Originally Posted by
BassNotBass
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..
All lanes? Most cyclists I see travel outside of the main traffic lanes in an attempt to preserve their third dimension. Yes, they may move over to turn but so do cars. Bicyclist don't ride a significant amount of time next to the center line of a road way...especially at night...where they are going to be a significant blinding hazard to on-coming traffic.
I doubt, highly, that if you really looked at the bicycle traffic in the cities you've ridden in, there aren't a significant number traveling very far from the passenger's wheel track of automobile traffic. (From here on, I'll refer to the passenger's side as the 'right' side of the car. If you live where they drive on the goofy side of the street, you'll just have to make the adjustment in your head.)
Originally Posted by
BassNotBass
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).
Yes, bicycle lights should be aimed appropriately. But where a bicycle light is aimed is hardly as much of an issue as some would make it out to be. If you ride at night for a while, you'll find your lights aimed down where they do you good rather than spraying off into space. Why carry the damned things if they are ineffective?
Originally Posted by
BassNotBass
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.
I was wrong about the right side light being aimed higer. But the overall effect of automobile lamp aiming is that there is more light to the right of the car than the left.
Take a look at step 4 or go really observe the lights on your car. The cut-off for the lamp is to the upper left to keep the glare down for on-coming drivers. The bulk of the light is biased to the right side of the car so the right side...the passenger's side...has more illumination that shines further down the road.
Originally Posted by
BassNotBass
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 (refer to comment 1) 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.
No, your $1.50 LED light can not
hurt retinas. Hurt implies damage, usually of a lasting kind. It may cause
temporary saturation of the light receptors in the eye but that passes in a matter of seconds. You could stare directly at the center of the light for several minutes and still not be left with any lasting effects. These aren't lasers nor the sun, afterall.
Yes, proper aiming of the lamp
is important as I've already said. It just common courtesy and common sense. But it's not something to get our bicycle knickers in a bunch over.