HID DRIVING LIGHTS ....... WTF

[SteveB]

I live in the western states. Visibility is fifty miles 99% of the time. All these morons driving around with their "driving" lights on, looking like they are on bright to an oncoming car. I have these on my truck, and when I turn them on, all I can see better is ten feet in front of my bumper, and it lights up the guard rails really good. Trouble is, I like to look farther ahead than that and very little to the side.

I thought these were for fog conditions, and other driving than fifty mile visibility clear situations. It's annoying. Am I missing something? Or is this a "LOOK AT ME EVERYONE. I'VE GOT A SMALL PENIS AND AM COMPENSATING BY HAVING BIG LIGHTS!"?

Steve

[Nate Nagel]

If they came stock on your truck they probably suck (sorry Steve) but there are two different kinds of auxiliary lights, fog lights which are for use in fog and actually have a shorter/wider beam pattern than the low beams, and driving lights which are like an uber-high beam. I would think that in conditions like you describe driving lights would be more useful, but oncoming traffic also shouldn't be using them when there are other cars nearby, only under the same conditions that you would use high beams...

nate

[Pete C.]

It seems a lot of drivers really have no idea what the f' they're doing. I find the stock halogen 9006/9005 low and high beams on my truck work just fine under pretty much all on road conditions I've found in the past 189,000 miles. Where they are inadequate is in off road / dirt road conditions where a wider beam spread would really help with the sharp turns you can barely see as you approach them at a whopping 20 MPH.

[SteveB]

I would say about 25% of people use their "driving" lights ALL the time.

Steve

[Harry K]

The purpose of DRL (daylight running lights) is not for -your- use but so that others see you. There are safety programs promoting altways turning your lights on. I usually do. They are very good at accomplishing that. The engineer(s) who designed them to use the high beams need their nether parts removed though.

Harry K

[SteveB]

Mine sound like what you describe, as they only give more light right in front of the truck and to the sides. My low beams provide plenty of light, and the high beams really provide plenty. It is just aggravating when the car coming towards you has the equivalent of their high beams on. I will flash my high beams at them, and when they hit their high beams, it is no brighter or only slightly brighter than what they got on. I'm going to look at my fogs and see if I can reaim them to help show people what they look like with their "driving" lights on. A lot of these lights look like they're improperly aimed, too.

Steve

[Pete C.]

The worst area was a dirt road in a forest in the Ozarks at about 11pm. Something like 10 miles of twisty dirt road with sharp no visibility turns before even getting to the gated off road section and then several more miles of that. Add trying to watch for low branches due to the camper on the truck, and watching out for the slippery ditches on the sides of the road, and a lot more light would have been nice.

[Pete C.]

DRLs are not the same thing as the lame "driving" or "fog" lights they stick on a lot of vehicles.

[Frank]

To add my two cents worth, I think initially running lights to the big car companies, just meant leaving headlights on all the time. This was stupid extremely annoying to other drivers and I dreaded having to buy a car with them. Now my cars have them and they are full time lights about 1/4 the power of the headlights and do not annoy. No longer have to turn on lights in tunnels, construction sites, fog or rain.

[clot]

You've got in one!

[SteveB]

Sounds like you need to bop down and get the bazillion candlepower lights in the array of 12 installed right away. They say not to use them near airports as they blind incoming jets, but should work for your application. Be careful in forest situations as they give off a lot of heat. Don't forget to wear 120 sunscreen. And on the highway, too, just for that extra illumination that you might need to light up every little dark nook and cranny. Only trouble is, you'll start a trend and everyone will copy you. But I'll know you were the original.

Steve ;-)

[SteveB]

Huh?

Happy Holidays!

Have some more Yukon Jack.

Steve

[clot]

I should have said " You've got it in one"! I apologise.

Right side of The Pond here.

Despite having done more than 30K miles per annum for many a year, I have rarely used full beam, whether rural or urban. So much so, that I would be pleased if full beam was banned.

Yukon Jack? Food or booze? I suspect the latter! I've not tried but prepared to!

Happy Christmas!

C

[Nate Nagel]

"rural" here must mean something different than it does to you; it gets DARK and if your own car is the only source of illumination for miles, you appreciate good high beams.

Now why city buses feel the need to keep them on 24/7, I do not know... and it's a rare day that I don't see some idiot using them in heavy traffic.

nate

[Edwin Pawlowski]

100 proof sort of a sweet tasting Canadian Jack is a "honey based Canadian whiskey liqueur" advertised as the "Black sheep of Canadian Liqueur". It is a 100 proof (in USA) or 80 (in Canada) proof drink, known for its "macho image" (see: [1]). Yukon Jack also makes Perma Frost schnapps. On the back of the bottle there is a quote, "Yukon Jack is a taste born of hoary nights, when lonely men struggled to keep their fires lit and cabins warm."

[Oren]

I got rum cake for Christmas, man is it good!

[SteveB]

It's a sweet liquor, like Southern Comfort. Best drunk very cold. An acquired taste like Jagermeister or antifreeze.

Steve

[George]

Agree, but the drivers of those vehicles don't seem to know that. I just did a long drive home on the Interstate this morning and most of the trip was trying to keep some spacing from those drivers.