Now OK to Blind Other Drivers?

[Kestas]

Instead of having people install HID headlamps, why don't manufacturers make cars with UNTINTED windows. Despite marketing claims, tinted windows don't reduce glare, they reduce total vision! This has been a pet peeve of mine for decades.

I remember way back when I used to drive cars with both tinted and untinted windows. While driving at night there is a world of difference between the two. I could really see much more at night with clear glass.

Tinted windows used to be a luxury option. They could only be afforded by wealthy people - who ironically are usually old people who needed them the least. Now it's impossible to buy a car without tinted windows.

I think this issue should be addressed by NHTSA and DOT.

 

[grampi]

There's a couple of different situations with lights. In one corner you have the Larry-the-Cable-guy-hickerbilly-wannabees with their jacked-up trucks bolted to their pushbars, which of course there's no excuse for the football stadium rack of lights they have hanging on the front of their vehilces. In the other corner you have the vehicles that have daytime running lights in addition to headlights. What I don't understand with these vehicles is why the DTRLs remain on when the the headlights are turned on. They're DTRLs, they don't need to be on when the headlights are on. At this point, they simply become annoying to other drivers. While these lights should be off when the headlights are on, drivers should have the option of turning them on in foggy conditions, as I could see where they would be useful in that case, but simply having them on all the time is nonsensical. When I approach one of these overlit idiots, I just give them my brights until they pass hoping they'll get the message. Sadly, most of them either don't get it, or don't care...

 

[bigmike]

I once had a physics professor question how much energy usage are we using as a global society by having vehicles run lights when they are not necessary.

Made me question alot of things after that.

I live in Florida. We must have tinted windows.

I also see many offenses when it comes to lighting. The driver not turning them on during the squall line rain storm, the guy with the said mentioned vehicle accessed by step ladders, and the guys with blue head lights, etc.

I know the police here love to pull over ricers and give them tickets for everything they can, but don't do squat for the big trucks. I drove a lowered vehicle for many years and once was pulled over during the DAY to "have my headlights measured." The officer literally pulls out a tape measure and measures the front headlights to see if they were above 19 inches. They were, so then he gave me 3 tickets for other non-moving violations. This was the sole reason I got rid of my vehicle. It wasn't worth the trouble.

 

[kb01]

I didn't realize anyone had a problem with others keeping their headlights on all the time, even during the day. Ever since I was in the Army (where it was our post's SOP), I've always turned them on as soon as I turn the ignition.

I've always thought cars with lights on, especially gray and silver cars, are much easier to see.

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: bigmike
I once had a physics professor question how much energy usage are we using as a global society by having vehicles run lights when they are not necessary.


I wonder about this as well, also unnecessary stop signs that increase fuel usage, toll boths and the amount of energy and money wasted in long lines waiting to pay to use a roadway, etc.

 

[Kestas]

How about just having the front windshield untinted? Why MUST cars have tinted windows. Most people drive with sunglasses during the daytime anyhow. Airconditioning cools the car. I don't believe that tinted windows make that huge a difference in keeping a parked car cool, not that big a benefit when balanced against the loss of night vision.

I work during the daytime. Most of my driving is in twilight conditions, especially during the winter. In my circumstances I would really prefer clear windows.

How many here have EVER driven a car at night with clear windshields? I suspect very few.

 

[rslifkin]

I like tinted windows both for cutting down other people's headlight glare and they do keep a car a bit cooler in hot sun. However, windshields shouldn't be tinted. Mine doesn't appear to be tinted, and it's illegal to tint one in CT anyway. And yeah, cops do bother people for illegal tint (at least they do around here).

 

[Spyder7]

Never driven a car with tinted windows. Its illegal here to tint the windshield, and they set a max on the other windows (I think 70%). I plan to tint the windows at some point (except the windshield).

-Spyder

 

[Audi Junkie]

Seems like some trucks have dealer-installed driving lights that are not DOT certified, but guys run them, just 'cause. I think it's a Ford midel, they have the lower 4" round lamps. I just blaze back with my highs, and when they try to highbeam me back, they actually are diming their lights!

My rule is that if the driving lights are brighter than the low beams, they are illegal, and I might need my highs just to see the road at that point.

 

[JustinH]

Originally Posted By: Spyder7
Never driven a car with tinted windows. Its illegal here to tint the windshield, and they set a max on the other windows (I think 70%). I plan to tint the windows at some point (except the windshield).

