My auto club teacher said that some people are trying to ban HIDs cause they are too bright. Could this possibly be tru?

 

im going with no

 

Anyone can make noise about anything these days. I'm guessing that the HIDs out there that come as original equipment are probably fine. Aftermarket items might be an issue since they aren't always legit in the eyes of the DOT.

Just my 2cents

 

Your auto shop teacher is "jealous" because he doesn't have them!

 

HIDs are brighter but when aimed properly are perfectly safe. even regular halogen bullbs when aimed improperly will be distracting to drivers. its like saying too much horsepower is unsafe and should be banned.

 

Hmm...I used to be a school teacher when I was young and had no sense. I too once thought I could make a difference. Speaking from experience, the poor shop teacher dude probably can't AFFORD them.

Noble profession though.

 

Yes there are moves afoot to ban HIDs. How well organized or how far along, I couldn't tell you.

 

there are movements trying to ban saying the word "damn" on television too. oh well

 

Therein lies the problem.. I have yet to see a new Ford vehicle with them aimed properly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

About half the Chevys seem to be aimed too high and plenty of the Nissans seemed to be off.

Hondas and Toyotas seem to be consistantly aimed OK..

 

My auto CLUB teacher has an old El Camino. My auto shop teacher has an STS with HIDs, and he loves them. The only problem is it seems to be the old people who care, and politicians are old, or at least aged. Oh well, good luck to them. Only problem is I am in MA and there are waaaay to many laws here.

 

Hopefully the auto club teacher will teach his students not to stare at oncoming cars' headlights.

 

AAA ever reported many authorities or agencies are likely to meet, discuss, and set up more detailed and clearer policies to "administer" HIDs.

Ban... I don't think so. IMO.

 

I do get blinded by other TLs's headlights all the time. Our suckers are bright!

 

DOT legal aftermarket HIDs are out there but are not cheap. I went with Sylvania's Xenarcs for my 99 F-150. Not quite as good as the OEM HIDs in the TL but a big improvement over the stock Ford. I have had no complaints (i.e. flashing high beams) from approaching drivers with either vehicle.

http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProd...rmance/Xenarc/

 

A Washington Post columnist named Dr. Gridlock is on a crusade against HIDs because he finds them annoyingly bright. His column can be good, but lately he's turned into a total pussy, supporting photo radar, red light cameras, banning radar detectors everywhere (not just Virginia and DC), etc.

There are always people who want to ban anything new. Some people think DRLs should be banned. I think those people have never driven on a two-lane road during the day and had to pass over the center line.

 

 

Well hell if they are trying HIDs they need to ban trucks and suvs cause those suckers are always blinding me.

 

You laugh, but there are a lot of people who would do precisely that if they could get away with it.

 

I don't know about banning trucks, but I am certainly for lane restrictions, saying that big rigs must never use the left 2 lanes for example. I don't know how many times on my way to work, all 4 lanes are clogged with big-rigs trying to pass each other, doing 35mph in a 60 zone.

As for banning HIDS... Wasn't there a lot of hoopla trying to ban halogen headlights back in the 70's when halogens were replacing standard incandescent ones? I remember people complaining they were too bright....

 

The Fed's are in the process of writing new rules regarding all non-OEM lighting on vehicles and some other changes too. I'll have to dig some to find out exactly where the rule change is at, but it's probably pretty close since they've been at this for a couple years already.

It's been driven by public complaints to NHTSA not just about HID's but all the auxiliary lighting on vehicles and issues with the height of SUV/truck lights, etc.

Don't expect OEM HID to get banned, they likely won't, but expect aftermarket lighting and what can be retrofit to vehicles, to be severely limited.

 

OEM DOT approved lighting is pretty damn hard to ban. Now, for all the poor bastards out there without HIDs and want to upgrade, DON'T DISPAIR!! Simply get REAL OEM HID assemblies on eBay and do a retrofit. Just aim them properly. Check out my wife's 2000 Accord retrofitted with S2000 HIDs.



She glows like a champ! Just as good as my TL

 

So if we by chance find Dr. Gridlock annoying, can we get him banned from the US?? Dr. Gridlock should keep his @$$ on the Metro where it belongs.

Also someone needs to remind him and the state of Virginia that US citizens have the right to access any transmission broadcast on open airwaves, so possessing and operating lawfully owned, FCC certified radar detector is totally legal. If states have a problem with it then, take it up with the FCC. (I go through DC/Va several times/year and NEVER put my detector away.)

