thats a fair point
How much do you trust an indicator?
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most cars seem to have automatic headlights these days -driving in what might be described as "light dusk" most car headlights tend to be on
and I find LED headlights in night time can be blinding on dip -so bad that often you cant see the road beyond the oncoming car
My 'new' car is 10 years old and is the first I've owned with these auto lights. I can see the logic in this feature, given it's not unusual to see folk driving with no lights on around town when it's dark.
Many other 'features' of modern cars I could do without though.
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We have auto headlights on our two. It has a time delay - if you drive under a short tunnel then the lights may come on, but it will wait a few more seconds before going off again.
It will never make your lights flash as a result of driving under a bridge.
If anyone interpreted someone switching their lights on as giving way then they probably wouldn't make it out of their own street.
It will never make your lights flash as a result of driving under a bridge.
If anyone interpreted someone switching their lights on as giving way then they probably wouldn't make it out of their own street.
They're completely out of control. Manufacturers (especially BMW and VW among others) are deliberately tipping them up, so their driver can see and tells everyone how wonderful their headlights are, and to hell with everyone else.
The MOT light alignment test just isn't being done. I heard one tester on a radio programme about it, he said they adust the dashboard dipping control to make them pass. This is just wrong and is a massive misunderstanding - they should be correctly dipped when set at zero, which requires adjustment under the bonnet. The dashboard adjuster should normally be set at 0, and only needs to be adjusted if there's a lot of weight in the back.
We bought one of ours used with LED/HID headlights, with a fresh MOT by the previous owner before selling. They were horizontal when dipped, and lighting up the trees above on full beam, utterly ridiculous. I adjusted them down, you just need a level surface, a wall in front of you and an allen key. Oh, and you also need to actually care about whether they're aligned properly, which most people don't.
As a Mercedes driver, can someone tell me what indicators are....??
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I find Teslas way too bright, have one following you at night, blinds you via the mirrors even
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It's a shame that auto lights are so necessary.
If it wasn't for people that drove with no lights on at the appropriate times, the legislation might never have happened.
Whilst on the road, always treat every other car as an accident waiting to happen
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From the testers manual. I've highlighted the bit that may have been misunderstood
4.1.2. Headlamp alignment
You must inspect all dipped beam headlamps fitted.The type of headlamp will determine whether the aim must be checked on dipped or main beam (see Diagrams 1, 2 and 3).
A flat top or other alternative headlamp dipped beam pattern is acceptable as long as all of the beam upper edge, including any ‘peak’ is contained within the appropriate tolerance band.
It’s acceptable for masks or converter kits to be fitted to right hand dip headlamps to temporarily alter the lamp for use in the UK by removing the beam ‘kick-up’ to the right.
If driver’s beam aim controls are fitted, you should test the beam aim without altering the control setting. If this would result in failure for beam aim being too low, you should re-check the beam aim with the control set at its ‘highest’ position.
On vehicles with hydro-pneumatic suspension systems, it’s necessary to have the engine running when checking headlamp aim.
I don't have a manual adjustment on mine, it has suspension height sensor arms, front and rear, and adjusts the beam aim, at each switch on, based on it's sensors. With the lights on, they do a quick shuffle, up and down.
My up beam works automatically.
Car comes towards me, my light dips on RH side, and stays on full directly in front of me.
When I come up behind a car, my lights stay up to the right and left, and above, so the car in front is in a little square of it's own, dipped.
When I have the above, behind a car, and I get an oncoming car, I get lights to the left and above the car in front.
This can be quite mesmeric, when you first see it, all happening, need to look at the cars, as well......
Yep, the tester on BBC local radio specifically said they adjust the dashboard adjuster, they set it to 2 or 3 to align it correctly for the test. Then when they see it next year the stupid owner has set it back to 0. All the owner's fault apparently, his idiotic preaching was meant to be some sort of public information announcement to tell people to leave it set as the MOT tester left it.
It just shows how bad things are, when the people doing the tests don't know what they're doing.
I'm absolutely certain that the manufacturers are deliberately setting them too high. They won't need an MOT for 3 years so nobody will intervene.
The worst are the newest cars. Rarer but often even worse are the old pimped up wrecks with an Amazon headlight upgrade kit.
If we had a government that was in any way bothered, they'd send VOSA out to randomly stop and test cars, compile a list of whose cars are worst, name and shame them and ban them from sale until they're fixed. Also require existing cars to have an alignment check at an MOT garage. But none of that will happen.
My posher one does the adjustment automatically, just the same. But there are still overall adjusters, in my case it's two allen key adjusters on each light - one for up/down, another for left/right. These should be routinely adjusted after failing an MOT due to the alignment, but it almost never happens.
Mine also steers the lights left/right round corners when you steer! I found it really weird at first but it's great down twisty lanes, I really miss it in the other one now.
Great. When it works. I had a Range Rover behind, I could sense flickering as it adjusted but it was still melting my eyeballs.My up beam works automatically.
Car comes towards me, my light dips on RH side, and stays on full directly in front of me.
When I come up behind a car, my lights stay up to the right and left, and above, so the car in front is in a little square of it's own, dipped.
When I have the above, behind a car, and I get an oncoming car, I get lights to the left and above the car in front.
This can be quite mesmeric, when you first see it, all happening, need to look at the cars, as well......
The problem with these systems is that they make it apparently OK to drive on full beam all the time. But it will miss some cars, cyclists and pedestrians.