-Spyder


Most cars are tinted from the factory to 75 percent visibility or something like that. At least all of my fords were..

 

[Spyder7]

Must be something that varies depending on where the car is assembled. Or something the dealers request. Tint is something seen rarely here. If windshield tinting was done at the factory, no dealer could legally sell it here.

-Spyder

 

[brianl703]

The number of drivers who won't turn off their high-beams until you remind them to with your high-beams is at an all-time high.

 

[sciphi]

Many folks around who don't care about others. Period. With a car marketed as a personal item, some think they can do whatever to their car without caring for the effect on others. I have my lights set up correctly, and the mirrors looking into blind spots so poorly-aimed lights don't blind me.

I think DRL's are nice. With the clouds here making the light flat, seeing a light source helps spot an oncoming car.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
I don't believe that tinted windows make that huge a difference in keeping a parked car cool, not that big a benefit when balanced against the loss of night vision.


In Detroit, MI, window tint may not make that big of a difference in the summer. In North Carolina, it's absolutely noticeable. Mine are tinted at 35%. But because the windshield is not tinted, the reduction of night vision isn't really an issue. In fact, the reflection of the vehicle's gauge cluster is dimmer on the tinted driver side window in my Camry than it is on my minivan (with an untinted front side window). So not only is it less distracting as far as focusing the eye forward at night, but it's also easier to "see through" at night when looking out the side window.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
I think DRL's are nice. With the clouds here making the light flat, seeing a light source helps spot an oncoming car.


I love DRLs, and do appreciate those cars that have them. We have a lot of shaded two-lane roads here, and it's VERY hard sometimes to see oncoming vehicles in the shadows. Cars with DRLs are impossible to not see.

It must be impossible to drive at night for those people who are bothered by DRLs. Glare even from good headlights is MUCH MUCH worse at night than from DRLs in the day (even the worst ones).

 

[jcwit]

How many cars have you driven and how long have you been driving? Cars back in the '50's, '60's, and '70's did not have tinted windows. Back then window tint wasn't even readily available to the general public.

 

[CivicFan]

I like cars with DRL-s and think that it makes driving safer.

Halogen lights blind me but the HID don't. I like proper HID-s with auto-leveling and in my experience, they are a better on the road than the halogen headlights.

What I cannot stand are HID bulbs in halogen headlights. Now these are the worst cars on the road to be around - they combine the blinding qualities of halogen headlights with the intensity of the HID bulbs.

 

[LS2JSTS]

Originally Posted By: Spyder7
Must be something that varies depending on where the car is assembled. Or something the dealers request. Tint is something seen rarely here. If windshield tinting was done at the factory, no dealer could legally sell it here.

-Spyder


JustinH is correct, ALL cars have tint built right into the glass, even the windshield. No car has perfectly clear glass.

Of course this is far removed from the aftermarket applied tint and the different jurisdictional rules surrounding that stuff.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: SubLGT
So I flash him with my highs, and he flashes me back with his highs. His high beams barely punched through the glare of his lows and fogs.

You're being far too kind. When oncoming lights are set up to annoy other drivers, I turn my brights on and leave them on until the offending lights are past. When they're behind me, I let off the throttle until they pass, and then follow them with my brights. It's best to stay a little to the left of the vehicle, to get them right in the mirror.

 

[Spyder7]

Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
Originally Posted By: Spyder7
Must be something that varies depending on where the car is assembled. Or something the dealers request. Tint is something seen rarely here. If windshield tinting was done at the factory, no dealer could legally sell it here.

-Spyder


JustinH is correct, ALL cars have tint built right into the glass, even the windshield. No car has perfectly clear glass.

Of course this is far removed from the aftermarket applied tint and the different jurisdictional rules surrounding that stuff.



Do I need to provide a through the window photo to prove to you that there is absolutely no tint on any of my windows, and that the glass is indeed perfectly clear. FWIW my car was built at the Toyota plant in Ontario. I don't know if that makes a difference, but I do know with 100% certainty that none of the windows are tinted at all.

Maybe that's a little to earth shattering to wrap your brain around, but there is no tint, and I have never driven a car that did have tinted windows here. We get so much rain, cloud, fog, etc that the cars that are tinted are the ones done aftermarket for aesthetic purposes.

-Spyder