Can Anyone Answer This With Certainty?

[Chops]

One more thought...

A good way to help yourself and not be dazzled as easily by oncoming headlights at night, was taught to me by my dad.

Whenever closing in on an oncoming vehicle at night (especially if they have headlights set badly or on high-beams, or towing a heavy load), just look and focus on the white line to the immediate right and well forward of your vehicle.

If you do this, you can see where you are on the road so you can make sure you are positioned correctly in your lane until the offending vehicle has passed....and you don't get blinded nearly as easily.

Just a thought, as it has helped me many, many times over the years.

Cheers and I hope this helps someone else!

Andy

I use that technique too! That white line is called the “fog line”. Helps guide drivers in heavy fog or low visibility. Works great for oncoming headlight glare also!

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[Mavster Mechanic]

Thanks for all your replies. I would really be hesitant about lowering my headlamps. The wildlife around here is a constant threat to my Maverick’s good looks. I see all the deer on the roadsides and in ditches, lifeless. How many make it just out of sight and die? A deer ‘kill’ would have to cause, at minimum, $2,000 in insurance costs to body shops. Are deer credited for keeping a lot of repair shops profitable. Around here, definitely. I see a new carcass almost every day.

You need to lower your aiming screw so it is correct for normal use.
THEN use your high beams for those deer roads.

Also maybe you want side light not high. Invest in some wide but low to the ground white or yellow fog lamps.

 

[SafetyGuy]

I use that technique too! That white line is called the “fog line”. Helps guide drivers in heavy fog or low visibility. Works great for oncoming headlight glare also!

Absolutely true, I use it in fog, snow, heavy rain etc...but also slow down to allow for the diminished seeing distance.

I was using it in very heavy fog just last Sunday. Harvest time in the prairies seems to bring the fog out, with the lower over night temperatures.

When the fog finally thinned out, I realized that there was quite a line of cars behind us. It was very bad for at least 45 minutes. I knew there were at least 2, but not as many as there was!

Have a good one,

Andy

 

[dalola]

There is no reason to be running around during the day with your hi-beams on.....it's annoying and unnecessary, and that's why people are flashing you. I would flash you too, and have a few choice names for you. Knock it off. Driving smart & defensively is the answer, not pulling a jerk-move leaving your hi-beams on. Just stupid. Same thing for the idiots who put the emergency flashers on during heavy rain....

 

[jonshep]

Pay attention to semitrailer trucks and you will see an extra mirror on the right side of the truck that allows the driver to look down at the fog line. It's there so the driver can see how close to the edge of the road the truck is. Just FYI.

 

[Meeka]

Not a chance.

That said, running high beams during the day is kindof a jerk move IMHO. Unlike some DRLs that use the high beams, your "normal" high beams are running at 100% power. That can be uncomfortable for oncoming traffic to look at, even in broad daylight.

I do see a lot of motorcycles running high beams during the day (I ride, and I don't do that...), but to be fair, they have a lot more to lose if they aren't seen than someone in a passenger car with crumple zones and airbags, etc. In short, I think the daytime high beams are not really a solution for cars, trucks, or bikes.

As far as the adjustment of the low beams, running them "tilted up" isn't really a solution either. Deer or no deer, your headlights are either properly adjusted, or they aren't. Too high is no better than too low. I would make the effort of confirming the adjustment to at least rule that part out.

Finally, in theory... say you weren't antisocially running your high beams non-stop, and that you had confirmed your headlights are properly adjusted: you're still going to get flashed occasionally. I wouldn't call it "consensus," but if the many threads already started on this topic tell any common story, it's that people seem to just take offense to these trucks' headlights. It might be that they are LEDs, it might be the number of LEDs per side, it might be a huge concentration of cataracts/astigmatism that coincides with where Mavericks are. Who knows.

Maybe they’re just trying to keep their battery charged! Ain’t working for me.

 

[Meeka]

There is no reason to be running around during the day with your hi-beams on.....it's annoying and unnecessary, and that's why people are flashing you. I would flash you too, and have a few choice names for you. Knock it off. Driving smart & defensively is the answer, not pulling a jerk-move leaving your hi-beams on. Just stupid. Same thing for the idiots who put the emergency flashers on during heavy rain....

Agreed! Even in daylight, high beams now a days are damn bright!

 

[Chops]

Leaving your high beams on during the day is illegal in most states - as is leaving them on at night.

Most (all) States have a distance specified for when to switch to low beam or off.