 

While I am in favor of banning DRLs, High beams are a different story. As was mentioned in the DRL thread, most of the clamoring about eliminating the high beams comes from those in urban areas where the streets are always illuminated and there are hundreds of cars on the road. And I can see their point.

However, I live in Raleigh. We have deer in Raleigh. We have lots of deer in Raleigh. And they have this nasty tendency of running into the roads, especially at night. High beams go a long way in illuminating an unlit deserted road, making those deer in Raleigh that have a nasty tendency to run into the road much more visible. So I hope they see our point.

The problem comes down to simple mathmatics though. There are a lot more people in the urban areas who hate the high beams than there are in the rural areas that use them to avoid the deer that have a nasty tendency to run in the road. So I expect some legislation will be made - hopefully it will simply be a limit to how high off the ground the beams are allowed to project on an object 150 feet away, or something similar.

 

While traveling I often get people the pull behind me and high beam me because they think I had my high beams on. Doesn't bother me though, the rear view mirror compensates quickly enough. Anyone else get beamed by mistaken Identity?

 

Epik good point but even in a big city there are always unlit areas were they are helpful and i love how wide they are so you can see more than whats directly in front of you.

 

Years ago when halogen lights first appeared there was the same reaction. People tried to get them banned because they were too bright and, clearly many people would be killed in the torrent of accidents that would soon follow due to drivers being blinded by them. Well, it never happened. It's the same with HIDs, and anything else that's new. While there's nothing inherrently wrong with them HIDs can be annoying if not properly aimed. The problem is that many of them are not. And these aftermarket bulbs people put in should be restricted. Some of them are terribly bright. Combine that with improper aiming and you have a real problem.

Years from now a new lighting technology will find its way into cars and people will try to get them banned, wishing for the "good old days" when cars only had HIDs.

 

Here in NYC, high beams are banned at all times, but HIDs are OK.

 

That's amazing. I've never heard of high beams being banned.

Just like EpiK in North Carolina, we have one heck of a lot of road rats (deer) here in Virginia.. over a million running around the state. I want and need all the legal light I can get. And since I live in a small town, 3 miles from the mountains with nice country roads and such, you can bet there are four-legged critters all over the place.

 

Why not ban high beams while we're at it? I see too many people driving around with high beams in the city. They're to bright and blind other drivers, ban them!

/sarcasm

 

Ban from usage but not banned from being a factory component. These people trying to ban HIDs ar trying to prevent manufacturers from installing them in the cars.

That's a different situation.

 

I've never heard of that law in the city. When did this get passed??

 

There is no way they would ever be able to implement this now with all the vehicles with HID's. That's an impossible task.

 

The only type of legislation with regards to HIDs that I would support, would be requiring auto-leveling. (They already require this in Europe IIRC)

 

Actually, I was surprised that the TL didn't have this feature.

 

I was incorrect about the "all times" part. This is a quote from NYC trafic laws:
"(b) Lights while driving.
(1) When the display of head lamps is required, no operator shall operate the
vehicle with parking lights only. The operator shall use the lower beam of
multiple beam head lamps, except that the upper beam may be used where the
street is not lighted sufficiently to reveal any person, vehicle or substantial object
straight ahead of such vehicle for a distance of at least 350 feet, and provided
that there is no vehicle within 500 feet approaching from the direction ahead."


Since most all of the streets here are pretty heavily lit, the conditions of the last sentence are so rarely met that they are effectively banned. It's been this way since I began driving, in 1969.

 

Yep, I get the brights flashed at me quite a bit. It's fun to flash them back so they can see what the REAL high beams look like. It just sucks when they get you before you get the chance to blink them back.

As for the SUV's and trucks...when they ride my ass and blind me in the side mirrors, I steer the mirrors to reflect it back at them. Yeah, I know, it's petty. But they shouldn't be tailgating me anyways.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I didnt doubt you, especially given all the ordinances passed during Giuliani's Quality of Life campaign. But that law does seem fair enough and I've personally had little reason to use highbeams in NYC (as you've indicated).

 

About the only time I can ever recall using high beams in New York City has been on the State Road between Breezy Point and the Marine Parkway Bridge, just in case someone is riding a bike back to Roxbury.

 

This had nothing to do with Rudy, it's always been this way.

 

no no, I was referring to your original po.....nevermind.