Originally Posted by
cyccommute
...This is the real crux of the problem. However, it's only a tiny problem. Look at where we ride our bikes on the road (MUPs are a different issue). We don't ride near the center line but we ride to the right of the passenger's side of the car.
1) That's a generalization. In the cities where I've commuted, cyclists travel in all lanes therefore their lights should be positioned well otherwise they can blind oncoming traffic.
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
...The passenger's side light is aimed higher and further down the road than the driver's light and it is much brighter than most bicycle lights.
2) It doesn't matter if a car light is brighter than a bike light. If they both are bright enough to blind someone, then they both should be aimed appropriately. (refer to comments 3 & 4)
3) Part of your response is strictly argumentative and without merit since the driver's side and passenger's side headlights, as a rule, are aimed to the same height and at the same distance from center. That's been a common practice for at least the 30 years that I've been driving as illustrated here:
http://www.coolbulbs.com/HID-VISUAL-...-PROCEDURE.pdf
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
... the localized intensity of the light has to be less thus even halogens as bright as I can make them aren't going to be a significant blinding hazard to on-coming traffic on a roadway.
4) Lights are a blinding hazard if they are improperly aimed which is the basis of our concerns... people aiming bright lights at about eye-level. I have a $1.50 9-LED flashlight powered by 3 AAA batteries that can hurt the retinas and cause a blind spot if improperly aimed (remember the helmet light concerns in other posts?) and it's nowhere near as powerful as my MR16 halogen headlight, which I'm sure we can agree isn't as bright as the average car headlight.