Question on the Legality of Flashlights ...

[hank]

the car just behind mine seems to have the beam misaligned

I discovered long ago that just reaching up and wiggling my rear view mirror so it bounces the headlight back at the driver beind me usually gets the message across. Then I wave a “thank you” when he dims it or backs off.

Doesn’t always work but it can help.

[hank]

lights on the beach during turtle nesting and turtle hatching season.

Yes, the baby turtles orient toward the brightest light.

Any light source producing light that is visible from the beach is likely to cause problems for nesting sea turtles and their hatchlings ….
…
… Why is light-management legislation needed?
Beaches where small numbers of turtles nest can be very important. The entire nesting range of a population may be made up of sparsely nested beaches. Hawksbill turtles, for instance, one of the most endangered sea turtles, do not nest in great numbers anywhere. Moreover, any group of nesting turtles may constitute a genetically unique and vulnerable unit. Losing even small populations may mean the permanent loss of diversity. The irony in disregarding lighting problems at sparsely nested beaches is that artificial lighting may have caused the nesting to be so low. Many lighted beaches with little nesting may again attract more nesting turtles once they are darkened….

ALDO LEOPOLD, SAND COUNTY ALMANAC
“The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: ‘What good is it?’… If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.”

https://myfwc.com/research/wildlife/sea-turtles/threats/artificial-lighting/

[Lightbringer]

Just today I counted at least 4 douchebags driving with their brights on, and/or with one of those retarded “light-bars” on the front grille (you know the kind, the 2×N array of LEDs about 2’ wide).

One was during the day, about 10ish! Like, seriously??

[Sardonicus1]

I know a Fairfax County Police Officer who carries a Nitecore . Thanks .

[Sardonicus1]

@202bigmike

Sardonicus 1: In your post , about “what the police could consider” question , I’m curious as to:
1-What part of Northern Va. were you in ?
2-Time of night were you using the light ?
3-Were you carrying a cane , hiking stick or short tree branch at that time ?
4-What type of clothing were you wearing ?

1. Fairfax County

2. Around the witching hour .

3. Negative.

4. I was buck naked except a sock .

[forsh]

@Lightbringer

Just today I counted at least 4 douchebags driving with their brights on, and/or with one of those retarded “light-bars” on the front grille (you know the kind, the 2×N array of LEDs about 2’ wide).

One was during the day, about 10ish! Like, seriously??

i find it worse at night when someone doesnt have lights on , mutter under my breath. go crash you bumhole!

in finland it gets quite dark in the winter and there have been people who have forgoten to put there lights on. or have “daylights” on

thats when the 5kw flood lights on the top of a suzuki vitara would come in handy
just need to get myself some 5kw flood lights and ill be good

chris

[wle]

There are not going to be specific laws about portable lighting.

But there are nuisance laws, or if you injure someone, and you can be sued for anything.

[bikenber73]

@Lightbringer

Just today I counted at least 4 douchebags driving with their brights on, and/or with one of those retarded “light-bars” on the front grille (you know the kind, the 2×N array of LEDs about 2’ wide).

One was during the day, about 10ish! Like, seriously??

Interesting, I was talking with a friend the other day about the trucks with added illumination and headlight upgrades. Here is a web page that popped up on a feed of mine. Not sure how legit the information is.

Sign the Petition

[Lightbringer]

@forsh

i find it worse at night when someone doesnt have lights on , mutter under my breath. go crash you bumhole!

I see that all the time, too. Worse when it’s usually a black minivan/suv.

Once when I was taking the bus home, some idiot in (again) a dark minivan with no lights on, was waiting at a red light, 2nd in line behind another car. Not even DRLs, just dark. He gets impatient when the light turns green and car #1 isn’t getting going quickly enough, so flashes the brights at him!

You’d think the reflected light and then nothing would clue him in that his lights aren’t on, right? Nope.

[Lightbringer]

@bikenber73

Interesting, I was talking with a friend the other day about the trucks with added illumination and headlight upgrades. Here is a web page that popped up on a feed of mine. Not sure how legit the information is.

Yeah, they just want Brighter! but no matter what the cost. Crappy cheap-looking Angry Blue™ LEDs, horrible beam spread and lots of glare, it actually hurts my eyes, too, when I see some of these cars coming at me.

