Getting flashed on unlit roads

[IT Troll]

I find I am frequently getting flashed by other drivers when driving on unlit roads. I’m assuming they think I have my high beams on. I have the auto high beam function enabled and I can see that headlights are being dipped in good time. Are the LED projectors just brighter than people are used too? The levelling dial is set to 0, would it help to adjust that?

[Bernard Foy]

I get flashed by the odd moran too, I don't have LED lights. 

[Mojo1010]

0 is the problem, need to set it at 1. Should have noticed it's too high when being flashed frequently. 

[anchorman]

I get flashed leaving Piccadilly late at night and there’s no headlights involved, dear me it’s a rat hole down there.  Regarding headlights, I had mine permanently set at 1 as well.  That’s what the adjuster is there for.  

[IT Troll]

Thanks, I’ll try 1 then. According to the manual, 0 or 0.5 should be correct for my usual loads.

[TonyHSD]

Most new Toyota cars and all others with led has really too bright lights and the problem is that in ideal conditions they will project light ahead just fine but when we drive the cars due to the road curves, bumps and imperfections the cars tend to bounce up and down especially if they are loaded and when this is happening these ultra bright leds are going straight into the eyes of oncoming motorists, it is very bad indeed. Plus any suv like your cross cars has the headlights positioned higher than on standard cars and this only adds to the problem. Set to position 1 on the dial can make a difference indeed. 
I am a night driver and drive 12 hrs every night and watch the cars , I know the cars with best leds and with the worst ones, and those who blind others, Yaris cross is an offensive car for sure. 👍

Mercedes s class and Corolla excel. , actually all excel specs on all Toyota models has one of the very best headlights, and these does not blind others, I believe they has auto levelling too., no dial adjuster. 

[jthspace]

I hate the auto headlight dipping on the Yaris as I find it seems to have a mind of its own.  My other car has LED adaptive headlights that dip and swivel and you can drive on full beam all the time, the sensors adjust levels depending on traffic.  They only dip where there are streetlights.  

[Primus1]

1 hour ago, jthspace said:

I hate the auto headlight dipping on the Yaris as I find it seems to have a mind of its own.  My other car has LED adaptive headlights that dip and swivel and you can drive on full beam all the time, the sensors adjust levels depending on traffic.  They only dip where there are streetlights.  

Yes I’ve noticed the auto high beam is a bit hit and miss, my other car ( ford ) was much better with its auto high beam, mind you, everything else works far better on my cross..

[Cyker]

Same, got flashed when I was first driving it at night, set the dip to 1, been mostly fine since.

I also think it's because the LEDs are so ridiculously bright, and the cutoff is very sharp so at 0, even a slight bounce will bring the beam up into the opposing driver's eye-line and make it look like you're flashing them, whereas 1 has more of a buffer.

I reckon halogens do it too but because they have a more gradual beam and aren't as suddenly bright, it doesn't have the same flash-like effect so you know it's just because they're being bounced.

[Mojo1010]

The aim at 0 is too high for the opposite traffic with led/hid, without needing a bounce. For dual carriageway then it's fine at 0. When my last car had powerful hid, had to set it at 1.5 as it reach further ahead than led. 

[Roy124]

Go to a quiet, dark road and adjust the dipped beam to a setting that give you the illumination you want, try that or tweak up a touch and see the result.

On some roads the road might have a incline that effectivly raises the beam.   Not a lot you can do about that. 

[Mojo1010]

I would like to adjust to 0 to give the furthest reach as that is what I want Roy, but will blind oncoming. 

[anchorman]

I think 1970s jacked up rear suspension and two furry dice is the way to go.  That’s what it says in the book for the 0 position 😉

[jthspace]

22 minutes ago, anchorman said:

I think 1970s jacked up rear suspension and two furry dice is the way to go.  That’s what it says in the book for the 0 position 😉

Dice on order……

Furry Dice

[MikeSh]

I usually set them on high beam so they are shining straight down the road. Ideally use a straight and flat section of road with (eg) a bend with hedge at the end so the centre of the beams can be seen easily. That gives best main beam visibility and the dip should then be correct (if the manufacturer has designed the lights correctly).

On a dark road I expect to see the 'top' cutoff of the dip beam about 50m ahead, ignoring any kerb-searcher on the nearside. (Those are why you often get more dazzle from oncoming cars when traversing a right hand (for you) curve. You will dazzle them more as you go round a left hander.)

[Jules88]

On 12/25/2023 at 12:03 AM, Mojo1010 said:

0 is the problem, need to set it at 1. Should have noticed it's too high when being flashed frequently. 

Hmm why 1? I thought 0 was the lowest level? And you need to set it higher if you have a larger load, like more passengers and boot cargo.

I've had mine set at 0 pretty much all the time. I have noticed the occasional flash but just assumed it was due to the bright LEDs.

[Stopeter44]

1 minute ago, Jules88 said:

Hmm why 1? I thought 0 was the lowest level? And you need to set it higher if you have a larger load, like more passengers and boot cargo.

According to Yaris manual set 0 if you are always alone in the car, 0.5 if there are two of you.

[Roy124]

21 hours ago, Mojo1010 said:

I would like to adjust to 0 to give the furthest reach as that is what I want Roy, but will blind oncoming. 

Indeed, it is a compromise. 

[Mojo1010]

1 hour ago, Jules88 said:

Hmm why 1? I thought 0 was the lowest level? And you need to set it higher if you have a larger load, like more passengers and boot cargo.

I've had mine set at 0 pretty much all the time. I have noticed the occasional flash but just assumed it was due to the bright LEDs.

On the Yaris 0 is highest, use the dial at night to check. You got flashed as it's blinding oncoming, led isn't new nor the brightest lights around. I had HID 100w on the mk3, it's a lot brighter than led. 

[IT Troll]

The RAC think the problem is getting worse.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/rac-calls-for-government-action-on-headlight-glare/