View Full Version : bloody lights!
busasean
16-10-06, 07:41 AM
rant alert!
well its 8.30 on a monday morning and i've just travelled from Hastings into central London and i'm in a foul mood! :evil:
firstly, i've had to put up with all the tossers driving nose to tail with their fog lights on (this is my absolute pet hate!) then as i'm filtering through traffic on the A20 i get an ******** on a new black ZX6R with his light on main beam filtering behind me. after several attempts to cover my mirrors to hint he's blinding me, i pull over to let him through, he then wobbles through (new bike in fairness) so i flash him a couple of times thinking he'll switch off his main beam. at traffic lights i sit and tell him hes got his lights on main beam and they're blinding people, to which he blanks me! in the end i just took off at silly speed to try and get him away from me. if anyone comes up behind a black transalp complete with panniers tonight make sure your lights are not on main beam because i'm likely to bloody well strangle you! inconsiderate selfish ******s!
ahhhh,....... thats better!
:lol: :lol: :lol: What a way to start your day :D Hope it gets better mate. At least it will be sunny later so your ride home should be "light-free" :wink:
Some would consider this as a safety measure. Whilst blinding people, he certainly made sure that he was seen.
Personally, I wouldn't use full beam unless I absolutely had to, side lights are on constantly, and I now look like a copper (thanks to stu).
busasean
16-10-06, 09:27 AM
wont be safe if he keeps on doing it behind me! :evil:
besides which, it doesnt help because it makes it very difficult to judge distance and speed, which means although people can see him they may think he's further away or travelling at a slower pace than he actually is, and then pull out anyway.
also when he causes someone to be blinded or lose concentration and crash it doesnt really make things safer, apart from him of course so thats ok then!
like i said - bit selfish and stoooopid!
DanAbnormal
16-10-06, 10:24 AM
Well I use full beams when filtering on the motorway, makes a huge difference to how cars react to you and they see you a long way off and move over earlier. That said if I get behind another bike I do turn high beams off, no point in burning a hole in their back! :lol:
Gotta say, nothing quite so irritating as bikers using high beams just because. Drives me nuts, plus dangerous. When I've been in the car and had a bike come up behind me with full beams its bloody awful as I get completely dazzled. On more than one occasion its forced me to put the brakes on as I can no longer see anything in front of me.
DanAbnormal
16-10-06, 12:11 PM
Gotta say, nothing quite so irritating as bikers using high beams just because. Drives me nuts, plus dangerous. When I've been in the car and had a bike come up behind me with full beams its bloody awful as I get completely dazzled. On more than one occasion its forced me to put the brakes on as I can no longer see anything in front of me.
Hmm, can't say I've had this complaint from any other cage drivers, I ride into work behind a few cage driving colleagues. But it surely cannot be that bad that you cannot see anything through your front windscreen? It helps me as I've noticed the cars move over and I'll take any help I can get on a busy M25! :wink:
That being said I don't use high beams when I'm sat in a normal road position (i.e. middle of the lane). I only turn them on when I am filtering between lanes which works a treat.
Using high beam around other road users is just the height of rudeness, and makes it incredibly difficult for other road users to judge how far away you are.
Gotta say, nothing quite so irritating as bikers using high beams just because. Drives me nuts, plus dangerous. When I've been in the car and had a bike come up behind me with full beams its bloody awful as I get completely dazzled. On more than one occasion its forced me to put the brakes on as I can no longer see anything in front of me.
Hmm, can't say I've had this complaint from any other cage drivers, I ride into work behind a few cage driving colleagues. But it surely cannot be that bad that you cannot see anything through your front windscreen? It helps me as I've noticed the cars move over and I'll take any help I can get on a busy M25! :wink:
That being said I don't use high beams when I'm sat in a normal road position (i.e. middle of the lane). I only turn them on when I am filtering between lanes which works a treat.
I think I am in total agreement with you. Just to confirm, do you mean daylight only?
DanAbnormal
16-10-06, 12:27 PM
I think I am in total agreement with you. Just to confirm, do you mean daylight only?
Yes, daytime only. Height of rudeness? :lol: . I ride everyday and having them on when filtering makes a big difference, especially when driving in fog or rain. I also only use them on the M'way. But then I guess I'm astill being rude eh!? :roll: Ah well, I can take being called rude if it means I get noticed on the busy highway of death (otherwise known as the M25).
Might as well join the rant.
High beams, rear fog lights when it is not foggy enough, blind me when I'm on the road and are very rude.
I use flashing hazards when I'm filtering and most people get out of the way (without being blinded).
I also often filter daylight only with full beams - usually through slower moving traffic on anything more that dual lanes. If I'm in the car I often notice bikers doing it which is why I have adopted the practice - have never been blinded by it.
