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Rant about headlights

Started 1 year ago by Flyonthewall
Latest reply from redblack

Flyonthewall
Member Profile

Folks - if it's after 4 pm these days you need to have your car lights on. It's very hard to see dark cars at dusk.

That also applies to rain and snow storms - turn them on!

Posted 1 year ago #
hooper1961
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and pedestrians please wear visible clothing, you maybe in a crosswalk but if you are wearing all dark clothing you may not be seen even though you have the right of way you lose

Posted 1 year ago #
redblack
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and use those taxpayer-funded SDOT-provided bicycle lights, please.

rule of thumb: if the wipers go on, the headlights go on.

Posted 1 year ago #
KatherineL
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I've noticed, too, how hard it is to see people when they step into the line of traffic to open their car doors. Nearly everyone wears dark blue or black. I've nearly hit someone a couple of times; just couldn't see them. Then I look at myself, I'm wearing a dark blue coat. Does anyone know where to get those reflective strips you can pin onto a sleeve?

Posted 1 year ago #
ToddinWestwood
Member Profile

KatherineL- go to a sports store or a bicycle shop and they have velcro arm/wrist bands that are either reflective or have a flexible led flashing light inside.

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/3842,25887_Castelli-Cycling-Lighted-Reflective-Arm-Band.html

http://www.amazon.com/Nitezone-Ankle-Reflective-armband-Safety/dp/B0014S3CRA

Posted 1 year ago #
redblack
Member Profile

katherine: big peeve of mine.

a better idea is to wait for an opening in traffic before you open your car door, and think about loading your cargo on the passenger side, so you don't have to stand on the street side while unloading. and watch out for that bike lane. cars are easy to see coming, but a fast-moving ninja cyclist can do some damage, too.

in my opinion, if a driver hits someone's door - or the someone! - that someone has a bit of responsibility to keep himself/herself safe. and if the driver swerves to avoid wiping out a door, he runs the risk of head-on collision.

i.e. just because one has every right to fling his car door open without looking doesn't mean that he should.

Posted 1 year ago #
KatherineL
Member Profile

Actually, Redblack, opening a car door into traffic isn't a right. You can get a ticket for it:

SMC 11.58.050 Opening and closing vehicle doors.

No person shall enter, leave, or open the door of a motor vehicle on the side adjacent to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle adjacent to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers. (RCW 46.61.620)

Which means, if there's an accident, the driver of the oncoming car isn't liable.

Posted 1 year ago #
austin
Member Profile

To add to redblack's rule of thumbs, back when I would operate vehicles my rule was if it's too dark for sunglasses, headlights on.
Also, if you can't see a pedestrian based on the color of the clothing that they're wearing, it might be time for a trip to the optometrist, new headlights, or possibly a bus pass.

Posted 1 year ago #
lucky chick
Member Profile

You can buy strips of reflective fabric at any fabric store. They are incredibly bright when headlights hit them, and much cheaper than stuff you buy at bike shops.
.
But... a month ago I was lit up (on my bike) like a xmas tree with five lights and a Illuminite (highly reflective) jacket and that didn't stop some numbskull driver from turning in front of me and hitting me. Drivers, please just be aware of something besides how quickly you want to get home for dinner.

Posted 1 year ago #
hooper1961
Member Profile

austin - dark, raining and dark clothing is a bad combination for pedestrians/bicyclists. per lucky chick even with proper lighting drivers screw up; but without reflective/light colored clothing the likelihood of screw goes up a lot.

Posted 1 year ago #
celeste17
Member Profile

Also, have your headlights checked at least once a year (why not do it when you have your emissions checked). Have them checked to see if one is out and get them aimed. I am very light sensitive and hate it when I am across the street (on the opposite side)and I am getting blinded by your headlights. On the East Coast by law you have to have this done.

Posted 1 year ago #
austin
Member Profile

hooper1961 - More simply put, if one is unable to tell the difference between where one should be driving their vehicle and where they should not, there is either something wrong with the vehicle itself, the person's ability to operate the vehicle, or the person's ability to accurately perceive their surroundings.

Posted 1 year ago #
hooper1961
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austin all i am saying is be smart as a pedestrian/bicyclists when it is rainy and dark; wearing light colored clothing helps visibility a lot for everyone.

crosswalk paint has never successfully stopped a 2,000 lb mass of steel to my knowledge the pedestrian may be in the right but if you are not seen you lose.

Posted 1 year ago #
lucky chick
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I hate that argument that the bigger vehicle wins. OBEY the law and DON'T run peds/cyclists over. It's not my responsibility to make sure you don't run me over; it's YOUR responsibility to know when there's a ped/bike in front of you. Take responsibility for your actions.

