The High Beam Menace on Indian Roads

[bhargavgunreddy]

Very good and much needed topic i must say.

I often dip to indicate the oncoming vehicle to put on low beam.
Although some people respond by switching to low beam, most cab drivers and elderly folks ignore it and drive unfazed, which really is irritating.
Some times i ask myself, do they even know that there exists so called low beam ??

During night it becomes extremely difficult for people on two-wheelers as they are totally blinded by these high beams. One must not simply install/use them as they can have/afford it, should also think of the person coming ahead.

I am thinking of inserting a small mirror on my visor or near number plate, so that they could see their reflection and get a taste of it :P

[King_pin09]

What a wonderful thread this one is.

At least here in Mumbai I have noticed people following self induced practices and assume them to be the traffic norms as per the books of LAW. The most common ones being,

1. Switching on hazard lamps while passing through tunnels.
2. Switching on hazard lamps when driving in rain.
3. Using fog lamps during twilight.
4. Using high beams all time during night driving.
5. Using high beams and horns to pressurize the vehicle in front to jump signals (or at least to move up halfway through the junction).

[centaur]

@King_pin09 what you say is a common scene in Pune as well. Just that we have some more practices -

- driving on the wrong side of the road till you find a break in the median to cross over
- two wheelers going on triple seat on the wrong side of the road as above
- people coming on wrong side and also using a high beam to blind the oncoming motorists
- using HID lamps and doing the above

No amount of upper/dipper makes these fools realize to switch their lights to low beams. Its very scary because many a times the local james bonds (read two wheeler riders) are on the wrong side of the vehicle coming in with the high beam which makes it very easy to not notice them

[Arkanile]

Having learnt driving in Chandigarh, was taught from the beginning to only use dipper at nights while driving in the city.That habit has stayed with me and even on Highways my preference is to drive at low beam and use high beam only when
- Signalling to the car ahead about my intention to overtake
- When visibility becomes an issue
- When the oncoming traffic refuses to move to low beam despite me flicking both high/low to indicate that.

[whoztheman83]

Originally Posted by Arkanile

Having learnt driving in Chandigarh, was taught from the beginning to only use dipper at nights while driving in the city.That habit has stayed with me and even on Highways my preference is to drive at low beam and use high beam only when
- Signalling to the car ahead about my intention to overtake
- When visibility becomes an issue
- When the oncoming traffic refuses to move to low beam despite me flicking both high/low to indicate that.

There are many things i love about Hyderabad but one of the few things i dislike is how common high beam driving is here(other thing i dislike-brutal heat in summer). Everybody drives with high beam always on all the time, no exceptions! And sometimes on narrow roads, these are really dangerous. Quite a few times i have had to take a sharp left and plunge off the road as not only is the oncoming vehicle on high beam - he is also driving at high speed. It is very tempting to blind them with my high beam but common sense takes over and i realise i'm only endangering myself if he gets blinded.

I say carry out public interest advertising about the dangers of high beam like they do with condoms and drunk driving.

[FarPatel]

An idea at the back of my mind took me to this link https://www.google.com/patents/US2440133
This patent for windshields incorporating a plane polarised light structure was filed in 1944!
My idea is that if the government mandates windshields to be plane polarised to a particular angle, say 0 degrees or horizontal and headlamp lenses to be plane polarised to almost vertical, say approximately 85-89 degrees, we should be able to cut down the glare from oncoming high beams and just be able to see them as pinpoints of light. All other light would come through the windshield, though slightly diminished, but enough for even night-time driving. What say?

[ram1980]

Originally Posted by FarPatel

An idea at the back of my mind took me to this link https://www.google.com/patents/US2440133
...... What say?

This is an interesting idea.

Last week we went on a family trip to Coorg in Tempo traveler. While returning in the night back to Bangalore, I was seated in the front seat with full view of the road and had a tough time with the high beam lights. Most of the family members were taking a nap after a long day and I was also tired but couldn't get sleep due to these high beams and the driver inside worrying about the tempo traveler driver on how is he managing although he was part of the overall problem by driving with high beam.

But I got a wacky idea for me to spare these high beams and used my goggles for a while and this atleast reduced my headache. So, I'm wondering if there are proper goggles to use for night time driving to avoid these glares from high beam but at the same time not reducing visibility.Any ideas?

[sumantab20]

I have been to all metros but when it comes to traffic rules violation then PUNE beats any other city with a large margin! Here the 2 wheeler will never follow any rules, not even wearing helmet and triple ridding is common practice. They come even from wrong side and if confronted then they abuse with foul words etc!

BMW/Audi's are very common and again largely owned by uneducated class like builders, politicians etc and they will put all lights ON while driving. No matter what happens to others cause of it, they really don't care.

Thanks to traffic police cause they don have the guts to catch any of them but certainly will catch a decent looking IT guy who mistakenly crossed the stop line in traffic signal.

