Full beams on and oblivious to the fact

TestTransmission

Driving to Ennis from Limerick on saturday night and noticed up ahead that a car who had overtaken someone had their hazards on while driving directly in front of the car they had just overtaken.

Fast forward five minutes and im overtaking the same car,i overtake him/her (learner driver) and realise that theyve their full beams on and manages to near blind me when i pull back into the driving lane.This continues and I eventually have to accelerate away,theres a good few more cars behind me overtaking and the driver never once takes their full beams off.

I asked the missus to call the trafficwatch and advise them of this as it could possibly cause an accident,she wouldnt call them as she said the guards wouldnt be bothered by this being reported.

What would ye of done?
And 2,how could someone this stupid/ignorant be allowed to drive on our roads?

TheNog

Im guessing this genius didnt have working dipped lights.

Have seen it a couple of times before. Unbelievable

Cookie_Monster

I also had to put up with that situation yesterday...

just flick your mirror down, helps quite a bit. How people don't realise is beyond me.

OP did they even dip their light for oncoming traffic (if there was any)

killwill

I have a better one for ya. Driving towards Morroe in Limerick last Friday @ about six o clck so it was fairly dark and a woman was driving with no headlights on. Of course I flashed my lights to get her attention. She responded with a big happy wave!!!

DubTony

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

OP did they even dip their light for oncoming traffic (if there was any)

That's a good question. I had the same situation driving from Mullingar to Kells last week. Passed a junction and this guy pulls out behind me. Ful beams go on, and dipped them for oncoming traffic and then back up when the traffic was gone. I flashed the fog lights a few times but he didn't dip them. I stopped at the junction in Kells and got out and mentioned it to him nicely.

"Wha di ya whaan meeeee to do abouha?"

I sighed, shook my head, walked back to the car and drove off. Then he drove through Kells with his beams up. :rolleyes:

SV

It's been said before but..

Why isn't there a common sense exam involved in the driving test?

kayos

Just on the traffic watch side of things myself and the OH were coming back from Dublin over the Christmas and spotted one hell of a wreckless driver. Overtaking on continuous white lines, went to undertake a car in the hard shoulder, went to over take in the middle of a town only to ram the breaks as they nearly went into a traffic island and then went and overtook about 4 cars weaving in and out on a continuous white line coming to the crest of a hill. Just to point out the traffic was moving and by moving I mean where the limit allowed it was going at 100kph.

Any way we ring traffic watch give the details, got a call from the local station had to relay all the details again. We didn’t spot a single car patrol car on the rest of the journey so guess they had better things to be doing than going after dodgy drivers. Skip forward 3 weeks and we got a phone call from the station that rang us on the night requesting all the details again and the reg plate as they didn’t have it and they could not get it from traffic watch. All I can say is wtf? Would they ever stop writing details of these things down on scraps of paper and put it some where safe!

I’ve seen plenty of bad driving in my years but this guys really took the biscuit and was a danger to others on the road. Yet when you do the good citizen thing and ring it in they still do nothing about it. Sorry just had to get that off my chest.

Any way as for the full beams you get muppets doing it all the time. But I would prefer full beams than the twats that drive around with no lights on.

Berty

Flick your mirror into the other position and avoid looking in your mirrors for fear of being dazzled.

Sticking on and off your fog lights would have no effect as the driver would be oblivious to this being a learner driver.

TestTransmission

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I also had to put up with that situation yesterday...

just flick your mirror down, helps quite a bit. How people don't realise is beyond me.

OP did they even dip their light for oncoming traffic (if there was any)

No,they didnt..id say they assumed because it was a dual carriageway with a barrier seperating either side that they didnt have to

Berty

jackncoke wrote: »

No,they didnt..id say they assumed because it was a dual carriageway with a barrier seperating either side that they didnt have to

AARRRGGHHHh I hate people who do this. I can still see your blinding headlights and BTW so can trucks whose cabs are above the barrier/bush height.

Blazer

Although you could just let them overtake you and give them the same dose of medicine.
I'm lucky that my rearview mirror automatically dims so they don't bother me at all.

timmywex

Even though this was annoying, and bad driving, what also really bugs me is people who dont know how to change their mirror.

I was following someone about 250metres back on a main road once, naturally i had full headlights on so that i could see the road and where i was going, the driver in front was constantly turning on off the foglights and braking periodically. So he is slowly dropping back towards me, i swithc off full beams, and he goes on again, so i switch them on again, that continued about 3 times before he finally pulled in and allowed me to pass(i was about 250metres back at this stage) he decides to drive 5metres behind me with full beams on, this at 100 kph! Then que the roundabout, im going stright, him right, no indicators, pulls stright onto roundabout forcing another car to brake/swerve. To make my day the car that had to brake suddenly floors it around the roundabout, turns on the blues and lets the siren sound, oh i was happy!

