Why so many blown headlights?

Dublindave2

Has anyone else noticed the number of blown headlights driving around at the moment. Every time I go out at the moment I seem to see five or ten blown headlights. Since this seems to be a new phenomenon, I am wondering if it has something to do with the extremely damp weather, daytime driving lights or something else.

shietpilot

Because most people don't even know how to change them and jaysis you'd be daft to go to a mechanic and get scammed for a bulb change!

Rackstar

Lazy people and manufacturers that have made a routine task of bulb replacement, very difficult.

CianRyan

Half the work we get is people getting one or two bulbs changed, handy job for myself but you have to wonder when it's younger people. I can understand the old dears.
Main dealer prices too!!

Arkady

Cheap knock off bulbs.

One of the only things I ever buy from a main stealer, and then fit myself, is their bulbs and wiper blades.

Autofactors do shyte bulbs, even the known branded ones seem to give very poor service, and they never seem to be an exact match to the OE.

Lellostag

Well it has nothing to do with daytime driving lights, its more to dovwith ignorance as well as the difficulty of actually changing a bulb on many modern cars I'd say.

colm_mcm

It's always been like this. It's not a new thing,

savagethegoat

They never check them so they don't know they are out....until the other one goes and all is darkness.

sunnysoutheast

Whatever about the difficulty or otherwise of changing them there is simply no enforcement.

A relation of mine has had the n/s main dip bulb out for months. They came round at the weekend and it is still not working. I've actually offered to fit it for them if they buy it but they're not interested.

A neighbour we see often has the o/s main dip bulb not working which means the other dip light is blinding. It's been like that for weeks.

Makes you wonder what state the rest of the car is in. Only ever get things sorted for the NCT.

Autosport

How do you let someone know that their rear lights are not working properly as in no brake lights or only one light works

sunnysoutheast

Autosport wrote: »

How do you let someone know that their rear lights are not working properly as in no brake lights or only one light works

If you happen to pull up next to them you could mention it. I wouldn't bother flashing etc., I'd just try to get as far away from them as possible as soon as I can.

I'd also be suspicious that "no brake lights" on a cheap car might not be accidental.

Autosport

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

If you happen to pull up next to them you could mention it. I wouldn't bother flashing etc., I'd just try to get as far away from them as possible as soon as I can.

I'd also be suspicious that "no brake lights" on a cheap car might not be accidental.

I flashed them a few times as I just thought they didn't have their lights turned on but the front lights were on.

colm_mcm

That's DRLs. That's a WHOLE other thread

fancy pigeon

colm_mcm wrote: »

That's DRLs. That's a WHOLE other thread

Let's make this an awkward threesome....

MISALIGNED HEADLAMPS :eek:

Autosport

colm_mcm wrote: »

That's DRLs. That's a WHOLE other thread

DRL's on a 05 focus?

corks finest

Dublindave2 wrote: »

Has anyone else noticed the number of blown headlights driving around at the moment. Every time I go out at the moment I seem to see five or ten blown headlights. Since this seems to be a new phenomenon, I am wondering if it has something to do with the extremely damp weather, daytime driving lights or something else.

Yes,I'm in carrigaline, Cork,it's crazy,down to pure laziness etc,having lived in the n of Ireland, I can assure you,one doesn't get away with it,no excuses will do,rarely a cop will let u wriggle away,down here ppl don't give a ****,same with fog lights left on,speeding through villages,etc,etc,dumping fags etc from cars,kids just throwing rubbish on the ground, rather than in the pocket,and dump at home,all down to a general don't give a feck attitude, bad parents, bad kids,etc

lawred2

The volume of people driving in the dark without any lights switched on whatsoever is always of great bemusement to me

lawred2

Irish people in general just don't care for their cars..

Head to the UK and almost every car is shining clean with everything working

Special Circumstances

corks finest wrote: »

kids just throwing rubbish on the ground, rather than in the pocket,and dump at home,all down to a general don't give a feck attitude, bad parents, bad kids,etc

Not even kids. The level of casual littering is, IMO, a symptom of a major problem in this country - people just don't care what negative impacts their ignorant/lazy actions have on society. Being widely regarded as an averagely or above averagely ignorant b****x is a badge of honour as long as you have a new car to show for it.

Buona Fortuna

colm_mcm wrote: »

It's always been like this. It's not a new thing,

Should be

• Law to carry a full set of replacement bulbs
• Part of the driving test to change any bulb the examiner picks (manufacturers would soon make it a lot easier once word gets around "don't take your test in a Renault"
• proper enforcement

Never happen of course

Golfgorfield

Car passes NCT : Car must be perfect Drive it for a year, do not fix anything.

