Lights - bad design, or bad implementation?
A number of issues have struck me over the last few weeks, what with doing a lot of driving in the dark (dismal weather these days...). Firstly, 4x4 vehicles, and their headlights. Every time a 4x4 is driving behind me at night, my rear view mirrors blind me and the car roof is lit up like a soccer pitch at an evening game. I can't understand why this issue can't be resolved, as huge articulated trucks do not have the same problem. Are the 4x4 dipped beams just incorrectly adjusted? Do owners twiddle with the ride-height adjustment for the lights and think "I can see great now"? My own dipped beams light up the tyres and rear bumper of the car in front, but these 4x4s must be aimed somewhere about rear-view mirror/roof level. It would be nice if the police had a light intensity device with their speed gun, so that when they caught you driving over the limit they could see it was because you were trying to put some distance between you and the blinding 4x4 behind you so you could see the road ahead and drive safely. The second matter related to these new, "fashionable" rear lights you see on a lot of new cars, where the rear indicator is encircled by the brake light like it's inside a doughnut. While this may have been a "cool" idea in the design studio, if the car in front of you has their brake lights on, you can't see the indicator! Quite a few moments of "Oh, he's turning RIGHT! That's why he's swerving all over the road!". The eye seems to have difficulty distinguishing bright orange from even brighter red when it is circled, maybe a bigger separation is required in light design? The worst culprits are the new Toyota Avensis, the new Volkswagen Golf, and the Range Rover (well, the Range Rover also offends in the first issue, blinding you when behind you, along with being so wide that they cause traffic jams in Rhebogue. Another point, why do so many 4x4 drivers go so incredibly slowly over speed ramps? It's the nearest thing to real offroading the poor thing is ever likely to experience, so go for it!). There, feel better now...