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So why blind both of you? Bad enough that one of you can't see due to high beams, why compound things?
Better solution: use the right edge of the road or the 'fog line' as a guide until the other guy is behind you. Less inconsiderate, IMHO.
Cheers!
Paul
To get him/her to stop blinding everyone else on the road, that's why. And usually, after I keep them on for a second, they dim them. Some folks have to be hit upside the head. Maybe with a hammer :=)
Better solution: use the right edge of the road...
That's not a "better" solution to getting them to dim. It's a way to cope with it. Of course, I do that as well.
2) To let you know that you're about to get/almost got hit because of something stupid/dangerous that you're doing (running a stop sign, pulling dangerously out in front of me, or doing something that's going to make me have to hit the brakes or swerve)
Hey, here's a dumb question...if it's illegal to honk your horn except in emergencies (and in my first example, I'd guess that wouldn't qualify as an emergency) then why do so many car alarms honk the horn when you arm/un-arm them? I HATE it when I'm walking through the parking lot, and someone arms/disarms a car near me. There oughtta be a law against that! It's one thing for the alarm to chirp or make some other noise that's not a horn honking, as you can make the distinction and tell it's just an alarm, but a honking horn is different. Is it someone in distress? Am I about to get hit by a car I didn't notice? and so forth.
I installed a pair in the grill of my 66 Mustang and have yet to replace either since they are not used frequently. The landing lights fit where the factory fog lights were, but they were only 35W.
http://www.kitsapmustangclub.org/Photos/displayimage.php?pid=51&fullsize=1
:surprise:
No, no, sorry if that was confusing. I cited the example, which was in Manhattan, specifically. It's a local ordinance, obviously related to the population density and frequency of abuse. I'm sure it's not unique, but I'm also sure that it's not applicable to the vast majority of places. As for car alarms, AFAIK, audible car alarms are illegal in NYC.
Hahah.... the fog line. What a rarity around here. Better to just close the eyes all together :P (joking here.... joking!)
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Canada.... Oy. The last time I drove my old '69 C20 from Alaska there were many times this one night (somewhere south of Prince George in BC) during a heavy rainstorm when, for some reason, several oncoming drivers were convinced I was running my brights. Rather than flash me while I was a fair distance away so that I could have time to correct if I WAS using the brights, they waited until they were about 10 yards (er... metres..) off and then flipped on their brights as they passed. Damned annoying. I became pretty quick with that foot switch.... I just hovered over it as vehicles would approach in anticipation. I am not quite sure what the problem was with the lights - they were aimed well enough and I only had about 500# in the bed, so that shouldn't have affected the aim much if any. I can only surmise that the wide-angle nature of the bulbs was causing an adverse reaction in conjunction with the heavy rain on the other drivers' windshields. Aw well.... if anything it helped keep me eager and alert during a long night of driving.
Here's a snippet...
A study released Tuesday said drivers who use cell phones -- even hands-free models -- are four times as likely to be involved in wrecks involving a serious injury than are drivers who do not use cell phones.
"There was no safety benefit whatsoever from using a hands-free phone..."
When you think about it, it does make sense, as a horn is a loud annoyance. It drives me crazy when someone pulls up into a driveway and starts wailing into the horn, instead of going up and knocking on the door. A few years back when I lived in my condo, there was this woman in a Cavalier who would pull up outside my bedroom window, which was only like 20-25 feet from the street, and I'd hear this WHONK WHONK WHOOOOONNNNKK! One night when it was fairly late and it happened, I ran outside to tell her to stop it.
As I came up to her car, she started to dismiss me "Oh, not you, I'm honking for him", saying to my neighbor, who was walking out. That's when I told her yeah, but you're outside of MY window when you're doing it! And it sounds like you're right in there with me! She was trying to explain that this dude lived with his elderly mother, and she was truthfully pretty fat and fragile looking herself, and she'd do the grocery shopping. Well, she'd honk for him to come out and get the groceries. But now, if he knows she's coming, couldn't he just keep an eye out for her? Plus, the annoying thing is that she'd pull up so the trunk of her car was even with the sidewalk to their condo, but then the front of the car, where the horn is, was outside my window!
These people weren't the brightest bulbs in the chandelier, though. One night the guy spray-painted his Cavalier (yes, he had one, too) in his garage, which was right under my bedroom. The fumes were so bad I had to open all my windows and air it out. When I told him about it, he's just like sorry about that, I didn't realize the fumes were getting up in there, so I'll do it when you're not around. Oh, great. So then, I get to come home to a house full of paint fumes? Not to mention what it might have done to my cat, ferrets, pythons, etc?!
Why do stupid people breed?
Are you sure they were flashing you because they thought you had your brights on or were they just in a hurry to get their brights back on?