DanAbnormal
16-10-06, 12:33 PM
High beams, rear fog lights when it is not foggy enough, blind me when I'm on the road and are very rude.
I use flashing hazards when I'm filtering and most people get out of the way (without being blinded).
And if you don't have hazards?
So I guess I'm rude then. Ah well, nothing new there! 8) :lol:
I use flashing hazards when I'm filtering and most people get out of the way (without being blinded).
Nice to see someone owning up to actually breaking the law then :D
It is illegal to use hazard lights when moving (certain exceptions permitted). Most likely to lead to problems if someone sees one side of you and thinks you are indicating that way.
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And if you don't have hazards?
Get a proper bike! :P :lol:
DanAbnormal
16-10-06, 12:41 PM
Get a proper bike! :P :lol:
Don't make me come over there! :D
But it surely cannot be that bad that you cannot see anything through your front windscreen? It helps me as I've noticed the cars move over and I'll take any help I can get on a busy M25! :wink:
Yes it really can be that bad. The light bounces off the side mirrors AND the rear-view mirror which can (and has to me personally) dazzle the driver. This forces me to hit the brakes because I cannot see what is going on in front of me.
I think I am in total agreement with you. Just to confirm, do you mean daylight only?
Yes, daytime only. Height of rudeness? :lol: . I ride everyday and having them on when filtering makes a big difference, especially when driving in fog or rain. I also only use them on the M'way. But then I guess I'm astill being rude eh!? :roll: Ah well, I can take being called rude if it means I get noticed on the busy highway of death (otherwise known as the M25).
Commuting on the M25 doesn't give you the right to be so rude or dangerous. I've watched car drivers who are forced to take their attention off the road in front of them to change their mirrors because of bikers who have full beam on. Yes you've been seen, but at the detriment of the road users around you, including yourself.
You use high beams in foggy conditions? Do you want to reduce what you can see? :?
I use flashing hazards when I'm filtering and most people get out of the way (without being blinded).
Nice to see someone owning up to actually breaking the law then :D
It is illegal to use hazard lights when moving (certain exceptions permitted). Most likely to lead to problems if someone sees one side of you and thinks you are indicating that way.
Doesn't matter, even did it filtering past a cop car. I only do it(hazards not filtering) for 30ish mph filtering through very congested stationary lanes (I am a hazard see). Admittedly seeing only one side is a problem but then bikes are quite narrow and I'll prob be on their bumper in that view.
DanAbnormal
16-10-06, 12:51 PM
Yes I use them in fog rain, snow, sleet. But only when filtering and I turn them off when I move back in.
Some of you really do make me chuckle, just out of interest do you stare at the sun and then complain that's it's too bright? :lol:
Well each to their own and I certainly won't do anything different purely for the fact that it helps me arrive safe at work and not once have I seen any car swerve dangerously or have to emergency brake because they are totally "blinded". Ah the joys of forum debates. :wink: Maybe you should adjust your mirrors? :wink:
Yup, people on the forum do make me chuckle too. People complain about car drivers attitude and then I see exactly the same attitude in some bikers. 'Hey, I'm going to ride however I want and if anyone else has a problem then tough luck'. Nothing like being a thoughtful road-user is there.
Still think you should get a proper bike, next you'll be telling me it doesn't have Fuel injection :roll: :lol:
Complete utter tosh!!
You're wrong, back down beee-aaatch! :lol:
I tend not to use my mirrors when someone has Full beam but rear fog lamps - you can't avoid looking forward and having your eyes burnt out by a million gigawatt red light.
DanAbnormal
16-10-06, 01:01 PM
Still think you should get a proper bike, next you'll be telling me it doesn't have Fuel injection :roll: :lol:
Oooh you cow Stu! Carbs are for REAL men. Oh and at least I have a proper back tyre, not some skinny pram wheel! :lol:
So by having my full beams on when filtering makes me a menace on the roads does it? A bold statement seeing as you don't even know me. I'm a very considerate person and always try to be helpful. You should not assume that I'm doing it just to annoy cars? I am a very considerate rider most of the time and I do it for my personal safety. If I had every cage driver complain that they were blinded and could not see then I would maybe change my thinking. But it's a minority (so far). You also assume that cage drivers bother to even check their mirrors, even with high beams on some people still don't notice those. Usually big exec cars or women in 4x4's. Not a sexist statement just a trend I've noticed.
DanAbnormal
16-10-06, 01:12 PM
Hmm okay well looks like I could be in the wrong here (yes ME!). :shock: :D
High beams can cause dazzling and it's illegal. So Kate you were correct. Feel free to brandish me as a menace on the roads and chastise me in public. Oh you already have! :lol:
Apparently a better solution is to flash (like a strobe effect) as you are overtaking/filtering. This comes from my bike instructor friend.
