JosephPaul86

I was wondering what technique you all use to hint to driver's to turn off their high beams.

At night rides I ride mostly on country back roads...meaning less traffic, but more high beams. I flashed my Cateye headlamp at the drivers of two different cars and neither did anything. With my glasses I have to pull off the road till I can see after they pass.

Maybe I should get some HID kit so I can blind them the same?

A never ending battle

CB HI

Shining a HID or the new very bright LED lights in their eyes works best (most of the time it is the only thing that works).

CdCf

I wave my hand in front of my light. Works every other time.

Allister

I use my hand to shield my eyes. If they still don't get the hint, it's already in position to turn it into a single finger salute as they pass.

What is the deal with that anyway? Do they think that just because we're on a bike, we for some reason don't have eyes or need to see where we're going? People are so stupid.

Chris L

I do a lot of night riding -- especially at this time of year. Most of them don't even turn off their high-beams for other cars, much less cyclists. It seems to be at it's worst on nights when there is a full moon, almost as if most of them don't realise their light is actually on unless they have the high beam option going. About the only real defence you have is to keep your eye down on the road until they pass. If anyone has a better option, let me know, because this problem isn't going away anytime soon.

eubi

Well...I never thought it was a good idea to blind a driver coming towards me in a car.

Just avert your eyes...this too, will pass.

Police I have known have said that failure to dim lights is cause to suspect a drunk driver. Another reason I'll just keep an eye on them and let them get past.

I'm talking abut an urban-suburban environment here, where the brights probably aren't needed anyway.

I-Like-To-Bike

Baseball cap with extra long brim combined with looking downwards as much as possible. I also find that waving my hand in front of my own light works 90% of the time to get the motorists to dim their high beams.

ChipSeal

Because I wear glasses, I put a hand up at arms length to shield my eyes. I can see the road and such with no problem (Using their light no less!) while blocking out their high beams.

Tailwinds!

Sir Bikesalot

+1. However...my light is pretty blinding in itself since there's no cutoff so I just call it even.

joelpalmer

One thing to keep in mind is that they may not have high beams on. A combination of overpowered headlights (currently the rage) and poor adjustment can just aim the light right into your face. If that's the case there isn't anything to do. I've encountered that problem a lot, and since my only commuting these days is in the city with plenty of streetlights there's no reason for people to have their high beams on.

Chris L

Interesting. Right now I'm running a high-powered headlight which primarily focusses it's beam on the road in front of me. It's more like a defensive move, because it ensures I can still see where I'm going and makes it easier to look down. I'll give the hand waving thing a try.

zeytoun

Do you cut holes in the top of the baseball cap for your ears?

Machka 

It's been a while since many of you have driven a car! Do you remember what you do when you drive and you want the on-coming car to dim its lights? You flash your lights dim/bright or off/on at the car, and 9 times out of 10 that works, the on-coming car dims its lights.

So ... do the same thing with your bicycle lights. It works! Well, most of the time.

Moving your hand back and forth in front of your light to simulate flashing your lights sometimes works. And turning your head to look directly into the car at the driver's seat, with your helmet light on, also sometimes works. Another thing which has worked on occasion is to weave on the road a bit and to wobble my lights, both on the bicycle and on my helmet, back and forth. This lets them know I'm actually alive and moving, not just something bright and shiny in the ditch.

Machka 

+1 Lights are getting brighter and brighter out there. I have flashed a few cars, thinking they had their brights on, only to have them turn their brights on. I nearly rode off the road!

I-Like-To-Bike

Youse done got me confuzed with your A&S debating partner. I wear a baseball cap, and I believe he wears a straw hat as pictured below.

zeytoun

I meant the trombone playing cat... I thought it was a picture of you

(although, just gazing into that burros eyes, I'm second-guessing my initial instinct to buzz him as I drive by.... I think it's alpha-donkeying me!)

I-Like-To-Bike

And probably can use dynamic tail wagging to communicate its thoughts and commands to motorists to the rear even better than Mr. ÜberCyclist.

Mr. Underbridge

Most of the time, idiots don't dim their brights for other drivers either.

Ed Holland

Hand over eyes (exaggerated for the benefit of the driver in case they are paying attention) and/or flashing my headlamp on & off. Results vary.

I have a problem with the design of many modern headlights in general, because they have such a sharp "cut off" to the beam when dipped. This applies when driving and cycling. A small amount of mis-adjustment, or differences in road level and grade (e.g. brow of a hill) and they are nearly as dazzling as the bright or "Main beam" setting. Once I flashed, waved and shielded my eyes, only for the driver to flash his brights to show that he was already "dipped".

Cheers,

Ed

maximushq2

What makes the most sense to me is to flash your lights at them either by using a high low setting or sweeping your hand in front of the light if your light doesn't have a dimming setting. If that fails then they are likely to get a good dose of my helmet light which so far has always gotten them to dim their lights. JosephPaul86, if you are being forced to pull off the road then I would suggest a brighter headlight so that your light isn't overwhelmed by the car headlights. A helmet mounted light has the advantage of letting you aim the beam where you want it so I highly recommend one. I use one light mounted on the bar and one on the helmet, both of which are bright enough to use by themselves safely. In town though I mostly just use the bar mounted one and use the helmet mounted light only when needed.