Bright Lights

[5bikes]

I'm addiment about driving with my bright lights "ON" all the time. With over 300,000 miles and thousands of trips in 44 years of biking, I'm positive this has "Saved My Life" more than once. Hundreds of other safety conscience habits have helped too .

As the leader of 20+ riders I ask all my loyal followers to use there brights too.

I'm adding a second headlight or driving lights and second stop/taillight to all my bikes, even my dual sport.

Bulbs are cheap, hospitalization isn't!

If they don't see you they can't avoid you!

Please do the same.

[Eck]

Good post.

 

I have already added driving lights and several rear lights including 140 Green LED lights so that Google earth can watch me at night ...........

[Gambit]

i agree with the driving lights. I am glad i finally found the switch for them even though i only needed to find it once (to turn them on). You wont see me with them off. The high beam is always on during the day as well. I only turn it off at night. The driving lights will help them see me but i dont want to blind them so they dont see someone else.

 

As for the brake lights. I am getting that flasher module so whenever i apply the brakes the brake light flashes before it goes steady to get the attention of the guy/girl behind me.

 

Hospitalization is free for me but i have recently developed an alergy to pain.

[hig4s]

If I flip you off when I see your brights, please forgive me

 

 

But I have slight night blindness, as to about 30% of all men over 50,, and the high contrast of unnecessary brights gives me a headache, even during the day (as do mis-adjusted HID head lights) and the pain seems to go right to the end of my road rage nerve.

 

I request all of you use only the legal low beams and stop bothering everyone with your high beams. Besides, if you think running highs all the time is safer, think about when you half blind some 80 year old guy in a Buick Roadmaster, what do you suppose he will target fixate on, your brights.

 

If you don't believe you are visible enough I suggest you get the legal headlight modulation system.

[Squidley]

If I flip you off when I see your brights, please forgive me

 

 

But I have slight night blindness, as to about 30% of all men over 50,, and the high contrast of unnecessary brights gives me a headache, even during the day (as do mis-adjusted HID head lights) and the pain seems to go right to the end of my road rage nerve.

 

I request all of you use only the legal low beams and stop bothering everyone with your high beams. Besides, if you think running highs all the time is safer, think about when you half blind some 80 year old guy in a Buick Roadmaster, what do you suppose he will target fixate on, your brights.

 

If you don't believe you are visible enough I suggest you get the legal headlight modulation system.

 

 

Sorry to say that I disagree...

I run with my brights on all day everyday, and when people flash me I kindly wave back at them (no not with my middle finger) as the high beam has done it's job. I would much rather piss someone off than have them tell my widowed wife "I didn't see him"

[Pappa Bear]

As for me and mine, sorry that it gives you the headache, but it seems like a good trade off to keep every driver out there that could posssibly drive me and the bike into the ground like a tent stake just a little more alert for everyones sake!

[Snaggletooth]

I run my headlight on high all the time in the daylight along with a set of 25 watt driving lights mounted on Squidleys brackets that are relayed off the high beam. It's been more than once that someone has started to pull over into my lane or pull out in front me at an intersection and then stopped.

 

I firmly believe the brights are what made the difference and they would not have noticed me if I wasn't burning them.

 

I'll go with what works.

 

Mike

[5bikes]

I'll take the "Bird" over dying!

And yes, many many times people would have driven through me if I hadn't had the Brights On. Use them!!!

[hig4s]

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.

 

.

[Roadhand]

Sorry but I totally disagree.

I have ridden for many years and many miles all over the country not only on a bike but in pickups, autos, and even big trucks.

Most all of my working carreer has been in transportation of some type.

As a spare job, I even taught Defensive Driving courses for 10+ years

 

Highbeam headlights and auxiliary driving lights do get you seen.

 

Just ride with someone and get quite a bit ahead of them, then have them turn on their high beam.

 

Riding in traffic during the day with a hign beam head light & two "running" lights (or amber if you prefer) and you have a far greater chance to be noticed.

 

Case closed.

 

I do agree for better visibility to other vehicles in inclement weather (rain, snow, fog) other passive safety measures to increase your visibility, is a no brainer.

 

Always wear a high-visibility retroreflective surfaces on your gear.

 

I own a RSMV but I wear a white helmet to assist with improved visibility. (most visible color is yellow but come on.......) can't look like a bumble bee.