Car fails NCT following year : Fix the broken stuff, pass the re test.

Repeat as above, includes all parts.

Charles Babbage

Buona Fortuna wrote: »

Should be

• Law to carry a full set of replacement bulbs
• Part of the driving test to change any bulb the examiner picks (manufacturers would soon make it a lot easier once word gets around "don't take your test in a Renault"
• proper enforcement

THis is the kind of thing we need.
But also regulations for car manufacturers about the time take to change a bulb.

jca

lawred2 wrote: »

Irish people in general just don't care for their cars..

Head to the UK and almost every car is shining clean with everything working

And rotten underneath. .. The uk is a great place. We really missed out when we fought for independence.

listermint

Many Many cars made since 2000 you would require to be one of the Borrowers to climb into the engine bay to get to the rear of the bulb housing.

Even if you manage to squeeze your mangled hand in there trying pulling the tree prong nonsense that is welded to the rear of the bulb. No wonder the springs that are supposed to allign the bulb and hold it tight to the housing get ruined.

Its complete shody design on behalf of the manufacturers frankly this is something the EU should be dealing with tbh, Safety items such as lights that need to be accessible should be accessible the same way a fuse board is accessible.

elperello

Charles Babbage wrote: »

THis is the kind of thing we need.
But also regulations for car manufacturers about the time take to change a bulb.

A good idea.

There should be an EU standard for accessibility of bulbs in all vehicles.
Some are just incredibly awkward to reach in modern cars.

Also to put some responsibility on the driver, whatever happened to the regular "walk around check"?

The Backwards Man

Aye it's a sure sign of getting old when you're looking at buying a car that you pull the bonnet to see how handy the headlights are got at before you look to see what type of radio is in it.

Indricotherium

The time it takes to change a bulb is nothing new. I had a 98 fiesta that you had to take the front grille off to change a bulb!!

The 01-07 Mazda six manual has you taking the passenger side wheel off on a ramp to change a bulb!

BobMc

Had the misfortune to have to change one in our Clio only two weeks ago, I spotted it reversing out the drive thru reflection in the house window, always have a spare in the glove box, fortunately it was bright leaving for work and I changed it that evening, right bitch took me a 5 mins to squeeze hand in and remove, but 20 to refit and close, hand in ribbons !.

On a side note, in canada they police pull you over for tail and headlight defects or anything else they see. While pulled over they'll also check for if your wanted etc, drivers licence up to date, a defect warning is issued giving you 7 days to repair it, you must present to a police station with the defect notice and a cop will inspect and then update the computers to say. Dont turn up and fine in the post, and dare they catch you on the road with same defect then your in the shiitee

savagethegoat

jca wrote: »

And rotten underneath. .. The uk is a great place. We really missed out when we fought for independence.

you are years out of date here. Not only has rust proofing improved a lot,but our cars are just as rotten now as we use salt extensively on our roads. I'd say there's no difference in this respect between UK cars and ours, they may even be better as many tend to underseal their cars and I'd say that's rare on an Irish car

CJhaughey

Most of the Anglophone countries police will routinely stop you for a non functional light.
In the UK they issue "producers" which means you have to get the light fixed and show proof of same to them to get the fine cancelled.
There is no enforcement here, I don't know if its lack of manpower or a casual indifference to the problem but it means that you can more or less drive without fear of being pulled unless you have no tax or insurance.(which costs the state).
Other road users seem not matter in the myopic view of the RSA (restrict speeding association)

Atlantic Dawn

Buona Fortuna wrote: »

Should be

• Law to carry a full set of replacement bulbs
• Part of the driving test to change any bulb the examiner picks (manufacturers would soon make it a lot easier once word gets around "don't take your test in a Renault"
• proper enforcement

Never happen of course

I think enforcement is the key, problem is a bulb can go at any stage and you have to allow for this but there's some people have to know a bulb is gone, if they don't they shouldn't be in charge of a car. A post dated fine with you having to report to an NCT centre or Garda Station within 5 days with bulb repaired to cancel it would work.

RSA should perhaps have an extentive safety campaign and if needed a 2 week course on how to check if your headlights are working...
Step 1 - Turn on your lights
Step 2 - Exit your car and see both lights are on.

highdef

With regards to not knowing that you have a dipped headlight bulb blown during the dark winter months (as many people claim when questioned), I wouldn't accept that one bit. If in traffic, and behind a car you'd have to be a complete retard not to notice that you only get a reflection from one of your headlights from the car in front.

If you live in a rural area, if you don't notice a massive reduction of light on either side when rounding a corner then frankly you need to get off the road pronto.

As others have said, enforcement is the key here. I've been at tax checkpoints before and the guards would simply check the tax discs....they never seemed bothered about blown headlights, as long as the tax was in order.

