moves the headlights from pointing at the floor to pointing at the sky

Better for governments to go for the manufacturers rather than individual drivers.

And we have an ageing population so even more imperative to sort this.

Oh, now I understand what she means with the wheel with numbers. She means the position of them. Yeah, I don't really see how you can go about fining people for that.

It's annoying when people don't dip them but I think a fine would be very impractical to enforce.