Board 8 > Driving at night on the Interstate.

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On standard roads, of course you shouldn't blind people with your high beams when they're facing you and coming up to be passing right beside you.

On the Interstate though, what's the verdict?

I tend to keep mine on high beams since the closest cars to me are facing the same way, but also I momentarily switch sometimes like when I get stuck behind someone so I don't blind their rearview mirrors. Not really worried about cars across the divide being blinded.
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If there are any cars anywhere within my sight I do not turn my brights on.

On an interstate highway there should not be much need for that anyway
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I only have my brights on when the road itself is not lit, and there are no cars approaching me or driving in front of me.
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pyresword posted...

I only have my brights on when the road itself is not lit, and there are no cars approaching me or driving in front of me.

this is fairly accurate. in general I only use mine if I feel like I really need to.

I'm also super sensitive to bright lights so I'm probably more mindful of this in regards to other people as a result. like if someone is driving anywhere behind me that is within my range of vision and they have their brights on it causes me extreme discomfort. I usually intentionally slow down until they pass me.
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Yeah I'm not sure why you would need brights on an interstate, are they not lit there?
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Some spots more than others -- not always.
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I never use my brights even when on non lit roads, but that's rare anyway since I rarely travel outside the city.

If there is lighting on a road I don't see why you would need them, that's why the lighting is there so you don't blind people with your bright as fuck lights.
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I've had my brights on driving an Interstate before, but that wasn't in town and there weren't any cars in front of me. I also remember one time I had a hard time driving because some idiot in a Volvo had his brights on behind me. I try to be as mindful as possible of not only people in front of me but people on the other side, if it's close enough to be affected by such.

This really depends on where you live, though. A large metro area typically associates the Interstate with "big highway in town" where the median is trivially small and there's six lanes in each direction. Me, I associate it as a major highway to get from one big city to another. The latter was Ike's intent.
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I set them to whatever the fuck my cars auto setting defaults to

If its unlit sometimes. Generally only if i can avoid blinding people. If lit never
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HaRRicH posted...

I tend to keep mine on high beams since the closest cars to me are facing the same way

Yeah and then your beams reflect in the mirrors of the cars in front of you and you blind the drivers.

Don't be a dick. High beams off unless you specifically need them, are the lead car, and have no oncoming traffic.
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Almost never
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MrGreenonion posted...

HaRRicH posted...

I tend to keep mine on high beams since the closest cars to me are facing the same way

Yeah and then your beams reflect in the mirrors of the cars in front of you and you blind the drivers.

Don't be a dick. High beams off unless you specifically need them, are the lead car, and have no oncoming traffic.

Yeah, high beams are bad
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It's literally illegal to have your high beams on if there's other traffic around. My mom once got a ticket for this!
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MariaTaylor posted...

I'm also super sensitive to bright lights so I'm probably more mindful of this in regards to other people as a result. like if someone is driving anywhere behind me that is within my range of vision and they have their brights on it causes me extreme discomfort. I usually intentionally slow down until they pass me.

Wow this is me to a T.
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You don't even really have to be sensitive to bright lights for it to bother you.

I think a lot of people don't realize that brights/high beams blind cars in front of you just as much as cars coming the other direction, if not moreso
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I wondered if I was alone or rude to do that in this scenario. Cool, thanks and noted.
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the thing i am learning most from this topic is that some people call them "brights"

what the fuck
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CherryCokes posted...

the thing i am learning most from this topic is that some people call them "brights"

I thought everyone called them brights.

And why would anyone need their...high beams...on an interstate? If you were on some twisty state route that's winding through the woods, sure, but a two-lane (or more) highway?
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And here I've never heard them referred to as anything other than "brights"
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azuarc posted...

I thought everyone called them brights.

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I mean if there's a big turn on an unlit highway and there aren't other cars around it can be hard to see exactly how sharply you need to turn, I could see using high beams for that. And sometimes certain road signs can be hard to read with your normal lights, depending on their position relative to the road, how dirty they are, etc.