Voodoomelon

Well my rule is if that I can see the taillights of a car infront, I dip my headlights, no matter how far away they are.

Alun

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Well my rule is if that I can see the taillights of a car infront, I dip my headlights, no matter how far away they are.

I was going to say that too. 250m isn't far enough ahead for me to put my full beams on, and I'd get a bit annoyed too if someone put theirs on behind me at that distance to be honest.

Big Nasty

What? 250m is 1/4 of a kilometer!

mickdw

MCMLXXV wrote: »

What? 250m is 1/4 of a kilometer!

250m is only 7.5 seconds behind the car at motorway speed. Far too near for full lights.

Big Nasty

mickdw wrote: »

250m is only 7.5 seconds behind the car at motorway speed. Far too near for full lights.

True enough but most motorways are well enough lit not to have to use full beams anyhow.

Next........

Capt'n Midnight

Berty wrote: »

Flick your mirror into the other position and avoid looking in your mirrors for fear of being dazzled.

you stil get a lot from the side mirrors

Sticking on and off your fog lights would have no effect as the driver would be oblivious to this being a learner driver.

yip , I've never got anyone to dip their lights by doing this, you have two options, drive ahead so you are out of range but this is not always an options so the other is to slow right down to where you can stop in the distance you can see to be clear

If someone has full beams on in the city and they haven't responded to the fog lights you could try flashing them after they overtake you, and no excuse for full lights in the city as every road sign glows brilliantly :mad:

Owenw

One morning overtook a new van on the daily commute and he didn't dip his very bright headlights.
I gave him a fair amount of time and let the car slow down naturally (I didn't jam on the breaks or anything) until we were crawling along at 20mph or so.
He was right on my tail (interior of the car was lit up like a scene from Close Encounters!)
Anyway after 30 seconds or so he finally twigged and dipped. I tore off and left him to it.

I drive on dipped lights along straight roads until the tail lights ahead disappear around a bend. Up to 2km I'd say. Hardly ever use full beam on motorways unless its an empty stretch in the countryside.

What is it with people who take 10+ seconds to dip their lights after you overtake them? I get this more and more often these days

congo_90

timmywex wrote: »

Even though this was annoying, and bad driving, what also really bugs me is people who dont know how to change their mirror.

I was following someone about 250metres back on a main road once, naturally i had full headlights on so that i could see the road and where i was going, the driver in front was constantly turning on off the foglights and braking periodically. So he is slowly dropping back towards me, i swithc off full beams, and he goes on again, so i switch them on again, that continued about 3 times before he finally pulled in and allowed me to pass(i was about 250metres back at this stage) he decides to drive 5metres behind me with full beams on, this at 100 kph! Then que the roundabout, im going stright, him right, no indicators, pulls stright onto roundabout forcing another car to brake/swerve. To make my day the car that had to brake suddenly floors it around the roundabout, turns on the blues and lets the siren sound, oh i was happy!

Read the rules of the road. Dont blame that driver cos if I was him I would've probably punched you in the face at that roundabout for being ignorant Even dipping a mirror in a car is not always enough to reduce the glare coming through from wing mirrors too.

On topic: I hate ignorant fools who can't use their common sense and apply it appropriately to use secondary controls in their car. too many times i'm stuck behind some car going 40km/h in an 80 zone on a "good" country road because they cannot use their highbeams for whatever reason.

cul-2008

I'd have to urge people to ring traffic watch if they witness something like this. Gardai are more likely to pursue something if more than one person rings it in..sadly some people make these calls simply to waste valuable garda time, so the more calls the better.

I know a Garda who received a very similar call last month at 5 in the morning from numerous people about a car failing to dip its headlights. They drove to the stretch of road where it was reported to be taking place, and pulled in the car in question. It turns out the driver was highly intoxicated, and if it were not for those phone calls, that very person could have crashed head on into an oncoming car, instantly killing your mother/father/sister/brother or best friend.

Why some people take the chance is really and truly beyond me.

D_murph

The amount of times I have come across cars going the opposite way on back roads where the driver didn't bother to dip the headlights lately has been astonishing :eek:.

I would have thought that the blue light on the dash would be a dead giveaway. Ive also come across the clowns driving through town and villages with no lights on either :rolleyes:.

I dunno if its just me but I think its gotten worse lately TBH .

happyoutscan

timmywex wrote: »

Even though this was annoying, and bad driving, what also really bugs me is people who dont know how to change their mirror.

