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Comment by bena | Hacker News Reader

No. The road is a shared space and it should be respected as such. We already need to reduce the lumens on headlights. And probably take out "hi-beams" altogether. Seriously, I've never been in a situation where it's made a difference worth talking about. In over 20 years of driving, I can count on one hand the number of times I've intentionally turned on my hi-beams. And it was mostly to see if it would help. It did not.

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In over 20 years of driving, I can count on one hand the number of times I've intentionally turned on my hi-beams.

Sounds like you've never lived in a rural area with lots of deer and other critters.

In over 20 years of driving, even in rural areas with lots of deer and other critters, I can count on one hand the number of times I've intentionally turned on my hi-beams.

If your night vision is that bad, the solution isn't to blind other drivers by turning the road into the midday sun.

You're absolutely in the minority here. Perhaps you have extremely above average peripheral vision.

I grew up in a rural area and still visit quite often. Deer jump out in front of cars all the time. It is physically impossible for me, any of my family members, or anyone I've ever known in this town to be able to see the deer off the side of the wooded areas without high beams on. High beams are not going away.

Not the GP but I have similar experiences. I do have above-average night vision, though.

This seems so ridiculous, I almost think you're deliberately trolling. All one needs to do is drive through a dark forest at night, flip on the high beams and instantly see another 200 feet ahead of you, giving you more time to see deer, fallen trees, etc. It's not about bad vision. Even the human with the best eyesight can't see in the dark. And to be clear, this is done when there aren't other drivers coming toward you.

Low beams give you around 200 feet. Which is within the stopping distance of 50mph. If you are in a situation where you are concerned about fallen trees, why are you driving faster?

To also be clear, way more people are driving with high beams or insane lumens just everywhere. My mirrors are practically useless at night because there's always some idiot with their highs on shining right in them.

The benefits of the few cases where you could use high beams are outweighed by all the times they are used inappropriately and cause way more issues.

My mirrors are practically useless at night because there's always some idiot with their highs on shining right in them.

You should see an eye doctor about that. My mother had the same issue and it turned out to be a serious problem.

The serious problem are the drivers who can't fathom not having ultra-high lumen LED headlights switched to high at all times. This is not a subjective thing. It only takes one jackass, so it's easy to see the difference between them and other vehicles.

And it's not like I'm the only one who has noticed this problem:

https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/2018/12/20/br...

> And probably take out "hi-beams" altogether.

This is _complete_ nonsense. I'm going to guess that you are an American living somewhere with probably quite wide and straight roads.

Here in the UK, high beam headlights are largely essential on a lot of dark rural/country roads for a number of reasons — uneven road surfaces, soft verges, roaming animals and pedestrians in unlit areas, sudden turns or changes of camber. When used properly, they are an important safety device and they absolutely have a place on a vehicle.

In the US, we have the problem with people using ultra bright lights and not aiming them correctly, so they're blinding to other drivers.

>This is _complete_ nonsense. I'm going to guess that you are an American living somewhere with probably quite wide and straight roads.

I'd wager it's more likely he drives hazardously slow so the extra couple seconds viewing distance don't help him personally or there's always street lighting where he drives.

Edit: based on his commentary elsewhere it's almost certainly the former.

I drive to the conditions of the road. If the road is potentially hazardous, you should slow down. How is 50mph "hazardously slow" when speed limits on these sorts of roads are around 55mph?

And I only chose 50 because it is definitely within the full stopping distance.

I'm not saying this as someone who drives particularly fast. I'm saying this as someone who drives agricultural equipment that literally can't go prevailing traffic speeds. There becomes a point where you are the hazard, not them.

50 in a 55 is probably fine but "I never feel the need to use my high beams despite living somewhere rural" (I'm paraphrasing here) raises massive flags for "grandma, maybe you need to stop driving at night" type behavior and if you don't see this then that is an ever bigger red flag.

Like I already said, I picked a speed that completely falls within the stopping distance. So people couldn't claim they need it because they need to see an extra 200 feet to make up for the 25 or so in stopping distance.

Also, wouldn't the opposite be true? If I feel fine driving with my lows on all the time because I can see fine, then my vision is still acceptable. Whereas if one needs 50,000 lumen ultra-high intensity high beams to travel down a well-lit boulevard, maybe those people shouldn't be driving at night.

Well, I'm an American that grew up in very rural (out in the sticks) part of the country. Not sure if this translates to UK/EU, but we have roads known as farm-to-market roads that are typically 2-lane (one in each direction) that are typically decent quality. In certain areas, the speed limit can be 85mph on these roads, but more typically not higher than 65mph. These are also typically not well lit if at all, so high beams are very important, but typically, drivers are definitely overdriving their headlights. These roads are usually pretty straight except for when they have to bend around what used to be someone's property before claimed for the right of way.

Pedestrians are much less of a concern than say deer, cows, or other animals.

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