POLL: Should Xenon headlights be illegal?

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: spidey07
No way. I LOVE my HIDs on my new acura TL. So much safer.

But its getting old having people flash their lights at me. I'm all "you wanna see bright mofo! Here's my BRIGHTS - kablammm!"

yeah uh huh.


you know you are NOT safer with them? IF they are blinding people (which they are since they are flashing you) then it is even MORE dangerous then if you didn't have them?


sigh kids today i swear. When i was younger it was everyone had fog lights on all the time.

Despite complaints from oncoming drivers, the glare from HID lights doesn't seem to cause accidents, hard as that might be to swallow. NHTSA knows of no injuries or deaths caused by HID glare. And University of Michigan studies of HID glare found that, while it annoys oncoming drivers, it doesn't disable them.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/...s/2001-06-07-xenon.htm

Yep, you're less safe.

 

[CraigRT]

HID's are not illegal here (aftermarket)

I had a 5,000K kit in my car, but the novelty wore off and I sold the kit... they were nice for output though, and I rarely got high beamed (they were aimed properly)

 

I find the headlights on my 2004 subaru to be bright enough.

 

[NinjaGnome]

im really sensitive to light and cant drive in the winter unless i have sunglasses on so im not the majority but they hurt my eyes a lot.

 

[LordMorpheus]

Yes. I've been pretty vocal about this subject. . . . it doesn't matter how well aimed your HIDs are when you crest a hill, or if you are driving a landcruiser that has its headlights above the level of my head when I'm sitting in my car . . . in either situation you get a blast of nearly blinding light when you pass these vehicles. Its dangerous, painful, and just impolite in general.

Truthfully, i'd rather have a slightly dimmer view of the road than to be able to see oncoming drivers blindly swerving to and fro.

 

[TechnoKid]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Yes. I've been pretty vocal about this subject. . . . it doesn't matter how well aimed your HIDs are when you crest a hill, or if you are driving a landcruiser that has its headlights above the level of my head when I'm sitting in my car . . . in either situation you get a blast of nearly blinding light when you pass these vehicles. Its dangerous, painful, and just impolite in general.

Truthfully, i'd rather have a slightly dimmer view of the road than to be able to see oncoming drivers blindly swerving to and fro.

Is not halogen headlights still blinding when they too crest over a hill? I find this blast of light equally blinding if you will, be it from halogen or HID.

 

[glugglug]

Originally posted by: TechnoKid

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Yes. I've been pretty vocal about this subject. . . . it doesn't matter how well aimed your HIDs are when you crest a hill, or if you are driving a landcruiser that has its headlights above the level of my head when I'm sitting in my car . . . in either situation you get a blast of nearly blinding light when you pass these vehicles. Its dangerous, painful, and just impolite in general.

Truthfully, i'd rather have a slightly dimmer view of the road than to be able to see oncoming drivers blindly swerving to and fro.

Is not halogen headlights still blinding when they too crest over a hill? I find this blast of light equally blinding if you will, be it from halogen or HID.

I hate halogens as well, even though they are on most everything now, and yes, I seriously believe it would be safer with the old incandescent headlights from the early 80s and before. Still halogens are nowhere near as bad as HIDs. I put my dark sunglasses on when walking at night because of the glare from HIDs in the cross traffic of an intersection I'm approaching from 1/8 mile away. If the offending vehicle is approaching from the opposite direction rather than perpendicular (i.e. walking against the traffic), it is blinding even with 18% transparency polarized sunglasses from well over a mile away.

 

[ed21x]

Originally posted by: bR

Originally posted by: theNEOone
um, they are illegal.

xenon (or HIDs, as many refer to them) that are properly installed (self levelling or manufacturer installed) work beautifully w/o blinding oncoming traffic and are sanctioned by the DOT. the problem (and here is where the illegal HIDs come in) is w/ people who put on aftermarket HID kits and set them so that they point too high.