I was following someone about 250metres back on a main road once, naturally i had full headlights on so that i could see the road and where i was going, the driver in front was constantly turning on off the foglights and braking periodically. So he is slowly dropping back towards me, i swithc off full beams, and he goes on again, so i switch them on again, that continued about 3 times before he finally pulled in and allowed me to pass(i was about 250metres back at this stage) he decides to drive 5metres behind me with full beams on, this at 100 kph! Then que the roundabout, im going stright, him right, no indicators, pulls stright onto roundabout forcing another car to brake/swerve. To make my day the car that had to brake suddenly floors it around the roundabout, turns on the blues and lets the siren sound, oh i was happy!

:D:D:D:D

congo_90

happyoutscan wrote: »

:D:D:D:D

*ahem, troll?*
oh another person who can't use the road. What a surprise. If fellow irish people could do one thing right i'd make it a poll of who honestly can follow the rules of the road and stop forcing my insurance discriminatory up due to ignorance... no wonder so many unfortunate young male irish die on the roads. From fools causing our under experience to show in the worst case scenario.
Not to pick on happyoutscan of course.

At the time of my other post I went along the back roads to lucan (from dunboyne) where somebody in a polo couldnt figure out how to use high beams when required (ie never used)

damoz

congo_90 wrote: »

Read the rules of the road. QUOTE]

+1

timmeywex your part of the problem so.

blackbox

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Well my rule is if that I can see the taillights of a car infront, I dip my headlights, no matter how far away they are.

+1

If you can see them, your headlights will blind them.

eden_my_ass

damoz wrote: »

congo_90 wrote: »

Read the rules of the road. QUOTE]

+1

timmeywex your part of the problem so.

+1

Learn to drive safely timmywex before telling stupid stories on the internet, we've all had idiots like you behind us who think just cause they're a distance back they have a licence to slap on full beams....never never never never if you can see the car in fronts rear lights should you have reason to put your full beams on him

Omcd

Berty wrote: »

Flick your mirror into the other position and avoid looking in your mirrors for fear of being dazzled.

I've lost count of the amount times I've done that and the damn thing has come off the windscreen in my hand

Seems there a huge increase lately in the amount of drivers driving around the city with main beams constantly on. They just dont seem to understand at all about main beams and dips.

Mr.David

Half the drivers in this country mentally operate on "dims" as they have no intellectual "full beams".

Gave a lady (who has been driving for almost 10 years with a full licence) a lift once, heading down a country road and she asks:

"Why do you keep changing your lights like that?"

I'm a bit shocked......"...eh....im switching between dips and full beams for the oncoming traffic"

She replies: " Oh, thats cool, my car doesnt have them lights its the base model".

:eek::eek::eek:

Davidth88

Years ago my wife had just learned to drive ( in London ) , of course there you have no use for full beam really .....

Anyway, 2 months after passing her test she drove over to Ireland , and I flew out a few days later to join her.

I was driving the car back from a function later ( in Ireland ) and I flipped the main beam on because we were in an unlit section , she goes ' how did you do that ' , my reaction , ' do what ' , she goes ' make the headlights all bright like that ' ...... I then explained about full beam etc etc ....

It transpired she had driven all the way to Kerry a lot of it in the dark not knowing how to operated full beam ( or even knowing it existed ! )

So there is no substitute for experience eh !

Anyway , it's really annoying when people don't turn them down

Mr.David

SNAP!!!

Both "David" as well, people will never believe we are not sitting beside each other :P

Davidth88

That's really odd !!!

We must have been typing the posts at the same time !!

Wierd

BeatNikDub

People please double check your full beam headlights!

Had a few journeys in and out of Dublin city centre today and came across THREE cars with their headlights fully on (not to mention a van with NO lights on at all!). There doesnt seem to be any point in flashing people, they are completely oblivious as the title says!

It really is so dangerous as it blinds the oncoming drivers vision (not great on the main road through Ranelagh with pedestrians crossing all over the place!) and you are left seeing stars for some time after!

So, please double check!

jackncoke wrote: »

Driving to Ennis from Limerick on saturday night and noticed up ahead that a car who had overtaken someone had their hazards on while driving directly in front of the car they had just overtaken.

Fast forward five minutes and im overtaking the same car,i overtake him/her (learner driver) and realise that theyve their full beams on and manages to near blind me when i pull back into the driving lane.This continues and I eventually have to accelerate away,theres a good few more cars behind me overtaking and the driver never once takes their full beams off.

I asked the missus to call the trafficwatch and advise them of this as it could possibly cause an accident,she wouldnt call them as she said the guards wouldnt be bothered by this being reported.

What would ye of done?
And 2,how could someone this stupid/ignorant be allowed to drive on our roads?

Voodoomelon

What's very annoying is cars on the motorway coming the opposite direction with their full beams on. They think because there's nothing in front of them that they can cruise along with them on full whack, when in fact they're blinding everyone on the other side of the road.