I have noticed that there is a small segment that will turn on their brights just as your passing each other, most likely with the mistaken impression that they don't effect the other driver.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Oh yeah, you hit on another pet peeve of mine...people who pull up too far and stop, so that they're blocking the crosswalk, the vision of other drivers, etc. A few years ago I almost got nailed by a Crown Vic taxi while in the crosswalk. I literally had to jump up on the hood of the car as he came into the crosswalk. Once up there, I decided to walk the rest of the way across his hood, too. :shades:
And years ago, while delivering pizzas, I was making a left turn on green (no arrow, though), when a Cutlass Supreme to my left came up to its red light and crossed over the line, stopping out too far, and coming dangerously close to me. The woman driving had the nerve to lay into the horn. I stopped the car and backed up (there was nobody behind me) and told her she was out too far, and needs to be more careful. She then proceeded to start cursing and spitting, without even removing the Marlboro from her lip, and tried to blame ME for cutting it too close!
Andre, they just don't know any better. :P
I was not in Maryland yesterday, though I probably would have preferred it to Fairbanks for reasons I'd rather not discuss. You might have caught me at the intersection if the other vehicle was blocking my LOS (In my situation, I could not have pulled out far enough to see without the nose of the Subie projecting well into the lane of traffic), but I would never have whipped a Uie in front of you. I really am a very conscientious driver, despite all of my postings here.
To steal your words, "Oh yeah, you hit on another pet peeve of mine...," stopping out too far. But.... my peeve is the exact opposite. Not the person stopping being out too far and causing an issue with a person turning left in front, but the person turning left cutting the turn too short and causing an issue with the other vehicle. In most areas, I have not noted this to be a problem. But, in Fairbanks, once the snow falls people play ignorant. And, unfortunately, that is 7 months of the year! It is not as if they do not drive the same darn roads every other day of the year, but nope, as soon as the snow falls they drive randomly across lanes, cut left turns obnoxiously short and then glare at you if they came within 2 inches of your bumper (and you stopped 30 feet short of the intersection) like it was your gol-darned fault, take corners on the shoulders of the road rather than staying in the lane or at least within reasonable distance of the lane, and PARKING LOTS!!! ARRGH, THE CHAOS! Oy. I need to go. This rant is getting out of hand, but thanks for the opportunity to vent. :P
Oh, and I also hate it when folks stop out too far (as a matter of habit), but no sense in beating a dead horse.... too much.....
A lot of GM drivers will accidently turn on their brights without realizing it. My Dad was driving his '99 Buick LeSabre ( he wrecked it and and is now driving an '04 Mercury Grand Marquis)....and the driver that was in front of him stopped at a red light came up to my Dad and told him he was driving with his brights on... my Dad clicked the turning signal switch off and everybody was happy.
I've just seen it too many times with GM cars.
And, if someone is driving towards me with their brights on, I'll flick my high beams and if they don't turn them off, I'll leave mine on blinding them. It seems to work almost every time, they will turn their high beams off.
On my 2002 Mercedes ML500, when I first bought it, the xenon headlights were not adjusted right and I had people flicking me a lot. So, I took it back to the dealer to adjust my headlights. They were out of alignment and after the adjustment, I rarely had someone flick their brights at me.
Mark
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
So to alert the driver to the fact that he was blinding drivers behind him, I gave him three quick flashes of my brights as I passed. His reaction? He changed lanes to get behind me and hits his high-beams. Clueless. :P
james
I typically hear the term "bobtail" used to refer to a tractor without the trailer. Maybe that was the problem.... he was so shaken up by the horribly bouncy ride (tractors are not really designed to run without the weight of a trailer on them; think of a 1-ton pickup running empty and multiply that by many many tons!) that his patience (and cognitive ability) were at wit's end. :confuse:
I'm about 6 car lengths behind a Mazda Tribute (not really relevant because i see this move from all kinds of vehicles of all sizes) As he approaches the intersection, he touches his brakes to slow up, so I'm off the gas to not run up on him as he makes the turn in whatever direction he's going to go. No turn signal, but as there's nobody coming the other way, and no cross traffic, and I'm not right on his bumper, this doesn't get under my skin at all. The Tribute slows and starts to go towards the right. His right front wheel crosses the point where the white line on the right side of the road would be if it was extended through the intersection. So I'm just going to continue through at reduced speed as he turns.
With his vehicle turned to the right at least 20 - 25 degrees, he flips on his LEFT turn signal and makes his left that he was apparently swinging wide for!! I didn't come close to hitting him, but I DID get to get a little harder braking practice!
I see this ALL the time. People swinging a MINI wide to "make the turn" like they're driving a bus.
Geez, it's hard to stay THAT alert ALL the time!
Two-lane roads, with narrow or no shoulders. Regardless of speed limit, one driver slows to turn left, and everyone else just files around this vehicle (sometimes all the way in the ditch) without so much as even slowing down. I find this to be incredibly dangerous and presumptuous, but I see it so frequently that it seems to be more the norm than the exception.