Well now I know better.
Personally I find the high beam when filtering rather offensive and would place that in the same boat with rear/front fog lights on when not necessary...
Yes, it does dazzle drivers(even on a bright sunny day).
And the same could be said for bikes riding without headlights on during the day :evil:
DanAbnormal
16-10-06, 01:23 PM
And the same could be said for bikes riding without headlights on during the day :evil:
I don't get it. Or do you mean it's just daft not to have dipped beams on all the time. I'm a bit slow today! :wink:
And the same could be said for bikes riding without headlights on during the day :evil:
I don't get it. Or do you mean it's just daft not to have dipped beams on all the time. I'm a bit slow today! :wink:
Erm...okay...headlights off
Is that perhaps a bit easier to understand :?: :wink: :D
DanAbnormal
16-10-06, 01:33 PM
Erm...okay...headlights off
Is that perhaps a bit easier to understand :?: :wink: :D
As in not on, or do you mean sort of on but not quite off. Or maybe you mean on a bit?
Heh. Yeah I get ya, hey it's Monday I can be thick if I like (and usually not just limited to Mondays!).
Dicky Ticker
16-10-06, 01:42 PM
The offence for riding with healights on full beam to the annoyance of other road users is "Due care and consideration"which carries both points and a fine
Most new bikes have AHO[dip] and I think its only pre 02 bikes that have manual headlight switches that don't come on automatically with the ignition
Hmm okay well looks like I could be in the wrong here (yes ME!). :shock: :D
High beams can cause dazzling and it's illegal. So Kate you were correct. Feel free to brandish me as a menace on the roads and chastise me in public. Oh you already have! :lol:
Apparently a better solution is to flash (like a strobe effect) as you are overtaking/filtering. This comes from my bike instructor friend.
Well now I know better.
Ask a cage user what a flashing headlight would mean and I bet they would say it is an indication to go ahead with whatever move they are planning.
busasean
16-10-06, 01:48 PM
headlights on dipped beam doesnt bother me at all, seeing as my busa,sv, and transalp are all hard wired and cant be turned off anyway. when i'm in my car i dont have a problem with bikes filtering at speed using high beam, what i do get the severe hump with is bikes using main beam ALL the time. when in heavy, slow moving traffic go back to dipped beam so you dont blind people. the idiots who only ride with main beam on should be flogged and made to re take their tests. it must be difficult being so thick and selfish. :evil:
Dicky Ticker
16-10-06, 02:01 PM
In law with regards to headlights a flashing light only means "I AM HERE"and your
interpretation and action you take is your responsibility
EX 1 Faster car behind you when in an overtaking lane I would take to mean move over and let me pass,not very polite but it happens
Ex 2 You are leaving a busy junction and a car stops and flashes his lights at you
I would take that he has stopped or slowed to let you out but it is still your responsibility to ensure it is clear to do so
Very grey and misunderstood area flashing headlights and I only use it as a guide as most people have their own interpretation
High beams can cause dazzling and it's illegal. So Kate you were correct. Feel free to brandish me as a menace on the roads and chastise me in public. Oh you already have! :lol:
Lol, I don't think I actually used the work menace...This thread just kinda got me going after having a biker sit behind me with his lights on full this morning which meant I couldn't filter or move as I couldn't actually see diddly-squat. I don't like feeling blind on the M25!
Can I stick up for Dan & me, I don't think either of us would stick behind the same person car or bike for any length of time with full beam on.
Lol, I don't think I actually used the work menace...This thread just kinda got me going after having a biker sit behind me with his lights on full this morning which meant I couldn't filter or move as I couldn't actually see diddly-squat. I don't like feeling blind on the M25!
Having anyone behind you with their beams on high is dangerous... I was filtering between the traffic on the a13 during winter last year on my way home with some n*b behind me with his lights on full. I couldn't see much ahead of me because he was blinding me which meant I couldn't filter very fast. I wanted to thump the **** for putting me in danger. All it would've taken is the usual salmon driver to leap across my path and I'd have had NO chance to avoid it.
I generally move out of the way for faster filterers so being forced out of the way for my own safety really wound me up.
I tend to weave a bit in filtering space with my lights on dipped beam in the hope that the flickering (rather than steady light) attracts drivers' attention rather than them thinking the light is just another traffic-snarled car's headlight.
Ceri JC
16-10-06, 03:28 PM
My big gripes with lights are:
1. People who think any sort of division between the oncoming lane and themselves (eg central reservation on an unlit dual carriageway) will miraculously prevent oncoming drivers from being blinded by their full beams. They drive along on full beam oblivious to the oncoming traffic flashing its lights.
