Team-BHP - Say NO to HIGH-BEAM

In one my journey from AP to Chennai in a truck, yes, i came by truck, just for fun :D. The driver of the truck was driving at 40 Kmph and sensibly, dimming wherever required and switching on high beam whenever required but if the opposite truckwallah doesnt dim, he spits at them when they cross and was saying they used to have small pebbles and a bottle of used oil and pour that if the opposite truckwallah doesnt dim the headlights :Shockked:.

With minus ten powered spects I am very sensitive to light and darkness etc. I am a daily victim of high-beaming - not only by cars but by motorcycles too. Of late I find the ACE light is the most annoying. They are designed to blind you even at low beam. I wonder how ARAI could allow this design. Same for Ambassador taxis too.
Their headlights should be painted black on top, like they used to during the Bangladesh war.

I have worked out a solution and it works most of the times except with some really annoying and uncouth drivers. I have upgraded my light and drive on low beam. When the oncoming driver is blinding me I place myself on his route and turn to high beam. Most of the time they take a quick lesson and switch to low beam instantly.
I don't really know if they learn any long term sustainable lesson from this but on the road it works for me most of the time.
We as a race don't know where to stop. We do the same thing with horns also. Louder and more ear splitting, the better.

Interesting and funny thread. I fully endorse the view of lo beams in city and Mumbai drivers are the only ones who do follow. in fact most of the cars there drive with their parking lights only.
My Brother in law driving an optra looked at me funny when i mentioned that he was driving with hi beams in city.
My colleage here in goa, unfortunately hit a buffalow on a road as he didnt see it. He was on low beams. Moral of the story - hi beams on dark unlit roads with no oncoming traffic, lo beams otherwise.
Solution like said above, upgrade and give them a taste of own medicine by flashing 1-2 times.

I can understand the use of high beam on National and State highway stretches where the road is of unknown quality and streetlighting is completely absent. Some of the turns especially close to towns and villages are absolutely unforgiving when passing through after twilight and at night. Here, a judicious use of the high beam for a few seconds to note the road pattern ahead is fine, after which I switch back to low beam. One good thing about the NH4 is the divider between our lane and the oncoming lanes, most of the stretch to Bangalore from Pune has flower bearing plants about 3-4 foot high, and sufficiently blocks any high-beam from vehicles in the opposite lane. For the stretches that don't have this divider 'garden', there is no escape.

In the city, high beam is just unacceptable. Certain conditions require flashing the high beam at trucks/cars that drive on the lane marking white strips, blocking me from overtaking them. That, in my opinion is the only justified use for high beams within city limits. Do not even get me started on those nfs inspired, street modded cars driven by 'bade-baap ke wannabe Vin Diesel bete-log' with their under-body neon and HID's permanently on high beam cutting through traffic with no sense of lane discipline or road safety. The less said about them, the better. I see a swift regularly on the eastern exp highway in mumbai that really gets on my nerves because of this syndrome. But, thats OT and not something I want to focus on.

Cheers,

Quote:

Originally Posted by sriku (Post 1404729)

I can understand the use of high beam on National and State highway stretches where the road is of unknown quality and streetlighting is completely absent....a judicious use of the high beam for a few seconds to note the road pattern ahead is fine, after which I switch back to low beam

I just wanted to clarify a few things here. The high beams are not just for brightness, they are also pointed higher to light up the road further. This is imperative for driving at high speed, which is the norm on highways. You might actually be endangering yourself by driving on highways at low beam.

No to high beam in City limit. But use the high beam where ever required in Highways. Specially in a single line traffic without the high beam its very difficult to identify the parked vehicle / cycle walas / tractors etc while opposite vehicle is crossing you. I believe if one driving to Mangalore from Bangalore in nights, he will understand the requirement of high beams.

Thanks
Rajesh

Quote:

Originally Posted by bblost (Post 1404064)

clean lens will translate to much better illumination.

:) +1 to this. I always hose down the front windshield and the clear headlamp lenses and then wipe them dry before I start my drive in the morning as I usually return home late at night and on some poorly illuminated stretches of road. I never use the high beams in the city. And on the highway, I switch to highbeam as soon as my speed crosses 60 km/hr.

Quote:

Originally Posted by watashi75 (Post 1404831)

Thanks for re-iterating this. I am aware of this, and do use the high beam on the highways, however was specifically mentioning the roads through towns/villages where local traffic merges with us high-milers. Using the high beam indiscriminately through small towns is also a no-no for me.