During my trip to Anchorage over July 4 holiday, I was driving on the Old Glenn Highway between Chugiak and Eagle River....
This is basically a dilapidated remnant of a road, mostly used for local traffic to access housing and a few businesses left scattered along the road. Main traffic use was diverted to a 4 lane median-divided "interstate" equivalent built 20-30 years ago. This thing is pitted, cracked, heaved, has no shoulders, and is windy as can be with very short sight distances. The SL is 45 on it and it is frequented by child pedestrian/bicycle traffic - especially near Chugiak (~ 8 miles between Chugiak and Eagle River).
.....going about 40 or so through the last mile of roadway approaching and passing through Chugiak. Shortly before I turned (left) off this road, a big 4-door, 1-ton pickup hauls up on my rear and camps about 4 feet off it. In the rear view, I could not see the bumper or the top of the grille - I got a real appreciation of the artistic beauty of the Ford logo... have you stared at a Ford logo lately?
When I first saw DRL headlamps, if I was passing someone on the left say, on the interstate, when I checked my mirror, when I saw their lights I thought they were flashing lights to let me know it was OK to move in front of them...imagine my surprise when they honked like a mad hornet, cuz they never gave me lights, their DRLs were just on...how could I know in the daytime???...that is why I hate DRLs... :mad: :mad: :sick:
I routinely turned on my low-beams when traveling in the daytime on high-speed rural 2-laners, and I'd always have someone flash their lights at me to "warn" me that my lights were on. Sometimes, I'd flip them off and on again to let them know I wanted them on. Of course, now that DRLs are so common, no one does that anymore. And my Camry (but not my Frontier) now has DRLs.
I like the DRLs but wish they had the rear lights tied in and on whenever the car is running. I would rather have low beams on than the high beams because the GM's are just a little bright and they are aimed up at oncoming drivers.
But I like being visible, just like motorcylists have to be in this state with their headlight on.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
When I am on those kinds of roads,I usually put on my headlights. I would either like the optional DRL shut off option or just let me put on the headlights or as in some of those "blood" alley ill designed roads, put a mandatory headlights on signs.
Very funny and well said. I think that sums up a lot of the sentiment in the last 5693 posts.
Personally, when I drive in the city I turn on my parking lights, and as my car has Euro lights, it includes a 5W light in the main housing. At speeds over 50 or so I turn on my full headlights. Don't know why I do it this way.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
For 1958, Chevy dropped the numbers and went to a lineup of DelRay, Biscayne, Bel Air, and Bel Air Impala (for this one year only, the Impala was actually a sub-series of the Bel Air, and offered only as a convertible or hardtop coupe)
In 1959 it was changed to Biscayne, Bel Air, and Impala.
I will have to hit the local Steak-n-Shake cruise in next Wednesday to relive the glory days and ask one of the old guys with a Chevy -- last time there was a 1955.
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My pet peeve is still the cellphone users who are oblivious. Most obvious are soccer mom types who have graduated to a small SUV. They're so cool with the phone to their ear. The minivan types are close behind in not realizing how they're concentration on the phone. The realtor, business type in her Jag or little Mercedes usually is more aware of their surrounds.
Recent media reports of studies have shown they are 4 times more likely to have an accident.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
But I have never seen one person post more bogus "data" in one spot.
First off, 24/7???? Why in the world would the extra gas used be based on having headlights on all the time, i.e., when not driving????
Secondly, an average vehicle that has DRL uses about 2 gal more a year. I won' t bother to repeat the calculations here, you can see them at this site. But 2 gal a year for the 12k mile @ 28 mpg vehicle amounts to a .005 difference in mpg. That would be 28 mpg going to 27.995. 9%????? Only if your DRL were about 200 kilowatts, LOL.
Now, I have no idea what, if any, EPA edicts were implemented re DRLs, but I see no ref anywhere, inc the EPA website, except for one ref from '93 that mentions a "slight, but measurable, decrease in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)". Do you have some verifiable source for this claim?
I do not have a web site links but have read that in a number of articles on the web in passing. So if the articles are proved to be bogus then so be it. If not, I freely admit I was not involved on the EPA testing phase at any point.
I asked because 9% is ridiculously high for extra cost. The cost of air conditioning using 134 instead of 12 refrigerant was only a fraction of a mpg when the air was operating. That was quipped back as a response when I questioned an engineer running a test stand who mentioned higher compressor pressures for R134A vs R12 how much extra gas would be used.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
The Delray package was not available on other 210 body styles, at least not during the 1955-57 model years. So every 1955-57 Delray is a 210, but not every 210 is a Delray.
