Bright Lights

[5bikes]

Some will use brights and extra lights. Some won't.

I asked a MotorCop and safety instructor in Texas. Brights are legal in the daylight. Sorry about blinding 1% of you. It's the 99% that don't see me I'm worried about.

One other concern, with so many vehicles with daytime running lights, we need an advantage. Any ideas?

Weird thought: A hologram that surrounds/simulates us as a large dump truck with large rocks falling off in all directions....

[saddlebum]

I do believe there are valid points on both sides of this discussion , yes it is good to be seen , and true also blinding someone to the point that they close there eyes or divert them from the road ahead in itself can be dangerous (true it may only be that 1% but Usually its that 1%er that gets you ), not to mention the fact that one can get charged for not turning high beams down to aproaching traffic ( which in some places such as Ontario it is a chargable offense). Perhaps a good compromise would be a farm tractor type flood light. rather than throw a bright narrow focused beam, it throughs a wide flood of light which would be very visible form any angle without blinding oncoming traffic. just a possible suggestion.

Edited February 15, 2009 by saddlebum

[BuddyRich]

Don't look into the bright light..... :rotf:

Edited February 15, 2009 by BuddyRich

[MoRiverRat]

Does any one know the wattage of the sun? Seems a 55watt headlamp wouldn't stand a chance. I have also been told to run with the high beams during the day only.

[hig4s]

BTW, headlight and taillight modulators are illegal here except for emergency vehicles

 

Brian

 

Actually, motorcycle headlight modulation systems, which meet the proper guidelines, are by Federal law (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108 (FMVSS 108)) legal in the US and Canadian law also follows the same guidelines.

 

 

And I'm going to repeat this info as I find it valuable.

In a study by the Transport Accident Commission of Victoria Australia of daytime running lights, DRLs,

they saw only a 2.3% decrease in accidents with lowbeams on over no lights.

An additional 2.5% decrease with highbeams,

With triangulated DRLs they saw 8.7% decrease in accidents,

and with triangulated yellow DRLs they saw a 12.4% decrease in accidents.

[OutKast]

So what is a "triangulated" DRL??

[Guest tx2sturgis]

One of the problems with running with high beams on during daylite hours is that the bright spot of light tends to 'wash-out' the dimmer silhouette of the human on board. A stopped motorist might glance your way and may only perceive it as a bright reflection off of something that is not a threat to them. I run low beams and passing lites during daylight hours, but thats my choice. On my bike, the headlight and passing lites form a small triangle of light. I think that helps the cagers see me better.

Edited February 15, 2009 by tx2sturgis

[Snaggletooth]

Hey Bubba

 

Mounting driving lights (DRL) lower and to each side of the bike, like on the crash bars, to form a triangle with the head light as the upper point.

[OutKast]

Thanks Snaggle. I can see why that helps. I notice the best increase was with amber DRLs, not bright white. The amber does not glare.

[MAINEAC]

Riding with high beams on with oncoming traffic is not only obnoxious and insensitive, it is dangerous to EVERYONE on the road - even the people who do it. It is also illegal in every venue. And it is illegal for a reason - it is dangerous and wrong. No matter how much you try to rationalize it, you are putting other people in danger, and it is wrong. The most unfortunate thing is that so few police actually try to enforce the laws against it. I guess that is because it is difficult for them to prove. I know I'm not going to change anyone's mind, but I really wish everyone would show a little more courtesy to others and stop the "I'll do what I want and screw you" attitudes we see so often.

 

OK, now that I have said my piece I'll shut up. I won't inflame this thread any more than I already have by responding to any other posts or responses. Please ride safe,

Goose

 

Goose nailed it... But I'd like to add this... If you see me coming from the other way on a dark road... Ill be the guy giving you the friendly flick of my brights... It's my little way of sayin' 'Hey Numbnutts kill the brights!!"... Then if you leav'em bright I wait til you get close and hit my brights... It's my little way of sayin' "I hope my silverstars drilled a hole in the back of your skull @sswipe!!!"

[5bikes]

With triangulated DRLs they saw 8.7% decrease in accidents,

and with triangulated yellow DRLs they saw a 12.4% decrease in accidents. WOW!!

 

Sorry, I did not read on, forget it, I'm doing the tri-yellow thing too.

Edited February 15, 2009 by 5bikes

[Thom]

In the next few months I will be having cataract surgery, particularly on my left eye. Due to this, bright lights at night make it very hard for me to see as good as I used to be able to. It is very irritating to meet someone with their high beams on and really does decrease my ability to see. One of my concerns is dropping off the edge of the road and then losing control and causing a crash. This has also made me realize how many other "seeing impaired" older folks there are out driving around and not realizing how bad they have gotten.

