People flashing their lights at me, why?

Is the country highways hilly so the oncoming cars are catching the lower part of your beams?

Yes, HID's are bright.. stinkin bright..... walk down the road about 200 yards at night and look at your own headlights!.. you will be surprised!.. they are not mean't to ever hit another drivers eyes.. otherwise they would be outlawed.. they are much brighter than the legal wattage of halogen.

Get someone to play with your low and high beams while you watch the lights.. in case you don't already know, the low beam is really high beam with the top cut off by a metal reflective device moving to shave off the high.. They do this so the bulb is not having to turn on and off, nor do you need two bulbs.....I think this may throw even more light to the bottom... but at any rate, if someone gets in the path of the bottom of the light path, "low beam"... it will affect them with the same brightness as if they were getting hit with the high beam.......that normally they would not see on a flat surface.

 

My 2005 #3 had the other headlights, not sure what they are called, the cheaper ones, and I got flashed every night, I commuted in a rural area. My 2006 with the upgraded lights I have never gotten flashed. The cheap ones are way too bright, I remember I thought I was being blinded one night, and when the car went by it was a Prius!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Nov 22 2006, 10:24 PM) [snapback]353370[/snapback]</div>

I usually give them a "very quick" touch of high beam "if" there are no other cars that will get blasted too.. just to let them cool thier jets and quit telling thier wife about the idiot they think they see driving with his high beams on!

Isn't it sad how power corrupts?.. I've been thinking about how hard it would be to install the 50W HID's!

 

since they're gonna flash you anyway, why not drive around with brights on all the time?

[disclaimer: i can be a very bad influence]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Nov 22 2006, 10:43 PM) [snapback]353375[/snapback]</div>

They might run right into you!... I know your just joking, but those suckers are bright enough that someone could end up wrapped around a telephone pole!

They are quite directional... its fun to let someone in a prius follow you on the freeway, you can be three lanes over and they aren't too bad, but when your in direct path.. thier nasty!

 

Package 3 doesn't have HIDs. So if you do have package 3, then people are flashing you because your headlights are aimed to high. You need to point them lower. I had the same thing happen to me when I got my Prius. It was just a tad too high, and people kept flashing me, and I flashed back. After getting sick of flashing back, I aimed the lights lower

 

Seriously, DO flash them back. Why not inform them that your high beams AREN'T on?

 

Please also consider that someone flashing their lights at you may be trying to tell you something. Not every time, since the majority of "flashers" are probably doing so because your lights are bright, but it may happen someday.

I remember one time someone was flashing their lights at me on my way home one winter night, and I didn't have my high beams on. I flashed my lights at him, and wondered what the heck his problem was.

Turns out there was a nasty patch of ice up ahead, and I hit it and spun off the road. (Jeep Wranglers, with their short wheelbase, love to spin...) Didn't hit anything, but I was mad at myself for not even considering that the person flashing their lights was trying to tell me something. :mellow:

So be careful; there could be nuns ahead or something...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Presto @ Nov 22 2006, 10:48 PM) [snapback]353382[/snapback]</div>

Well I have HID's and I don't get flashed... I definately will very quickly if I leave my highs on however!

If you come up to the back of a car and your still about 100 yards from it, you should be able to see where your lights are hitting.. they should stop at the trunk and not go in the back windows.
If you look at telephone poles, street signs etc, you will see that its amazingly dark above a few feet and extremely bright below.

I don't know if Package 3 has the auto levelers or not, but it does sound like either they are off, or you get it when your coming over a hill etc... you did say they don't do it in the city, which makes we wonder whats different. Possibly its just that city streets and freeways have hills that are much more gradual than some country roads may have.

The other element is that in the country, things are much darker.. they may notice them more if your right on the edge.

 

^^^

Windstrings,

According to the chart, Package 3 doesn't have HIDs so auto-levellers won't even be an issue.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Presto @ Nov 22 2006, 11:53 PM) [snapback]353398[/snapback]</div>

thats my suspicion.. the autolevelers should fix the issue, but since he doesn't have them, the level of aim must just be a bit out of adjustment.

Maybe he needs to get rid of the 18" speaker and box in the back! :lol:

 

In Costa Rica they flash the headlights when there are cops ahead. I dont know about rural areas in the US.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Nov 23 2006, 12:43 AM) [snapback]353375[/snapback]</div>

Yea! YEA!! maybe swerve at 'em too! See what you've done?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(HiBreedinVA @ Nov 23 2006, 07:51 AM) [snapback]353437[/snapback]</div>

they used to do that too.... but some will still flash... you usually notice it more in the daytime.

But I agree, the prius's suspension is pretty soft in order to make accomodations for a light car, so many people in the back seat can toss the calibration of leveling.

Maybe it would be easier to install airshocks on the back with a control switch up front like I used to have on my 64 Olds Cutlass when I was a kid! :lol:

 

my 2004 was aimed too high and my 2006 was aimed too high. the way i could tell?? when the high beams are in the trees, you know an adjustment is necessary.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(windstrings @ Nov 23 2006, 10:18 AM) [snapback]353452[/snapback]</div>

Here on Long Island, NY they flash lights during the day when officers are ahead...always welcome when your going fast down Ocean Parkway

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Nov 23 2006, 09:23 AM) [snapback]353456[/snapback]</div>

Down south, thats just the way we coon hunt! :lol: