> s…@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Kyler Laird) writes:
>>Isn’t the idea of a driving light to light up the area close
>>to the car?  This shouldn’t affect other drivers much at all.

(It was pointed out to me that NO, this is not the idea of a driving light.)

>but it does.  more light is more bother.

So if I have a 200,000 candle power spotlight aimed into a distant
field (not across your path) it’s going to annoy you simply because there
is more light radiating from my car.

No, I don’t buy it.  I think bother is a result of intensity.  (That is,
unless you are bothered simply ’cause I’ve got more lights than you.)  If I can
keep the intensity of the light hitting your eyes down to an _acceptable_
level, I don’t have any qualms about illuminating everything else that I
can as much as I can.  (…within reasonable levels – don’t want to ignite
anything…)

It was, however, pointed out to me that aiming is not always final; with
dips, etc. in the road, oncoming traffic may be hit in an area out of the
scope of the aim.

So what ever happened to the polarized windshields & headlights………

–kyler

For whatever its worth, I recently replaced a set of Bosch Pilot fog lights
with a set of Hella 162 fog lights. The Hella’s are approx. 7" round
mounted above the bumper and are fitted with 100w bulbs.

I have yet to have anybody mistake these for high beams, so I don’t
hesitate to run them on a regular basis. i
They are BRIGHT, very similar to the effect of a proper H4/H1 system
high beam only concentrated very close to the car.

I also run Hella H4 (55/100w) low beams and H1 (100w) high beams,
apart from the fact that they can light up street signs in broad
daylight, they do not seem to bother oncoming traffic either.

The problem with most non-eurooptic headlights is that they do not
focus light well. From experience, those mini-sealed beams so popular
on Gm cars are many times more annoying to oncoming traffic than, say,
Cibie Z-beams with 90/100w filaments.

tim