[Tanveer_2558]

Originally Posted by sumantab20

I have been to all metros but when it comes to traffic rules violation then PUNE beats any other city with a large margin! Here the 2 wheeler will never follow any rules, not even wearing helmet and triple ridding is common practice. They come even from wrong side and if confronted then they abuse with foul words etc!

BMW/Audi's are very common and again largely owned by uneducated class like builders, politicians etc and they will put all lights ON while driving. No matter what happens to others cause of it, they really don't care.

Thanks to traffic police cause they don have the guts to catch any of them but certainly will catch a decent looking IT guy who mistakenly crossed the stop line in traffic signal.

I think very similar to Pune is Ahmedabad or rather the whole of Gujarat, 2 wheelers don't care for their own life, And even high end car owners drive as if they don't care even of what they are driving! I absolutely hate driving in Pune and Ahmedabad both, Patience needs to be taken to an absolute new level here.

[sgiitk]

We are going OT here.

However, I think of the metros the National Champion in rule breaking has to be Delhi. Even the other parts of the NCR (Gurugram, NOIDA, Faridabad) are much tamer.

As for the topic on hand, I was discussing the matter with some friends. Apparently one reason for high beam ans fogs is the very tight pattern of modern headlamps, there is hardly any stray light, and when this couple with our penchant for jumping out from anywhere, makes many people look for a more spread out light. I guess this trend towards projectors (without or with HID) may even worsen the situation. Those with Driving Lights can comment, do they give some decent illuminating apart from the beam?

[shadows123]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

We are going OT here.

However, I think of the metros the National Champion in rule breaking has to be Delhi. Even the other parts of the NCR (Gurugram, NOIDA, Faridabad) are much tamer.

As for the topic on hand, I was discussing the matter with some friends. Apparently one reason for high beam ans fogs is the very tight pattern of modern headlamps, there is hardly any stray light, and when this couple with our penchant for jumping out from anywhere, makes many people look for a more spread out light. I guess this trend towards projectors (without or with HID) may even worsen the situation. Those with Driving Lights can comment, do they give some decent illuminating apart from the beam?

I think its a combination of unexpected pot holes, speed breakers and lack of street lights which causes people to mostly use high beams. rather than the people jumping out part. People are just lazy post high beam to switch it back to normal lights once they are familiar with the roads. Government as usual without addressing these issues rather focuses on asking people(and mentioning fines) to not use high beams rather than providing them proper roads and functional street lights which would eliminate the need for high beam. At least this is mostly the case with Bangalore where pot holes and speed breakers without markers are everywhere in both city and highways roads(except probably the NH's).

[condor]

High beams get more irritating in-city. Two instances with Volvo's in the last week:

1. A KSRTC Volvo behind me on Rajkumar rd, with high-beam on. The light was bouncing of my 3 rear-view mirrors. We stopped at Navrang signal, which was for 2 minutes. I got out, and asked him to switch off the high-beams. He initially did not understand why, but when I told him, he did.

2. Last night on RV road near Jayanagar 4th block. A bit of blockage with cars lined-up and a Volvo trying to turn right. He was coming from the direction opp to what I was headed. He asked me to bak-up so that he could take the turn. I asked him switch-off his high-beams. Once he did, I obliged with giving him space.

At other times, when I am really irritated, I just slow down. Most times the guy has overtaken. But on one instance, the guy (may be accidentally) switched to low-beam and I resumed regular speed.

May be such direct communication can help better spread the word that high-beams are not welcome, esp in city.

[ankurchaturvedi]

Many people don't even know the difference between low and high beams and when to use them. Our family wished to hire a new driver and i was asked to go with him on a test drive. It was evening and this guy puts on high beams. I asked him why, and he was like (looks at me sympathetically, as if i don't know).

Sir, "Phocus light compuslory on highway". My reaction . Another experience was with a tourist vehicle. I was travelling to Nashik and had hired a tourist Enjoy. The driver (young guy), continued to drive on high beams, and when i questioned him about it, it seems he was under the impression that the blue light in drivers MID, means the headlights are on. I had to explain to him the difference between low and high beams.

[kiran_cr]

Originally Posted by ankurchaturvedi

I was travelling to Nashik and had hired a tourist Enjoy. The driver (young guy), continued to drive on high beams, and when i questioned him about it, it seems he was under the impression that the blue light in drivers MID, means the headlights are on. I had to explain to him the difference between low and high beams.

Exactly. I have a colleague who migrated from a 2-wheeler to a car. He is my senior and didnt have any idea about what high beam was. I had to practically show it to him by making him stand in front of his car and show what high beam did to the eyes of oncoming vehicles.
Only way is to mandatorily include driving etiquettes as part of school syllabus and must be treated as just another subject and evaluated.

[BenjiRoss]

Another annoying culture is people driving on the wrong side of the road who put on high beam thinking it is safer for them as the drivers on the correct side of the road will notice them easily.
They are actually causing much more harm than they can understand.