Are the Gen4 LED Headlights too bright?

Well that is having the PARKING LIGHTS on , not the DRLs, which by definition are fronts only.

AND having your tail lights on during the day time is not good because it makes your brake lights LESS visible when they come on.......which is why they are not on in the DRL position.

 

It is required for actual headlights and parking lights but not DRLs......see previous post.

 

The parking lights are identical to night-time running lights (tail and side markers), everything except the headlights/DRLS, so the 'PARKING' emphasis in this case is a distinction without a difference.

If you are suggesting that turning on my parking lights turns off the DRLs, come here and take a look for yourself.

That issue was fixed by the third brake light, a.k.a. CHMSL (center high mount stop light), which became required equipment on North American cars 31 years ago.

No, they are off as a fuel economy measure.

I have seen absolutely no safety recommendations or public service campaigns to get drivers to turn these off in daylight. All standard lights on (headlights on low beam, not high beam) is always an acceptable usage in daylight, in all safety recommendations I have ever seen. Some historically hazardous road segments even have signage very strongly encouraging this use.

 

I've never had a problem with being flashed - in fact, on an unlit rural road yesterday, low beam seemed a little too low & dull.

 

They must be different here in Australia:



1) Headlight; 2) PARKING; 3) PARKING + FOG; 4) DRL (can also do headlight plus FOG)

 

Same as my 3(Business Edition) in UK, thanks Alan.

Some members on here have not quite grasped the concept of DRLs imho. This is not helped by the Prius variations between different national specifications. To be perfectly clear, the purpose of DRLs is solely to improve the conspicuity of the vehicle by any person or vehicle it is approaching or so that the front of the car can be more easily seen. It's to aid the survival of careless pedestrians who might otherwise step in front of your car thus removing themselves from the gene pool at your expense. They won't need to see the lights at back of your car after you've safely passed them.

 

My VOLVO 244 (1980) had DRLs Front and Rear - couldn't turn them off (without wire-cutters) once ignition is on.



(not actual car - mine was yellow - bright yellow, so bright it was almost a DRL when unpowered )

 

The lights here vary some depending on trim level. Some levels, like mine, do not have fog lights. There are just black panels in those areas.

 

To expand on that, on trim levels that don't have fog lights, the main beams are used as DRLs at low power, at least for US-specification vehicles.

 

I had that system on a Peugeot 309GRD. It was known in UK as, Dim-Dipped.

 

Also, it is worth noting that getting the adjustment right on this is pretty tricky - best to adjust, go for a drive, adjust again, go for another drive, until it's adjusted to satisfaction. Adjusting it too low will put the hot spot too close to you, affecting visibility even on high beams...

I think they actually did a decent job of designing the cutoff shape - there's a dip in the cutoff right around the left lane of the road, perfect for reducing glare for an oncoming driver. I'd have aimed the LED up a bit more inside the projector housing, though, to improve high beam range.

 

