Frequently getting high-beam flashed

[squirtbrnr]

I get it, the daylight hours are shorter. The sun sets earlier. The shear number of people driving around with their high-beams on at night is still confusing. I’m not one of those people and I even have the auto high-beam turned off. So why are people high-beam flashing me frequently? I’ve never touched my headlights. They’re adjusted and leveled as they were from the factory. Are the Mach E normal headlights just that much brighter and people think I am driving around with my high-beams on? For context I live in SE WI in a fairly suburban area but just on the edge. Regardless, whether I’m on backroads or on a city street, people still flash at me. Does it happen to you too?

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[Snakebitten]

I get it, the daylight hours are shorter. The sun sets earlier. The shear number of people driving around with their high-beams on at night is still confusing. I’m not one of those people and I even have the auto high-beam turned off. So why are people high-beam flashing me frequently? I’ve never touched my headlights. They’re adjusted and leveled as they were from the factory. Are the Mach E normal headlights just that much brighter and people think I am driving around with my high-beams on? For context I live in SE WI in a fairly suburban area but just on the edge. Regardless, whether I’m on backroads or on a city street, people still flash at me. Does it happen to you too?

Just curious, but are you carrying in cargo in the hatch area?

 

[squirtbrnr]

No cargo anywhere. Just me in the driver seat.

 

[Deleted member 19354]

I get it, the daylight hours are shorter. The sun sets earlier. The shear number of people driving around with their high-beams on at night is still confusing. I’m not one of those people and I even have the auto high-beam turned off. So why are people high-beam flashing me frequently? I’ve never touched my headlights. They’re adjusted and leveled as they were from the factory. Are the Mach E normal headlights just that much brighter and people think I am driving around with my high-beams on? For context I live in SE WI in a fairly suburban area but just on the edge. Regardless, whether I’m on backroads or on a city street, people still flash at me. Does it happen to you too?

Spreading hugs and kisses?

 

[hybrid2bev]

Flash them back so they can see the real brights.

LOL. But seriously, the projector headlights have a pretty sharp cutoff line to where the light goes. Maybe due to the bouncing of the car, due to the stiff suspension, it’s causing people think that you’re flashing them as the front end of the car going up and down causes them to be in the direct light path for a brief moment.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I get it, the daylight hours are shorter. The sun sets earlier. The shear number of people driving around with their high-beams on at night is still confusing. I’m not one of those people and I even have the auto high-beam turned off. So why are people high-beam flashing me frequently? I’ve never touched my headlights. They’re adjusted and leveled as they were from the factory. Are the Mach E normal headlights just that much brighter and people think I am driving around with my high-beams on? For context I live in SE WI in a fairly suburban area but just on the edge. Regardless, whether I’m on backroads or on a city street, people still flash at me. Does it happen to you too?

Also in Wisconsin, and the low beams are incredibly bright. Combined with the fact that the rear end bounces a lot, your headlight cutoff will be constantly going up and down past the oncoming driver’s eye level. It will appear to them as if you’re flashing your headlights at them, but it’s just the bumps. You can see the cutoff bouncing on the reflective signs. That’s one reason I wanted to install stronger rear dampers.

Another factor is hills. If I’m at the crest of a hill and a car approaches me, he’s below the cutoff, so it will be extremely bright until he gets closer, and you both level out.

I get flashed maybe once a week, but I know my low beams are perfectly level (you can see the line on the building is straight with the brickwork in a drive-through). It’s just the nature of the extremely bright low beam area.

In my opinion, there should be a maximum brightness below the cutoff because currently you can have unlimited brightness low beams, and LEDs are very powerful. The federal government should regulate that so we don’t all end up blinded.

But the worst are those ridiculous lifted pickups because they never adjust the beams down to compensate for the 6” lift or whatever. Mach-E headlight are relatively low so not nearly as bad.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Flash them back so they can see the real brights.

I did that once on one of our rural roads while headed home. Just a very quick flash to let them know that yes they really are on low beam. It was a Hawaii County Police car. Yeah, I don’t do that anymore.

 

[phil]

I did that once on one of our rural roads while headed home. Just a very quick flash to let them know that yes they really are on low beam. It was a Hawaii County Police car. Yeah, I don’t do that anymore.

Did they not appreciate that? It seems like a reasonable way to communicate the situation to oncoming motorists. What did the officer recommend you do instead? Buy a new car?

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Did they not appreciate that? It seems like a reasonable way to communicate the situation to oncoming motorists. What did the officer recommend you do instead? Buy a new car?

Around here?
Is it before the 25th of the month?

If yes, they’ll probably ignore you and anything else you’re doing. Including driving the speed limit + 35.

If no. You’ll get tickets for driving with your high beams on, doing 2 mph over the speed limit, and perhaps exhibitionist driving.

If it’s after the 25th and the officer is behind in his quota, you get arrested for reckless endangerment (a class C felony) and pretty much anything else they can think of.

They ignored me.

Yes the police have ticket quotas here. I’m not sure why as fines all go to the state treasury and not the county where they’re employed (There are no city level governments here just State and County).

Back in 2021, I did have the flag man on a road crew stop my car just because he wanted to see it. We had a nice conversation.

 

[Silvernort]

Maybe a Wisconsin thing. I get flashed a lot even tho I'm on low beam. Plus they often flash just as they get close so there is no chance for "high beam demontration". Or maybe it's all the other non pickup drivers who are sick of being blinded by the previously mentioned lifted trucks and have become over-reactive to it. I'm rural mid-state and there are a lot of said pickups.

 

[phil]

Lots of overly bright headlights anymore. It's particularly apparent when driving on crowded freeways for a couple hours. Just have to tune it out, I suppose. Nothing to be gained from flashing at people. Of course, that won't stop you antisocial Wisconsin jerks from trying!

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