As for DRLs - ruking, I have to agree with li_sailor on this one. A 9 percent drop in fuel economy because of DRLs seems extremely high. The numbers I saw when DRLs were first introduced were more in line with those quoted by li_sailor.
Fair enough. When I read the articles, I also had the same reaction that indeed 9% was high. And who REALLY knows if the 9% was a DEAL to get the oems to implement DLR's. Sort of a quid pro quo. It is also pretty obvious if that were true it would let the OEMs not have to re engineer up incrementally, the fuel mileage %'s and numbers in exchange for what the EPA wanted: DLR's. ! So from a manufacturers point of view itmakes all the sense in the world and or might be far cheaper to come up with cost of switching, vs having to up-engineer 2.25 mpg on a typical 25 mpg car to make it 27.25 mpg.
Here is an interesting anomoly. I have 2001/2003 year cars WITH DRL's, yet I have a 2004 Honda Civic with NO DLR's. It just so happens the Civic is one of the better/best mpg vehicles. Perhaps they didn't want to put in DLR's because it would cut down that competitive marketing advantage? I am thinking that DRL's add cost that marketing has shown Honda the customers may want but arent willing to pay for. I personally was actually GLAD the Honda didn't have DLR's.
To me the point has not changed, if you want and or need lamps during the day, TURN the headlamps ON!? Or provide the optional turn off switch for DRLS.
It is common knowledge that the new "environmentally friendly" R134A refrigerants are far less efficient/effective than the old, " freon type" etc refrigerants of old. Why COULD that make a difference?. Depending on one's situations that might lead to far higher and longer use of the AC when in the old style it would be either turned down or cut off. ie less fuel mileage. But I think the decision was made to switch to a less efficient media due to environmental considerations. I myself just leave the AC on and do not monitor for overall fuel use. I suspect most other folks do that. I do understand however that AC use does have a fuel penalty. However, I do notice in a few cars that the AC is not as efficient and effective.
The 150 was the base model, with basically no chrome on the sides, and the BelAir was top model, with the 210 in the middle. This same nomenclature was used as far back as about the 1950 model year, but was changed in '58 as Andre indicated.
As for DRLs, it was GM who pushed for them in the 90s, not NHTSA or EPA. But GM wanted the EPA to recognize that the DRLs would slightly reduce fuel economy. Again, no way it can be 9%. Modern A/C systems (even with R-134) don't even reduce fuel consumption by that much.
Canada mandated DRLs around 1990.
No, actually I don't, ever. And what I attributed to you were direct quotes. 24/7 has a meaning, if you are going to use a special "ruking1" definition, you have to fill us in on it!
...I freely admit I was not involved on the EPA testing...
Yes, and I did not create the universe. But neither of those is the point. In any case, I think it's fair to say that DRL do not significantly affect mpg.
And I have to say that I don't like 'em either. And the NHTSA says they are not effective in increasing safety.
Again another "action" that does not meet the reality tests AS PROMISED. Also I think by now it is apparent that the OEM's asked for and GOT more of an exemption for the DLR's than it actually consumes. Please refer to my quid pro quo post.
We can put DLR's in the scrap heap with MTBE, and ABS braking systems. Again I do not get a discount from insurance for having DLR's. Probably the same reason why they removed the discount with ABS:A logical PROMISE with NO STATISICAL VALIDATION in reality.
Anyway, I never noticed a difference in economy between running with them or without them. At least not enough to be noticeable. There are probably bigger factors at play such as weather, a/c use, or even different qualities of gasoline from tank to tank, that probably play a bigger role.
Well, no offense, but I don't believe they did. As you suggested, perhaps the articles you read were bogus. Probably published by Karl Rove.
Or the Senator from NY?
Andre, you're absolutely right. Having the lights on isn't going to be noticeable in calculating your own gas mileage. Those other factors have a far bigger influence, plus you can't guarantee you've filled the tank to the same extent each time.
Now, let's move on back to inconsiderate drivers. I've got another one from the same trip to the beach. Coming later....
(yes I can disconnect or even interrupt the circuit but...)
I just filled after doing a 534 mile night drive down from Portland Oregon. We did have a few pairs of Nike shoes extra that we didnt have on the way up
..."There are probably bigger factors at play such as weather, a/c use, or even different qualities of gasoline from tank to tank, that probably play a bigger role."
In any case night drving is full running lights vs DLR half intensity head lamps. So indeed 2 to 3 mpg if one can attribute this to lamp operation is 4-6%.
When I go to NYC from VA I get one number. When I come back, I get a different number; just the nature of the beast. (I'm doing this from work --- shhh --- so I don't have the numbers in front of me.)
There's no way to compare mileage on single trips; you just can't duplicate your driving conditions (or filling techniques) to that extent.
Now please, can we get back to inconsiderate drivers (after someone shows me evidence that DRLs don't have a safety benefit)?