How to avoid blinding from the headlights of an oncoming car without special tools

Headlight glare is one of the biggest problems for drivers when driving at night. This is especially noticeable when the car is moving along the highway. Blinding can lead to very sad consequences.

What is blinding dangerous and why you often have to deal with it

When blinded, the driver is lost in space for a few seconds, he loses the ability to see and adequately respond to the situation. Those few seconds can cost a person their life. All this is due to the peculiarities of the structure of the human eye - it is very sensitive and it takes several tens of seconds to adapt to changes in lighting.

The phenomenon of blinding headlights is quite common on the roads. There are also many reasons for this. They can occur both as a result of motorist errors and due to external factors. The causes of blindness can be:

• too bright headlights of the car moving towards. Many motorists try to put brighter headlights, not thinking that an oncoming car may suffer because of this;
• misaligned headlights. Such lights are installed on right-handed foreign cars, which are designed for left-hand traffic;
• when the driver did not switch the high beam to the low beam. This can happen out of forgetfulness, or intentionally, in retaliation for the too bright headlights of an oncoming car;
• dirty windshield;
• too sensitive eyes, prone to irritation and tearing.

There are many reasons for short-term vision loss due to blindness. In most cases, they arise due to the negligence of drivers, due to the lack of mutual respect on the roads. Many drivers, getting a bright light in their eyes, immediately react with a return flash in order to teach an oncoming motorist a lesson. Although the consequences of such a maneuver can be unpredictable.

How to behave if an oncoming car is blinded by headlights

The rules of the road state: “When blinded, the driver must turn on the emergency light alarm and, without changing the lane, slow down and stop” (paragraph 19.2. SDA).

Everything seems to be very clear, but how to do it blindly? It turns out that the motorist by touch must find the button for turning on the alarm. In order to quickly and accurately perform such a manipulation in an emergency, you need to have good dexterity, which comes only with experience.

It's not hard to change lanes on a straight road, but what if the road is winding or the blindness occurs in a roundabout? Only an experienced driver will be able to fulfill the requirements of traffic rules, but what should newcomers do in such a situation?

An easy way to avoid blindness

It is best not to wait until you are blinded, but to try to prevent the very fact of blinding or minimize its consequences. There are several ways to do this:

1. Blink at an oncoming vehicle that is driving with high beams. Probably, the driver simply forgot to switch the headlights to low beam.
2. Use special driving glasses that absorb bright headlights.
3. Lower the sun visor to the level of the headlights of oncoming vehicles.
4. Look into the oncoming lane as little as possible.
5. Slow down and increase your distance from the vehicle in front.
6. Close one eye. Then only one eye will suffer from the bright oncoming light, and the second will be able to see.

But the easiest and most effective way is to try to avoid direct contact with oncoming headlights. To do this, you need to look below the level of the headlights of the oncoming car and a little to the right, i.e. take your eyes off the opposite lane. This way, the blinding will be minimal and you will be able to continue on your way without difficulty. And do not be afraid that you can not notice something because of the averted gaze, for this there is peripheral vision.

Blinding by oncoming headlights is very dangerous for motorists. A large number of accidents occur precisely for this reason. But elementary mutual respect on the roads can reduce the number of victims.