LED Headlights saved me last night

[TLC Dan]

HID Headlights saved me last night

Coming back home from the local race track last knight with my 2 sons and one of thier friends doing about 55 down a back country 2 lane road and all of a sudden out of know where walking accross the road is a 7 ft Moose! Broke hard and immediately realized i needed a new plan. Swerved to the right into the shoulder and missed him by about a foot. Got it back on the road and said a thanks to the man upstairs. Unless you have ever been in this situation you can't immagine how difficult it is to see a moose at night. It was like looking at a ghost. its like i saw something but it was nothing until it was right infront of you and oh $hit. This thing was soo big the i couldn't see over his back. I am really glad i upgraded to the hid front low beams and fogs as i am sure i wouldn't have seen him in time with the stock lights. I wasn't running my brights as i had just shut them off as another car was coming my way. I am sure the glare from his headlights didn't help the situation. Thankfully the other car missed him as well

Counting my blessings.......

TLC Dan

 

[rodmanfzj80]

Glad you missed that one, what lights are you using?

 

[playdrv4me]

I'm assuming you meant HID headlights and yes, I always get them as factory equipment whenever I can. I usually don't retrofit so it's too bad Toyota never offered them stock in the LX.

The Night Vision system from the later LXs probably would have helped here also.

 

[peeaa]

Lucky you! 600 kg of moose on your lap does not feel good...

I agree about seeing better with HIDs in low beams but not with fog lights.

The fogs bring more light only a few meters in the front of the car. That extra light makes you feel you see better but it is actually the opposite.

Your eyes adapt to the bright light so you see less to the dark area further away (where the moose is) than without the fogs. Having very bright HIDs in the fogs makes this even worse.

In case the fogs really help you to see the moose better, it is already so close that you have less than a second to collision.

The fogs should be used only (and without low beams) when the fog or snowfall is so dense you can not use your low beams because of the glare.

HID conversion kit produce always more scattered light than the original halogen bulb. In high beam that is not a problem, in low beam it glares the other drivers (at least if your original lights are not projector type) and in fogs it glares both the other drivers (always) and you (in fog / heavy snowfall).

I use HID in high beam and HIR in low beam. Fogs (with original bulbs) I use max two times a year.

 

[TLC Dan]

Yes i meant HID (Changed it) I forget what brand they are but were very reasonable. I use fog lights all the time because they spread the light out to the side much better than the low's (great for seeing deer). Another feature of the LX's is a projector type light so no blinding of oncoming traffic.