What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
No HIDing place
I am amazed that I read or hear so few complaints about bright white or Xenon headlights. At the moment there are still relatively few on the road but I dread to imagine how it would be like if everybody had them. Anyone who drives at night will know how irritating and dangerous these things are. It was a big mistake to ever legalize them. I am not just talking about the badly adjusted ones, of which there are many, but also the correctly adjusted ones have a way of dazzling, sometimes from both the rear view mirror and the side mirrors. Moreover, they often seem to belong to an enormous 4x4 further exacerbating the effect. Consequently, drivers are obliged to drive with the rear view mirror in 'dipped' position; this greatly limits the amount of detail one can make out. Some will argue that these lights improve night-time vision, but it is at the expense of the safety and comfort of the majority. How about starting a campaign for their abolition?
Asked on 14 February 2009 by
Answered by
Honest John
By EC law the dipped beams of HID Xenons have to be automatically self-adjusting. The trouble is that the self-adjusting mechanisms are often too slow to cope with undulations in the road, or they simply break. And a big SUV like a Porsche Cayenne overtaking on the motorway seems to dip its lights directly into the average driver’s right door mirror. I agree. A dangerous menace.
Similar questions
Is it just me or are the new discharge daylight headlights on new cars extremely harsh / bright on the eyes? The 'old' tungsten headlights don't dazzle, and to my eyes are preferable. What do other people...
I am being constantly blinded in the last few weeks by new Skodas, Mercedes and Audis with unfocused, super bright LEDs presumably used as 'always on' daylight running lights. These are much brighter than...
There was a time when car sidelights were not very bright but adequate: headlights dazzled on full beam and but not when dipped. Lower lights were classed as fog lights and usually pointed to the near...
Related models
Refined with sports-car like handling. Great performance. Low emissions from hybrid version. Stylish and high-class cabin. Frugal diesel.