RidesaJapanese

Depending on your area, maybe you were lost in all the local light pollution. Drivers are subjected to gauntlets of unshielded LED glare bombs in my area, let alone the LED headlights of oncoming traffic.

Just a thought.

RidesaJapanese

I assume this is while you ride at night? Chances are your lighting system is putting out some serious glares into the eyes on oncoming drivers. Vehicles have become horrible about this as well.

prathmann

"The ones that get me are the oncoming traffic on the other side of the median. Do you really have to start holding your horn down when you see me and not let off until you pass me?"
There's already a well-established way that motorists indicate to oncoming traffic that their lights are creating too much glare. It consists of briefly flashing high-beams at the offender - not blasting away with your horn. I'd also note that in California (and most states where I've lived) it is against the vehicle code to use the horn other than as a warning when a collision might be imminent.

RidesaJapanese

All well enough in the pre LED days, but I've blared my horn at oncoming vehicles because even the low beams are horribly blinding.

prathmann

Then I really doubt that you're getting your message across. When I hear a blaring horn in the absence of an actual emergency situation I dismiss it as just another idiot driver. OTOH, if I get some high-beam flashes I'll check the lights and make sure the beam patterns are properly shaped and aimed.

RidesaJapanese

That's because when you flach them, they hit their brights and then you're really blinded. LED's really have no business being on vehicles.

KD5NRH

Yup; no level of visibility is enough to deal with every idiot; just had one smack into a big red fire truck on a bright sunny day.

Milton Keynes

Or sending a very important text message.

Milton Keynes

The worst are those electronic signs in front of businesses. A lot of them are extremely bright, and at night can be blinding. Not to mention distracting. Go somewhere touristy and it's really bad trying to find a traffic signal in all the visual noise.

RidesaJapanese

Definitely, I've seen some of the LED billboards. The LED insanity is to the point though that even a country drive now exposes you to multiple glare bombs, while the small towns are lighting up their crumbling roads and decades closed storefronts to where the entire town is awash in blinding light.

KD5NRH

There's one of those signs near here that has some red and white message of pure hatred toward epileptics. It's disconcerting at night because the sign is in a lousy spot, but reflects off several buildings, looking like there's a gathering of emergency vehicles nearby. I've seen more than one car bounce off a curb while the driver is looking everywhere but forward trying to figure out where the emergency lights are coming from.
It's made worse by being two blocks from the police department and downtown fire department, so it is a fairly common spot to have an ambulance or cop suddenly turn up between two large buildings headed to a call.

RidesaJapanese

Speaking of emergency vehicles, some weeks ago I'm driving on the highway and up ahead someone was pulled over. The "cherries" were so bright and disorienting even from a good ways off that I couldn't tell what side of the road they were on, and getting closer I had to slow to a crawl to even keep in my lane. Whatever the poor wretch had done to be pulled over, couldn't have been more of a danger to other traffic than those lights were.

Milton Keynes

Unless you have a Pink Floyd-sized disco ball and plenty of lights.

odiolalluvia

I find that taking the lane when I have to mix with car traffic improves my visibility. Tho if someone had their eyes closed I imagine it would increase my exposure instead.