It seems like the newer models have the brightest lights! If you're the driver of that vehicle, that's great. But if you're the person in the other lane w/those spotlights boring holes into the back of your eyeballs, it's awful!

Yes, some are much too bright. I think fewer people dim their lights nowadays. It is equally bad in the review mirror when the person driving behind keeps the lights on bright

Aren't those blue headlights illegal in some states? I have to look down or to the side to avoid getting my retinas burned. That can't really be safe.

What people don't know is, there are two screws on the light to adjust the direction. One is for pitch, and one for yaw. That is, they are aimed incorrectly! Here's how to fix it.

https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/how-to-adjust-your-headlights

I'm pretty sure the people here don't know that lights can be dimmed. We don't have street lights, which I appreciate having true dark but it makes it more challenging for some drivers.

I was almost side swiped this morning because the driver couldn't see traffic in broad daylight because of his mask. Saw an accident yesterday where a car side swiped an 8-wheeler, another mask-event or maybe they should be called mask-adents.

Yes, and I especially hate driving here at night. You can't go anywhere that isn't thru the National Forest. It is a winding, two lane road with no shoulders. 70 mph, but drive that slow and get run over. Up and down hills. Deer and wild hogs and other wildlife abound. Lots of people don't even dim their lights. I try to focus on the white line on the right side of the road.

Give it a rest about the masks please, Raye.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone with a mask over their eyes! YMMV

I just wish they'd cover their noses.

A disrespectful comment.

It's funny. The people I know personally and know of, who have doctoral level education and professions in the health sciences - physicians, dentists, biomedical researchers, etc - ALL, without exception, accept public health and governmental directives and technical science explanations (from Fauci, the CDC, and other sources) concerning the pandemic. Every one of them.

With the exception of the unqualified radiologist moron Atlas, whose academic "home", Stanford University, is trying to distance itself from him, NONE, repeat, NONE of the deniers and people who all along have misunderstood and criticized the pronouncements from knowledgeable sources that I've encountered have anything resembling appropriate credentials. They're less educated. They're not experts in health sciences. Their only qualification is watching Fox News and listening to Rush Limbaugh. Everyone is welcome to whatever opinion they want to have but those who think it reasonable to continue to agitate only make themselves look all the more ridiculous.

Overly brights. I sometimes jokingly refer to them as nuclear powered nobody but me needs to see headlights.

And height matters. Vehicles such as trucks with waist high or higher headlights blind me.

Makes it such that if I don't see the berm, I'm liable to hit it, over-correct and hit the oncoming vehicle head on.

I'm old now but this isn't recent. I used to be a welder so maybe that ruined my night vision. Subsequent employment did however offer me a choice. Drive to work when we need you, or starve. So staying off the road is/was not an option.

So I slow down. Sometimes flash lights to let the approaching driver know they're blinding me, although I'm certain they could care less. They have "rights", "studies have shown", whatever.

Blue headlights? Yes, they are bad. As are the middle of the front super brights that are most likely not legal on the road but... they don't care. The law is not what it is, the law is what they can get by with.

Two extra white headlights that masquerade as driving lights, fog lights (no fog in sight), same thing.

I sometimes ride motorcycle and I'm sure it's at a bad height. I try to aim them properly though... and they're not super-brights, although to see deer, I've thought of getting them. Hitting a deer on a motorcycle is not just inconvenient, it's deadly.

I can still remember a time in Ohio when on a country road a driver approached me from the rear at dusk and switched their lights to "park". That was courtesy. Considerate as opposed to inconsiderate.

Official vehicles, Sheriff, Highway Patrol, etc. seem to be more courteous, whether by choice or force I don't know. Probably a bit of both.

I have issues with this, big time. I look to the side and hope for the best. Between the brighter bulbs and the prevalence of all the higher SUVs snd trucks these days, I feel badly for anyone in a regular car. Every new vehicle I’ve bought, starting from 2001 then 2007 then 2011 then 2016 has gotten progressively brighter. In the newest I get flashed all the time. Sorry, no, my brights aren’t on. I’ve given up on flashing people because 9 times out of 10 I’m guessing wrong.

Sorry for veering off topic. Elmer, whose comment is disrespectful?