About 12 years ago I installed a set of plug-in strobes inside my headlight and run them all the time, even at night. These are like the ones you see on the headlights of the NASCAR pace car. I know that they are technically illegal, but the frequency is adjustable and I have slowed them down so they do not look like an emergency vehicle. They are illegal for two reasons, on pulsating headlights, the lights are technically not supposed to completely turn off. Also, the strobes do exceed the allowed candle power allowed on a vehicle, but for only for a nano second they are on. So far I have not had anyone complain about being blinded, but have had many tell me that it made it a lot better in getting their attention. Riding around with your bright lights on at night is not in my opinion a safer thing to do.

This reminds me a lot of the thread a couple of years ago about the motorcycle rider pulling a trailer on his bike and refusing to hook up the safety chains because he felt if the trailer came loose that he did not want it jerking the bike around, regardless of the safety of the other people on the road dealing with a loose trailer wondering around.

RandyA

Randy , you know , after i saw yours i did the same thing , still works great ! i have had 2 fl. troopers and 1 ga. trooper look at mine , all 3 of them said they are not quiet illegal because they are in the head lite and the headlite never gos out , the ga.trooper said if they were in the driving lites he would bust me . i don't ride at nite , i am nite blind , i can see at nite but all lites look like head lites on hi beam . i have seen m/cs that have too brite driving and head lites during the day , i can't see anything but there lites , i can't tell if there are any cars behind or beside them . i was asked why m/c don't have yellow driving lites any more , the man said it was eazy to tell a bike from a car in the old days . when i bought my bike it had yellow fog lites on it but they did not look good and got deep sixed .

maybe at one of our meet and eats one of us can take some pics of the dif. lites we all use during the day from say 500 ft. away and post them and we can see witch is the best , i would like to see them and it is better to know i can be seen than hoping i can be seen .

i am starting to type as much as i talk , oops

Thom

[Roadhand]

The triangle of light should assist with being seen on your bike.

 

Look at the improvement on the train locomotives. They now run with the three lights to assist persons at the crossing to see the train.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

The triangle of light should assist with being seen on your bike.

 

Look at the improvement on the train locomotives. They now run with the three lights to assist persons at the crossing to see the train.

 

 

Those 2 lights down low on the locomotive are called 'ditch lights'....and they help the crew see better, and help motorists see the train better. Pretty cool name....ditch lights...so THATS what I have on my bike....theyre not passing lites...theyre DITCH lites!!

 

Edited February 16, 2009 by tx2sturgis

[Snaggletooth]

I hope I never run into a train with passing lights!

[Gambit]

Highbeam headlights and auxiliary driving lights are not appropriate for daytime use around other vehicles. The light pattern in these lights is not designed to "mark" you in traffic it is designed to illuminate the road ahead. Driving in traffic during the day with a bunch of lights on is obnoxious and inconsiderate and it does have a negative impact on other drivers by blinding them. Because these lights have a thin "pencil beam" meant to illuminate down a long, dark road, highbeams and driving lights do not provide more visibility across a wider sweep angle, they just put more light into a small area of focus (into the eyes of an oncoming driver or into the rearview mirror directly ahead).

 

For better visibility to other vehicles in inclement weather (rain, snow, fog) a good set of fog lights would be appropriate to help people see you, they can also help augment the low beam if aimed correctly (with the cut-off low enough). The constituency that does care is the local police, who may give you a ticket for improper equipment use.

 

 

Other passive safety measures to increase your visibility, such as wearing a high-vis green, yellow or orange jacket, having retroreflective surfaces on your gear and a white or brightly colored helmet will improve your daytime visibility to other drivers without blinding people. For forward visibility to other drivers the best solution would be daytime running lights similar to the ones fitted to cars. These are aimed upwards (like highbeams) but have a wider beam angle and a much lower intensity light. Their only purpose is marking your vehicle to other drivers, not illumination. I have never seen this type of light offered as standard equipment or an accessory on motorcycles although it would be a good idea.

 

It is from difficult to impossible for the oncoming driver to look directly at you due to the brightness of the highbeams. Which is at eye level for many cars (and for short driver in suv's). Yes, people and lights are variable, but that does not change the facts and idea expressed.

 

Think like a non-motorcycle rider. To the Billions of people who drive but not ride, we are a non-issue. We are not soft tissue on two wheels. We are not as important to them as we are to ourselves.

 

The closer you get, the less they want to, or are able to, look at you. And they can only guess as to where you might be now. This guess based on where you were before MERELY WANTING to avert their eyes. When they could last accept the brightness. Highbeams are as bright during the day from the point of view of the observer.

 

Oh, and this is interesting. In World War II, subhunting planes put headlights (bright ones) on the leading edges of their wings to make themselve harder to see in the bright sky.

