Flashing brake lights on some trucks

[jakeroot]

With all of this technology, I wish that someone would finally implement a system by which the car can tell that there is oncoming traffic, and dim the high beams that the ignorant driver has lazily left on.  I feel like this problem has grown over recent years, though I cannot pinpoint why.  I also feel like drivers are far less attentive to things like a blast of high beams in their direction to call attention to the problem.

My dad's Lincoln Town Car had one that automatically put on the high beams when no glare was detected and as soon as a car would approach the other way would dim itself all via a sensor on the back of the rear view mirror.

It gave him problems at times and would never turn out the brights, which is obvious why this feature never took off.  I know that you mean we have one that takes control of theirs, but if we were to perfect that one right and have it on every car, we would not have the problem.

Audi's new Matrix LED headlamps have this feature. Theirs does not give users personal control...during the night, high-beams are always on unless other traffic is detected. They are not yet in production in North America because of an archaic law requiring users to be able to manually switch between high- and low-beams. Audi is lobbying to get this law removed. Europe was a little skeptical at first, but eventually decided that it was a good safety feature, given that more than half of all accidents occur at night and any attempt to improve night-time safety is laudable.

[Roadrunner75]

Audi's new Matrix LED headlamps have this feature. Theirs does not give users personal control...during the night, high-beams are always on unless other traffic is detected. They are not yet in production in North America because of an archaic law requiring users to be able to manually switch between high- and low-beams. Audi is lobbying to get this law removed. Europe was a little skeptical at first, but eventually decided that it was a good safety feature, given that more than half of all accidents occur at night and any attempt to improve night-time safety is laudable.

I hope Audi fails in their efforts.  I'm tired of 'technology knows best'.  My Corolla wouldn't let me override the automatic lights even when there were times I needed to do so.  I got very close to disabling this in the wiring.  My brother used to complain about his truck with his bright low beam auto lights that he couldn't turn off/turn to DRL when he entered the military base where he worked.  He got into a few arguments with the gate guards over the fact that he couldn't dim his lights to the DRL as required.  Driving a European spec Audi, one would be shining high beams into the guard shack.

There are times when one needs to make the decisions on the lights, either under a special circumstance, or if the automatic lighting/dimming feature simply fails.  Same for the various other idiot features that keep getting added to cars.

[jakeroot]

Audi's new Matrix LED headlamps have this feature. Theirs does not give users personal control...during the night, high-beams are always on unless other traffic is detected. They are not yet in production in North America because of an archaic law requiring users to be able to manually switch between high- and low-beams. Audi is lobbying to get this law removed. Europe was a little skeptical at first, but eventually decided that it was a good safety feature, given that more than half of all accidents occur at night and any attempt to improve night-time safety is laudable.

I hope Audi fails in their efforts.  I'm tired of 'technology knows best'....[t]here are times when one needs to make the decisions on the lights, either under a special circumstance, or if the automatic lighting/dimming feature simply fails.  Same for the various other idiot features that keep getting added to cars.

Technology often does know best. With the introduction of new safety features in cars every year, traffic collisions (and the injuries and deaths associated with them) are down across the board. This reduction is a result of manufacturer innovation. On the other hand, human-intervention is often the cause of collisions these days (distracted driving, driving under the influence to name a couple). Our cars have to become smarter to keep up with our mistakes.

Back on topic, I'm sure Audi includes an over-ride feature somewhere. Have you ever looked around a German nav system? You can change basically everything about the car.

[Duke87]

My girlfriend's 2013 Focus has a feature that automatically turns the headlights on at night. She loves it, I'm not a fan. Fortunately, this feature can be switched on and off at will if like me you can operate the headlights manually thank you very much.

Fundamentally I feel like whenever anything is automatic, there needs to be some means of manual override in the event of unusual circumstances that the automaticness isn't programmed to recognize.


As for high beams, greater inattentiveness may be a thing but I feel like even if people dim them like they're supposed to, oncoming headlight glare is more of an issue than it used to be. Have the headlights on new cars gotten brighter in the past few years or are my eyes just getting less able to handle large contrast as I get older?

[SteveG1988]

I recently saw a DCTA bus with amber/blue flashing brake lights. This is the color combination used for warning lights on DOT and contractor trucks around here. Completely ridiculous on a bus.

Flashing brake lights need to be banned unless they only flash during hard braking. The middle brake light should have manual flash option for traffic stopping on a rural freeway.

The middle brake light is way more important at night. In the daytime, the two primary brake lights are sufficient to me, and are more visible. At night, however, if the middle brake light is out, it can be rather difficult to discern whether a vehicle is braking or not. The cops really need to start pulling over people who don't have them working for that very reason.

Just a thought...it might be a good idea to make brake lights another color such as purple so that they are more obvious at night. Now that LED lights are becoming common, it would be feasible to have purple brake light LED's in the same light section as the tail light.

Rear turn signals should be required to be amber. The color difference is a big issue when the flashers are used at night. Red flashers suck. Even though they are flashing, they still blend in with all the taillights of other vehicles.

In my opinion, some of the newer cars have brake lights with too little surface are illuminated. There needs to be a minimum.

It makes no sense that our government allows vehicles to have different color rear turn signals, and allows vehicles to be made without daytime running lights. We need much more stringent and consistent vehicle lighting standards.

You're talking about the same government that banned non sealedbeam headlights prior to 1984. 1948-1984 you could not have replacable bulbs with fixed lenses, and after 1968 you could not have aerodynamic covers. How about the US DOT standard having more upwards glare than european standard lights.

[Brian556]

As for high beams. that feature that turns them on automatically should never be allowed. This is because high beams are too bright for residential areas. and disturb people while inside their homes.

