Davie's french attraction.

[Northern_Mike]

It's nearly every audi, merc, BMW, soft roader, and ignorant (-expletive removed-) in souped up junk heaps that are problems.

I find the brightness of the light is such a problem that it makes the area to the left of my car - i.e. the verge or pavement on an unlit road - too dim to see because my eyes can't adjust quickly enough. Bright light in one direction, nothing in the other. It's a recipe for disaster.

[daviemck2006]

I class these lights as dangerous, and have done for quite a while. When you think about it Mike, both you and I, and my sister for that matter and any of the other drivers could have been killed this evening if things had been slightly different. It's a (-expletive removed-) sobering thought when you think of it.

[daviemck2006]

Well for the directional xenons on my car there is one used one which has been repaired on ebay for £250 and the seller claims the citroen rrp is over £1300. That alone will write off my car. If it is a write off I think I'll go for a payout and keep the salvage. Sell the drivers side light undamaged for 500 notes. Profit lol. Then there are up teen halogen lights for 30 notes each side, sorted. That will do! I suppose that would need much wiring mods though.

[CitroJim]

Davie, pleased you're OK..

Fully agree with all the comment on the lights. It's what I've been saying and thinking for several years now...

A few statistics on how may accidents are thought to be caused by being blinded by oncoming lights would be interesting reading but it's never the kind of stuff we see...

I'm sure such figures would show them to be a significant factor.

[Hell Razor5543]

I am glad that you are OK Davie, but I am sorry to read about the car.

When I had a Skoda Octaiva (as a company car) I did specify gas discharge headlights, as it was not uncommon for me to do a lot of night time driving. I agree that they were bright, but Skoda had got the optics right in that the beams were tightly defined. I arranged to sit in another car (driving seat) with my car pointing my way, and in a normal driving position I had no problems with dazzle (although if I were in a low position (such as Mikes' DRK) I would have been dazzled). They were bright enough that I rarely needed to use the dipped beams.

[CitroJim]

They were bright enough that I rarely needed to use the dipped beams.

So, you drove on main beams all the time then James... I see..

[MikeT]

As per Jim, I used to complain about the overly-bright headlights but back then no-one seemed to agree - most were eagerly telling each other how to upgrade their headlights and which bulbs give brightest illumination so began to think it was my own ageing eyesight that was at fault.

Anyway, here an article from April 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13143206" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

... dazzling headlights accounted for 365 road traffic accidents in 2009, three of them ending in the loss of life.....


And it's not just cars http://www.ctc.org.uk/blog/chris-juden/bobby-dazzlers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Hell Razor5543]

OK, wrong way around. I meant dipped (you dipstick, James!).

[CitroJim]

OK, wrong way around. I meant dipped (you dipstick, James!).

Thank goodness...

And it's not just cars

No, indeed. Some push-bikes now have incredibly bright and dazzling headlights along with very glaring disco-style tail lights...

I often see a cyclist going to work who wears fluorescent green all over, including rucksack and riding a fluorescent green bike. His lights look like Blackpool illuminations.. He looks like a mobile hi-viz jacket on a floodlit building-site...

[RichardW]

Bad luck Davie....

Of course your car has the same headlights you were complaining about....

Looks like you can't look prices up on service.citroen without a VIN anymore - so if you can provide the last 8 digits of the VIN I will see what I can do.

[daviemck2006]

Bad luck Davie....

Of course your car has the same headlights you were complaining about....

Looks like you can't look prices up on service.citroen without a VIN anymore - so if you can provide the last 8 digits of the VIN I will see what I can do.

76824771 I do know that I have the headlights I am complaining about but mine are so sharply defined and we're pointing in the correct direction I wouldn't think they were a problem. It's the aftermarket ones stuck into normal headlights which are the problem. I'm like James. Not with this car but with my vts I drove my daughters car and she drove mine and we experimented. They weren't a problem and weren't blue. I've never been flashed by oncoming traffic so must have been ok. I'm not gonna get flashed now, one of them is pointing at the road........

[Northern_Mike]

I find it's the brightness of them on unlit roads, not the aim that's the issue. I have half of my vision in bright light and the other in darkness and my brain just can't compute that. I think they sharpness of them adds to the issue rather than helps it. If the had a bigger spread or scatter , it'd be easier.

[Hell Razor5543]

I will admit that the Skoda lights were more blue/white than orange/white, but this meant that the road was more clearly lit.

[Northern_Mike]

Yes... more clearly lit if you're sat behind the light pattern..

[Hell Razor5543]

Yes... more clearly lit if you're sat behind the light pattern.

True, and I did not think of that when I ordered the car. I was looking at how much night time driving I was doing (it was not uncommon to get home after 20:00). However, Skoda had got it right with the way the beams were controlled and how tight they were.