mgv@duke.UUCP (Marco G. Valtorta) (08/30/85)
Since someone has pointed out that halogens are more popular in Europe, I would like to say something about my experience driving in Italy (the country where I lived for the first 24 years of my life). First of all, my feeling is that I am blinded by incoming cars much more often here than back in Italy. As someone already noticed, halogens have a much more precise light pattern than regular lights. If you look at a halogen low beam lamp, you can see that not only the bottom half of the lamp is dark, but that there is a sizable wedge on the top right which is dark. The lamps and reflectors are designed to illuminate the right hand side of the road and not the left side. I can't see a similar (asymmetric) pattern with normal low beams, perhaps because their illumination pattern isn't so sharp. I feel that average US drivers just don't care for their cars, including beam alignment, as much as Italian ones. I am still amazed to note how many cars here ride on seriously underinflated tires! Also, I disagree with the contention that non-halogen headlights give sufficient light for normal driving speeds. I remember tests showing that regular low beams DO NOT light the road far ahead to permit adequate stopping distance in case a dark obstacle is on the road, when you are driving 55. For this reason, I have regular headlights on my car, but halogen lights on my motorcycle. I take great care to align the motorcycle light carefully. This involves changing alignment when I carry a passenger. (I was once stopped back in Italy by police for misaligned lights on my motorcycle. I have been very careful since then. No need for others to repeat my mistake!) I can't remember any car ever flashing their high beams at me when riding at night on the motorcycle. You may be interested to know that I am nearsighted and bright lights at night bother me. Marco