Cycling UK Forum

I was already slowed down to about 10mph. The light was too much to see and it took a few seconds to get vision back. There would have been no way past if you didn't drive "through" the wall of light and no vision. Seriously its not have thought such a loss of vision read possible from bike lights.

BTW I know it was not a safe situation. I saw the hazard so slowed before I got close to the spot where the light might get too bright to see. That caused a decrease in gap between cars behind me. I also slowed to make sure the car passing them was past the area of the hazard. I then proceeded knowing that up to the loss of visibility there was no vehicle, cyclist or pedestrian in the hazard area other than the cyclists themselves. It was at safe as you could make it without stopping and ripping the lights off their bikes and his helmet before moving on. A thought that crossed my mind.

9494arnold wrote:I agree with the RAC , I am frequently hit by what I consider to be high beams which aren't

And if we are on dishonourable mentions the Local Mountain Bike crowd need a gentle reminder that 4 million lumens (or whatever it is)? on a helmet lamp is probably fine in the woods but it does not endear them to passing motorists in a well lit urban road.

I don't think it's just the mountain bike crowd who misuse head torches.
Round here they seem to be common for all types of riders, generally as the only front light.
There are a number of issues, not least is dazzle, but also when the head is turned the light 'vanishes', and the position of the light does not always say 'cyclist' (more usually astonishing is that?)

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly using hovercraft full of eels.

Bonefishblues wrote:Xenons auto-level IIRC. It's only the older bulbs that have a manual adjuster.

yes I'd heard that but on the occasions I've had less plebby hire cars for work purposes that have the brighter bluer/whiter headlamps (which isn't much less plebby now really, almost all but the cheapest new cars seem to have them), they still have an adjuster dial - for the VW derived cars with their annoying habit of sticking all the light controls on the front panel below and to the right of the steering wheel it's usually there.

If dazzled one should close one eye, then open it when past the light (so the pupil does not shrink)

A driver of a Merc lifestyle-tank flashed their LED full beam at me whilst I was driving today. They were shockingly bright, like a proper camera flash going off. They were merely acknowledging my having given way, but I'm afraid my response was a vigorous shaking of my head (no, please don't thank me Mr Merc). There's something extra unpleasant about these LEDs being flashed, as they are much more sudden in actuation than a halogen flashed bulb.

And since when did drivers start signal gesturing other road users with flashing front lights AT NIGHT. I don't recall this practise happening years ago, but it seems endemic these days.

Sorry, rant over.

Chelsea Tractor, now Lifestyle Tank? Hilarious.

CREPELLO wrote:A driver of a Merc lifestyle-tank flashed their LED full beam at me whilst I was driving today. They were shockingly bright, like a proper camera flash going off. They were merely acknowledging my having given way, but I'm afraid my response was a vigorous shaking of my head (no, please don't thank me Mr Merc). There's something extra unpleasant about these LEDs being flashed, as they are much more sudden in actuation than a halogen flashed bulb.

And since when did drivers start signal gesturing other road users with flashing front lights AT NIGHT. I don't recall this practise happening years ago, but it seems endemic these days.

Sorry, rant over.

I saw a vehicle making to turn across my path
I wondered whether to warn the driver of my presence by flashing my lights as per HC

What might he have done then?

Hi there, To avoid the hazards posed by being blinded maybe one could follow the practise that the Nuclear Vulcan Bomber pilots were advised to follow?
That was to wear a patch over one eye so that if the resultant flash blinded them they could remove the eye patch to restore partial vision!
Even "Cat's Eye" Cunningham never even came up with a trick like that?
But I seem to recall that my late father's Pre-War Riley came equipped with lighting that dipped the near-side headlamp and extinguished the off-side unit!
Surprising how many vehicles on the road today seem to be so equipped? TTFN MM

CREPELLO wrote:A driver of a Merc lifestyle-tank flashed their LED full beam at me whilst I was driving today. They were shockingly bright, like a proper camera flash going off......something extra unpleasant about these LEDs being flashed, as they are much more sudden in actuation than a halogen flashed bulb.

Surely, this was a predictable and easily solved problem: simply artificially slow the time taken from main-beam-off to full brightness main beam to 'match'(or be slower than) that of the filament bulbs everyone is used to?
On the other hand during the day surely one can signal with dipped beams and at night by dropping to sidelights and back....
Of course, your not actually meant to signal by lamp but seeing as people do...