If OP is leaving his high beams on constantly - day or night - he is a safety risk on the road.

Most (all) of the deer carcasses he sees were most likely blinded by high beams. Their night vision is better suited to avoiding cars with their lights off!

 

[Richie La.]

The high beams bug me during the day but I don't go around flashing my brights at people who have them on.

But think about it OP you're complaint is about people flashing you but you're keeping your high beams on during the day - basically doing the thing that is getting you riled.

I am definitely not riled. I don’t go to that place anymore. I am very curious though. There is a big difference. I am taking stock in all of your suggestions and theories and I appreciate all the feedback as well. I even appreciate the criticisms. I do know that there is a huge difference between oncoming vehicles with highs on during the day vs. the night. At night it is about barely being able to see the road. And that truly is a safety hazard. That said, it is a much angrier crowd out there on the road, compared to say, 20 years ago. Thank you all for replying to this thread. I never realized that high beams are bothersome during the day. I have, in all the years I am driving, never even had the thought come into my head, of flashing an oncoming vehicle in daylight.

Good day

We have a 2025 Lariat, and can not remember being flashed at night. I can see the low beam light cut off when we go over bumps on the highway and mine seem to be well adjusted from factory.

I would not recommend using high beams in daylight as I have seen others using them, and even in daylight they can dazzle an oncoming drivers eyes.

I agree with the above posts as to first checking your headlights while parked on a flat surface and shining headlights onto a flat wall to see where your low and high beam cutout lines sit.

Remember that your left (driver side) low-beam headlight should be aimed lower then the right side low-beam light...this is to help prevent the accidental dazzling of oncoming drivers, while the RH low beam shines a bit further ahead for safer highway-speed driving, and again, hopefully not dazzling other drivers.

Park on a flat surface, say 30 or 40 ft from a flat wall and put tape on the wall indicating where you top light cutout lines are and then slowly adjust your low beam down. Don't worry about your high beam setting, you shouldn't be using them with oncoming vehicles present, day or night.

You can Google for exact distances etc.

As some do not like brighter headlights on vehicles, remember you have many very high-speed highways and better light projection is mandatory to drive safely at night at the speeds many are driving.

I recommend that all highway speed limits be immediately reduced to a maximum of 100Kph/62mph and then you can drive more safely with the old yellow headlights as they don't blind other drivers as easily...

Have a great day,

Andy

I was infuenced by the Carter mandate, where 55 was the speed limit on all the highways

Yup.... here in Missouri the state congress just passed a law upping the speed limit from 70 to 75 on rural interstates and freeways - which folks mostly drive that fast already anyways.

. People are just so aggressive these days and most are driving way faster than they can control in a true emergency situation.

 

[BK007]

 

[matmondro]

I think you need to adjust your headlamps down a little more. In my experience, mine were too high from the factory.

But if I'm honest, running your high beams during the daytime is not cool. As a few others mentioned, I would also flash you in that instance. Even during the daytime, high beams (especially on most newer vehicles) are really dang bright. Here in Michigan, you could get a ticket for that if you encountered a trooper while doing that.

 

[Kenv24]

I am really at a loss to square the following in my head. We all have read the gamut of experiences concerning the headlamps on Mavericks and the reaction to them from oncoming drivers. Some said, even when their high beams are on, they never get ‘flashed.’ I have experienced the opposite. My low beams are always getting blasted like they are on high. Kinda confused about the different reactions occuring during nighttime driving, but I guess I can write that off to varying angles of the light housings.
So, now to my ‘deeper confusion.’ I have a Cyber Orange Mav because I do love the color and I also want to be seen. I have never been charged with an accident in my 52 years of driving, but I have been hit by others 3 or 4 times. To possibly corral the attention of oncoming drivers, I was running my high beams during the day. And I was getting ‘flashed’ a lot!!! Isn’t the flashing after dark because the oncoming drivers are having a hard time visually? Am I really affecting their ability to see the road?? Are they angry when they see I have my high beams on? Are they trying to tell me they are on, to save me from wasting battery power? Do lense implant drivers see halos?? Do cataract sufferers have a hard time seeing the road because of distorted lenses?
All these possibilities cycle through my head, but I have no idea which, if any are the real reason. It truly baffles me that a few can drive at night with highs on and not illicit a reaction. I cannot even drive on a sunny day with my high lamps on and not get flashed.
I hope there will be a consenus here on MTC to my dilemma. On the other hand, my ‘plan’ to be noticed by distracted drivers was definitely working to some degree, because the reaction I was getting was pretty stark. I would say that 5 to 10% of oncomers were ‘flashing’ me. I will tally your opinions and go with whatever the vote says! Thanks to all you lucky Maverick owners!!!