Yep, the mask was at the middle of the bridge of his nose partially covering his eyes, see lots of people wearing them that way. Some masks slip up, some slip down, all of them are a unnecessary distraction while driving just like electronics. Keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel. I don't use my phone or other electronic devices while driving. I passed someone on the freeway today with his head down over a device, in the rear view mirror all you could see was the top of his head.

Between the brighter bulbs and the prevalence of all the higher SUVs snd trucks these days

those bother my eyes also. and we have a massive number of the big trucks and SUVs around here (and fast drivers). I just quit driving after dark many years back. Also, there was so much construction on the roads in my area that it just got ridiculous. Sometimes it's getting dark when I get out of W, but I can get home from there without taking any main roads / streets. I just take the backway out of there and a few back roads to home - very little traffic. I just restrict myself to driving before dark.

I was almost side swiped this morning because the driver couldn't see traffic in broad daylight because of his mask. Saw an accident yesterday where a car side swiped an 8-wheeler, another mask-event or maybe they should be called mask-adents.

I googled to read about accidents caused by mask wearing and pages of results primarily point to an accident in NJ back in April, caused not by obstructed vision but possibly by breathing issues from having worn an N95 for too long. Pretty amazing that you should witness not one but two separate sideswiping incidents which you can conclusively attribute to masks being worn too high. Must be a local thing. For all the mask faux pas I’ve observed over the past seven months, up and across the eyes is not one of them.

Here's the scoop:

We own a towing company and tow for multiple law enforcement agencies. We have seen and towed vehicles from accidents caused by drivers being blinded by oncoming headlights so yes it happens.

As far as masks causing accidents, we have not seen any accidents caused by masks blocking vision but we have seen accidents caused by mask induced low oxygen levels and folks passing out. But riddle me this, why are people wearing masks while driving a motor vehicle?

I’d wear a mask if driving with a non household member, or if I were borrowing a car. But overall, it strikes me as odd when I see drivers of otherwise empty cars wearing masks.

A million years ago.... ok, more like 20+ years ago in Wi... I was working automotive when the new brilliant blue 9004. 9005, and 9006 bulbs were just coming out. And they were not legal for a long time because of their brightness. Back then ground effects were rather popular and fairly not legal too.

Fast forward a couple decades and it seems like a LOT of vehicles have brilliant blue lights now, and in multiple states. And it might just be foggy memory, but I swear they are even brighter than those brilliant blues from years ago.

I think part of it is that people can't really adjust their headlights physically like you used to be able to. Some new cars are a royal PITA to just DIY change the bulb. I think to an extent, there is some extra-brightness going into bulbs because you can't really change lens covers and over time those film up. With the old large glass headlights, you got a brand new clear lens with every bulb. And most cars don't have dipping- I had a nice Audi for a while that had dipping headlights, it was a neat function.

I too find the brilliant blues more annoying than the yellow-whites.

The other thing is not only oncoming headlights, but also people behind me at the right height with super brights. I can flick the switch on the rear-view mirror, but when it hits my side mirror just right, that can be really annoying.

And can we just not make this yet another mask thread please? The OP is about car headlights, not every thread needs to be derailed off into other tangent land.

If they are Uber drivers, they are wearing their masks in the vehicles even when they have no passenger as an additional safety measure.

Yes, and I hate the blue ones. After you have had cataract surgery its much worse!

"I was almost side swiped this morning because the driver couldn't see
traffic in broad daylight because of his mask. Saw an accident
yesterday where a car side swiped an 8-wheeler, another mask-event or
maybe they should be called mask-adents."

Most everyone here is masking in public. I see virtually no one driving with them. I think you are mistaken

I do not understand. Why would you wear a mask if you are alone in a vehicle? How is this an additional safety measure?

My vehicle was a second hand one that had aftermarket halogen lights when I bought it. They were a little too bright for me, so we swapped them out for regular bulbs that are just bright enough. Sometimes I think people have their high beams on (illegal in city limits) but it's their regular lights. Nobody needs them that bright inside the city.

I can "shed a bit of light" on masks in cars. We are told not to touch our masks once we have them on. So if I finish one errand and another stop is just a short distance away, I will keep my mask on in the car rather than taking it on and off. Hope this makes sense.

And to stay on topic of car lights. The blue ones especially bother me. Fortunately, I don't need to go out much at night.

