Tales from today's commute....

[Chris Swift]

Not at night.

The standard is all cars now run daytime front lights for some reason, AKA bling lights. As most dashes are back lit anyway, the drivers forget to switch on the big lights as it gets dark, as daytime lighting does not cover rear lights, for some stupid reason.

Hence why riding in traffic is getting more and more difficult for cyclists, as these daylight LEDs aren't far off a basic 3w bike LED x 30 of these bling lights on the front.

That's a stupid design!

 

[fossyant]

That's a stupid design!

Exactly. On all new cars.

 

[HLaB]

Exactly. On all new cars.

Saw a few of them cars tonight and the rlj enabled one this morning, perhaps the drivers thought they were cyclists

 

[GrumpyGregry]

We cyclists complained. It's in a cage with ID pass swipe access but the locking points are crap. Down to space issues blah blah and getting as many spaces in there.

Trouble with that cage'n' swipe system is all it takes, in a shared building, is one nobber "let me hold the door open for you" type, and your Condor is gone. Not that I am bitter.

 

[fossyant]

Trouble with that cage'n' swipe system is all it takes, in a shared building, is one nobber "let me hold the door open for you" type, and your Condor is gone. Not that I am bitter.

Exactly. We said let us have simple Sheffield stands in there... Oh no... I have to use my bike in both open areas and similar card access areas, but we have sheffields. Think I will need an Almax chain to get a grip on my frame.

 

[Twelve Spokes]

Exactly. On all new cars.

I've seen on some of the older cabs and cars that the head/tail lights are so dim they are useless anyway.

 

[GrasB]

That's a stupid design!

The design is sound as DRLs are there to aid visibility of approaching vehicles, the bad design is a lot of vehicles show on the dash that they are running DRLs. I got caught out at dusk with a Fiesta, I think. It was bright enough that the dipped beams didn't show on the road but dark enough that lights needed to be on. Unfortunately the instrument binnacle had an indication that the lights were on, it was only when an HGV pulled up behind me I realised my rear lights weren't illuminated. Flicking over to dipped beam levied absolutely no change in the instrument panel information

On a different note, there was a BMW driver who showed some real initiative today, they were driving down the motorway with their HID rear lights on in bright sun. As we were heading into the sun it clearly marked the back of the car so its speed & location could be easily identified.

 

[lip03]

6am Saturday ride, London is quiet at that time! only saw 1 other bike

 

[Twelve Spokes]

I don't know a lot about the inside of cars as I try to keep as far away from them as possible so perhaps it gives me better understanding when people don't have their lights on.I never really tried telling them anymore as it might have seemed I was having a go and also thinking of them as idiots whereas they don't seem to be on reading this.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I've seen on some of the older cabs and cars that the head/tail lights are so dim they are useless anyway.

I've noticed with some older Volkswagen's the lights don't show up well in daylight, possible early attempts at using LED's for vehicle lighting?

 

[Twelve Spokes]

I've noticed with some older Volkswagen's the lights don't show up well in daylight, possible early attempts at using LED's for vehicle lighting?

Not too many old volks here,they've all got Beemers.

 

[Chris Swift]

The design is sound as DRLs are there to aid visibility of approaching vehicles, the bad design is a lot of vehicles show on the dash that they are running DRLs. I got caught out at dusk with a Fiesta, I think. It was bright enough that the dipped beams didn't show on the road but dark enough that lights needed to be on. Unfortunately the instrument binnacle had an indication that the lights were on, it was only when an HGV pulled up behind me I realised my rear lights weren't illuminated. Flicking over to dipped beam levied absolutely no change in the instrument panel information

On a different note, there was a BMW driver who showed some real initiative today, they were driving down the motorway with their HID rear lights on in bright sun. As we were heading into the sun it clearly marked the back of the car so its speed & location could be easily identified.

Don't get me started on BMW and merc drivers!

 

[cheys03]

I've noticed with some older Volkswagen's the lights don't show up well in daylight, possible early attempts at using LED's for vehicle lighting?

Depending on the age of the car, Volkswagen used to (1980s-1990s?) light the dipped beam filament via a resistor when the side lights were on, part lighting the whole headlight instead of just a corner of it with standard side lights. It could be this you have seen?

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Depending on the age of the car, Volkswagen used to (1980s-1990s?) light the dipped beam filament via a resistor when the side lights were on, part lighting the whole headlight instead of just a corner of it with standard side lights. It could be this you have seen?

Possibly, when I was working a a van driver some years back it was noticeable with the older Volkswagen's that the rear lights wouldn't show up very well when visibility was poor on the motorway , nowhere near as bright as other cars, brake lights the same when the sun was very bright, they didn't show up very well at all.

 

[cheys03]

Possibly, when was working a a van driver some years back it was noticeable with the older Volkswagen's that the rear lights wouldn't show up very well when visibility was poor on the motorway , nowhere near as bright as other cars, brake lights the same when the sun was very bright, they didn't show up very well at all.

They're also renowned for thin wires for the lighting looms, resulting in a noticeable voltage drop at high loads (headlights). Must be something else to it though as you noticed the difference at night, including the rear lights. Also just remembered that bizarrely on my (old) VW the rear light bulbs were originally specified at 5W but later documents reckon on 10W which may go some way to explain it. All interesting anyway.