The Beacon Message Board

Maybe its just me, but I am convinced that the number of vehicles on the road with only one headlight working has dramatically increased?

And the shocking fact is that it doesn't appear to necessarily specific to older cars either.

This can be seen as a positive development. When riding in lanes in the dark, it's interesting how many oncoming vehicles stop when they see my light in the distance, even though there's plenty of room for a car and a bike. It's almost as if they think I might be a car with only one headlight. I do actually have two two lights but they're quite close together of course.

Alan

I was just discussing this the other day with a couple of people, I'm convinced it is far more common than it used to be. Not managed a coherent theory as to why that is the case but I plan to talk one or two people in the auto trade and see if it is a 'thing' or if we're just noticing it more...

I've noticed a lot more cars where their front lights are on but the rears are off...

dweben wrote:I've noticed a lot more cars where their front lights are on but the rears are off...

I used have a Triumph Spitfire like that, its because the sidelights and tail lights are on one circuit, and the head lights on another . Had to drive with one foot on the accelerator and one resting on the brake ,every time I went past a police car

You used to be able to carry a set of spare bulbs and pop them in yourself. Now a new bulb or unit costs a fortune and requires a specialist to dismantle a lot of stuff to insert it. On the other hand lights are much better so probably you don't notice the duff unit until someone points it out. Austin 1100s equipped with Lucas lights - well you checked them every evening and were usually disappointed to find one or another not working. Dutch chap I met in Yugoslavia had one and this was his main complaint - poor wiring and bulbs.

Dave Cox wrote:Now a new bulb or unit costs a fortune and requires a specialist to dismantle a lot of stuff to insert it.

Yes, that's a very good point Dave.

Lisa tells me that some vehicles are designed to have their side lights permanently switched on.

Dave Cox wrote:You used to be able to carry a set of spare bulbs and pop them in yourself. Now a new bulb or unit costs a fortune and requires a specialist to dismantle a lot of stuff to insert it. On the other hand lights are much better so probably you don't notice the duff unit until someone points it out. Austin 1100s equipped with Lucas lights - well you checked them every evening and were usually disappointed to find one or another not working. Dutch chap I met in Yugoslavia had one and this was his main complaint - poor wiring and bulbs.

Bulbs are still not that difficult to replace even on modern cars and most cars now also have dashboard indication of the fact that a bulb has gone.
I would say continuing to drive with a bulb gone is mainly due to the inadequacies of many people to carry out even the most basic of mechanical activities (there is even a Halfords advertisement that plays on this) and the general increase in the number of selfish tossers now at large.

petemarshall wrote: Bulbs are still not that difficult to replace even on modern cars....

One of my managers was quoted three hours labour to replace a headlight bulb on his Audi!

Plus HERE

Philip Whiteman wrote:Lisa tells me that some vehicles are designed to have their side lights permanently switched on.

These are classed as daytime running lights (DRL) - from a very reliable source ( ) HERE

And further more, another thing that I have also noticed is the amount of cars driving in pure visibility conditions with no lights on at all.

But I put this down to people being lazy and switching the headlights to auto mode. Which is great when the light fades, but will not switch the lights on in foggy conditions.

HERE

"Automation can help reduce driver workload in some situations but is not a substitute for the driver and does not mean that the driver can stop thinking".
Sometimes technology has a lot to answer for...

On further investigation, it would appear that one head lighted cars are indeed on the increase according to a poll taken in December 2013. (Taken by a extremely reliable source once again...)

"Cars with only one headlight are a common sight on our roads - 49% of respondents in the December 2013 AA-Populus survey*** agreed with the statement; "There seem to be many more cars this year with only one headlight".

***AA-Populus motoring panel survey of 17,629 AA members between 12 and 17 December 2013

I have noticed the same thing, and also that some people drive round with no rear lights on. I shouted at some dozy woman in a Fiesta the other night to put her lights on, and then by the time I was closer to her car, the front ones were on, but not the back. I think the front ones were the LED daytime running lights. People seem to think these are sufficient as dipped headlights and don't seem to bother (or are even aware) that the rear ones aren't on.

Definitely much worse. Zero enforcement of anything means gradual deterioration in all standards: speeding, lights, drink and drug driving, phone use etc. I've never seen any police activity on roads in Birmingham in terms of checks or anything. At least Mot's keep standard at this level. This is a major pet hate of mine, both bulbs not working and more so drivers not having lights on at all in dark and poor light conditions.