A good start would be frequent checkpoints for a few weeks on all the major arteries from towns and cities (locations can be rotated to cover everywhere with reasonable manpower) during the evening rush hour of winter months, when evening rush hour is dark and headlights are on (I suggest evening so that people are not delayed getting to work, on the assumption that the vast majority of people are heading home and away from Dublin in the evenings). At first, a massive amount of people will be stopped....it may not even be possible to stop everyone at the very start. Everyone stopped is given 7 days (or something along those lines) to fix all faulty bulbs and prove at a garda station (or somewhere else decided on) that all bulbs are in working order.

It will cause tailbacks and traffic congestion for the first while but as people begin to get the message, less and less people will need to be stopped. It's up to the drivers to ensure that their cars are lit as they should and those that do not are the root cause for the ensuing traffic chaos.

Once everyone finally gets their bulbs in order, one similar checkpoint set-up during each winter would probably suffice as it would be important that on-going visibility is kept up so that the public don't fall back into bad habits.

Oh, how I live in a Utopian world!

corks finest

highdef wrote: »

With regards to not knowing that you have a dipped headlight bulb blown during the dark winter months (as many people claim when questioned), I wouldn't accept that one bit. If in traffic, and behind a car you'd have to be a complete retard not to notice that you only get a reflection from one of your headlights from the car in front.

If you live in a rural area, if you don't notice a massive reduction of light on either side when rounding a corner then frankly you need to get off the road pronto.

As others have said, enforcement is the key here. I've been at tax checkpoints before and the guards would simply check the tax discs....they never seemed bothered about blown headlights, as long as the tax was in order.

A good start would be frequent checkpoints for a few weeks on all the major arteries from towns and cities (locations can be rotated to cover everywhere with reasonable manpower) during the evening rush hour of winter months, when evening rush hour is dark and headlights are on (I suggest evening so that people are not delayed getting to work, on the assumption that the vast majority of people are heading home and away from Dublin in the evenings). At first, a massive amount of people will be stopped....it may not even be possible to stop everyone at the very start. Everyone stopped is given 7 days (or something along those lines) to fix all faulty bulbs and prove at a garda station (or somewhere else decided on) that all bulbs are in working order.

It will cause tailbacks and traffic congestion for the first while but as people begin to get the message, less and less people will need to be stopped. It's up to the drivers to ensure that their cars are lit as they should and those that do not are the root cause for the ensuing traffic chaos.

Once everyone finally gets their bulbs in order, one similar checkpoint set-up during each winter would probably suffice as it would be important that on-going visibility is kept up so that the public don't fall back into bad habits.

Oh, how I live in a Utopian world!

Agree totally, minus the utopian world,the roads/drivers near me should be driving in bumper cars,in a close environment

Sam Kade

Charles Babbage wrote: »

THis is the kind of thing we need.
But also regulations for car manufacturers about the time take to change a bulb.

Good luck implementing it. While parked outside a shop in mallow on Saturday 7 L drivers passed 2 were accompanied, Gardai seem to turn a blind eye.

Sam Kade

Indricotherium wrote: »

The time it takes to change a bulb is nothing new. I had a 98 fiesta that you had to take the front grille off to change a bulb!!

The 01-07 Mazda six manual has you taking the passenger side wheel off on a ramp to change a bulb!

Jaysus you must have hands like shovels, I've a Mazda 6 and can change the bulbs from the engine bay it's a tight squeeze but I manage it.

corks finest

Sam Kade wrote: »

Good luck implementing it. While parked outside a shop in mallow on Saturday 7 L drivers passed 2 were accompanied, Gardai seem to turn a blind eye.

2 yellow packs heading for burgers probably, I mean it takes initiative to actually do the job the state pays you for

Indricotherium

Sam Kade wrote: »

Jaysus you must have hands like shovels, I've a Mazda 6 and can change the bulbs from the engine bay it's a tight squeeze but I manage it.

I have managed it, but the manual says you should go in through the wheel well

Sam Kade

Indricotherium wrote: »

I have managed it, but the manual says you should go in through the wheel well

Yeah, I did it by the book first time but those plastic fastners wouldn't last long after a few changes. The outside bulbs blow fairly often.

elperello

I just checked a rental car Renault Megane Estate that I'm driving at the moment and it appears that changing a headlight bulb involves removing the whole light unit.

As for the rear lights they don't seem any easier but there's no handbook so I can't say for sure.

At least I get to give it back next week!

Mycroft H

lawred2 wrote: »

Irish people in general just don't care for their cars..

Head to the UK and almost every car is shining clean with everything working

I've seen many a ****ebox in the UK.

