- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
Lately, I’ve been bothered by headlight glare when driving at night. Part of this is me getting older, but I really feel there is just a lot more stray light coming from oncoming autos.
Used to be autos had only had 2 (aimed) headlights (State law here still reads that way, only 2 white lights over 1000 candlepower allowed). Then in the 80’s, auxiliary driving lights (don’t know what they’re marketed as) became popular. They were annoying as they were just as bright as headlights, but weren’t aimed. HID lights appeared, but didn’t seem to last long. Now, we’ve got xenon headlights gaining in popularity together with bright white “decorative eyebrows” and such. These arrangements throw out a bunch of white light that isn’t necessarily aimed down at the roadway.
Not sure if this is good for the driver or not. Brighter doesn’t always translate into better visibility, sometimes it’s worse. Anyone who’s ever driven in fog and turned on their “brights” knows that’s a bad idea. Also, I’m of the opinion that blinding the driver of the vehicle coming towards you is generally… dumb.
Anyway, since I’m not going to change what consumers want or what manufacturers sell, I’m going to need some way of dealing with it. I’ve tried wearing my sunglasses at night, but that impairs my vision of everything else on the road that isn’t lit (pedestrians, bicycles, critters, etc).
Coincidentally, I just saw a tv commercial advertising cheap night driving glasses and touting their “blue blocking” ability. There may be something to this beyond the hype. I had a friend who flew model aircraft that swore by “blue blockers” for staring into the sky for long periods of time.
So. Anyone have any suggestions for night time driving glasses? I didn’t find a lot of information when seaching on the problem itself (various types of automotive lighting and their effects), so if someone knowledgeable can enlighten me I’d would greatly appreciate it.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.