=|

so they are legal

only if it's stock

 

[Ime]

I just drive with my high beams on all the time!

j/k

I don't have a problem with HID, of course being in a truck means I'm normally higher than the cutoff line.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: bozack
I was going to say the aftermarket kits have been nixed but the factories if anything I thought were more safe since they allowed not only for better driver vision but also oncomming could see them from a further distance...I can only hope my next car has hids

the oncoming car can already see headlights several miles away...I don't think adding any brightness is going to help safety.

I think that HIDs can be legal...but only if the cops REALLY start cracking down on proper headlight aiming.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: theNEOone
um, they are illegal.

xenon (or HIDs, as many refer to them) that are properly installed (self levelling or manufacturer installed) work beautifully w/o blinding oncoming traffic and are sanctioned by the DOT. the problem (and here is where the illegal HIDs come in) is w/ people who put on aftermarket HID kits and set them so that they point too high.


=|

WTF are you talking about??? no they are not illegal and you can get it as an option or in some cases stardard equipment on new vehicles.

 

[eelw]

Dont ban the headlights. Ban the stupid idiots who don't install them correctly.

 

[ski2slow]

Originally posted by: eelw
Dont ban the headlights. Ban the stupid idiots who don't install them correctly.

I agree. I wish I had them on my car.

 

[glugglug]

I've seen them on motorcycles too. Those of course are not properly aimed because how can you accurately set the direction of a light on a vehicle that tilts for balance on turns? At least there it is sort of justifiable because the need to stand out/be noticed by surrounding traffic on a motorcycle is far more real.

 

[Ikonomi]

There was an older thread almost exactly like this one. Let's see... Here we go!

Anyway, no, I don't think they should be illegal if they're done right. Real HIDs are the bee's knees, and I'm not just saying that because I have a pair of them here ready to install tomorrow.

Xenon bulbs in badly-aimed reflectors are no good, though. Cheap, blue-tinted bulbs also suck, because they put out less light than normal halogens. Real HIDs aren't blue -- the blue halo is a result of the optics that focus the beam. My Inova X1 flashlight produces the same effect. Projector HIDs are nice. They cast more light onto the road, and less into the faces and mirrors of other drivers.

Of course, on a truck or SUV, they can be a problem, but in my opinion, they're no worse than normal halogens on a vehicle that sits that high. Dodge Rams and Lincoln Navigators in particular tend to shine their lights directly into my side mirrors, which unfortunately don't dim. I should note that I've never been blinded by any HIDs -- only by halogens.

 

[acemcmac]

if I had a nickel for every time I had to slow down to an unsafe speed on a backroad just because an SUV wanted to put his HID's in my back window and blind me, I'd buy my own HID's

:|

 

[PMFleXXX]

Originally posted by: glugglug

Originally posted by: TechnoKid

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Yes. I've been pretty vocal about this subject. . . . it doesn't matter how well aimed your HIDs are when you crest a hill, or if you are driving a landcruiser that has its headlights above the level of my head when I'm sitting in my car . . . in either situation you get a blast of nearly blinding light when you pass these vehicles. Its dangerous, painful, and just impolite in general.

Truthfully, i'd rather have a slightly dimmer view of the road than to be able to see oncoming drivers blindly swerving to and fro.

Is not halogen headlights still blinding when they too crest over a hill? I find this blast of light equally blinding if you will, be it from halogen or HID.

I hate halogens as well, even though they are on most everything now, and yes, I seriously believe it would be safer with the old incandescent headlights from the early 80s and before. Still halogens are nowhere near as bad as HIDs. I put my dark sunglasses on when walking at night because of the glare from HIDs in the cross traffic of an intersection I'm approaching from 1/8 mile away. If the offending vehicle is approaching from the opposite direction rather than perpendicular (i.e. walking against the traffic), it is blinding even with 18% transparency polarized sunglasses from well over a mile away.

Since you seem to have problems with all lights, perhaps you just have sensitive eyes? :roll: Eat some carrots, Mr. Headlight-Nazi.

<- Proud and thankful for his Sylvania SilverStars (they most definetely allow me to see better along these wooded roads)

 

[TechnoKid]

Originally posted by: acemcmac
if I had a nickel for every time I had to slow down to an unsafe speed on a backroad just because an SUV wanted to put his HID's in my back window and blind me, I'd buy my own HID's

:|

have you ever had a lexus RX330(the newest one) behind you? I'm sure you'd be surprised at how little glare shine on you; I was, some of the best suv projectors imo. Escalade are bad, partly because they use reflectors and not projectors. On my dad's car which i drive often, it has an auto dimming mirror. I find these autodimming mirrors to be superior to conventional ones.