Posted 1 year ago #
miws
Member Profile

I've always like the idea of daytime running lights. (Headlights on at all times).

Back when I had my one and only car, I don't think I drove with the lights on on totally clear days, (Unless I was on a two lane highway) however, would turn them on even if it was heavily overcast, and especially if it was raining. Just had to remember to turn them off ('67 VW Beetle).

Rarely drive nowadays, but when I do, it's someone else's car, naturally, so will usually drive with the lights on all the time, since I'm extra super cautious with other people's stuff. Unless they're with me, and complain about the extra gas being wasted having the lights on. ;-)

I just figure even if it's just a tiny bit of extra help in being visible, it's worth it. Plus, most, if not all cars made in the last several years have, at a minimum, a "Lights On" warning buzzer.

Mike

Posted 1 year ago #
Genesee Hill
Member Profile

hooper1961:

I totally agree. 4:55 PM, pouring rain, approaching headlights, crosswalks that cannot be discerned because of glare/reflection.

Been there, should not be driving. Things that are learned with experience.

2,000 lbs? Is one driving a 1964 MG Midget? Austin-Healey Sprite?

Posted 1 year ago #
miws
Member Profile

Celeste, and others, I have poor night/crappy rainy weather vision.

Way back when, when I was tooling around in V-WEEEE, (my car's vanity plate) I had a pair of clip-on glare reducing glasses. same/similar to these:

Although they didn't eliminate the glare completely, they greatly reduced it.

Night vision and glare are a huge issue for me. One example I'd use when describing it to others, was if, heading west/southbound on Fauntleroy, past 35th, if I didn't know that the traffic light was there at Fauntleroy & Oregon. I could very well run it when red, as it blended in with the streetlights, and bright lights from the car lots.

Mike

Posted 1 year ago #
JimmyG
Member Profile

Crosswalk paint has nothing to do with it hooper.

I hope you realize that EVERY intersection is a legal crosswalk.

So to all those California Ave SW drivers giving me the stink eye while I cross (in my light clothing and flashlight) I'm in a crosswalk, learn the law.

Posted 1 year ago #
hooper1961
Member Profile

i flat out know every intersection is a crosswalk AND MORE PEDESTRIANS ARE KILLED IN MARKED CROSSWALKS THAN IN UNMARKED ONES. in many instances marked crosswalks provide a false sense of security.

jimmyg i do not know why you personalized this; all i was saying is the best safety measure is to make your self visible. crossing a street anytime requires diligence and wearing dark clothing at night when it is raining and crossing a street is like playing russian roulette.

Posted 1 year ago #
Genesee Hill
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Amen! The only crosswalks I have had close calls in were the MARKED ones! False sense of security, indeed! Hoop, this is something I can agree on. That, and raising the tax on gasoline.

Posted 1 year ago #
redblack
Member Profile

celeste: headlights are easy to check/replace, and you can usually see how good or bad they are by pointing them at a wall. aiming instructions are available on the internet, and only require the use of a screwdriver and level pavement 10' in front of a wall or garage door.

it's the brake lights that need to be checked. if yours are out, how do you know until another person sees them not working? you could try to put a weight on the pedal, but you need a concrete block or something similarly heavy.

having a small car, i use the chrome bumpers of SUV's and work trucks as mirrors, and when they pull up behind me, i look in my rearview mirror to make sure my tail lights, brake lights, and license plate lights are on.

i also try to tell other drivers if they have rear lights out, but they usually think i'm asking them for money or trying to do something nefarious.

regarding crosswalks, while it's the law that drivers have to stop once a ped steps off of the curb, i don't do anything that puts my safety at the mercy of a moving car.

this includes standing too close to the curb whilewaiting for a walk signal. i think people stand or walk too close to traffic. whether they're defying cars to hit them or just plain oblivious, they're leaving themselves open to misery.

Posted 1 year ago #
miws
Member Profile

To add to redblack's suggestion on brake light checking, if the opportunity ever arises to back into a parking spot in front of a building with large, low, windows such as a convenience store, or strip mall, that's another good place to check.

The parking garage I worked at back in the early '90's was in a building that opened new in 1991. For much, if not all my nearly three years working there, they had some windows stored, against a wall, on the bottom level of the garage.

Since I drove my car through every morning on a cleanliness check, I'd occasionally use those windows as my brake light check. :-)

Mike

Posted 1 year ago #
redblack
Member Profile

funny you should say that, mike. i recently had a short in my brake light wiring due to a leaky tail light gasket. you'd be surprised to discover just how difficult it is to find windows at the right height and angle to give you the reflection you need.

and at how difficult it is to hold down a brake pedal with an inanimate object. (friends are the best resource; don't even try to use a cat to help you.)

Posted 1 year ago #