Bright Lights

[Jronman]

Is it just me or are vehicle lights getting brighter? or are people less aware if they have their brights on or not?

 

Seems like within the last few years lights have gotten noticeably brighter. I think HIDs may have something to do with it but I'm not sure. It's difficult to determine whether some vehicles have their brights on or not.  Sometimes I feel like when I give a courtesy flash of my lights to tell other vehicles your brights might be on, it may just be a misjudgment on my part. I don't know if the lights on the average vehicle are to the point of being bright enough to cause danger to oncoming traffic but farm equipment is.

The brightest vehicle I have seen was when I met a tractor at night on the highway. Not only was there super bright lights on the front, there were some on the back as well. pretty much 360 degrees of blinding lights. 

[JimboS1ice]

Brighter and whiter, lots of LEDs, fog lamps becoming more standard as well, besides HID tech has become more available and cost effective but everything is about LED headlamps now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Atlas2000]

Having done some farming in my younger days, I understand why the farm machinery was super nova. People don't think about the massive size and parts that hang out from such things. I have almost been killed by idiots that think they own the road and refuse to slow down or pull further over. If I was at a place I could, I would pull the farm equipment over till they got past, but conditions don't always allow that. It is a form of self preservation. For people with good sense I'm sorry for the light, but like so many things, it is necessary to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. As far as headlights, most are tolerable if aimed correctly. (and not on high beam) Problems occur when they are not aimed right or are out because of a load of anvils, etc. in the rear of the vehicle. (unless it is self leveling, which I think all vehicles should be for this very reason) 

[Stercorarius]

Modern tractors have a three position light switch. Park, road, and work lights plus the option of toggling every light individually in the computer. If you're pulling bobtail or an implement with lights it's a dick move to road with work lights on. The road lights won't blind people. Depending on the implement though I have ran with my rear lights on to make sure people can see the implement. Just two years ago when Deere overhauled their whole lineup they switched from HIDs to bright af LEDs that give you a good couple acres of coverage. Running in a field with four other ones at night can get a bit irritating. They're so bright you can almost see the difference between the things that are real and what your mind is seeing. It makes sense because you want to see the t post in the field before it goes through a quarter million dollar or more machine. Almost makes up for needing DEF.

[Jronman]

This was a bigger tractor model I cant remember what was on it. 8 series I think. Whoever was driving had full 360 cab lights on. If I remember correctly it looked like it was new.

[Stercorarius]

12 hours ago, Jronman said:

This was a bigger tractor model I cant remember what was on it. 8 series I think. Whoever was driving had full 360 cab lights on. If I remember correctly it looked like it was new.

Yeah the new 8 series will blind the shit out of you.

[BMack37]

I can't wait until cars have the BMW system. What BMW does is they have the brights on all the time but it will detect a car or pedestrian and dim the light for ONLY that area to not blind them.

 

 

[Atlas2000]

That is a pretty cool idea BMack37! Thanks.

[rdst_1]

Yeah. Even the new Audi has that system with their Matrix lights. Technologies like these should be made to trickle down a lot faster as they take care of a huge safety aspect rather than just being a luxury feature.
Ironically, in India, people would rather pay for a luxury feature and most buyers end up buying the non-Matrix models which are cheaper by $4-5k.

[Jronman]

In the video it seemed like the lights didn't dim early enough. It's just a video. It might be different in the real world. Seems like a handy feature.

[JimboS1ice]

In the video it seemed like the lights didn't dim early enough. It's just a video. It might be different in the real world. Seems like a handy feature.

Cameras don't always capture light and change of light very well, there's science in there I can't really explain that great but the reaction of the camera doesn't do a justice to what we see with our eyes, not saying the BMW lights are perfect but until you actually see it it's hard to judge fairly


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BK13]

When I moved to Sandy, Oregon, I noticed there were a bunch of douchenozzles running LED conversion bulbs in conventional halogen housings, with majorly annoying results, I could tell that light coverage for them was very splotchy and uneven, and undoubtedly they would glare the crap out of me, and I drive a full size truck. Don't even get me started on the (non-DOT approved) LED light bars. Buy, hey, they're bright and cool!

[ChrisK]

I stopped some diptard last winter running those stupid LED roof lights on the highway during a snowstorm. Moron.

[Framer joe]

Projection leds.....and hid gotta have em

[fm2176]

On 4/9/2017 at 11:16 PM, Jronman said:

Is it just me or are vehicle lights getting brighter? or are people less aware if they have their brights on or not?

 

Seems like within the last few years lights have gotten noticeably brighter. I think HIDs may have something to do with it but I'm not sure. It's difficult to determine whether some vehicles have their brights on or not.  Sometimes I feel like when I give a courtesy flash of my lights to tell other vehicles your brights might be on, it may just be a misjudgment on my part. I don't know if the lights on the average vehicle are to the point of being bright enough to cause danger to oncoming traffic but farm equipment is.

The brightest vehicle I have seen was when I met a tractor at night on the highway. Not only was there super bright lights on the front, there were some on the back as well. pretty much 360 degrees of blinding lights. 

 

I too have noticed the increasing brightness of people's vehicle lights.  As others have said, it's mostly due to better technology, but it also means that running new bulbs in decade-old original equipment housings or having improperly adjusted headlights can be glaringly annoying (pun intended). 

 

I chalk some of it up to age, but as I near 40 I'm increasingly intolerant of headlight (or sun) glare.  I've been known to fold the power folding side  mirrors in if driving for long periods with the sun behind me, and also either adjust or fold the mirrors in if a vehicle behind me grows annoying.  

 

The halogen lights on my '06 Sierra work well, but the LED headlights on the government-owned '15 Chevy truck are admittedly better.  One thing that can be distracting at times but which is fully understandable from a safety perspective is modern emergency lights.  I grew up when police cruisers had large conventional strobe bars on the roof.  Heck, the City of Richmond still used Chrysler K-cars in the 80's.  Now it seems that police cruisers are drowned in flashing lights, with flashing vehicular lights coupled with blue strobes covering every direction.  It is nice that they can enable their lights to only flash in one direction, though, as is usually seen when an officer is at a road work site.  I consider it far less likely to cause slowdowns in opposite lanes.

 

One thing I don't miss are sealed beams.  They were dim, usually more difficult to replace, and some vehicles required their readjustment every time they were touched.  The only nice thing about them was that they were near-universal.  IIRC, my 1960 Willys, '78 K5 Blazer, and '78 F-250 all used the same headlights.  In 1979, square sealed beams became the norm, though.