But for the most part driving at night on the interstate with normal lights is pretty easy. Everything you need to see is reflective or lit! Honestly it can be easier than daylight sometimes.
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CherryCokes posted...

the thing i am learning most from this topic is that some people call them "brights"

what the f***

What do you think people should call them
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next thing Cokes is going to say he's never heard anyone call a turn signal a "blinker"
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If you have your lights on but they're not on "brights," do you say "got my dims on" or...?

And blinker is A-okay.
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they're headlights

you call them "brights" or "high beams" to distinguish from default mode
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high beams at night are why we need to implement a eugenics program
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If people are coming at you on the interstate you still should not use your high beams.
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Yeah, it's just lights and brights
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Only in the dead of nowhere where no one else is around
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Shaduln posted...

Yeah I'm not sure why you would need brights on an interstate, are they not lit there?

Most highways aren't lit.
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The highways I drive on are always lit (fam)
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Even if it's not lit, you almost never actually need them on an interstate.
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I think "more light in the dark is a good thing" covers the argument, but yeah, low beams often work too. I just want to see more...oh well, don't wanna be a jerk about it either.

Also, I see I drive between cities more than some of you. There aren't tons of lights for hundreds of miles everywhere. Cities have most of the fixed lights on Interstates.
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A lot of people here apparently live in big cities and don't drive out of them much/if at all.
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I drive on pitch black roads with regular light all the time. If your lights suck then maybe you need high beams but that's your problem.
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I just drove 2 hours out of state the other day, then started driving back around midnight. Not once did I need my brights, it was interstate the whole way and there was enough natural light for me to see. And that was Illinois where there's literally nothing.

I mean I have good night vision too, but even so, I don't see why others would need their bright lights on while on any highway. Especially since it's mostly straightaways.
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It really depends on what interstate it is, some parts of some interstates are almost entirely lit and are largely within metro areas, others go out into the fucking middle of nowhere

I will say though that if the road is straight, I use my low beams, even if it is pitch dark

High beams are really only necessary for like, mountainous roads or other places where the road itself is potentially dangerous

I'm in Southern California where most of our freeways are lit either from actual lights or from a bunch of other cars on the road. So low.
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pretty much only use them on shitty backroads and forestry roads
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I don't use lights at all.
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LeonhartFour posted...

next thing Cokes is going to say he's never heard anyone call a turn signal a "blinker"

Blinkers are your caution lights, aka four-ways. Granted, turn signals activate the same system on just one side of the car, but no, those aren't the same thing.

LOLIAmAnAlt posted...

A lot of people here apparently live in big cities and don't drive out of them much/if at all.

I live well out in the suburban sprawl. I never go near the main city. When I'm on a highway, it seldom has lights of its own, but the highway is wide enough and the turns are tame enough, plus lots of reflectors and usually the ability to either track the cars ahead of me or be a little generous in my use of the extra lanes that it's really not an issue to drive with your regular lights. The high beams don't even help.

And on another note, people with obnoxious fluorescent lights need to have their vehicles replaced. I was driving in front of somebody today at the tail end of rush hour, to a location I wasn't familiar with, so I was using GPS in the dark, through a bunch of turns I could barely see, and a few times I damn near went off the road because of the asshole behind me blinding my ass in both the rearview and sideview. (I did flip down the rearview, but it barely did a thing.)
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azuarc posted...

Blinkers are your caution lights, aka four-ways.

those are flashers/hazard lights
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LeonhartFour posted...

azuarc posted...

Blinkers are your caution lights, aka four-ways.

those are flashers/hazard lights

that, too. They're also the "I can do whatever I want now" lights. Park illegally, drive stupidly slow, stop your car in the middle of traffic, etc.
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CherryCokes posted...

the thing i am learning most from this topic is that some people call them "brights"

what the fuck

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