O/T Rant !

For the last few years some of the newer cars and trucks have eye destructing head lights.

I'm talking about those blue tinted landing lights that should be put on a locomotive.

I understand a yellowish pinkish light is sodium vapor, blue lights are mercury vapor. [all but illegal because of the mercury content.]

These blue lights are a hazard even on low beam. there seems to be a distance that it don't matter because it makes your eyes feel like you just got your picture took in a dark room at close range. all you can see is two black spots surrounded by the true scenery.

They must have deemed the green lights dangerous they had out at first cause they did the same thing.
Ralph Nader Where are you ???

Blue and green are illigal in some states you will get pulled over for having them on . In WV the State Police use Blue. The fire departments use Red, I don't know of a use for green but there illigal to have on vehicle . I was in NY a few years ago noticed the State Police used Red, & fire departments used blue. so I guess it depends on the State. I think there is a limit on the Candle power you can use on a Headlight it being about 35 Watt. Most new vehicles have much brighter headlights. I know I flashed a set of 100 watt "About 750.000 Candle power" it a WV State Police one time and he didn't think it was funny at all. Was just telling him to dim his lights.

I agree with you. I don't drive at night anymore.

No I'm talking about the regular headlights they are legal as long as they were factory installed.

Those blue lights are evil. It's like I can actually feel my retinas burning on contact.

Compaired to many on here I"m still a "young" 41 and those lights kill my eyes too. It just goes to show the kind of thinking going into much of the engineering nowdays. I guess having bright lights is good for the pereon driving the car and may have even saved a few lives, but what about the ones killed because the person in the approaching car got blinded.......As far as seeing at night I was always tought simply not to "outrun" your lights. In other words if you couldn"t see slow down. Now they just make the lights brighter so people that probably shouldn"t be driving anyway can just go faster....

equally as bad is the head lights on motorcycles, especially those that flash from one head light to another. i know they are supposed to make them more noticeable, but blinding the oncoming vehicle is dangerous for them as well.

I remember a few years ago when they came out with those halogen or whatever they call headlights on upscale cars. They even did a feature on 20/20 or one of those nightly news shows about how they would "flash" as the car bobbed up and down. And they do! Once in a while as a car approaches, I will think, "why is he flashing his high beams on and off". But it is just the car bobbing up and down on the bumps. the "flash" doesn't seem so bad now, but the brightness is terrible. Oh, and the icing on the cake is when you hit then with a flash of your high beams to dim their lights, they hit you with lights AND fog/running lights!

I thought it was just me ! I also hate those blue bruggers,they are even worse with wet road and winter time , which I get about 9 months of.

Roy: I'm with you on this one. I had cataract surgery about 10 years ago, was warned then it would make oncoming car lights much worse. I'm sure some of these lights are illegal, but what gets done about it, NOTHING.

Then you'll meet the same idiot in low visability rain, fog or snow, runing with driving lights and no tail lights. I was going to stop to complain about this one at police detachment on my way home one day. Then the next car that passed me was a fully equipped police cruiser with no tail lights on. I thought to myself, "Now there would be a wasted bunch of words".

I've made up my mind society is basicly stupid, we have signs up in every little town advising truckers not to use the engine brakes. For my part I always found engine brakes most useful in stop and go traffic, bear in mind I don't drive much hill country. Engine brakes in stop and go traffic, greatly reduce heat build up on brake shoes and drums. We all know how well hot brake shoes and drums work. Yet these same towns will tolerate hundreds of these damn little 4 cylinder cars with British exhaust systems. Had one pass me yesterday, he could create more noise than any Cummins with 65 ton pushing it.

The beam isn't as well focused as regular lights. Drivers think they see better with them because they can see more to the sides (obviously), but there's actually no improvement in seeing what's ahead.

The really bad ones are the cheap aftermarket replacements, although the factory bulbs are bad enough.

roy, you are refering to the xenon headlamps. generally see em on caddys, bmw's benz's ect. i hate em too. just darn blinding. the good thing tho, them rascals run about 2000 grand apiece when they wreck em, soo at least they pay the piper for annoying all regular folks.

What I'm saying is some time the max wattage for Headlights was 35 Watts, some where down the line has that changed, the manurfactures can get buy with making illigal headlights . but wow can they pass State inspections if they are over the limit.

Agree with you. I hate them.
They're found on a lot more cars than Benz's and beamers too. I think you find that your average Toyota and Mazda make pretty regular use of them today...

Rod

Every time I see a car or truck with them on. I pray for a rock to fly up and take them out. My eyes are bad enough at night as it is. Without them making it worse.

I despise them too. Kind of got back at them last evening as I drove home from my kids new home construction site out of town.

I had taken some diesel along to refill my tractor for further backfill work and the extra tank weight in the back of my Ford Ranger did aim my lights a little high. Only about 10-15 gallons in the tank but it did make a difference.

Years ago with two lane roads, I was told to close one eye as you approached the bright lights and then open that eye after the bright light passed, that way you would have a usable vision to help until the other got adjusted. I will even "high beam" somebody on a four lane divided highway if they are bright enough. Leonard

SOOoo that's why they follow so close I can't see their headlamps over my tailgate,they don't want to annoy me.,,,,,,,,,,OR MAYBE NOT