Jabez

http://www.mcall.com/html/news/top/a...a1_5lights.htm

daverman

What a horribly one-sided article. What is this, a term paper for a sophomore journalism class?

Mr Hyde

I find it funny that truck drivers whose lighst are exactly the right height to blast you at eye level from the front and rear are complaining although I would have to agree that some HIDs such as the ones on the X5 are blinding, but thats due more to headlight design than the HID's themselves and thats the real problem.

In the end though drivers will adjust just as they did to Halogens.

FTM-1

I find more of a problem when people tamper/alter with thier headlights.
I know I will get flamed for this but this is people that clear out headlights .This is also people that put fog/driving lights on without proper alignment. We also have people that have only one headlight working. I would never buy another car without HID lights. I remember when the first American made car hit the streets with them. This was the Lincoln Mark Vlll I loved the blue color of the lights. I then read about this type light & said my next car was going to have them. I was correct about this the came standard with them.The rule I have is just don't look & stare at the HID lights. I think the color is what people stare at.
As far as the lights from behind people they need to use their day/night position on the rear view mirrors. I don't even think most people use them.

RedLined

I hate these damn whiney people. They should just quit their b!tching and watch the road ahead instead of staring at the oncoming headlights. I guess they think we should go back to the days of a lantern and a mirror.

daverman

Any driving lights that are misaligned or has a badly designed illumination pattern will be annoying, HID or not.

Ahh, the Mark VIII, the first and last of the american Luxocoupes. My friend had a Mark VIII once, and he traded it in for a Corvette when Lincoln discontinued them. Nice car, if not a little overweight.

I think that's a good rule to follow when it comes to driving at night--no matter what the lights on the other car! In Indonesia, the roads are often badly lit and cars commonly had misaligned lights. I had to learn to avert my eyes from oncoming traffic at all times or risk flash blindness. Common sense!

I think people are just whining because it's something new. Reporters like the one who wrote this story is just riding the controversy, and not evaluating the situation fairly. You'll see. In 3-5 years HIDs will be more common than ever, and suddenly everyone will think they're just regular lights.

acuraguynj

There is this one U-Turn that I always have to make on my way home. It's angled upward and when I stop at the light to make my turn, I keep getting flashed by the cars on the other side. They think I have my high beams on. Even with Autoleveling HIDS, if you are stopped at an upward angle, it's not they are going to get even lower.

Sometimes I would actually flash them with my High Beams, just to piss them off, right now, I have to park like one car length behind the stop line since I am an accomodating kind of guy! HA!

thejavagod

Funny, I thought HIDs have a more focused beam on the road and does not disperse as much so its not blinding.

dean078

they are more focused on the road and do not disperse as much, that's why people complain...

when your eyes look at something lighted and then look at something dark, your eyes have to adjust. it takes longer to adjust if the contrast between the lightness and darkness is greater.

the pattern of hids are more even and therefore brighter at the fringes with a sharper cutoff than normal halogens. even when people going the other way look at the fringes and then look away, it takes them more time to adjust back to the darkness than if it were regular halogen lights because the fringes are a lot darker and more uneven on halogens.

it's not shining directly at them or scattering light at their faces, but they are looking at the light...that's the whole problem.

and notice how most of the people who complain are the older folks...that's 'cuz it annoys them more 'cuz they take longer to adjust in light changes...and then also they probalby look directly at it too wondering what it is.

so as mentioned before, the bottom line is DON'T LOOK AT THE LIGHT!

Fiddler

u know , maybe i'm just weird, but i find HID's very pleasing to look at... i dunno .. maybe the little kid that likes shiny things isnt dead i always find myself looking directly at HID's wehn they're coming at me (perhaps i should rephrase.. i am not like a deer in headlights, but when i'm driving and tehre's HID" in teh oncoming lane, i cant help but look at them).. but u know, i actually find them less disturbing than if i look at halogens....... explain that one!

AcuraTLFan

I think these ppl are just jealous because we has HIDs and they don't..hehe

AKRY

Like many of you stated, HID will be more and more common in next couple years. And the major problem with other drivers is that they tend to stare right into the light housing of HID, which as we all know, is very bright compare to halogen bulbs. And they would have a brief "lag" when they keep their eyes back on the road again.

Personally, I see HID as one of major break-through for automotive lighting, and there is no point they DOT/Government should cese and/or ban the use of HID.

Andy Kuo

Acura3200

wow, I can't tell what was dumber, the article or the people they interviewed.

I love my HID's.

bricot

These whiney people have the same intelligence as the bugs that fly up at the headlights, who the heck stares into oncoming headlights???. I agree there is a definite dispersion line on our HID's, it generally hits oncoming traffic at the start of their hood. I pass oncoming traffic that have HID's (factory installed), and I think they are less blinding than dang halogens.

There is a good solution for these people, DON'T DRIVE, go live in a cave.

oracion

Bias article. I think people are just more curious to look at something different. In this case, it's the HID. If they look directly at a regular halogen headlight, I'm sure that they won't enjoy it either.

FTM

I forgot to say one more thing that get me. This is people that only change one bulb when the one has burned out. This also is a problem you see one bright light & a dim one. The price of an average bulb is not that much. I would always replace them by the pairs in my other cars.