Discussion » Questions » Transportation » When you’re driving, which of the two following things are you more likely to do?

When you’re driving, which of the two following things are you more likely to do?


1. Forget to turn on the high beams when they are needed. 

2. Forget to turn off the high beams when they are no longer needed.




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Posted - September 25, 2019

Responses


  • Option 1...I seem to chronically forget whenever I'm on a poorly lit road I'm not familiar with that this invention exists. 
      September 25, 2019 7:09 AM MDT
    2

  • 19942
    I rarely have to do either.  Sometimes, when I want to use my directional signal, I will push the lever back and the brights will go on unintentionally.  I turn them off as soon as I realize they're on.
      September 25, 2019 7:17 AM MDT
    1

  • 3684
    From all the night driving I've done, I'd say the forgetfulness is usually the other way round and single-way: forgetting to dip the lights when approaching another vehicle, but often reverting to full beam too early.

    So having dazzled the other driver by not dipping your ultra-intense lamps until only quarter of a mile away, you then blast his peripheral vision with a bright flash as you pass! 

    In fact I can't see how you could forget to put the main beams on in full darkness with no traffic approaching, because the difference between dipped and full is so great.

    I deliberately do not revert to full beam until a little past the other, so I can see if another car is approaching by the glow even if around a bend, but have unfortunately sometimes dipped late. Occasionally that's when taken by surprise thanks to the other's lights being hidden beyond a local summit or blind bend, but it might be an early sign of tiredness: not good. In fact driving when too tired is now illegal, so it's a sign to find a layby for a short rest.

    A hell of a lot of people also think it's illegal to drive with the fog-lamps turned off even in fully-clear air months after the last hint of the slightest mist. Errr, it's the opposite: illegal to drive with them on except in fog!

    +++

    My home gives an unexpected clue to the brightness of modern car headlamps, even on the dip beam. For a while I was puzzled by faint, momentary but definite glows on the bedroom wall opposite the window. I observed eventually that the light was from vehicles rounding a hairpin bend on a hill somewhat higher in altitude than my window, but a good two to three miles away on the straight line that light obeys. 
      November 1, 2019 4:54 PM MDT
    1