 

[Ophir]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Yes. I've been pretty vocal about this subject. . . . it doesn't matter how well aimed your HIDs are when you crest a hill, or if you are driving a landcruiser that has its headlights above the level of my head when I'm sitting in my car . . . in either situation you get a blast of nearly blinding light when you pass these vehicles. Its dangerous, painful, and just impolite in general.

Truthfully, i'd rather have a slightly dimmer view of the road than to be able to see oncoming drivers blindly swerving to and fro.

If you're "swerving to and fro" because of headlights (regardless of how bright they are), you should not be allowed to drive.

From the drivers handbook:
Dont look directly into oncoming headlights. Look toward the right edge of your lane. Watch the oncoming car out of the corner of your eye.

It's not that hard to do.

 

[Anubis]

i hate them normal ones work fine and dont burn my retnas

 

[Cooljt1]

i dont have a problem with hids as much as i do with lifted suvs or trucks when they are behind me blinding me from all my mirrors.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: PMFleXXX

Originally posted by: glugglug

Originally posted by: TechnoKid

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Yes. I've been pretty vocal about this subject. . . . it doesn't matter how well aimed your HIDs are when you crest a hill, or if you are driving a landcruiser that has its headlights above the level of my head when I'm sitting in my car . . . in either situation you get a blast of nearly blinding light when you pass these vehicles. Its dangerous, painful, and just impolite in general.

Truthfully, i'd rather have a slightly dimmer view of the road than to be able to see oncoming drivers blindly swerving to and fro.

Is not halogen headlights still blinding when they too crest over a hill? I find this blast of light equally blinding if you will, be it from halogen or HID.

I hate halogens as well, even though they are on most everything now, and yes, I seriously believe it would be safer with the old incandescent headlights from the early 80s and before. Still halogens are nowhere near as bad as HIDs. I put my dark sunglasses on when walking at night because of the glare from HIDs in the cross traffic of an intersection I'm approaching from 1/8 mile away. If the offending vehicle is approaching from the opposite direction rather than perpendicular (i.e. walking against the traffic), it is blinding even with 18% transparency polarized sunglasses from well over a mile away.

Since you seem to have problems with all lights, perhaps you just have sensitive eyes? :roll: Eat some carrots, Mr. Headlight-Nazi.

<- Proud and thankful for his Sylvania SilverStars (they most definetely allow me to see better along these wooded roads)

'bout what he said. Your story is pure BS - vast majority of hids have auto levellers and/or are pointed downwards (like the most headlights), so unless you're crawling on all 4s, theres no way those things could blind you.

I've had some really low cars (nissan 300zx) and trucks with hids didnt bother me any more than trucks in general. (especially those fvcking thins with liftkits and such) Either way i get blinded from behind and the difference was neglligible. Same goes for cars going over crests.... you get blinded either way for that fraction of a second, so deal with it

 

[glugglug]

Just for clarification: I'm not talking about getting blinded from behind (although I'm sure that happens too, I haven't had a car in 4 years so haven't driven much since HIDs been around -- it's a walking city). I get blinded by HIDs in oncoming traffic and traffic running perpendicular to me at intersections. Not talking about out of the corner of my eye either, the HIDs are too bright when I am half a block from the street they are on. Actually as far as the light way off to the side goes, the daytime running light HIDs are strangely worse than the main headlight ones.

As far as hills/bumps/etc, that's pretty much a continuous thing, the streets here aren't exactly pothole-free. Mercedes and BMWs seem to be the worst offenders, those are the auto-levelers right? Maybe the auto-leveling goes up quicker than it goes down causing a really bad interaction with all the bumps/potholes.

 

[DaWhim]

I hate them as well. but I guess I am gonna join them. screw you!

 

[oogabooga]

no but people need to aim their headlights better so that they arn't aimed up at people's eyes