ANY crap on the front surface causes glare by scattering light that should be directed quite precisely. If spotlessly clean, those LED “bug-eyes” lots of cars have nowadays can potentially give a pretty clean beam, but the slightest crap that catches that extremely small area where light comes out from, will scatter light up and into peoples’ eyes.

And you get that strobe effect when a car goes over even a small rise in the road. You think they’re flashing the brights at you, but you’re just in’n’out of the hotspot as their aim shifts.

Lights got quite annoying in recent years.

[pennzy]

[quote=Lightbringer]

And you get that strobe effect when a car goes over even a small rise in the road. You think they’re flashing the brights at you, but you’re just in’n’out of the hotspot as their aim shifts.

Is that what that is? I thought it was some kind of cut off shade.

[Lightbringer]

@pennzy

@Lightbringer

And you get that strobe effect when a car goes over even a small rise in the road. You think they’re flashing the brights at you, but you’re just in’n’out of the hotspot as their aim shifts.

Is that what that is? I thought it was some kind of cut off shade.

Depends on how sharp it is. Projector lights do in fact have a shade right around where the beam all comes together to give an extremely sharp cutoff, while other types of lights just have the reflectors, etc., designed that way but it’s still a kind of fuzzy transition.

Eg, from Projector Vs. Reflector Headlights: Which Is Best? | PowerBulbs US :

"To ensure that the light produced by these types of headlights is angled properly, there is also a cutoff shield. This helps to direct the light down towards the road. Thanks to the shield, projector headlights have a very sharp cutoff."

My old H4s used to have multiple sets of little “devil horns” at the top end of the beam’s hotspot. Probably from the facets on the front glass, as the reflector was absolutely smoothly curved. So the transition would be more gradual, and weren’t as “strobey”.

[pennzy]

Thanks for the explain. First time I saw it I thought there was trouble ahead or radar.

[Omega_17]

@SerenityNow

God, both the cop and guy filming were so cringy. Get a life!

Yes both people aren’t bright! :innocent:

[USLight]

@dorpmuller

In view of the other goings-on in Va. and Commiefornia, flashlights are gonna wind up on some list sooner or later. High lumen counts will be considered weapons as will crenellated bezels. NJ will be first, followed by NY. Just wait and see if I’m not right.

Agreed, that is usually what happens. Unfortunately some bozo will do something stupid with a high output flashlight and the regulations will start rolling in. Same thing happened with lasers and drones. A very small number of people will exercise poor judgment and the rest of us will be limited with overreaching legislation. :person_facepalming:

[dorpmuller]

@USLight

@dorpmuller

In view of the other goings-on in Va. and Commiefornia, flashlights are gonna wind up on some list sooner or later. High lumen counts will be considered weapons as will crenellated bezels. NJ will be first, followed by NY. Just wait and see if I'm not right.

Agreed, that is usually what happens. Unfortunately some bozo will do something stupid with a high output flashlight and the regulations will start rolling in. Same thing happened with lasers and drones. A very small number of people will exercise poor judgment and the rest of us will be limited with overreaching legislation. :person_facepalming:

Glad I'm not a young person... we are rapidly hemorrhaging our rights and I hope I'm outta here before it all hits the fan.

[Quillz]

Blinded by the light
Revved up like a ?
Another runner in the night

[richbuff]

@Quillz

Blinded by the light Revved up like a ? Another runner in the night

Some silicone sister
With a manager mister
Told me I got what it takes
She said
"I'll turn you on sonny to something strong
Play the song with the funky break"
And go-cart Mozart
Was checkin' out the weather chart
See if it was safe outside
And little early-pearly
Came by in his curly-wurly
And asked me if I needed a ride
The calliope crashed to the ground...

@ dorpmuller: Me too being outta here soon. God has not answered my prayer yet, 1Kings 19:4.

[Quillz]

Lol, and the big question that always came up when that song came on “Did he say douche or deuce?”

[nydude]

Well “attached to a rifle” may be an issue depending on where you are. Other than that, unless you are actually bothering someone with it, I can’t see any problems.

I have thought randomly once or twice while I’m in my own house or visiting someone else’s, and I choose to use a flashlight instead of turning on a light like a normal person, if from the outside it looks like the place is getting robbed?

Has that ever happened to anyone here?