Used the dip beam filament IIRC, hence the name dim-dipped.
Here's the boring bit:
Dim-dip Requirements
The UK Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations require vehicles first used on or after 1st April 1987 to be fitted with a dim-dip device or running lamps unless they fully comply with the lighting installation Directive. Dim-dip devices must provide an intensity of between 10 and 20% of the intensity of the normal dipped beam. Running lamps must provide an intensity of more than 200 candelas directly in front of the lamps and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and less than 800 candelas in any direction.
Dim-dip History
At the 18th Sessional Meeting of the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) in London in 1975, a joint committee concerned with visual signalling, road lighting and automobile lighting came to the following conclusion:
It is recommended that a 'town beam' be introduced which is intermediate in intensity between that of the currently used low beam and side lights. Such a light should have a luminous intensity between 50 and 100 cd and should have an area similar to that of current headlights. Therefore it is recommended that all relevant organisations consider this matter seriously and take the necessary steps to introduce a town beam as an essential part of the lighting systems for road traffic.
The committee believed such a beam would provide conspicuous and glare free front lighting on vehicles. They suggested the beam could be simply realized by using the existing dipped beam headlamp on a lower voltage.
The UK was the only country to introduce a dim-dip system. The simplest such system merely consists of a relay and a 0.5 to 1 ohm resistor. This causes the dipped headlamps to light up automatically at reduced intensity whenever the engine and the side lights are switched on. Side lights can still be used on their own when parking, and dipped headlamps for any roads at night when they are necessary to illuminate the road.
In 1980, in response to Parliamentary pressure about the advantages of headlamps or side lights in towns, the Minister of Transport decided to consult interested parties about the implementation of the dim-dip system as described above.
Following strong support from the public and professional bodies eg: Association of Chief Police Officers, ROSPA, Institution of Public Lighting Engineers, with the exception of the motor industry itself, the Minister made regulations in 1983 bringing in the dim-dip requirement for all cars, buses and trucks first used after 1st April 1987. As an alternative to using dim-dip, a pair of special large, bright front position lamps were permitted, as requested by some vehicle manufacturers, but none have as yet made use of this option.
In 1976 the EC made a special Directive covering the installation of lamps on vehicles (76/756/EEC). The Articles made it clear that Member States must permit free circulation and sale of any vehicle which conformed to the directive in respect of the lighting devices listed and covered by detailed provisions.
The dim-dip device, together with the daytime running lamp and side marker lamp were not so listed, so the UK took the view that, although the directive had successfully standardized the installation of all common vehicle lamps, it did not prohibit a Member State from requiring other devices not listed in the directive.
This view was reinforced by the fact that the side marker lamp had been required by UK law for many years without challenge, and the CIE statement recommending "relevant organisations" to take the necessary steps to implement the town beam had also not been challenged.
The EC Commission sought technical advice from GTB on the value of dim-dip. GTB recommended against dim-dip or town lights and recommended instead in favour of mandatory use of dipped headlights in towns at night. The EC Commission did not take advice from road lighting experts, nor from CIE. The EC Commission believed that having consulted GTB they had taken the advice of CIE as the sole relevant expert authority on the subject of vehicle front lights for lit streets.
On the basis of GTB's technical advice, the Commission prosecuted the UK in the European Court of Justice. The 1988 Decision favoured the Commission on the grounds that they, the Commission, had intended the vehicle lighting directive to cover all vehicle lighting devices and therefore any device not listed in the directive could not be required by a Member State to be fitted.
When the Decision was announced, the UK amended its regulations to permit, instead of a dim-dip device, either a special daytime running lamp or full compliance with the EC directive including, in particular, the requirements in respect of accurate headlamp alignment.

 

they used to adjust our headlights if necessary at the yearly safety inspection, along with testing the hand brake, horn and etc.
with the advent of obd pollution scan, a lot of that seems to be gone for some reason.

 

Same here. That's a story that keeps coming up: they get all lathered up about something, then a decade later, not so much. After you've been around the block a time or two you start to get jaded by the latest fad, whatever it is.

 

The one in the picture appears to be a 242GT in silver. That's the car I had. It was a great car.

 

Yea they are bright and white. I got into my CRV the other night and the headlights looked like they were half of the Prius lights. And that car has the fog light on with the low beams. Yes, seams like every third oncoming car will flash. What I found helps a lot. Turn on the automatic diming and use the high beams. The oncoming car sees the lights dim, and knows that's as low as they go. I really like the automatic dimming lights. Just another feature that makes driving easier, safer and automated.

 

That's not an answer, though - the other car's driver is still blinded.

Aim your lights, so you don't blind other cars. You'll still get the occasional high beam flash if you're aiming uphill, but that'll happen. Overall, after aiming, it's a lot better - I can still see decently far, but I don't get high beamed, meaning oncoming traffic can see.

 

The dealer should aim them as a warranty repair if they are aimed too high.

 

There's that, as well, but it was easier to just aim the things, rather than make an appointment to aim them.