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Comment by leetcrew | Hacker News Reader

I'm not really sure how to fix this outside of just prohibiting high ride heights altogether (probably a non-starter). it's an inherent geometric problem.

suppose on a normal height vehicle, the lowbeams are aimed so the center of the beam hits position x on the pavement ahead of the vehicle. after lifting it, you readjust them so they're still centered at x. at any position between x and the emitting vehicle, the center of the beam is still higher than it was before. if you overcompensate so the center hits the ground before x, you are illuminating less of the ground ahead which is less safe in its own way.

don't get me wrong, I am very sympathetic to this issue. I drive a pretty low car and I get blinded any time there's a pickup behind me at night.

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UNECE regulations require further angling the headlamp vertical aim downward based on the vehicle height. This page[1] has some common values:

[1] http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

>> just prohibiting high ride heights altogether (probably a non-starter)

Why not? Because some people will get very upset? Fuck 'em. They're literally killing people.

I agree it's generally unreasonable for people to lift their pickup trucks. it decreases the stability of the vehicle, and raising the chassis itself doesn't necessarily increase the clearance that much.

that said, this is one of those situations where most people are slightly annoyed, and a small group really wants to lift their truck. people doing specific kinds of work or living in rural and/or snowy areas may even have a legitimate reason for doing it. politically, it's hard to change things in this kind of situation.

Lower headlights???

okay, that's a pretty obvious solution that I missed. I guess it might not be acceptable for a "work" or "offroad" vehicle to have delicate components placed so low, but it would certainly be okay for most of what these vehicles actually get used for.

While it's more expensive, headlights can also reorient themselves dynamically. You tend to see it on mid-tier vehicles and up, but it's a really great feature. So there is a technical solution to this problem, although I'd rather have a simpler approach that's also cheaper that works for most people (as much as I love my headlights, I realize it's one more thing that can break).

yeah I read an article on ars a while ago about this. very cool. I sort of worry how those systems will age though. perhaps in 2035, audis from 2020 will be performing light shows wherever they go.

I don't think you need to physically move the headlights down in most cases; just point them downward a bit.

An offroad vehicle can have lights mounted anywhere they like, but when on-road, it should have the mounted where they won't blind other drivers, even if it means putting them on a movable mount.

Even when they're illegal, how often does something like that get enforced?

Same way taillights and such are, if a cop notices it you get a ticket or your vehicle impounded depending on the severity.

Assuming they want to bother with the paperwork. Maybe that happens in small towns. In NYC as a pedestrian I literally personally see dozens of vehicle infractions daily, and even used to report them. They never get ticketed, and I gave up after the hundredth complaint was closed without a cop even bothering to look to see if the violation was happening.

The solution to the problem you are describing is to stop tailgating.

I always try to maintain a safe following distance, but the folks behind me in their lifted trucks are not always so courteous :/

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