I can tell you right now....without reading any of the other posts in this post....it is NOT just people with bad eyes, cataracts, etc. The low beams AND HIGH are insanely bright. That's why people are flashing you in the daytime. They are getting a shot of your highs...so of course they are being blinded....even in the day. The important thing to understand is that it NOT just the Maverick...it is 85% of the new cars, trucks and SUVs that are running "factory" headlights that are definitely brighter than the used to be....or need to be...in my opinion.

 

[Ryom]

I am really at a loss to square the following in my head. We all have read the gamut of experiences concerning the headlamps on Mavericks and the reaction to them from oncoming drivers. Some said, even when their high beams are on, they never get ‘flashed.’ I have experienced the opposite. My low beams are always getting blasted like they are on high. Kinda confused about the different reactions occuring during nighttime driving, but I guess I can write that off to varying angles of the light housings.
So, now to my ‘deeper confusion.’ I have a Cyber Orange Mav because I do love the color and I also want to be seen. I have never been charged with an accident in my 52 years of driving, but I have been hit by others 3 or 4 times. To possibly corral the attention of oncoming drivers, I was running my high beams during the day. And I was getting ‘flashed’ a lot!!! Isn’t the flashing after dark because the oncoming drivers are having a hard time visually? Am I really affecting their ability to see the road?? Are they angry when they see I have my high beams on? Are they trying to tell me they are on, to save me from wasting battery power? Do lense implant drivers see halos?? Do cataract sufferers have a hard time seeing the road because of distorted lenses?
All these possibilities cycle through my head, but I have no idea which, if any are the real reason. It truly baffles me that a few can drive at night with highs on and not illicit a reaction. I cannot even drive on a sunny day with my high lamps on and not get flashed.
I hope there will be a consenus here on MTC to my dilemma. On the other hand, my ‘plan’ to be noticed by distracted drivers was definitely working to some degree, because the reaction I was getting was pretty stark. I would say that 5 to 10% of oncomers were ‘flashing’ me. I will tally your opinions and go with whatever the vote says! Thanks to all you lucky Maverick owners!!!

Fellow Pennsylvanian here, driving with highs on within 500 feet of another vehicle is a moving infraction and illegal in the entire state... Just FYI.

There is a process for adjusting your headlamps outlined in the manual--> Headlamp Adjustment

There is zero difference in luminosity from high to low with my projectors, just how much of the beam is shaded up top so any time us with projectors go over a crest or a bump it's essentially the same as flashing high beams at someone.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Thanks for all your replies. I would really be hesitant about lowering my headlamps. The wildlife around here is a constant threat to my Maverick’s good looks. I see all the deer on the roadsides and in ditches, lifeless. How many make it just out of sight and die? A deer ‘kill’ would have to cause, at minimum, $2,000 in insurance costs to body shops. Are deer credited for keeping a lot of repair shops profitable. Around here, definitely. I see a new carcass almost every day.

In deer country at night drive 5-8 mph slower than speed the normal traffic speed (might be posted speed or 5 or more mph). The deer still alive apparently have difficulty adjusting to faster than normal traffick. When I moved to country 40 miles from Austin from heavy traffic in Dallas my auto insurance went up about 22% due to deer (bumper & higher damage) and hogs (bumper & lower damage unless mph enough to roll vehicle 3-5 times). If deer is dead in road worse than running hog. Some say drive same speed as vehicle in front of you about 400-600 feet behind it.

 

[Richie La.]

Fellow Pennsylvanian here, driving with highs on within 500 feet of another vehicle is a moving infraction and illegal in the entire state... Just FYI.

There is a process for adjusting your headlamps outlined in the manual--> Headlamp Adjustment

There is zero difference in luminosity from high to low with my projectors, just how much of the beam is shaded up top so any time us with projectors go over a crest or a bump it's essentially the same as flashing high beams at someone.

Once when I was a teenager, I flashed a car with its high beams on at night. The lights came on the state police car that I flashed.
I pulled over and the trooper asked me why I did that. I told him I could not see, so I blinked him. He was understanding with my explanation, but told me not to flash in the future. I give a quick bump at night to this day.

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