I’m a new driver and car owner. I live in a fairly busy city with tons of streetlights, so I want to make sure I don’t blind anyone with my headlights. What’s the best mode to drive at night - the Auto setting or the regular High Beam one? How do I activate just the low beams? Any type of labeling guide/legend around which mode does what would be great…
High beams are never for driving around other people. They’re for dark places or when other drivers are not in front of you, like out in the country.
However, they are a suitable and polite alternative to other signals. For example, some people flash them once or twice in place of honking, like when the person in front of you doesn’t see the light turn green (pull left stalk toward you once or twice for a quick flash). Or if someone is blocking the left lane.
Advanced: truckers flash their brights once or twice when another truck passes them to let each other know they’re far enough ahead to get back over. Then the person passing flashes their hazards (red triangle) once or twice to say “thank you.” You can try this with truckers even in a normal car and they appreciate it.
Automatic is fine, but when it’s raining, foggy, snowing, or hazy outside then set it to the on position regardless if it is daytime or nighttime. Some cars will turn on the headlights when the switch is set to auto and the wipers are on, and some will not. It’s a good habit to get into so you at least know that your headlights are on when it’s raining or in conditions where they make it easier for other drivers to see you.
The high beams are ONLY meant for when it is dark outside, there is no street lights or lighting in front of you, no fog (use fog lights instead if your car is equipped with them) and there is no vehicle in front of you regardless of which direction they are going.
When you want to use the high beams, push the turn signal stalk forward. To set it back to low beams you just push it back. You can also push and hold the stalk back to turn them on and release it when you don’t need it (it works this way even if the headlights are off).
I’m not sure if your Elantra ever had automatic high beams on that model year, but if you do have that then it will take care of this for you if you have the headlights set to auto and you push the turn signal stalk forward just once. Otherwise, if you have it set to on, then you will have to manually turn the high beams on. There would be a light on the dash that would light up with a high beam symbol and the word auto on it. If that lights up then the car is taking care of the high beams for you. If it doesn’t then it’s either turned off in your vehicle settings or you only have just automatic headlights. Though I don’t know that I trust that because on my Sonata the automatic high beams seem to work at times when they shouldn’t. They always work when they should but I feel like sometimes it doesn’t always react quickly and blinds other drivers. And it also turns them on when it’s foggy outside when you really shouldn’t be using high beams in the fog.
In most built-up areas using high beams unnecessarily is illegal, so put it on auto and leave it. Though realistically, unless you are ever in very dark areas you’ll likely never use the high beams.
I just leave my lights set to ON. Then I don’t have to worry about it and they’ll go out about ten seconds after shutting off the car or closing the door and locking it.
Barack said:
I just leave my lights set to ON. Then I don’t have to worry about it and they’ll go out about ten seconds after shutting off the car or closing the door and locking it.
Yep. If you use high beams ima high beam you back and try to make you crash for trying to blind me.
I just keep it on auto.
Callen said:
I just keep it on auto.
Smart. I have to turn mine off because it’s too dim.
If you drive on auto, it will be using low beams, and will only switch to high beams if there is no one in front of you. In practice, they pretty much won’t come on in the city.
I keep mine in auto and my brights are also auto.
Auto will only turn on the low beams. There is a sensor on the top center of your dashboard, under the windshield. Looks like a little ball. That’s what detects the low light and turns on your headlights. I’m pretty sure 2018 models do not engage high beams at all. You will have to do that yourself. When high beams are on, an additional blue headlight beam will illuminate on your cluster, I think between the turn signal indicators. Can’t miss it. But yeah, like the poster above said, only use them when it’s just you and the roads are dark, otherwise you will blind oncoming traffic as well as any cars in your lane because it will reflect off rear view/side view mirrors.
Source: works at Hyundai.
No car in front or oncoming, high beams. Car oncoming or driving in front of you, low beams.
MotorMan said:
No car in front or oncoming, high beams. Car oncoming or driving in front of you, low beams.
If you’re driving through your neighborhood, don’t have your high beams on.
@Charlotte
Yeah I guess OP wouldn’t be aware enough to realize they don’t need them there.
MotorMan said:
@Charlotte
Yeah I guess OP wouldn’t be aware enough to realize they don’t need them there.
They’re either very young or very scared of driving up till now. They don’t even know how to use the lights.
@Charlotte
Shame they weren’t explained these important and relatively simple concepts during their training.
Stay off the road.