Originally Posted by
phughes
Or you haven't adjusted it properly so it isn't shining in their eyes. The problem with it shining in their eyes is twofold, one, it temporarily blinds them, and two, because they are temporarily blinded, and because now your light is basically all they can see, they are more likely to drive towards you since you naturally turn towards that which you are staring.
If you have a light, you have the responsibility to adjust it properly so that you do not blind oncoming drivers, and so that it is pointing in a direction most helpful for you to see what it is you need to see. If you don't, then you just wasted a lot of money on a light you are using inproperly.
Was getting a propane tank filled at a shop across the street from a big Harley dealer. Propane guy is really chatty, the conversation turned to motorcycle & bicycle lighting. Turned out he's an ex-cop & he noted the light fixation problem which I hadn't heard of, although he was referring more to having lots of lights (oldsters might remember when Electra-Glide owners used to festoon their motos with numerous lights). Well lately on the bike path I've seen more cyclists switch lights to lower brightness when approaching other bikes/peds. Actually it seems like back when some bicyclists had powerful HID's that freight-train glare was more of a problem. BTW the new trend is guys keeping headlights or more esp rear blinkies on during daylight. Yeah, rechargeable batteries make it cheap to do but seems a little silly on a bike path.