Driving at night

[Jeff Layman]

Is that perhaps due to LED R7 replacements for 500W halogens giving less than half the light that the halogens gave (2000 - 2400 against 6100 lumens)?

[polygonum_on_google]

Possibly. But I really cannot remember the last time I saw a real blaster - the lights I do see seem to be better aimed, and (often) not left on so much.

[Bob Eager]

I can adjust the ambient lighting in the car to various colours. I chose red.

[Steve Walker]

Also, being white, they often make it look like there is a car coming to the end of a sideroad, just as you are turning in.

SteveW

[Dave W]

I've sometimes wondered if it was possible to construct a pull-down half-silvered mirror to reflect the brake lights back to the offender.

Offenders often had one brake light burnt out from over-use.

[Dave W]

I would dispute that - some cars give a dazzling blue side spill due to the non-achromatic lens.

[Andy Burns]

Do you wear glasses?

I do, and when looking askew in door mirror at following cars, DRLs tend to show as a white light with a displaced blue light. Must say that I never see any dazzling blue spill though.

[John]

The arrival of LED versions of outdoor floodlights seems to have spurred people to add more and leave them on longer. Some huge ones on the front of some houses - aimed almost horizontally.

[Dave Liquorice]

Yep, most pedestrians do wear dark clothing. Impossible to see at night with no street lights. Don't carry a torch or have any retro reflective clothing trim or arm bands or something.

Not just street lights, a lot of exterior lighting has moved to LED and all close to the same colour. Is that the headlights of a car through the trees or a light on a building? And the design of most LED exterior lights means that even if you wish to mount and aim them so light doesn't spill you can't as the "beam" of light is not much less than 180 degrees.

[Tim Lamb]

The elevated stretch of our by-pass *flicks* with light as vehicles with those sideways beams pass gaps in the hedges.

I was annoyed when our B road street lamps were fitted with LED replacement lamps. Much too bright in my view and not directional (I understood that the previous sodium fittings had a lens which directed most of the light in the direction of travel). Coming home after 11pm yesterday, I was amused to note they are now as dim as tired tungsten:-)

>

[Trevor Smith]

I used to have an old 1970s triumph dolomite and that had a relay and resistor block in the boot that dimmed all the rear lights if you had the headlights on

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If it gives a dazzling side spill, that will show up in the beam pattern?

Most of these projector lights produce a spike of light to the left which lights up the side of the road way beyond the range of the main part of the dip. If a car is parked on the wrong side of the road, headlights on, oncoming cars get the full force of that spike.

[Dave Plowman (News]

Why would you want brighter tail lights in good visibility than bad?

More likely it dimmed the brake lights. As they have to be seen in daylight.

[williamwright]

People don't realise that the 'reflector' is just 'decorative' and that LED floods are omnidirectional within the limits of the frame. I fitted one last week and with Paul up the ladder with a spanner I went to the effective horizon (top of the yard) and gestured down a bit up a bit. The light has ended up tilted downwards so much it looks odd but it still throws light to the horizon. In the past I've had to restrict the top of the beam with strips of black tape on the glass. I wish someone would invent a LED flood with a bit of beam control. I realise the problem is that the light isn't a single point source.

Bill

[R D S]

I ask as an optician, wondering whether to punt these things to people who complain about such....

Has anyone got any specialised night driving lenses? Hoya En Route for example, or Zeiss Drivesafe.

I don't actively sell them as they are damned expensive and the feedback I have heard is mixed at best.

[Andy Burns]

No, I did consider getting some of the specsavers driving glasses, but AFAIK they're for day time, not night time driving, in the end I didn't bother ...

[John]

In Theatre Lighting - luminaires would have "Barn Door Shutters" to control spill. However, even theatres now seem to shine lights into the audience!

People aim the notional centre of the "beam" to the end of their property - which means that 50% is going beyond.

[Richard]

Maybe this will help you decide:

[Bob Eager]

I would love to know how well these work. I have a slight problem in my right eye which may well be incipient cataract, but I'd rather not go there yet.

There is no left eye.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

On my exterior flood lights, the LED is more of a point source than the old tubular halogens. They were quite cheap from Lidl and do the job OK - although not as bright as the halogens. But they came with sensors on the bottom (not needed in my case) which stopped them being tilted down as far as I wanted, to point them off next door. Once I'd removed them, there's a reasonably sharp border at the edge of the light.