FORE AND AFT DAZZLE

Taranaki Daily News, 5 June 1935, Page 10

FORE AND AFT DAZZLE

HOW TO FOCUS HEADLAMPS. REGULATIONS IN BRITAIN. r (Special Correspondent.) | London, April 20. il It is rumoured that there is in . course of preparation an order for the consolida- ' tion of the regulations of motor vehicles : in Great Britain, and it is likely that a ; simplification -of these rules and regulations will be effected, an act for which ■ every motorist will be thankful. My ' informant tells me that the Minister of ; Transport proposes among other matters i to amend No. 13 of the Motor Vehicles ; (Construction and Use) Regulations, 1931, to make it clear that no offence is committed if a driver of a vehicle fitted with an internal mirror draws his rear blind when driving at night. This is a piece of constructive legislation tending to greater safety on the roads, for I am sure that many an otherwise inexplicable accident has been caused by the dazzle effect of following cars suddenly switching on their headlamps and blinding, the. leading driver with their reflection. in. his mirror. As it stands the regulation concerning driving mirrors is certainly confusing, for it maintains that cars must have a reflecting mirror “so constructed and fitted to the motor vehicle as to enable the driver of such motor vehicle- to be or become aware of the presence in the rear thereof of any other vehicle, the driver of which is desirous of passing such motor vehicle.” Under this - regulation motorists have been fined for drawing' down their rear blinds to prevent themselves being dazzled, even' though they, must have been perfectly aware of the cars behind by the penetration of light through the thin material of : which most blinds are made. NEW PROBLEM. Even when the driver of the car behind dips his headlamps the leading driver stilb has a certain amount of dazzle left, if he does not break the law and lower his blind. The only absolute cure is for the driver behind to switch off his headlamps completely, but we all know how- unpleasant it is ' to have to switch off both lamps after travelling for some distance with them on. The edge of the road disappears, and the driver has a nasty feeling that any minute he may crash into some obstruction that the car in front has just missed.It is durious, though, how the dazzle problem has recently altered in character. Even a year or two ago it was one. of the greatest handicaps to night driving, but it was confined mainly to cars approaching each other, jvhereas today, thanks to efficient dipping devices, this form of dazzle has’ been greatly reduced. But owing, probably, to the tendency for lower bodies and higher headlamps, the problem of dazzle from rearward has assumed serious proportions. ■ Cases of really bad dazzle from the -front still occur, but these are mainly due .to ; badly adjusted lamps, and could be eliminated if • the owners of the offending cars were to spend a few minutes checking and adjusting their lamps. There is no point in driving with lamps out of adjustment, for not only does it inconvenience other road users and jeopardise their safety, but it means that the driver of the car is not using the light given by his lamps to the best advantage, and is making his own job considerably harder. METHODS OF ADJUSTMENT. : Of course there are a number of different ways of adjusting headlamps, and what will suit one person may not suit another; but, speaking generally, the following directions as supplied by the A.A. should prove useful. Drive the car to face a white wall squarely—about twelve feet away on a level surface. By means of a straight edge held horizontally across their centre-line, make certain both lamps are in line. Then with the lamps trained on the wall, mark a vertical line about six feet in length midway between the centres of the circular discs of light. Now measure on the car, first the height of the lamp centres from the ground, apd • then the distance between the lamp centres. On each side of the vertical centre line on the wall measure off half the actual distance between the lamp centres, and draw two more vertical lines. Now mark with a horizontal line the distance of the lamp centres from the ground. The centres of the lamp beams should then be set to strike exactly where the horizontal line cuts the two outer vertical lines. Of course it is no use carrying out these instructions if the lamps themselves do not concentrate the light. The bulbs should be adjusted in their holders or sockets so as to give the most sharply defined discs of light. If,, as sometimes occurs, focussing is impossible, it may mean that the filaments have sagged, in which case the bulbs should be replaced;

In the case of those lighting systems where no provision is made for dipping or the cutting out of one of the beams to reduce dazzle, the lamps may be set so that the centres of the beams strike an inch or so below the horizontal line. The offside lamp should also be slightly set in, so that the centre of the beam strikes about two inches to the left of the appropriate vertical line. This method of adjustment, however, is not to be recommended to those drivers who cover any considerable mileage at night. I’or these I can only suggest that they have their cars fitted with some dipping device, which is quite a minor and not too expensive alteration, and then adjust their lamps by the method first described.