Headlights auto dim at 30 mph?

[WFU03]

The neighborhood I live in has a speed limit of 25 mph. When I first got my car, I thought it was weird that my auto bright/dim headlights would never seem to work properly in my neighborhood. After a few more months of ownership, it appears there is a setting that prevents the auto high beams from turning on under 30 mph. Why would Ford engineers have thought this is a good idea? It's incredibly annoying in my neighborhood and I imagine I'm not the only one who lives in a neighborhood with a speed limit below 30.

Is there some benefit I'm missing here? I don't believe I've ever owned a car that had the auto bright/dim headlight feature limited by the speed of the car.

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[snowy_91]

Because it incredibly annoying when some asshole is driving around the neighborhood with their brights on? My ranger does the same thing, some people seem the have different ideas about this.

 

[BMT1071]

Below 30 you're not out driving the illumination distance of the low beams? ??

 

[WFU03]

Because it incredibly annoying when some asshole is driving around the neighborhood with their brights on? My ranger does the same thing, some people seem the have different ideas about this.

I'm desperately trying not to hit deer that are lurking in the trees. At the very least, I would like to see an option for this in the settings.

 

[BalsaDust]

You can always turn off auto dim and just use the high beam by pushing the left stalk. My Escape is the same way. Fairly sure its mentioned in the owners manual.

Tony

 

[skiingj]

Because it incredibly annoying when some asshole is driving around the neighborhood with their brights on? My ranger does the same thing, some people seem the have different ideas about this.

You would think someone who lives in a tinny ass town would understand why having high beams on under 30mph might be good idea in some neighborhoods.

 

[RickMachE]

32mph. Page 101 of the manual.

You can turn them on manually...

 

[BMT1071]

You can always turn off auto dim and just use the high beam by pushing the left stalk. My Escape is the same way. Fairly sure its mentioned in the owners manual.

Tony

I don't think auto high beams need to be turned off to control them manually but I haven't tested that on this car.

EDIT: The manual says you don't but a real world test would be the final answer.

 

[RickMachE]

I don't think auto high beams need to be turned off to control them manually but I haven't tested that on this car.

Correct.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I'm desperately trying not to hit deer that are lurking in the trees. At the very least, I would like to see an option for this in the settings.

Most people don’t live in a rural area where the avoiding deer, wild goats, and wild boars is a thing. High beams in the heart of suburbia is a bad thing. Turn them on the old fashioned way when you need them.

 

[Chudsaviet]

Most people don’t live in a rural area where the avoiding deer, wild goats, and wild boars is a thing. High beams in the heart of suburbia is a bad thing. Turn them on the front of fashioned way when you need them.

Hmm, I'm living in Seattle's suburbia, and we have a ton of deers.
Just kidding, I actually support your point of view on the high beams.

 

[DevSecOps]

If it's just a short distance you can always just pull back on the high beam lever and hold it. I've done this on slower roads when I wanted to check for an address etc. For a block or two it's not that bad. By doing it this way, you don't have to disable and re-enable it later. If it's a longer distance then you would have to do what other's have already recommend.

As other's have mentioned this happens with many different mfgs. Audi is the same way.

 

[RyZt]

I live in suburban hills with 30mph speed limit. There are deers here. I too have found Mach E’s auto high beam annoying that it seems to not turn on even when the road is pitch black. Thanks OP for pointing out the 32mph limit. That’s unfortunate. I can understand why it does that, but I would prefer that it works differently.

Especially with a car with auto high beam feature, I occasionally forget that I have to turn off auto high beam after turning it on. I got a reminder (using their lights) from a police car driving in the opposite direction once.

On Mach E, when you push the left stalk, it cycles the high beam in 3 modes (auto, on, off). When it’s in auto mode, it goes to on mode if high beam is currently off, otherwise it goes to off mode. From on mode, it always goes to off mode. From off mode, it always goes to auto mode. You don’t have to remember this, this icons in instrument panel is very self explanatory.

This mode of left stalk operation seems unique to Mach E (maybe Ford). I like it. On some rental cars I’ve driven, the auto high beam can be tied to auto headlight (auto headlight = auto high beam, manual headlight = manual high beam). I’ve also driven cars where I have to turn off auto high beam from settings in order to get manual high beam. In any case, pulling the left stalk always works.

 

[Cptmorgemaker]

Most auto high beams work like this. I do rural and city driving and do not find it annoying. Massive deer problem by me and no problems. Not a new feature my 18 edge and 21 Lincoln same operation

 

[WFU03]

I'm surprised there are so many of you who like this feature. Even if you do like it, a better implementation would be to have the mph selectable on the options screen with an on/off toggle.

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