> there won't be pedestrian foot traffic

You think kids aren't running across the street at night out in the country? Chasing a soccer ball?

There are all sorts of things you need to be able to see to avoid. People, deer, fallen branches, large roadkill, garbage cans blown into the road by the wind, the list goes on and on. Not to mention spotting dangerous icy patches at night in the winter.

I take it you don't really drive in country? Which is fine, but it's good to be aware of the many potential hazards.

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graemep 9 hours ago | parent [-]

> You think kids aren't running across the street at night out in the country? Chasing a soccer ball?

Only in well light areas, usually with a low speed limit too.

> People, deer, fallen branches, large roadkill, garbage cans blown into the road by the wind, the list goes on and on.

Of those only people are at all common, and not on large roads. I have never even seen roadkill large enough to be unsafe to drive over.

I have only once come close to hitting any of these on country roads in the UK. I have been dangerously dazzled by oncoming bright headlights all the time.

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Leif24 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

>> You think kids aren't running across the street at night out in the country? Chasing a soccer ball?

>Only in well light areas, usually with a low speed limit too.

Not something I've commonly seen when driving, but certainly as a kid out in the country I ran around in the dark near the road.

>> People, deer, fallen branches, large roadkill, garbage cans blown into the road by the wind, the list goes on and on.

>Of those only people are at all common, and not on large roads. I have never even seen roadkill large enough to be unsafe to drive over.

>I have only once come close to hitting any of these on country roads in the UK. I have been dangerously dazzled by oncoming bright headlights all the time.

I've seen all of these multiple times (tbf the trash cans were in the city, not the country) out in upstate NY and rural Indiana and Kentucky. Maybe trees don't drop branches over in the UK, but over in the US that is certainly a hazard to be expected during and after severe weather.

To be clear, I agree that excessively bright running lights and people who can't seem to properly transition between hibeams and lowbeams are problem. I just don't agree with the sentiment from the gp that "[o]ut in the country, you still don't really need brighter headlights."

	▲	dboreham 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I've lived in Montana for 25 years, a place where there are deer (and moose and bears) rampaging all over the place. People hit them all the time. But the only place I ever hit a deer with my car was North Yorkshire.

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crazygringo 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>> You think kids aren't running across the street at night out in the country? Chasing a soccer ball?

> Only in well light areas, usually with a low speed limit too.

It would certainly be safer if that were true, but it's not. Kids play in front yards with zero street lighting all the time. And drivers speed.

>> People, deer, fallen branches, large roadkill, garbage cans blown into the road by the wind, the list goes on and on.

> Of those only people are at all common, and not on large roads.

I think there are a lot of places you haven't driven. In parts of the US, deer are everywhere. And who is limiting the subject to "large roads"? Headlights are used on all roads.

Also, we drive defensively because of the uncommon things we encounter. It only takes one collision to potentially kill you or someone else. Over a lifetime of driving, "uncommon" things have an unfortunate tendency to still happen at some point.

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graemep 2 hours ago | parent [-]

> Kids play in front yards with zero street lighting all the time

Street lighting is consistent enough to be used to define built up areas for speed limits in the UK.

> in parts of the US, deer are everywhere.

which is not relevant to a discussion about car headlights in the UK

> we drive defensively because of the uncommon things we encounter

but its not worth making a common situation riskier to make an uncommon one safer.

	▲	crazygringo an hour ago \| parent [-]
		> Street lighting is consistent enough to be used to define built up areas for speed limits in the UK. I thought we were talking about the country, where things are not built up. > which is not relevant to a discussion about car headlights in the UK Nothing about your original comment suggested anything about being specific to the UK. While the original article is about the UK, it seems very clear that the HN discussion is about car headlights everywhere. HN is a global site, and more US-centric than anything else. > but its not worth making a common situation riskier to make an uncommon one safer. This type of thing needs statistics to determine the exact right balance. But the picture you're trying to print of what it's like to drive in the country is just completely false, as many commenters here have pointed out. I don't know why you're continuing to insist on things we all know are not true.

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darrenf 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> Of those only people are at all common, and not on large roads. I have never even seen roadkill large enough to be unsafe to drive over.

I moved from London out to the sticks ~4.5 years ago and since then have seen deer, pigs, and cows multiple times each year on the larger roads around where I now live. Animals roam. People leave gates open or damage fences. It happens. Plus the named storms frequently bring trees down onto or even across roads.