Those rediculously bright blue headlights need to be banned!

[Red Squirrel]

I stopped by my parents house and as I was leaving some guy was behind me with these lights for a small portion of my drive back home. During the whole drive I could barely see anything because it felt as if I stared right into the sun for half an hour without stopping.

My eyes STILL hurt and it's been about half an hour. When I close them I can still see the car. Seriously, why are these even street legal? There's no reason to have headlights that bright unless it's on a search helicopter.

 

[thescreensavers]

8k HID's?

 

[Matthiasa]

You know your mirror can be adjusted to prevent that.

And they get used and are legeal since they "increase visibility".

 

[coxmaster]

8k HID's?

Most likely, and obviously without projectors

 

[shocksyde]

They're not legal. Cops just don't really enforce it (around here).

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

You do know your rear view mirror has a 'night' mode, yes?
You know, the little tab or lever that changes the angle of the mirror so you can still see but, dims the light of high beams or, those "rediculously bright blue headlights."

 

[lxskllr]

I don't like them either. There also seems to be more tards that like to use high beams all the time. They never would have made it 20 years ago when your only choices in headlights were square, rectangle, or round....

 

[destrekor]

The problem with the lights is they are not made to just be thrown into the socket. Professionally installed, you can tell they are they HIDs, but they aren't blinding, because they are installed correctly at the right angle.

 

[Nik]

They require different reflectors. Dumbasses buy the HIDs and put them in with standard reflectors because they're cheapass dipshits.

 

[MotF Bane]

They aren't really legal, but it's not well enforced.

 

[HeXen]

got me some. Plus my two lower fog HID's..its called Outshine and getting more common for some reason.
I also have tinted windows and my rear mirror has a simple night tab so no one else's bother me anyway.
you could also just switch lanes or slow down so much so that they go around you or just pull over or something...anything to get out of the way, kinda silly to just let it bother your eyes.

 

[destrekor]

They aren't really legal, but it's not well enforced.

They can be factory installed and even a standard option. I find it difficult to believe they are illegal.

Probably some law issue about them installed aftermarket with improper equipment.

As Nik stated, there is more to them than just the bulb.

Even if they do buy the full assembly, the light can be functionally installed correctly, and improperly installed, which seriously impacts other drivers.

If they are installed correctly, they don't really do anything for other drivers, besides being far more visible.
I really like when they are on other cars, installed properly. You can see them clearly, but they don't appear any more bright than other lights. It's a very odd effect to describe.
And from the car the lights provide far more illumination of the ground and surrounding environment ahead. They just need to be aimed down correctly.

 

[Nik]

They're legal in oregon provided the vehicle they're on came with them from the factory.

 

[PrinceofWands]

You know your mirror can be adjusted to prevent that.

And they get used and are legeal since they "increase visibility".

Actually a number of states ban them because they cause instant vision problems for some people, to say nothing of being distracting to most everyone. It won't be long before they're banned everywhere.

For me they cause an instant headache, and within a few seconds of seeing one I get blurred or ghosted vision. Doesn't matter how they're installed or focused, it happens the INSTANT I see one from just about any angle.

 

[Red Squirrel]

You do know your rear view mirror has a 'night' mode, yes?
You know, the little tab or lever that changes the angle of the mirror so you can still see but, dims the light of high beams or, those "rediculously bright blue headlights."

In my case I was backing out of the driveway and he was at the stop sign a bit further down, so while I looked behind while backing up, is when it blinded me. I probably should have waited till he passes. I've also had them coming in the opposite direction, night mirror mode don't help then either.

Even in the day, those are blinding. It's not only the brightness, but the light spectrum. Normal head lights have a yellow to them, which is less hard on the eyes. It's actually why they make street lights orange, they are less blinding, yet still bright enough to light up the road.

 

[thescreensavers]

got me some. Plus my two lower fog HID's..its called Ricer glare and getting more common for some reason.
I also have tinted windows and my rear mirror has a simple night tab so no one else's bother me anyway.
you could also just switch lanes or slow down so much so that they go around you or just pull over or something...anything to get out of the way, kinda silly to just let it bother your eyes.

fixed

 

[KeithTalent]

Hate those freaking things, I get blinded by oncoming cars all the time. Damn hazard is what they are.

KT

 

[Rubycon]

Several things come into play here...

First of all the laws limit wattage not lumens. HID lamps have much better efficacy than incandescent (tungsten-halogen) lighting. This is why a legal (wattage) 50W HID lamp is much brighter than a 50W (also legal) quartz-halogen capsule.

These lights don't produce an even spectrum like tungsten lamps either. It's VERY spiky and often in the case with Chinese lamps having a very HIGH output in the blue and near UV region. Bulbs over 5000K actually HAMPER visibility rather than help. 4100K lamps provide best illuminating power without giving everything a morbid blue cast.

Finally comes control and cut off. It's extremely important to have the edge of the light pattern cut off abruptly so the light does not impair the vision of oncoming drivers and pedestrians! What a lot of people do is retrofit their existing optics/fixtures with a third party HID kit. While this may physically fit the reflector, the lens is computer designed to produce the best cut off pattern and throw for highway use. Putting a short arc metal halide capsule in there can have near disastrous results with blinding sidespill in all directions. This is a super nuisance to other drivers! Adding the high Kelvin lamps exacerbates the issue more.

This is one thing that SHOULD be enforced. (along with flatulent sounding tail pipes and ghetto sound systems with no highs)

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

For me they cause an instant headache, and within a few seconds of seeing one I get blurred or ghosted vision. Doesn't matter how they're installed or focused, it happens the INSTANT I see one from just about any angle.

Lol wat? You think they emit poison photons or something? Do you get a headache when you walk around in full sunlight? Sounds like it's all in your head.

 

[ShawnD1]

You know your mirror can be adjusted to prevent that.

And they get used and are legeal since they "increase visibility".

My friend figured this one out. You can adjust the driver side mirror so it shoots the headlights of the car behind you directly into the driver's eyes.

 

[thescreensavers]

ahh!!

lol, The highest I would get would be 6k but that's me. 6k in the headlights 3k in the fogs. Looks nice imo

 

[SparkyJJO]

HID retrofit in a halogen reflector = BAD. I certainly agree.

I did some number checking and a 35W HID bulb has nearly the same number of lumens as a halogen 65W high beam lamp. Put 50W HID bulbs in there and it is even worse D:

HIDs always need a projector, or a reflector designed for them. When I see someone saying "hey check out my HIDs they're so bright" I'm like "yeah good job blinding other traffic." I usually get strange looks, or this one guy I know will argue until he is red in the face about why HIDs in halogen reflectors are "just fine."

Also, those really blue lights don't do much for visibility. I'm running 5000k bulbs.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

ahh!!

lol, The highest I would get would be 6k but that's me. 6k in the headlights 3k in the fogs. Looks nice imo

Looks stupid

 

[Anonemous]

I guess that's why some ppl have CDs in the back.

 

[thescreensavers]

Looks stupid

pfft