[hig4s]

Having taught defensive driving you must have some statistics and facts to back up your position, I would welcome them.

 

But you can't argue the fact that running high beams in traffic in most places it illegal.

[Vance]

'Being visible' does not mean 'being seen'. We must always remember to ride like we aren't seen, and drive accordingly. Yellow vests, modulating headlights, passing lights at day time, etc. do not guarantee that the little ol' lady in the big car saw you. Don't get lulled into a false sense of security - stay on guard.

[Snaggletooth]

Ok, the can of worms is open so I'll bite. I spent 13 years in traffic safety for transportation doing training for drivers. Part of my job was investigating motor vehicle accidents. In all of the couple of hundred accidents that I researched I never heard any claim that someone was blinded by lights during daylight hours. At night time, severe weather or heavy rain.....sure. 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.

 

And there is solid information out there stating that a trianglulted(?) light pattern does make an observer more aware of a smaller vehicle. However, that deals primarly with depth perseption of that vehicles position. The issue is it was seen. Period.

 

But the problem I have with your statements posted here is you contradict yourself from one post to the next.

 

In your 1st post you state: "Besides, if you think running highs all the time is safer, think about when you half blind some 80 year old guy in a Buick Roadmaster, what do you suppose he will target fixate on, your brights."

 

In your 2nd post you make the comment: "The closer you get, the less they want to, or are able to, look at you." That alone helps removes the fixation issue I believe.

 

I'm not here to slam you Al, not at all. But almost every rider I know is concerned about their visibility to other vehicles as they well should be. But you made some pretty strong statements such as: "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." Bit over the top don't you think?

 

So that said I'll leave ya'll to hash this out. Could be worse...we could be talking about loud pipes again. LOL!

 

Mike

 

[friesman]

Having taught defensive driving you must have some statistics and facts to back up your position, I would welcome them.

 

But you can't argue the fact that running high beams in traffic in most places it illegal.

 

Any new motorcycle rider here has to take the Motorcycle Safety Course. The certified instructors tell every class to ride with their high beams (and driving lights) in the daytime, at night they recommend the low beam with the driving lights in traffic. According to them the biggest factor in motorcycle accidents is being seen and the fact if you only have one headlight without driving lights, cagers cant judge the bike's distance or speed.

 

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

 

Brian

[hig4s]

"Besides, if you think running highs all the time is safer, think about when you half blind some 80 year old guy in a Buick Roadmaster, what do you suppose he will target fixate on, your brights."

 

In your 2nd post you make the comment: "The closer you get, the less they want to, or are able to, look at you." That alone helps removes the fixation issue I believe.

 

"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."

 

 

I don't see why you think the first two quotes are contradictory, They say two different things.. And just because getting closer to the brights helps remove the fixation, because one is likely to look away, that does not eliminate the fact it could be caused it to start with. And whether they look away or not, do you really want some confused driver in a tank of a car starting toward to to begin with.

 

As far as the last quote, I worded it poorly, I meant a bunch of high beams.. I have no problem with most running lights and low beam passing lights.

 

After looking around I found studies by the Transport Accident Commission of Victoria Australia.

 

In a study 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, (OK, apparently they do help a little, but I still find them obnoxious) But with triangulated DRLs they saw 8.7% decrease in accidents, and with triangulated yellow DRLs they saw a 12.4% decrease in accidents.

 

I have been debating on getting passing lamps or not myself,, I have decided to get them, and I'll be adding LED clusters to my front running lights/turn signals also.

[Venturous Randy]

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

Edited February 15, 2009 by Venturous Randy

[mother]

my accident in sept 2007, i had 55 watt silverstar bulb on low beam, and two 50 watt halogen driving lights were on, when a lady coming from the other direction made a left turn in front of me, and she said she never seen me. not allowed to run high beam in traffic here.

[Venturous Randy]

my accident in sept 2007, i had 55 watt silverstar bulb on low beam, and two 50 watt halogen driving lights were on, when a lady coming from the other direction made a left turn in front of me, and she said she never seen me. not allowed to run high beam in traffic here.

 

Scott, we had a guy killed here Thursday in a cage because he did not see a loaded dump truck coming at him. Sometimes people just don't look.

RandyA

[OutKast]

I vote stock passing lights with low beams. MORE lights increases visibility. BRIGHTER lights blind others. I usually do not even run the brights in the country, as it makes the new reflective road signs blind me.

