It seems like every other car (and scooter) here drives around with their high beams on, even in the middle of the city. WTF?
I would say they are being selfish, but really stupid is a much better word. By blinding the oncoming car with bright lights, they are endangering not only other drivers but themselves, too. Particularly when you are coming down a tiny side street that barely has enough room for one car, and these idiots come flying down with their high beams on, making it virtually impossible to see anything. If it is a wide enough street, I usually put my high beams on just to give them a taste of their own medicine.
What is going on here? Is it any better in Taipei than here in Taichung? Could it be they really have no idea what they are doing? Scary, that such clueless people are allowed to drive.
Haven’t noticed that, really only seen people use high beam too flash other drivers instead of blasting them with their horns.
Also so many taxi drivers I have had turn their headlights off when stopped at traffic lights, to save gas so I have been told…
I had my headlight on one cloudy day as it was a little dark so i thought I would put it on to be seen better, you know like you must have your headlight on on your bike back in Australia and then when I was stopped at a set of traffic lights, some dude who was slightly in front of me turned around and said, “did you know your headlight is on?”…
[quote=“TaipeiSean”]
I had my headlight on one cloudy day as it was a little dark so i thought I would put it on to be seen better, you know like you must have your headlight on on your bike back in Australia and then when I was stopped at a set of traffic lights, some dude who was slightly in front of me turned around and said, “did you know your headlight is on?”…
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That would be funny if it weren’t so sad. I always turn on my lights when it is rainy, as it’s the law back in the States, but I’m pretty much always the only car that has them on.
[quote=“barfomcgee”][quote=“TaipeiSean”]
I had my headlight on one cloudy day as it was a little dark so i thought I would put it on to be seen better, you know like you must have your headlight on on your bike back in Australia and then when I was stopped at a set of traffic lights, some dude who was slightly in front of me turned around and said, “did you know your headlight is on?”…
[/quote]
That would be funny if it weren’t so sad. I always turn on my lights when it is rainy, as it’s the law back in the States, but I’m pretty much always the only car that has them on.[/quote]
It’s been at least a couple of years since we discussed this topic on Forumosa. Good to see an old favourite coming back…
I used to get the odd “helpful” person in Taichung point out that my headlights were on, but it did seem to get less frequent over my five years there. And I’ve never had it happen in Taipei, though admittedly I don’t ride nearly as much as I used to.
That used to drive me crazy!!! In southern Hicksville Taiwan, it seemed to be either high beams or no headlights at all (“Aiyooo, no need for headlights! We conserve gas with no lights on!”). I HATED driving at night and tried to avoid it at all costs.
Has it been discussed? I did a search for “high beams” and didn’t turn up much. Maybe “high beams” is not the usual term? I have quite a few strange expressions from my New England upbringing.
[quote=“barfomcgee”][quote=“joesax”]
It’s been at least a couple of years since we discussed this topic on Forumosa. Good to see an old favourite coming back…
[/quote]
Has it been discussed? I did a search for “high beams” and didn’t turn up much.[/quote]
Sorry, I didn’t mean the high beams as such; I just meant the topic of people criticizing others for having their lights on in the daytime. High beams for motorbikes in the daytime have been discussed positively, though.
Don’t mind me: When you’ve been on Forumosa for six years you’ll probably want to make yourself feel superior about it, too. It’s better than thinking about all the time you’ve wasted…
It’s weird how you guys say that people tell you your lights are on. Maybe it’s because you’re Caucasian and people just want any excuse to talk to you? I’m ethnically Chinese and if it’s a little dark, rainy or overcast, or if I forget to turn off the scooter headlights from the night before, I ride around with them on and nobody has ever said anything to me.
In terms of the high-beams, well, that’s the term we use in Toronto, but it’s not just Taiwanese drivers that do it! It’s ALL Chinese all over the world. Haha… just kidding. Actually, it really annoyed me driving around the streets of Toronto when a car with its high-beams would come barreling up from behind and blind you through your own rear-view mirror. So one time, I got out and told this Asian dude that his damn high beams were on! And he was like, “What? Oh really? Oh sorry!” Haha… and then another time, I told this South Asian dude that his damn high beams were on, and he was like, “No, they aren’t.” And they weren’t. Must’ve been some shoddy mechanic who put in his Civic headlights tilted.
Where I live in Yonghe and where I ride around (Taipei Zhongzheng and Da’an), I do sometimes encounter high-beamers, but not much. I more so encounter scooter fools riding around without lights on. I’ve almost been smashed by many scooters coming down a dark street with no lights on. WTF, it’s not like they’re Batman and can’t risk being detected by The Joker or something.
It’s also a fact that a lot of Taiwanese think that headlights are not needed on well-lit roads at night.
It’s also another fact that headlights use electricity, which comes from the battery, which is in turn charged by the alternator that is spinning whether or not the battery likes it.
I bet a lot of these “high beams” are misadjusted low beams.
I was getting it regularly after “technical check” and had to redjust it myself
until I complained to the mechanic.
Before that I was getting ludicrous “left lamp point into the sky” setting.
The whole technical check is a farce.
I believe most cars do not drive around with high beams on, but there are many with low beams turned upwards. Xenon lights of course even on low beams can be rather too bright at times. I constantly accidentally adjust the level of my front lights with the interior angle switch (or rather my son fiddles with it and I don’t notice for a while). I think some people fiddle with it on purpose and some just don’t realize they have done it and haven’t moved it back. Its not always easy to tell how your lights are adjusted if you constantly drive around in a well lit city. There is also no check offered by most garages to see if they are properly aligned.
Of course there are many frontal impacts occur on the roads too and they are repaired/or not, often without realigning the front lights properly.
another reason is people replacing the correct globe for their headlight with a set of wanker beams, the fancy blue halogen globes. in most cases, the filament does not sit in the same position as the original globe that the reflector housing was designed for, and then you get a mad mess of light spilling out in all directions, rather than being directed where it should, even on low beam. (more a case with scooters than cars, i would guess)
“Wanker beams”… what a great term. The other day I got stuck behind some moron who had actually installed a bright light on the back of his car. Maybe his goal was to prevent people from tailgating too closely, but it seemed pretty stupid (and dangerous) to me.
I got tailgated on the freeway for over an hour this one time by some twat in a beemer who’d installed actual strobe lights where his indicators should have been. That was fun.
Their government have told them that the use of high beams is highly irritating to other road users. Your knowledge of Taiwan should help you to understand why so many people see this as a positive thing.
On many mountain roads it is the law that you must have your lights on full when you access them. Even during the day. It seems that laws are stupid the world over. Ah, universal truth. Let me snuggle against you.
Why didn’t you let the car pass you? That would have been the end of the problem (unless that car really wanted to follow you).[/quote]
Can you say “Chinese New Year”?
