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Shonendo

For some context, today I was driving on a state highway 1 at morning rush hour just south of Dunedin. You can imagine it is a busy road. At around 7am, it was still dark, and some parts of the road, with no street lights, were VERY dark. So much so I felt it was DANGEROUS that I couldn't see the road ahead of me even with headlights on. There was a lot of incoming traffic, which worsen the situation. At times I felt the vehicle touching the center line because I just couldn't see. Road code tells me I shouldn't have the lights on high beam when there is incoming traffic, and as I said, there was plenty on that. But at the same time, I felt unsafe I couldn't see the road properly without high beam... What am I supposed to do in this situation? It's like I either make things dangerous for myself by not turning high beam lights on, or I make it dangerous for others by blinding them with them. Needless to say I cannot afford to modify the car to get those "auto-adjust" lights some cars have these days, nevermind getting a new car. Cheers.

Anon

Hi there,
In this situation it might be best to slow down a bit and drive to the conditions which is safer than blinding everyone with high-beam lights, and most likely to attract the attention of the police. Maybe have your headlight aim checked and changing the bulbs for brighter ones (plus 30's or ultra blue ect)

Shonendo

Hi, thank you for your time taken in replying to my inquiry. Tonight I experienced the exact same issue on my way back from work. I have never felt in such a dangerous position before. Driving slow makes no difference. I could be driving at 10km/h and I still can't see a thing in front of me other than the vary faint white line to my left. Incoming cars make it much worse, at that point I feel like I can see absolutely nothing. Yes, my headlights are working, they just weren't bright enough and this is the first time I experience this issue. Every other car's headlights feel like they're in high beam compared to mine. I will have them check on Monday when I'm finally off work, I just really hope I stay safe until then, assuming the next 3 days are as dark as today was.