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U.S. Pedestrian Deaths Up 77% Since 2009 & The Auto Industry Knew It Would Happen (open.substack.com)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 7 points 9 months ago (19 children)

Whoever invented LED bulbs for cars needs to be blacklisted from the auto industry

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  • [–] 4 points 9 months ago (13 children)

    There are plenty of cars with stock LED headlights and proper cutoffs, so they’re less blinding than traditional headlights

    It’s aftermarket “illegal” LEDs, LEDs that are misaligned or started at a bad height, and way too many drivers who never turn off their high beams. Yet another safety rule we only pay lip service to, resulting in unnecessary deaths

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  • [–] 3 points 9 months ago (9 children)

    I swear some people really must not know you can toggle between normal headlights and high beams.

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  • [–] 3 points 9 months ago*

    I thought the same and then got a recent-ish car that had an "automatic" setting to dim or engage the high beams. It's terrible. Taking tight corners on a dark rural road, they dim because the sensor detects the car's own headlight reflection off of the trees, defeating the purpose.

    So, I think a bunch of dipshit city folk leave the high beams on (in the city where they aren't fucking necessary) and let the "automatic" setting handle it, poorly.

    I learned how to drive in a rural area where using the brights is normal when you get out of town, with the caveat that you have to pay attention and switch back when cresting a hill or coming around a corner.

    Edit: "creating" -> "cresting"

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago* (5 children)

    This may be another case of needing technology to rescue people who are just that dumb.

    • Auto-high beams have been getting better over the years to the point that humans can no longer claim to be more responsive. They just work. Every time. And never forget
    • my car has active matrix headlights and it’s freaky to drive at night with the high beams on and watch a dark spot follow surrounding cars

    In ten years we’ll all forget how to toggle off high beams, as it will just work most of the time. But at the same time we’ll be blinded less as the machine never forgets

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  • [–] 5 points 9 months ago (4 children)

    auto high beams do not work every time.

    I am routinely blinded by them when people drive through my neighborhood at night and I'm walking my dog, or when I'm biking to the store. and this is in a neighborhood with street lights where high beams are completely and utterly not required in the first place at 40 km/h.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    Yah, I drove a rental with these for the first time and didn't like it. It left the high beams on far longer than I would've manually and when I tried to manually switch them off it would turn them back on without me knowing.

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago (1 child)

    I just bought a 2012 as my 'new' vehicle because I don't want to deal with any stupid tech issues like that

    hell, I don't even like standard traction control - if I press the accelerator, I want the wheels to get power. I've been stuck slowly crossing in the middle of an intersection too many times because ESC 'helped out' and cut power to the wheels. no mf just spin them until they get to the hard surface below the snowslush

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago*

    This was worse. It had lane detection so every once in a while I could feel it jerk the wheel even though I was solidly in my lane. The only advanced feature I didn't mind was the proximity warning when I wanted to change lanes. It was pretty clear there was a car there but I didn't mind the heads up.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago

    Every attempt to make something idiot creates a bigger idiot

    While I totally see the point this is already “solved” in that they shouldn’t have high beams on in the first place.

    Pedestrians and cyclists are tough because drivers don’t think to toggle their high beams, even If they see pedestrians and auto-high beams aren’t any better. We’re out of luck

    In my neighborhood we have very narrow streets and where there are sidewalks not pavement right next to the street. I never thought I’d appreciate the small amount of separation a standard sidewalk give but it actually does make a difference in how blinded your u are by traffic. But the bottom Line is similar to yours: this is a high density neighborhood with streetlights where no one should use high beams to begin with. Realistically there are several Poorly placed houses whose owners are probably even more frustrated

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    incorrect. cutoff just means it isn't blinding on flat level ground. which roads and streets are very much not

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  • [–] 0 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    I’ll take being briefly blinded as a car hits a pothole over ten terrifying seconds of zero visibility as a monstrous vehicle careens toward me and I have no idea where the street is or what’s in it

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  • [–] -1 points 9 months ago (3 children)

    Those are aftermarket lights, or people with lifted pickups. Lights are designed to work at a set distance off the road, when people lift the truck, everything is now hi beams.

    The problem is not the industry, it's a lack of safety laws and enforcement. North America does not safety inspect vehicles.

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  • [–] 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    lol it's not just aftermarket or modified stuff dude, look at any new stock Subaru/Toyota/Mazda. blinding

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  • [–] 3 points 9 months ago

    the regulations on intensity never presumed we'd use such small arrays to produce that intesity. in the cabin, the lights projected onto the road don't seem that different from 20 years ago. but from the other way it's dazzling

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