Those Pickup Headlights a Wee Bright? Blame the Driver
Dear Street Smart:
For years, I’ve been bothered by pickup truck headlights--particularly on foreign models--that seem to be too bright and aimed too high.
Driving on the freeways at night can be difficult when you see these lights coming toward you. It’s also a problem when the lights are right behind you, shining in your mirrors. The glare can be even worse on remote two- or four-lane roads that are not freeways.
A few years ago I wrote to Nissan and Toyota, asking if they were aware of any headlight problems. Now, the problem has increased to where it involves more than those two manufacturers.
I know that headlights can be adjusted because I’ve adjusted mine. Can manufacturers or dealers be encouraged to test their headlights’ aim before each vehicle is sold?
And do you think the California Highway Patrol could step up its enforcement against drivers with blinding headlights?
Bob Higgs
Glendale
Dear Reader:
Almost everyone who’s driven the freeways at night knows about this problem. Without warning, there’s a monster-size pickup in your rear-view mirror--or coming straight toward you. Its blazing eyes make it tough to keep the road in sight.
But the manufacturers you cited say they’re not to blame for these mutant trucks. Mark Adams, a spokesman for Nissan North America, insists: “It’s not a brand-specific problem. It’s a result of owner modifications.”
John Hanson, a spokesman for Toyota Motor Sales, agrees.
They point out that many owners use a “lift kit” to raise the pickup higher off the pavement. The reason? To make room for huge tires or simply to avoid bumping the chassis on rugged off-road terrain.
In some cases, the owners just like the way a jacked-up vehicle looks.
Yet when they beef up a truck in this manner, “they probably have not chosen to have their headlights re-aimed,” Adams says. The truck “is higher up off the road, so its lights are more noticeable to other drivers.”
Adams and Hanson recommend that owners who raise the height of their pickups have the lights adjusted.
By state law, a vehicle’s headlights cannot be less than 22 inches or more than 54 inches above the road. During 1992, CHP officers wrote 20,508 tickets statewide for violating this rule, says CHP spokesman Sam Haynes.
The law also states that your headlights--low or high beams--cannot shine in the eyes of an oncoming driver who is within 500 feet. And they can’t bounce off the mirrors and blind a driver who is less than 300 feet ahead of you. The CHP cited more than 2,900 drivers for these offenses in 1992.
Nevertheless, Haynes acknowledges that headlight offenders are often tough to chase down and ticket because they break the law at night. And they’re often on the opposite side of the road when a CHP officer spots them.
Dear Street Smart:
I have complained to Caltrans numerous times because lights are out--sometimes for years--on freeway signs that indicate upcoming exits.
This is a big hazard. Trying to read a dark sign is unsafe. Can you look into this?
Dennis Marks
Chatsworth
Dear Reader:
We just discussed blinding headlights. Now let’s tackle another visual challenge: dark freeway signs.
When someone reports that the lights are out on a freeway sign, Caltrans checks it within a day, says Joe Shaw, an agency spokesman.
The repair is not always made immediately. “Often, a lane closure is required to replace a light on an overhead sign,” Shaw says. “Rather than close a lane on a busy stretch of freeway during peak hours, Caltrans crews will wait until a weekend morning in order not to inconvenience motorists.”
Shaw says it shouldn’t take more than a week to get a lighted sign fixed.
If you think a freeway sign has gone dark because a bulb is burned out or the wires got crossed, you can notify Caltrans at (213) 897-3656.
If a sign has been dark for longer than a week, here’s one possible explanation: Several years ago, Caltrans, in a move to trim its huge electric bill, decided not to light up all of its freeway signs.
According to Shaw, the agency still illuminates all signs that require a driver to take immediate action. Generally, these are the ones with arrows that show a driver where to exit.
But most informational signs--the ones warning you that an exit or a tourist attraction is five miles ahead--must now make do with reflectors that are supposed to catch headlights and make the message apparent even at night.
Dear Street Smart:
I would like to call attention to the intersection where Stonewood Drive enters Woodcliff Road in Sherman Oaks.
This corner has become hazardous as a result of two stop signs installed on Woodcliff, creating a three-way stop intersection.
One of these signs is so far from the corner that it causes traffic on Stonewood to enter Woodcliff at peril. Some drivers on Woodcliff do not stop at the line and continue moving up to the corner. Sometimes they don’t stop at all.
Someone should review this intersection.
Frank A. Stevens
Sherman Oaks
Dear Reader:
These stop signs were installed at the request of your neighbors.
In this hillside neighborhood, Woodcliff is the key north-south link between Valley Vista Boulevard and Mulholland Drive. It is heavily used by residents driving to and from the San Diego Freeway--or trying to get around a congested stretch of that freeway.
About 600 residents signed petitions last year, asking City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky for a traffic signal at Mulholland and Woodcliff, says Alisa Katz, the councilman’s chief deputy. They were worried about speeding and the growing volume of traffic.
The city’s Department of Transportation balked at the traffic signal, Katz says. But after further meetings with residents, the department agreed to put in stop signs at Stonewood and Rayneta Drive.
Some traffic experts think stop signs are a poor way to slow traffic because drivers simply speed up again as soon as they pass the sign.
But Tom Jones, a city transportation engineer, says his office endorsed the Woodcliff stop signs because this is a long stretch of road with no traffic controls. “Our practice recently is not to have long, uninterrupted lengths of road in residential areas,” he says.
Jones acknowledged that one stop sign was moved back from the corner because it was too close to a driveway. He does not think this should cause any hazards for people pulling out from Stonewood.
Nevertheless, Councilman Yaroslavsky’s office has agreed to review your complaint to find out if the sign is causing problems and whether more police enforcement is needed at this corner.