It’s rare to see the blue ones here anymore. They were aftermarket bulbs that were very popular for a while, but now that cars come equipped with bright lights it really stands out when someone’s got the ones with a strong bluish tinge. I agree that the yellow ones are brutal but fortunately we don’t have many of those. The worst is those LED light bars that people put on their trucks and Jeeps. Most people are smart enough not to run the ones mounted high, but they will sometimes keep the bumper mounted ones on and although low those can be absolutely blinding.

I've also read that the headlights on newer cars and trucks cost a fortune to replace. Our old 2005 Jag X-Type has just required a new 'bulb' in each headlight and one tail light -- not the whole sealed component. Cheap!

Olychick - nope I could clearly see his mask at the time and got an even clearer look at the light where he was stopped beside me. Elderly man with mask partially covering his eyes, it looked pulled tight like it was too small. When walking into stores where I could easily see drivers, many of them are wearing their masks while driving. The second I'm out of the store mask comes of and gets stuffed in my purse or a pocket.

Thankfully trucks headlights have bulbs that are changed through the back of the assembly.

You seem to have a life filled with unusual experiences that don't happen to the rest of us.

Maybe you should just leave your mask off? Or at least maybe please stop repeatedly voicing your misinformation about them. Your views are well known and by now you've surely noticed that most people don't agree with you because they know better.

When my spouse and I are together in the car running errands, he tends to keep his mask on when our next stop is just a few minutes away. I take mine off, but I have asthma so it's harder for me to keep a mask on comfortably.

It is recommended to wear a mask inside the car if you are with someone not in your "social bubble".

As people age, glare becomes more bothersome. Just one of those things. Light yellow/amber sunglasses can help.

Last year I went to the eye doctor, and one of the things they tried to test was night vision. I don’t remember exactly what it was like, but something like there was a bright light and I was asked to tell them that when some dot disappeared. I said what dot?

jakkom - Have you tried those glasses yourself? After watching some yellow glasses infomercial I googled to see if it’s legit, and the info I saw was that there’s no benefit, if anything there’s harm because it makes a dark condition darker. That dissuaded me from trying.

My high beam control allows me when using low beam to touch it in the opposite direction from turning them on to turn on high beams for only a moment.

Trouble is, sometimes when I flick them on high for a moment, the other driver does the same: his lights that I found uncomfortably bright were already on low beam.

After you install your clean mask when going into a public place and go from that place to your car, you are to assume that it may have been contaminated, so when you remove it, your hands are assumed to have become contaminated, so in need of washing: do you have a tank and sink in your car? Or sanitizing: do you sanitize on removing and following replacing the mask? Carrying it in pocket or purse, you are to assume that it may have contaminated them as well, right?

ole joyful

Yes: all the on and off over and over again and constant adjusting so many are doing is counter to the recommendations that were in place months ago. Recommendations to keep your hands off your face and mask.

I keep a 70 percent alcohol pump dispenser in the console to my right and use it frequently when out in my car. Including right before any touching of my mask occurs. And if I take it off in the car it gets hung on the rear view mirror, so that the only contact points are the ear loops.

However recently it has occurred to me that COVID could come in through the front air vents and accumulate in the cup of the mask, when I have the vents open during atmospheric conditions that result in fogging of the wind shield if the ventilation system is set to recirculate rather than admit outdoor air.

Which of course takes us back to leaving the mask on for the entire trip.

"I'm pretty sure the people here don't know that lights can be dimmed."

If a person does not know how that headlights have a high and low beam setting, and does not know how or when to change those, then that person is not qualified to drive a vehicle on public roads.

More than a like. A standing ovation for jemdandy.

And as far as moosemac's claim:

> As far as masks causing accidents, we have not seen any accidents caused
by masks blocking vision but we have seen accidents caused by mask
induced low oxygen levels and folks passing out.

I would like to see even a shred of evidence to support this unbelievable and improbable assertion. Especially that the tow truck operator would be made aware that that was actually the cause after the investigation determined the facts of the accident.

I don't doubt that some drivers might have made such a spurious claim unsupported by any evidence, as a way to deflect blame for their poor driving. People in such situations concoct all sorts of lies in the hopes of avoiding fines or points or raised insurance rates. But as for there being any truth to those claims. No, just no.