I actually think we need a law banning high beams in residential areas.

There is no need for high beans when traveling 20-30 MPH. The low beams are plenty good enough. I live in the suburbs, and never feel a need to use the high beams. I have an 04 Camry.

[jakeroot]

As for high beams. that feature that turns them on automatically should never be allowed. This is because high beams are too bright for residential areas. and disturb people while inside their homes.

I actually think we need a law banning high beams in residential areas.

There is no need for high beans when traveling 20-30 MPH. The low beams are plenty good enough. I live in the suburbs, and never feel a need to use the high beams. I have an 04 Camry.

Seat belts are also a nuisance...we should just dump those, right? Just because it's a slight annoyance doesn't warrant a ban. Especially when you consider that some people (such as myself) live in an area with plenty of large animals crossing the road on a regular basis. Low-beams are acceptable but at 30-mph, high-beams are very helpful in preventing collisions.

[US81]

High-beams blinding an oncoming driver are not "helpful in preventing collisions." 

[jakeroot]

High-beams blinding an oncoming driver are not "helpful in preventing collisions."

Whoever leaves their high-beams on when there's an oncoming car is an idiot, and deserves to lose their license.

[vdeane]

Seat belts are also a nuisance...we should just dump those, right?

And how is wearing a seat belt annoying the people whose houses you are driving past?

High-beams blinding an oncoming driver are not "helpful in preventing collisions." 

Or high beams blinding the driver of the car in front of you.

[jakeroot]

Seat belts are also a nuisance...we should just dump those, right?

And how is wearing a seat belt annoying the people whose houses you are driving past?

The comparison was not a good one, but my original point remains: just because high beams are nuisance does not mean a ban is warranted. High beams have saved my car more times than I care to count, and I'm not about to let some middle-class liberals ban them because they find them to be slightly annoying.

[vdeane]

I don't see anyone calling for a ban on high beams - just on the feature that turns them on automatically (which is allowed in Europe).

[Pete from Boston]

I'm not sure where the leap to "middle-class liberals" came in.  Wouldn't it be "stodgy inflexible conservatives" that don't like new things?  Or could it be that... it's pointless to make this about a particular political persuasion? 

[jakeroot]

I don't see anyone calling for a ban on high beams - just on the feature that turns them on automatically (which is allowed in Europe).

I actually think we need a law banning high beams in residential areas.

There is no need for high beans when traveling 20-30 MPH. The low beams are plenty good enough. I live in the suburbs, and never feel a need to use the high beams. I have an 04 Camry.

I'm not sure where the leap to "middle-class liberals" came in.  Wouldn't it be "stodgy inflexible conservatives" that don't like new things?  Or could it be that... it's pointless to make this about a particular political persuasion? 

"Middle-class liberals" meaning stay-at-home moms commenting on local news stories on Facebook (who are often middle-class suburban liberals, at least here in the Seattle area). But ultimately, it is about politics. Any ban would cost money to enforce, and any time a local jurisdiction has to re-allocate funds to enforce a law (on top of writing, and then implementing it), politics will get involved. As a conservative, I would not want money being wasted on writing, implementing, and enforcing this law.

[myosh_tino]

Theirs does not give users personal control...

The above statement is why this "feature" will never see the light of day in the U.S.

...during the night, high-beams are always on unless other traffic is detected.

What about cases where you run into dense fog?  It's a well known fact that using high-beams in dense fog will blind the driver of said vehicle making you a hazard to everyone else on the road.  Does the Audi come with automatic fog detection?

I think the idea of automatic high-beams is a terrible idea and I, like a few others here, hope Audi fails in their attempt to change the law to accommodate this "feature".  BTW, Audi does realize the law can't be changed at the Federal level. They need to approach each state.

FWIW, driving with high-beams is one of my pet peeves about drivers now a days.  There isn't a day (err night) that goes by where I'm blinded by some moron driving either towards me or following me with his/her high-beams on.

[jakeroot]

From what I can tell *now*, I believe Audi gives their users personal control. My initial statement was not based on anything other than what I thought I saw in the original video detailing how the headlamps work.

Given this, they are hardly any different than automatic headlights (in fog, they can be disabled).

[Pete from Boston]

I don't see anyone calling for a ban on high beams - just on the feature that turns them on automatically (which is allowed in Europe).

I actually think we need a law banning high beams in residential areas.

There is no need for high beans when traveling 20-30 MPH. The low beams are plenty good enough. I live in the suburbs, and never feel a need to use the high beams. I have an 04 Camry.

I'm not sure where the leap to "middle-class liberals" came in.  Wouldn't it be "stodgy inflexible conservatives" that don't like new things?  Or could it be that... it's pointless to make this about a particular political persuasion? 

"Middle-class liberals" meaning stay-at-home moms commenting on local news stories on Facebook (who are often middle-class suburban liberals, at least here in the Seattle area). But ultimately, it is about politics. Any ban would cost money to enforce, and any time a local jurisdiction has to re-allocate funds to enforce a law (on top of writing, and then implementing it), politics will get involved. As a conservative, I would not want money being wasted on writing, implementing, and enforcing this law.

Thanks for clarifying that it's specifically liberal women that are the problem, not me.  (I know, I know, liberal women raising kids at home, not all liberal women.  What matters is that the problem is a class of people that's not me, which is what this–like most political issues–clearly boils down to.)

[thenetwork]

Speaking of headlights...Anybody seen the new motorcycles with the "pulsing" headlights?   

I know that it's to help motorcycles be noticed more, but I have unnecessarily stepped on the brakes or pulled over when I saw the "pulsing" light, thinking it was a motorcycle cop when I see them in my rear-views or seeing them coming the other way.