Dipping Headlights

[weecalf]

Do motorist have to dip headlights for people out walking early morning or in the evening after dark the way they do for oncoming traffic .

[davebro]

no

[1ozzy]

But it would be a thoughtful thing to do, if it's safe to do so

[New Judge]

Yes you must. Highway Code rule 114:

"You MUST NOT
use any lights in a way which would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders."

This is a “must not” (meaning it is against the law). The law in question is the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations, s27. It says this:

27. No person shall use, or cause or permit to be used, on a road any vehicle on which any lamp, hazard warning signal device or warning beacon of a type specified in an item in column 2 of the Table below is used in a manner specified in that item in column 3.

Under Column 2 is “headlamp” and under column 3 is “(a)Used so as to cause undue dazzle or discomfort to other persons using the road.” Also under column 3 is “(b)Used so as to be lit when a vehicle is parked.” This is a particular annoyance of mine (among many) and I frequently see vehicles parked with headlights on.

[Peter Pedant]

erm - normal people and judges

I wd fight any charge under NJ's rules on grounds that I wasnt using them in the proscribed fashion
and I was using them in an obvious way that was lawful

As I stagger around the streets in broad daylight walking into rubbish bins and telegraph poles, I dont expect people to say "Oh look at that poor man, I will turn my headlights off so I dont make it worse"

( cataracts) I dont drive by the way

[bhg481]

I understand that some new cars have automatic dipping headlights in that the beam pattern is altered to cut out that part of the beam which falls on an approaching car. I can see that they would spot a car approaching but I wonder about cyclists and pedestrians.

[bednobs]

as a car driver for 30 years, i find it very worrying i don't know what dipped headlights means. is that just normal headlights as opposed to full beams? is it a setting below "normal" headlights?

[bhg481]

Dipped headlamps point downwards, as opposed to parallel to the road. Dipped is the normal on all cars for driving in traffic.

[bednobs]

my car has an auto setting, so the headlights come on when it's dark enough, it also has another setting whereby you can put full beams on, and set them to automatically turn off when a car is coming the other way. I don't know how it works though - whether it senses the other cars lights? If so, it wouldnt work for pedestrians

[davebro]

Pedestrians should be facing the oncoming traffic anyway so a dipped (or normal) beam which is directed to the left would probably still dazzle them. I do dip for bicycles if I see them in time but having said that I rarely drive at night these days.

[bednobs]

so dipped = normal and full beams = parallel to the road?
I just wanna point out that in that 30 years i have always used my headlights appropriately (i think!).

[bednobs]

in the olden days you used to have to fit something on your headlights to alter their beam if you were driving in france, but you dont see that anymore (or the requirement to paint them yellow)

[davebro]

I think you're supposed to fit different bulbs now.

[bhg481]

I think a lot of people are just too lazy to alter their headlamps for continental driving. Having said that my car has a lever which you move to change the beam pattern, so no obvious indication that they've been altered. I have seen handbooks which tell you to go to your dealer to et the beam-pattern altered; I wonder how you do that at 3am, or do you get it done the day before and drive to the ferry with your lights set wrongly.

[New Judge]

//...as a car driver for 30 years, i find it very worrying i don't know what dipped headlights means.//

So do I, bednobs, so do I.

[weecalf]

So would it would be so that roads are made for cars ,lorries motorbike and cyclists then .Walkers can use them but would not have any say on obligations of the drivers or cyclists .

[davebro]

Damn savages - think they go out walking the highways & byways any time of the day or night. About time they were taught a lesson!

[bednobs]

lol NJ, as i said, i have always (i think) used headlights appropriately, just didnt understand the terminology

[AuntPG]

Bednobs, dipping your headlights is a term used meaning to turn from full beam (that you may use say on a dark night in the countryside) to normal beam. In the city its not appropriate to turn your headlights on full beam. When your headlights come on automatically, they come onto normal beam. You have to physically click them up onto full beam if you need them., and 'dip them , that is turn them back to the default 'normal' should a vehicle be coming from the opposite direction.

[Buenchico]

>>> Walkers can use them but would not have any say on obligations of the drivers or cyclists

Walkers are protected by the law just as much as other users of the road are. Section F7 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 states: "If a person drives a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or other public place without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road or place, he is guilty of an offence". (However Section 3ZA(4) then adds that "A person is to be regarded as driving without reasonable consideration for other persons only if those persons are inconvenienced by his driving").

I've seen cases reported in the press where drivers have clearly been able to see that there's a lot of standing water on the road ahead of them, with pedestrians walking along the footpath at the side of the road at risk of being splashed by passing cars. Because they've failed to slow down, those pedestrians have subsequently been drenched, resulting in drivers being convicted of 'driving without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road'.

[AuntPG]

What about these stupid cyclists that put flashing lights both on the back and front of their bicycles? They should be banned, they are very distracting.