 

.

 

I know i am getting back ino this conversation a little late but reading this ended the rest of the posts for me. Especially the part about the police giving you a ticket for the use of the highbeams during the DAY time. I actually just took my exam for motorcycles in VA and got 1 wrong. It was this one to be exact. I marked that it "does not" increase safety to use your high beams during the day and got it wrong. The examiner told me that VA encourages the use of High beams for motorcycles during the Daytime hours. Now coming from a cop (military or not we still utilize local statutes) the only time i give a ticket for high beams is at night when driving in the presence of other vehicles. I have never even thought about stopping someone for using their high beams dring the day. Hll i couldnt even tell they were using high beams during the day.

[N3FOL]

Does any one know the wattage of the sun? Seems a 55watt headlamp wouldn't stand a chance. I have also been told to run with the high beams during the day only.

 

On a bright sunny day, low beams are hard to see and bright lights is the only way to be noticed. There are also some day time hours where the sun is not as intense, so I try not to use bright lights too often on those days. During the summer riding season where we get lots of sun, bright lights all the way during day time hours.

 

At night, off course...I do not want to blind any oncoming drivers and I also want to be treated the same way.

 

Ride safe.

[Vance]

I spent 13 years in traffic safety for transportation doing training for drivers........... investigating motor vehicle accidents. Some of my standard questions were "Did you see the vehicle?" Most the time the answer was yes and because they had their head lights on. "What made you aware of the other vehicle?" Again, the majority answer was because the had their lights on not because the vehicle was doing something out of the ordinary.

I'd ask did anything happen to distract them. Head lights or driving lights were never the issue contibuting to a day time accident.

 

 

Important to note is that the headlights were on............... and you are investigating an accident. Obvioulsy headlights are not the answer in every case. It's not how bright your bulb is, but how dim is the one behind the wheel of that oncoming car.

[N3FOL]

I rode in today to work for it was very nice here in SE PA cruising down into Maryland. I have passing lamps installed and observed my lights in front with my main light in low beam. I can easily see my passing lamps, but the low beam is just not too obvious. As soon as the sun came out in full force, the low beams is hardly noticeable...so as always, I changed it to my normal bright lights with passing lamps on on a bright sunny day.

 

Ride safe everyone.

[Bluesman]

Not sure if this is what you mean by triangulation but over the years, I've had many positive comments on my last bike standing out more visibly then bikes with 'in a row' lights. See the pic.......

 

 

Bluez

[Bluesman]

Oh, or this one. A better view.

 

Bluez

[Sailor]

I drive with my high beam on in daylight hours and low beam at night. I hate the idiots ( in cars) who have those bright driving lights on at night, I can't see a damn thing. The same with those high intensity blue/white lights, they are absolutely blinding. The most effective thing I have found is "fish scale". It is reflective tape which changes colour depending on the light angle. I have seen many people in cars pointing at me as I rode behind them, approached, or passed. I had it on my helmet so it changed color with every movement or reflected light. It worked day or night. No lights involved, just the constantly changing reflections. They have red/blue, silver/blue and colors in between. I found it in a sporting goods store in the fishing section. I think it is so noticeable because it is not like anything else out there.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

The most effective thing I have found is "fish scale". It is reflective tape which changes colour depending on the light angle. I have seen many people in cars pointing at me as I rode behind them, approached, or passed. I had it on my helmet so it changed color with every movement or reflected light. It worked day or night. No lights involved, just the constantly changing reflections. They have red/blue, silver/blue and colors in between. I found it in a sporting goods store in the fishing section. I think it is so noticeable because it is not like anything else out there.

 

I guess I've heard everything now. Fish scale tape on a helmet. Well hey, if it works, you go dude.

[N3FOL]

Oh, or this one. A better view.

 

Bluez

 

I can see you now.

[N3FOL]

I drive with my high beam on in daylight hours and low beam at night. I hate the idiots ( in cars) who have those bright driving lights on at night, I can't see a damn thing. The same with those high intensity blue/white lights, they are absolutely blinding. The most effective thing I have found is "fish scale". It is reflective tape which changes colour depending on the light angle. I have seen many people in cars pointing at me as I rode behind them, approached, or passed. I had it on my helmet so it changed color with every movement or reflected light. It worked day or night. No lights involved, just the constantly changing reflections. They have red/blue, silver/blue and colors in between. I found it in a sporting goods store in the fishing section. I think it is so noticeable because it is not like anything else out there.

 

The 'true' HID are not really blinding at low beam (high beam will definitely blind you). There are cagers out there that replace their headlights with fake HID that looks like HID's. Those are the type of lighting that seems to give you the most crappy illumination and it blinds oncoming traffic.