I got the lovely people at Halfords Selly Oak to fit a new front headlight on Sunday two days after it went, £18 with my 10% off from British Cycling and took 5minutes in total including paying. It was a Peugeot though not an Aldi.

PS I have been a lazy good for nothing myself though in the past in my pre cycling life, driving for a good three months before fixing a brake light was not been unknown!

AlanW wrote:

petemarshall wrote: Bulbs are still not that difficult to replace even on modern cars....

One of my managers was quoted three hours labour to replace a headlight bulb on his Audi!

Plus HERE

I would assume the garage assumed that being an Audi owner he both deserved and could afford being ripped off.

It could well have been a company car.

It may also have been an Audi dealership, so they would deal with Audis all day, and feel no need to rip off someone for their choice of car. Based on your post, I can only assume you drive a Rover and get it serviced in the 1970s?

I think Alan's point was that the car probably had the modern LED strip lights within the cluster, in which case I gather the whole unit often has to be replaced.

petemarshall wrote:

AlanW wrote:

petemarshall wrote: Bulbs are still not that difficult to replace even on modern cars....

One of my managers was quoted three hours labour to replace a headlight bulb on his Audi!

Plus HERE

I would assume the garage assumed that being an Audi owner he both deserved and could afford being ripped off.

I don't know Audis and don't know how justified the quote was. However, I once owned a Renault Espace, and had an experience which makes me think that it's not impossible that it could take three hours. The headlamp bulb went pop, and when I came to replace it, I found that the access point at the back of the lamp housing was so close to some other internal component that it was all but impossible to get your fingers inside. It took me about an hour to get as far as unhitching the little loop spring that holds the bulb in, but I couldn't for the life of me manoeuvre the old bulb out. So I gave up and went to the dealer with it. They said, yes, this is a common issue with this model... if the bulb goes on that side, we normally remove the whole lamp housing to the front, replace the bulb and then remount the lamp housing.

How daft is that, given that in many countries you are obliged by law to carry spare bulbs, so that you can replace a bulb on the spot if it pops? Surely Renault were at that time effectively obliging owners in those countries to break the law, by making it impossible to install the bulb at the roadside?

deero83 wrote:It could well have been a company car.

It may also have been an Audi dealership, so they would deal with Audis all day, and feel no need to rip off someone for their choice of car. Based on your post, I can only assume you drive a Rover and get it serviced in the 1970s?

I think Alan's point was that the car probably had the modern LED strip lights within the cluster, in which case I gather the whole unit often has to be replaced.

Yes it was a company car and less than twelve months old.

He did look at doing it himself but it was clear that the headlight unit was buried under a mass of plastic and other important looking bits and bobs.

When he finally took the car in to have it done and witnessed what had to be removed in order to replace what we all consider to be a serviceable item, he was pretty shocked.

Does this complexity of bulb replacement on Auidis also explain why the indicators never work? I had always assumed it was just that the drivers were to important to bother letting people know their intentions, but I may have misjudged them and they are too broke to replace the bulbs.

On my Ferrari it's an easy job.

Never had cause to do it yet but I am reliably informed (if you believe what you read on forums!), that changing a headlight bulb on my 350Z requires removal of the front bumper assembly. Not sure how Halfords "We'll even replace the bulb for you for £7" promise would be delivered but easy to see why a faulty bulb is not necessarily a quick fix.

It is easy not to notice a blown bulb. When driving to work this morning, I noticed that my beam was marginally reduced. The reduction was barely noticeable and only just detectable from the driver's perspectice. The main had blown blown but the side light was still operational. So I can understand why some people drive with blown main bulbs without noticing.

Fortunately, I do not own an expensive high maintenance vehicle. The price for a new bulb is £4.50; the cost of fitting the bulb is £0.00.

I do not own an expensive car. It's 2003 Vauxhall Meriva. The last time I had a bulb changed the garage had to remove the air intake unit in order to get to the headlamp.
I think I paid about 30 minutes labour charge

Dave

Recently, I drove to Bridgnorth & back (an hour each way) & counted a total of 26 cars with defective lights. It's become such an epidemic it's now become an in-car "game" spotting them

Mind you, cyclists can be as bad. Last night cycling from Norton to Stourbridge Junction station, a distance of about a mile, I passed two cyclists with no rear lights and (just about) saw one coming the other way with no front light. Strangely they all had helmets on