Damien360

Voodoomelon wrote: »

What's very annoying is cars on the motorway coming the opposite direction with their full beams on. They think because there's nothing in front of them that they can cruise along with them on full whack, when in fact they're blinding everyone on the other side of the road.

That is true but I thought the purpose of the bush in the middle was to prevent you getting blinded. The motorways have no lighting on large parts of them and people will turn on their fulls.

Myself, I always dip them regardless of type of vehicle on the other side. Cars might be ok on the other side with your fulls on but the truckers will be in the glare.

zilog_jones

Damien360 wrote: »

That is true but I thought the purpose of the bush in the middle was to prevent you getting blinded.

In many areas the hedges aren't big enough or are missing. If I can see trucks on the other side or headlights through the hedges I turn off my full beams.

However there's nothing worse than someone behind you with their full beams on.

bigar

I mainly use my high beams to indicate cars opposite to dips theirs. I never see any reason to switch to them for longer than a few seconds and no I am not one of those drivers doing 40 on an 80 km/h road.

Lately it has really become unbelievable how many cars coming from around a bend who either don't dip or do it too late. If you head for a bend, dip your lights before going into it please people.
Also, as already mentioned, more and more cars behind switch them on which should never be done. If you can see the back lights of the car in front, he will be blinded by your high beams.

smcgiff

People that don't dim are idiots. If you can see the brake lights on car in front of you dim. Simples.

However, the odd few people have flashed me of late. Some people think the Xenon Dims are full lights (at least until I return the favour).

Not as annoying, but looks silly - People with fogs on at night time - why? I actually think they can look cool during the day, but at night time - again why?

I think there is a law - the smaller the car the more likely the use of fog lights.

Alanstrainor

Let's not let this turn into another foglight thread.

zilog_jones

smcgiff wrote: »

However, the odd few people have flashed me of late. Some people think the Xenon Dims are full lights (at least until I return the favour).

Are you sure they're aligned properly? Are these factory fitted or aftermarket lights?

smcgiff

zilog_jones wrote: »

Are you sure they're aligned properly? Are these factory fitted or aftermarket lights?

Factory fitted - if they were aligned incorrectly it would happen way more often than it does.

mossfort

when meeting oncoming traffic if some people dont see you dipping your lights and you allready having done so ,they assume you havent dipped your lights.
they then dont dip theirs , some people cant tell the difference between dipped and full beam.
the guy who didnt dip for the overtaking car should not be on the road.

L1011

Damien360 wrote: »

That is true but I thought the purpose of the bush in the middle was to prevent you getting blinded.

The majority of our motorway network hasn't got a bush in the middle, its got a low concrete barrier.

pablosd

jackncoke wrote: »

I asked the missus to call the trafficwatch and advise them of this as it could possibly cause an accident,she wouldnt call them as she said the guards wouldnt be bothered by this being reported.

What would ye of done?
And 2,how could someone this stupid/ignorant be allowed to drive on our roads?

why wud you even think calling cops??? if that happens to me, i jst put my rear fogs on so the cope on that they are blinidng me, there is no point calling traffic watch for every little thing like that,

Rovi

I think it's been alluded to a little already, but I find the people who WON'T use their full beams at all to be almost as annoying as those who never use anything else.

These are the people who make it difficult for you to overtake them on unlit country roads, particularly roads you don't know, as you can't see anything of the road ahead of their dipped beam. You're left with the options of either resigning yourself to trundle along behind them for the duration, or switching to your own full beams to see what's ahead, thus making yourself the subject of tut-tutting/abuse from the pilot/crew of the lead vehicle.
Neither of these options are optimal.

Another favourite group are the ones who ARE using their full beams, but who 'helpfully' switch to low the moment you move out to overtake. I know that in my case, unfortunately for them, they'll then get the full benefit of the deeply impressive full beams my car possesses.

bigar

Rovi wrote: »

I think it's been alluded to a little already, but I find the people who WON'T use their full beams at all to be almost as annoying as those who never use anything else.
These are the people who make it difficult for you to overtake them on unlit country roads, particularly roads you don't know, as you can't see anything of the road ahead of their dipped beam. <snip>

Another favourite group are the ones who ARE using their full beams, but who 'helpfully' switch to low the moment you move out to overtake. I know that in my case, unfortunately for them, they'll then get the full benefit of the deeply impressive full beams my car possesses.

So drivers in front of you need to put on their high beams so you can overtake them on a road you do not know? Or if they dip the lights too soon you punish them by blinding them, is that right?

I can only assume you are driving way too close too so you can overtake.

I truly hope I do not travel on the same roads as you.