Safe Speed Forums

Hopefully the thread won't get hijacked this time... and I've also put it in the correct section now!

Had another dark coloured A6 for a couple of days and again noticed (although not to the same extent as last time) aggressive reactions from other drivers. But I think I may have figured out what was causing it.

To sum it up I'll give you all an example of one "incident" that happened yesterday. I was following a Berlingo or similar vehicle (the people carrier version, not the van), driver and front seat passenger, no rear seat passengers. Wasn't following too close, I was keeping a good distance back. The Berlingo (might have been the Peugeot version but that doesn't matter) was doing about 55-60mph through NSL, I wasn't going to bother overtaking.

Suddenly and without warning the Berlingo slams his brakes on and the driver starts giving me the middle finger from the front seat. For no apparent reason.

Then it hit me.

I'd just gone through a bit of road where the trees met overhead and the light level was low enough to turn on the automatic headlights. So Berlingo Man must have thought I was flashing him for some reason.

I overtook the guy (straight bit of road) and turned the headlights off their Auto setting onto Off... and didn't have any more "incidents" at all.

Maybe just coincidence, or maybe the combination of HID headlights and automatic operation meant that other drivers thought I was flashing them aggressively?

Comments?

Interesting.

My X5 has this automatic function and, you know what, I never use it as I like to know what my headlights are doing. I have never really thought about the posssible effects on other drivers but I can see that this might wind them up.

Of course, you have to ask if headlights being switched on and off behind you would cause you to slam on the brakes and abuse the guy behind. More likely you would stop and find out what the problem was. A bit over the top unless ... road rage is on the increase.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

I suspect it may well be. Thinking back on it most of the incidents I had in the last loan car (also an A6) happened during conditions where the headlights may well have turned themselves on.

However I suspect this problem will fade in time, as Clarkson said once on Top Gear "if you want to see what'll be standard on your Focus in 10 years time you look at the Mercedes S-class". The S-class has automatic headlights... so when - like airbags - they're standard on all cars people will realise that no, the guy behind isn't flashing their lights at them, the lights have come on automatically.

The HID headlights don't help either as they look quite aggressive to an oncoming vehicle.

What I have noticed, particularly in the last couple of years, is a general lack of courtesy on the roads. Drivers are getting more and more selfish. For example if I was in a string of traffic on a main road and there was a queue of traffic waiting to turn onto that road from a side road I'd always let one car out and expect the guy behind me to do the same. Now if you let one car out a second will try and force their way in. Sometimes a third. And odds on the guy behind you won't let anyone out!

I've had people force their way in front of me even when the road behind me is clear - on these occasions I'd expect people to wait the extra couple of seconds for me to go past as there's half a mile of clear road behind me.

And when you do let someone through you might get a wave one time in ten now.

The joys of living under a left-wing communist^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H socialist government for the last 11 years, huh?

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Magistrates rule #1: "Never let justice get in the way of a conviction."

what is the intended purpose of automatic headlights? to save people having to turn them on themselves or because drivers are becoming too stupid to realise when they should have their lights on? either way its going too bloody far now. by all means have luxuries in a car ie electric heated mirrors, electric windows etc etc etc but when it comes down to the basic car controls, leave them to the driver. the current test is inadequete as it is. how bad will it be when the instructor says 'thats the headlights but you dont need to know when to turn them on. wipers, ditto. lets face it, we are already seeing this trend among the bmw driving community who dont know when to use their indicators. they seem to think they are automatic

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
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Beats me.

No, it's Volvo drivers who don't indicate.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

For similar reasons, I hate turning my dipped beam on in the Transit while in traffic, as it has 'Schrodinger's Main Beam' fitted; i.e. until you turn it on, you don't know if you'll be getting dipped or main beam, and therefore whether you'll be flashing the car in front or not.

Heated mirrors are by no means a luxury! My current car has them, the one before didn't, the one before that did. On a cold morning with the mirrors covered in frost you start the engine, hit the demist button for the front and rear windscreens, wait about 30 seconds... and everything's clear.

Electric windows... used to be a luxury but again not any more. I had a car about 3 years ago that had electric front and manual rear windows... a friend was sat in the back seat and kept opening the window "because it was hot"... then complained that he was getting hot air blown in at his feet. I told him to close the window and the climate control would stop fighting it! He didn't get it at all! So now I've got all-round electric windows I just use the isolator switch to stop anyone opening the rear windows...

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Magistrates rule #1: "Never let justice get in the way of a conviction."

Yes, smart arse car designers getting too clever again.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

I have encountered this problem in the past, but our current car (Pug. 406) doesn't present that problem.

When I switch off the headlights after using main beam, when next switched on they always come on as dipped. I think that's good. There are some stupid and irritating features about the 406, but this particular feature is a good one, I would say.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

Some of these automatic features are good...

Windscreen wipers, check.
Heated mirrors, check.
Auto dipping rear view mirror, check.
Rear radar parking sensors, check.
Red lights on the doors when you open them.