Xenophile

Dublindave2 wrote: »

Has anyone else noticed the number of blown headlights driving around at the moment. Every time I go out at the moment I seem to see five or ten blown headlights. Since this seems to be a new phenomenon, I am wondering if it has something to do with the extremely damp weather, daytime driving lights or something else.

A lot of poor quality coming into the country at present. At least we have the NCT so people have to replace the bulbs sooner or later !

highdef

elperello wrote: »

I just checked a rental car Renault Megane Estate that I'm driving at the moment and it appears that changing a headlight bulb involves removing the whole light unit.

As for the rear lights they don't seem any easier but there's no handbook so I can't say for sure.

At least I get to give it back next week!

My last car was a Focus and when I heard that I had to remove the whole light unit, I thought "Oh Fook"......in reality it meant removing two screws, sliding the light assembly out and then changing the bulb with no risk of scrapes and cuts. Absolutely simple!

punisher5112

Most drive with 5watt side lights or none at all.
When a dipped beam goes ah sure the other is fine.
When both dipped beams go that's what the 2 high beams are for sure they must be back up lights.
Why are all the people flashing at me I will flash back and give fingers and become extremely irate.

Etc..

Alun

CJhaughey wrote: »

There is no enforcement here, I don't know if its lack of manpower or a casual indifference to the problem but it means that you can more or less drive without fear of being pulled unless you have no tax or insurance.(which costs the state).

There's also the "Gardai have better things to be doing than ..." argument which seems to be based on the existence of a mythical list of "things" sorted in order of (personal assessment of) severity, where you can only proceed to do anything at all about number 2 on the list once you've completely eliminated every occurrence of whatever is number 1 on the list.

Atlantic Dawn

Some enforcement in Portlaoise with 20 cars stopped for non working lights, as usual one thing nearly always leads to another like no nct, bald tyres etc...

https://twitter.com/GardaTraffic/status/706416033553391617
https://twitter.com/GardaTraffic/status/706416033553391617

elperello

highdef wrote: »

My last car was a Focus and when I heard that I had to remove the whole light unit, I thought "Oh Fook"......in reality it meant removing two screws, sliding the light assembly out and then changing the bulb with no risk of scrapes and cuts. Absolutely simple!

Yes I know what you mean I've done the removal of headlamp unit on other cars. It's a handy enough job in daylight with tools to hand and a bit of shelter from the weather. However if you have just started a journey on a wet evening not so good.

I would prefer a standard which laid down that bulbs could be changed without tools in a couple of minutes.

athtrasna

Not everyone knows how to change bulbs.

I'm female (not that that's an excuse) and have no idea how to change a bulb in my car. Having said that I'm hyper conscious and paranoid about my bulbs so get them sorted asap.

Last week I was turning the car in the carpark at work and a headlamp bulb blew. This meant I had go drive home with it not working. Went straight to Halfords and got absolutely fleeced to get it replaced. If I'd waited until morning my own garage would have done it for half the price but I hated knowing that it was out. Anyone who saw me driving home with a blown bulb wouldn't have known any of that

CJhaughey

athtrasna wrote: »

Not everyone knows how to change bulbs.

I'm female (not that that's an excuse) and have no idea how to change a bulb in my car. Having said that I'm hyper conscious and paranoid about my bulbs so get them sorted asap.

Last week I was turning the car in the carpark at work and a headlamp bulb blew. This meant I had go drive home with it not working. Went straight to Halfords and got absolutely fleeced to get it replaced. If I'd waited until morning my own garage would have done it for half the price but I hated knowing that it was out. Anyone who saw me driving home with a blown bulb wouldn't have known any of that

I think there should be basic car maintenance as part of the driving test, they do this in other countries as part of the license test so why not here?
Knowing how to check oil,coolant, bulbs, how to change a wheel and check your tyres is to my mind equally as important as knowing how to signal or reverse.

Superhorse

CJhaughey wrote: »

I think there should be basic car maintenance as part of the driving test, they do this in other countries as part of the license test so why not here?
Knowing how to check oil,coolant, bulbs, how to change a wheel and check your tyres is to my mind equally as important as knowing how to signal or reverse.

Ah will ya stop. Nanny state nonsense.

First Up

Nothing new in this. Its rare to pass more than 3 or 4 cars without seeing one.

Zero enforcement. Of all car faults none could be more obvious but it must be Garda policy to ignore it.

athtrasna

CJhaughey wrote: »

I think there should be basic car maintenance as part of the driving test, they do this in other countries as part of the license test so why not here?
Knowing how to check oil,coolant, bulbs, how to change a wheel and check your tyres is to my mind equally as important as knowing how to signal or reverse.

Knowing how to check oil, coolant and bulbs already is?