And if there is any driver on the road where wearing a mask actually makes a difference as to whether they remain conscious, then that driver needs to have their driver's license revoked and their keys confiscated immediately.

Bob--here is a link to a 'shred':https://abcnews.go.com/US/driver-crash-passed-wearing-n95-mask-long-police/story?id=70346532

Not definitive but possibly the reason for the crash.

One of the first days after the gym reopened I saw a man pass out from wearing a mask while exercising so yes, it is an issue.

Please stop.

I live in a heavily wooded, semi-rural environment and any street lights are rare. It is darker than dark out there at night!! Locals call it the "black hole of Puget Sound" :-) As I have aged, my night vision is not what it was and I avoid long drives at night if I can help it. High beams are SOP usually but most folks do dim theirs for any oncoming traffic. But blues don't dim the same way and I find them overly distracting and glaring, so tend to look offside slightly until I pass them by.

There was the same problem with lack of cooperation with medical guidelines in 1918 and look where that led.

Suspect the glaring headlights on latter day car models are the same catering to an aggressive mentality that I interpret massive and tall front ends - even on comparatively small models - and general largeness of many trucks and SUVs as being examples of.

I leave in a wooded area also. No road lighting at all. We have security lights which folks use as landmarks when driving this stretch of road. I use my high beams for about the first 5 miles after I leave home as there are only a few yard lights scattered along this road. They are very necessary especially with the deer leaping out in front of my SUV.

I, too, live in a ruralish area with no street lights. The road to my neighborhood is a long, dark, hilly and winding road. I have to use my high beams to light the sides of the road because that's where deer lurk. My last car had Xenon headlights and they were amazing at providing wonderful light. My present car had the option of Xenon or Halogen and I just couldn't take a chance that the Halogen would be less effective, so I chose the model with Xenon, because I knew they worked for me. Both models, former BMW, present Audi, have some kind of feature that adjusts the headlights when a car is approaching so they are not blinded. That feature doesn't work with the high beams but the very bright low beams.

I really hate all the big suv's and trucks that people seem to feel they need to drive these days because if you're in a normal size car, their headlights are right at eye level as they approach you. It's awful sometimes.

Many of us need to drive trucks because we use them for what they were intended, hauling heavy or large loads. I find the small cars with improperly adjusted headlights are just as big an issue. And I still wonder why people that drive small cars often drive right down the middle of the street...

You really do live in an unusual place.

cilantro wrote:

Bob--here is a link to a 'shred':https://abcnews.go.com/US/driver-crash-passed-wearing-n95-mask-long-police/story?id=70346532

Not definitive but possibly the reason for the crash.

But reading that news piece the entirety of the shred of evidence is:
"The crash is believed to have resulted from the driver wearing an N95
mask for several hours and subsequently passing out behind the wheel due
to insufficient oxygen intake/excessive carbon dioxide intake,"

So without any evidence, any measurements, any information, any medical knowledge, the police just made a completely unsupported wild guess as to the cause. So again I say "No. It did not happen."

> One of the first days after the gym reopened I saw a man pass out from wearing a mask while exercising so yes, it is an issue.

False. I'm not saying you are lying. I'll freely accept that you saw a man pass out at the gym while he was exercising. I'll also freely accept that you saw that the man was wearing a mask. But as far as there being a causal relationship, e.g. the man passed out because he was wearing a mask. Nope.

So many unusual and strange happenings in that community. It's almost like an alternate reality.

With so many calamities attributed to mask wearing around there, I fear I would just have to stay home to avoid being harmed by mask wearers! And all the little cars in the middle of the road. Sounds extremely dangerous there.

None of that seems to be happening in my community, just the jerks that won't wear them/properly.

Small cars down the middle of the street more frequently than regular cars, SUVs, pick-up trucks ,(or big trucks, for that matter), Raye?

In that our responsibility is to be in charge of our vehicle at all times, if I have an accident while driving down the middle of the road - I'm judged responsible.

If I can't see when driving, I'm required to stop driving, and if I swing a bit to the left while stopping, caused by blinding headlights on an approaching vehicle, I can expect a lot more trouble than if I stay in my lane, or if on the right lane of the road swing slightly to the right while braking and activating my four-way flashers to warn a driver behind me.

ole joyful