2. People (usually cagers) who drive down country roads at 35-40mph with dipped beams and even when nothing is coming, don't switch to full beam. When you overtake them (having to use full beam to do so) they invariably manage to keep up at 60mph. Quite why they couldn't put their lights on full beam in the first place is beyond me.
3. People with obscenely bright, or poorly (upwardly) angled lights. Yes, they may actually be dipped, but if every oncoming car is flashing you, thinking you're on high beam, searing their eyeballs with a blast of high beam to show, "no actually, I was using dipped" doesn't make it right.
DanAbnormal
16-10-06, 03:35 PM
Lol, I don't think I actually used the work menace...This thread just kinda got me going after having a biker sit behind me with his lights on full this morning which meant I couldn't filter or move as I couldn't actually see diddly-squat. I don't like feeling blind on the M25!
No you didn't call me a menace, I was just being flippant! :wink: And in that situation I would have got a little bit annoyed as well. But I've realised that despite only ever having high beams on for a short period at a time it may still dazzle other drivers, and I don't want to be the one to cause a problem on the roads. I honestly (maybe foolishly) thought that my high beams would not be that bad. Heyho, you live and learn. :roll:
Our car has xenon headlights and people are always flashing us because they think its on full beam... you can only take it for so long before you give the next guy a retina burning flash of the mains!!
i don't like xenons because of this... wonderful to drive with though!
I think that full beam for filtereing sounds a like a reasonable thing to do, so long as when you are in the 'normal' position or behind another bike you switch to dipped. Its only going to catch one mirror and if the traffic is stationary you'll be past before too long. Only during the day of course, at night it'd be way too bright... though filtering at night you're taking your chances anyway!
is the answer to upgrade your headlight bulbs. I've done this and the effect is dramatic.
Edski
Our car has xenon headlights and people are always flashing us because they think its on full beam... you can only take it for so long before you give the next guy a retina burning flash of the mains!!
Erm...yeah, I would be inclined to get the positioning of the headlights checked if I were you :? I drive pass plenty of cars with xenon headlights and if anything, a correctly set pair of xenons are far less harsh on the eye than any halogen or regular lightbulb :wink:
As for the retina-burning flash...well :pig: :wink:
In law with regards to headlights a flashing light only means "I AM HERE"and your
interpretation and action you take is your responsibility
EX 1 Faster car behind you when in an overtaking lane I would take to mean move over and let me pass,not very polite but it happens
Ex 2 You are leaving a busy junction and a car stops and flashes his lights at you
I would take that he has stopped or slowed to let you out but it is still your responsibility to ensure it is clear to do so
Very grey and misunderstood area flashing headlights and I only use it as a guide as most people have their own interpretation
not being funny here but knowing this will not help you feel better when you are lying in hospital because another driver though you were telling them to go.
i never used to filter with my beams on until i read in another thread that many do it to get them noticed.
not being funny here but knowing this will not help you feel better when you are lying in hospital because another driver though you were telling them to go.
i never used to filter with my beams on until i read in another thread that many do it to get them noticed.
And lying in hospital because I couldn't see the car braking in front of me because of the person behind me had their lights on full and had dazzled me, will make me feel better?
busasean
16-10-06, 06:35 PM
not being funny here but knowing this will not help you feel better when you are lying in hospital because another driver though you were telling them to go.
i never used to filter with my beams on until i read in another thread that many do it to get them noticed.
And lying in hospital because I couldn't see the car braking in front of me because of the person behind me had their lights on full and had dazzled me, will make me feel better?
yep! but its ok kate because THEY will be safe!
Our car has xenon headlights and people are always flashing us because they think its on full beam... you can only take it for so long before you give the next guy a retina burning flash of the mains!!
Erm...yeah, I would be inclined to get the positioning of the headlights checked if I were you :? I drive pass plenty of cars with xenon headlights and if anything, a correctly set pair of xenons are far less harsh on the eye than any halogen or regular lightbulb :wink:
As for the retina-burning flash...well :pig: :wink:
I think they're aligned ok, infact the profile is very well defined and they look quite low. The car has quite hard suspension (Clio 182 with cup packs) so i think when the road is bumpy it must look like they are flashing. And yeah probably shouldnt flash in anger... but sometimes you want to show people what the full beam actually is beaing that they're going out of their way to flash at you.
Dicky Ticker
16-10-06, 07:05 PM
Perhaps my interpretation has been slightly misconstrued here
In short the only thing headlight's do is tell people you are there,PROVIDING, they have seen you------------I personally don't take any notice of what other people think I should do when they flash or signal with headlights. I make my own decisions regarding my safety. The old adage of them not seeing you still applies
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