 

I would never run a modulator or a flashing brake light. Our ex road captian had some kind of flashing brake light thing, and tied into his amber rear signals so they all flashed. It was very attention getting, but also very confusing. More than once he turned and the bikes behind him didn't expect it.

 

Brighter headlamps wash out your own turn signals. I will upgrade the front running lamps before I consider buying the passing lamps. Then the next priority is convertig the rear signals to full run/turn/brake, the led type that have amber signals and red brakes. I have upgraded to a silverstar bulb.

 

I think I am in the 30% "male pattern blindness". At least I still have all my hair.

 

I have more sucess staying invisible and relying on my own god-given "spider-sense" then expecting others to yeild to my "display of candlepower".

 

God will tell me when it is time, and I don't want to be remembered as a law breaking PITA.

[DragonRider]

I too also drive with my high beams on during the daytime whether I am in my van or on my bike.........if they can see you with your lights on it makes them more aware of your presence.......

 

And as the original poster stated when it gets dark, the low beams come on when in traffic, but all other times the high beams are on. It only makes sense to drive with your lights on, cars and bikes are invisible to some without them on, even in the daytime. And I have to add that I have never been blinded by someones highbeams or driving light in the daytime, but I do seem them better...........

 

 

Sorry to say that I disagree...

 

I run with my brights on all day everyday, and when people flash me I kindly wave back at them (no not with my middle finger) as the high beam has done it's job. I would much rather piss someone off than have them tell my widowed wife "I didn't see him"

Edited February 15, 2009 by DragonRider

[V7Goose]

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

[friesman]

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.

 

 

Hey Randy dont wait to get the cataract surgery, It is the easiest procedure ever and your vision is better immediatly. You will still have the night time issue for up to 6 months or so , but it will clear up. I had both eyes done over 2 years ago and it was the best thing ever.

 

Brian

[Stanman]

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

 

I vote stock passing lights with low beams. MORE lights increases visibility. BRIGHTER lights blind others. I usually do not even run the brights in the country, as it makes the new reflective road signs blind me.

 

I would never run a modulator or a flashing brake light. Our ex road captian had some kind of flashing brake light thing, and tied into his amber rear signals so they all flashed. It was very attention getting, but also very confusing. More than once he turned and the bikes behind him didn't expect it.

 

Brighter headlamps wash out your own turn signals. I will upgrade the front running lamps before I consider buying the passing lamps. Then the next priority is convertig the rear signals to full run/turn/brake, the led type that have amber signals and red brakes. I have upgraded to a silverstar bulb.

 

I think I am in the 30% "male pattern blindness". At least I still have all my hair.

 

I have more sucess staying invisible and relying on my own god-given "spider-sense" then expecting others to yeild to my "display of candlepower".

 

God will tell me when it is time, and I don't want to be remembered as a law breaking PITA.

 

 

I must completely agree with the above members as I have also had the misfortune of meeting vehicles with their high beams on in daylight. Obviously these "intelligent" drivers have no clue that high beam headlights on any vehicle are just as blinding during the day as they are at night.

 

It boggles my mind that some of the same people that promote safer driving use such a dangerous practice.

I fully understand wanting to increase your visibility, but, PLEASE use more lights, not brighter lights.

[N3FOL]

Looks like you are on the right track. LED lights will definitely make a difference. For the sake of this thread, I turn on my bright lights together with my passing lamps on a bright sunny day. If the day is partly cloudy, I use my discretion and simply use low beams with passing lamps on. At night, I really do not want to blind oncoming traffic as this might back fire on me (car going towards me head on).

 

Ride safe and never stop riding.

[Squidley]

It's interesting of the responces here, and let me add that I am not saying to ride with your high beams on day and night in traffic. I hear a lot of mention about more lights, sorry to say that if they dont see 1-55 watt halogen light, they're probably not going to see 3. I'll add this too that I have totally missed a bike with LOW beams on and I look for them. I didn't know their lights were on until they were a few feet from me.

Properly aimed lights are a big problem too, look at all your new vehicles and tell me how bright their low beams are. I too have been instructed by teachers of motorcycle saftey courses to run with your high beams on during the day. I have done that for 20 years and unless there has been some huge change in their thinking, I will continue to do it. I'm all about being seen on my bike, and I will use every means available to make that happen