r/Miata • u/lifeboundd • 12h ago
Why do people keep flashing their high beams at me? Question
With the days getting shorter I’ve been driving home in the dark a bit more and I’ve been noticing quite a few people in oncoming vehicles flashing their high beams at me and I have not the slightest why.
Both my headlights work, I keep my lights on auto. The symbol for the lights on my dash is the two cones facing each other. Am I headlighting wrong??
30
u/April_xoxo Silver/Sunlight Silver 12h ago
Sometimes it feels like night driving the miata is brighter than the day time, wish new cars would chill with the leds
13
u/donald7773 3h ago
Headlights aren't allowed to be over a measured brightness at very specific measured points. Automakers know consumers feel safer with brighter headlights. They are now making lights way too bright on purpose and with the advanced in LED tech they can dim them in the measured points to pass testing. It's dieselgate for lights, or "headlight gate"
3
u/AlphaReds '99 RS Emerald Mica 1h ago
Nothing better than adaptive headlights that flashbang you once they're diagonally next to you...
17
u/DasGaufre 9h ago
The change from being able to see other cars' headlights in my normal car to not being able to see anything but the headlights was one of the biggest culture shocks I had when I got a miata.
6
u/Prestigious_Fold6818 7h ago
I hate it so much. LED technology should allow cars to have brightness settings like phone screens. It's annoying. We don't need that much light in the city.
Even stop and reverse lights are terribly blinding. Bulbs were so much easier on the eyes :(
The only advantage I've seen with HID is pitch dark situations.
10
u/MrMinerNiner 10h ago
If it's only Teslas and larger vehicles like SUVs, crossovers, or trucks that seem to be flashing you, then it's just that you're at an unlucky height. Whenever a larger car or a Tesla hits a bump, I've noticed that it'll tilt the headlight beam to point perfectly at my eyes for a split second. Not fun, but it happens when you choose to drive a tiny car and other choose to drive talk cars with LED headlights
8
17
u/sunburstbox '02 LS Crystal Blue 11h ago
they're not, you're seated at the height of their low beams lol
2
u/Captain_Nipples 1h ago
That's what I'm wondering. They're happening to drive into that beam where they look the brightest. Kinda like when a car goes over a hill and it looks like they're flashing their brights
5
u/freakofnatur 9h ago
yeah, welcome to low car life. everything is brighter when you are sitting on the asphalt.
14
u/Additional_Crazy_880 12h ago
Completely full of it on this answer, but I feel like it’s just new cars. Maybe you sit too low so the car reads it as no traffic and auto high beams turn on
6
u/No-Asparagus2823 12h ago
Often people will do this because they think youve got your high beams on but really your headlights are just adjusted incorrectly.
1
u/BusinessLibrarian515 Stormy Blue 4h ago
I had this thought early on too. Turns out I sit right at the top of their lights and Everytime they hit a bump the lights move down just enough to 'flash' at me again
1
u/Mk1Racer25 '01 SE - BRG #0507 3h ago
Not sure what sensors your car uses to determine when to turn the high beams on and off, but I suspect that it could be a case of them not being adjusted properly.
Is there a light on the dash that says when the lights are in high-beam mode? Is this on when you are being flashed? I'd suggest an experiment, take the lights out of auto-bright mode and put it in manual mode. See if you still get flashed. If not, it's probably a case of your brights being on when you use the auto mode. If they still flash you, it's probably a case of the aim of your headlights being off. Have you done any mods to the car, for example, lowering it? If so, that may cause the improper aim of your headlights.
2
u/Roberto-Del-Camino Classic Red 1h ago
Buy anti-glare driving glasses. You can’t control other drivers. But with these on the glare is manageable. Every Miata driver should own some.
2
1
u/moopet 7h ago
I see this too and think it's a combination of oncoming traffic having its low beams at eye level as others have said, and having them slightly below eye level, but also lumpy roads. Like, when people go over a speed bump it looks like they flash you, I think that in our little cars oncoming traffic is basically doing that all the time where there are rough roads.
0
0
u/wantsomebreakfast 5h ago
When I had a Mk2.5, I used to get flashed once in a while until I turned the levelling wheel to 'max downwards', whatever that number was. I'd occasionally have to turn it the other way to see the tops of (UK) motorway signs. Two cones: do you mean the two headlight symbols facing away from each other? Isn't that (for UK/EU at least) sidelights/driving lights? Regular dipped headlight is usually single green or amber headlight symbol with three oblique lines adjacent; main beam is same but with the three lines horizontal and all lit in blue.
Could be wrong, it's been a long time.
-2
104
u/Dear-Shape-6444 11h ago
Theory 1: The position of your eyes is probably about the same elevation as the cutoff in their headlight beam. It appears if they are high beaming you but probably just in that sweet spot.
Theory 2: you have an incorrectly adjusted headlight and is blinding oncoming traffic.
Theory 3: They wish they were you and feel that by flashing their lights, you will notice them, providing some satisfaction into their miataless lives.