Others I'm undecided about...

Automatic headlights - nice idea but see the entire thread.
Front radar parking sensors - nice but a bit of a luxury, you should know where the front of the car is.

Then there's the luxuries...

Heated seats
Leather seats
Footwell lighting
Under-door lighting so you know when you're about to put your foot in a puddle in the dark!

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Magistrates rule #1: "Never let justice get in the way of a conviction."

sorry but some of the things listed are luxuries. there for the drivers convenience but the car would still work without them. i have mitsubishis attempt at a luxury car intended to take some of the market from bmw and mercedes.

electric heated mirrors. they could be scraped/wiped and moved manually. the car im getting has electric folding mirrors too but again, not a necessity!
electric windows. my car has all round electric windows with one touch open/close. nice but manual windows would do the job. convenience!
front fogs. not a necessity but not a convenience either. however, mitsubishi got it spot on. instead of a rocker switch it is a button. when the headlights are turned off so are the front fogs. they dont turn on again unless the button is pressed.
headlamp washers. useless.
wiper intermittent speed adjustment. handy to adjust according to how heavy the rain is but not really a necessity.
individual interior lights for each door. nice but not necessary
central locking/remote boot release. very handy but the old fashioned way still works
electric ariel. it saves it being vandalised and saves fuel consumption but the saving would probably not be worth calculating

a lot of these items are standard now but 15 years ago they were luxury items which are now regarded as standard. some things just dont belong on cars though

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
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I can see a day when new cars sales will decline and we will all start clamouring for older cars because we can't buy something without a million bells and whistles. I feel this way already actually.

I'm going to blubber like a baby with a smacked arse when my ten year old Polo eventually bites the dust. I can even leave the seatbelt off without a WWII siren alert going off.

Ahhh.. Sheer bliss

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

Disadvantages of all the bells and whistles Squirrel lists:

1. Future unreliability, one of the reasons they practically give away old luxury cars.

2. WEIGHT! All thoses things weigh something, and I'd rather have the tiny bit of extra grunt/economy each omission gives me.

I assume that all you lot sit at home in the Winter huddled around your coal fire. Well, central heating would be just too complex and unreliable, wouldn't it?

Squirrel forgot my 2 favourite "luxury" items:

- electrically adjustable memory seats. I just can't stand 7 ft mechanics giving my car back after servicing and having to spend ages resetting all the adjustments.
- parked car heating for frosty mornings.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

bit of a difference. you dont get new tech bits for your home every day do you? central heating, double glazing, lagging on the pipes. you dont go from windows that open to windows that open electrically to one touch opening windows etc etc etc. new ideas are added to cars all the time, most of which are probably gimmicks. lets face it, how important is it to be able to set how long the interior light stays on after you shut the door? all the good ideas have been around for a while now so the latest stuff is either ultra lazy or just for show with no substantial benefit

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
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May be not the house so much but..

My latest toothbrush ramps up to full speed after the 14th use. (mini PIC inside).

The old clothes washer my mum used with a mangle was replaced with the twin tub washer/spinner which was replaced with something you now could wash bricks in without it dancing across the floor until/unless it's balanced.

The latest air fresheners shoot a spray when a waft of air passes it.

My toaster has electronics to toast bread from freezing.

The microwave became widespread along with fancy new cookers with a hob which electronically switches the hob on and off to get a lower-than-low heat.

Have I missed a few?

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

I have a phone, text messaging, all my music, wikipedia, youtube, email, other websites like forums, my calendar, my alarm clock, a timer, a gps with navigation, camera, photoe and maps all in one tiny hand held device

well if you insist in a constructive debate then i will happily find some other smart arse answers for you

comparing the things in your house are not really on the same level as your car. you have to live with these items but how long do you spend in the car? my car is only used for work or shopping now so i dont think there is much relating things in a car to things in a house. especially when in some cases the items in question are merely switched on and left to their own devices

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
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Me? Smart bottom? No Sir

Soz Squirrel. To get back on track; I think there's a general contempt/envy for anyone in a nice car. Because of what you drive I have no doubt that he, like most these days, pre-judged you to be the male offspring of a canine.

It says more about people in general I think and nowhere does the dark side of people surface more so than on our roads.

A similar thing wouldn't happen in the pedestrian world because we loose our protective sheild. There's car bravado, keyboard bravado, (seen that happen here), but I doubt he would have been so brave face to face.

Dr Tone

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

you are spot on there. although some people dont suffer quite as much from the keyboard bravado as others. for example it has been brought to my attention that someone is pretending to be me on an american trucker website and is causing trouble. i dont know who it is but they obviously dont have the bottle to either face me or even have it out with me on the forums i do use. im thinking they probably dont want to be humiliated in public. still, i wont be wasting any time on them with their childish pranks and i have no doubt that should the opportunity arise to 'discuss' the problem in person it would be a waste of time

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
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