Auto-High-Beams are Enough for “Reasonable Suspicion”

[broncobase1]

OP just described a situation that involved a cop and wanted to state they did not want to make it a whole cops are good or bad thing. Will you get pulled over for auto high beams going on and off like OP did? A cop posted above it was not reasonable suspicion and OP should not have been pulled over. What this thread has become is a "rant" about is auto high beams. That's fine. I'm all for lively debate. I posted earlier I did not like how sensitive they are. If they could work in a proper fashion I have no prob with them.

My bad -- I get it. I will say if I got pulled over for any reason and the officer was professional and not a dickhead, I would thank the officer for being proactive. law enforcement is a joke in our cities the criminals know they can get away with anything, and they do.

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[MichaelCar001]

Not a rant about Law Enforcement, if that’s your thing then go elsewhere.

I was headed home this morning around 0200 from covering some OT. It is less than a 3 mile drive from work to my home.

It is all small town roads. So street lights every few miles. With one stop light and one stop sign. The auto high beams were going on and off with their normal nonsensical thresholds. A cop was behind me from almost as soon as I left work and a little over halfway home he popped and the rollers and pulled me over. He was extremely polite and nice and did the normal stick for license and insurance. Then came the pre-amble for reasonable suspicion asking if I was having trouble with the lights and such. I politely just told him they are the auto high beams and they do whatever they feel like. He was fine with that and asked how I liked the car blah blah blah. Again he was very nice but I’m sorry that’s just silly to be pulled over for that.

That could have looked like you were doing it on purpose, which might have seemed weird or made them think something was wrong—like you were drunk or your car had a problem. So, from their point of view, stopping you to check things out probably seemed reasonable

 

[Jsullivan]

I don't understand your post -- you say its not a rant about law enforcement and to go away if that's your thing, but then complain about being pulled over for flashing lights. What kind of responses did you expect to get? That said -- I HATE HATE HATE auto hi-beam, I disabled that feature on day one. Anyone with contantly flashing hi-beams should be pulled over auto or not, its annoying and dangerous for everyone else on the road. The guy behind you is going to think you are flashing him which in some areas is like flashing the bird. Its also not that common, I don't see many cars flashing hi-beams. I think most people disable it. It should be illegal for sure.

I quick flash on coming vehicles if there is an obstacle in or on the side of the road.
Such as a deer.
I did it to a cop once and he hit is lights until he saw the deer.
He than shut them off and kept going.

 

[Jruta]

You can turn them off in the settings. I thought my Base didn't have them either, but apparently I turned them off (and a bunch of other automajical BS like hill start assist) before I ever left the dealership lot.

I can count on the fingers of one foot the amount of times I want my car doing something on its own.

Thank you, I didn’t realize it could be turned off in settings. I must have done just that because I’ve never noticed the headlight behavior

 

[PrepVet]

This is a fade up with auto high beams?

 

[Drinxxs04]

So, in your opinion, would the Bronco's auto high beams switching from low to high when conditions are met and vice versa be excessive changing lights? He had lights on and no mention of unable to maintain his lane. Bronco also has Lane reminder and Lane centering (I think) which would help alleviate that for a buzzed/tired/inattentive driver.

Does not have to be all of them, can be one action. It’s a determination of reasonable suspicion. That’s why no ticket or anything was given. He initiated a stop off of behavior even if it is vehicle. Made contact, saw, smelt, and determined not under influence. Create conversation to further investigate. Nothing, then it’s glad I’m wrong. Have a great night. You get pulled over for safety, not to ruin your night or be an a-hole. Because the worst part is telling any family member that someone is gone forever. So err on the side of caution.

 

[CalvinT]

Just think, if someone had stolen your Bronco. Your auto high beams might have helped recover it.

 

[MayhemMike]

Pulled over once during the day time in my 1970 Mach1. The officer walked around my car for about five minutes. When finished he told me he pulled me over because a car description matching mine was involved in a hit and run. Now I am not bragging but my Mach 1 was in tip top shape. Someone could have their appendix removed while lying across the hood and not have any concern over infection it was so clean. To this day I know he just wanted to check my car out. lol

 

[XirallicBolts]

Someone mentioned earlier about people not having their lights on in the rain (during the day).
Am I crazy or does the Bronco automatically turn the lights on when you have the wipers on for like 30 seconds?
My old Dodge did that.

Pretty much everyone except Toyota does that now. I don't know what his point was -- you'd think autolamps and wiper-activated-headlight nannies would be GOOD for his complaint about people driving in rain with lights off. Proper drivers will appreciate the convenience. Ignorant drivers wouldn't have done it anyway so the car needs to do it for them.

I'm honestly surprised it's not legally mandated, given there's no reason NOT to have headlights on when using wipers.

I like Chevy's system -- the knob is in the Autolamp position by default. If you want to turn your headlights off, it's a momentary-contact that has to be done each time you start the car. I don't care about the boomer ruh ruh NANNY SYSTEM grumbles throughout this thread, 99% of people would rather the car handle highbeams or headlights automatically. It's 5am, I have an hour drive to work down a bendy country road, I'm not "lazy" for preferring a camera handle the minor annoyance of flipping the lever back and forth every 20 seconds. Do they also complain that the turn signal automatically cancels when you straighten the wheel back out? Can't you just move the lever yourself?

It’s my understanding that the fade from dim to bright is a setting that in earlier Broncos (pre 2023?) is set to off. In those models, the brights are either on or off (no fading transition). Forscan does allow you to change this behavior, however.

As far as I'm aware, it's linked to Signature Lighting. Maybe it's on all lights for 2023+, but my 2022 Lux definitely has fading lights.
I've noticed the fade-out is actually variable -- if the car is a mile away and reaches a certain threshold, it's a relatively slow fade. If they crest a hill 200 feet away, it's nearly instant off. The closer the other vehicle appears, the faster the fade.

 

[timhood]

...you'd think autolamps and wiper-activated-headlight nannies would be GOOD... Proper drivers will appreciate the convenience. Ignorant drivers wouldn't have done it anyway so the car needs to do it for them.

I don't care about the boomer ruh ruh NANNY SYSTEM grumbles throughout this thread, 99% of people would rather the car handle high beams or headlights automatically... Do they also complain that the turn signal automatically cancels when you straighten the wheel back out? Can't you just move the lever yourself?

This, this and this. What is the point of making new cars if they aren't going to be better? They should be more reliable, more convenient, and be able to handle simple and mundane tasks like this. The only time I mess with my lights is when I cycle them off-and-on several times in a row to flash the idiot who is driving with his lights off. I figure he's too dumb to understand if I flashed high beams and maybe the off-on cycle might clue him in. You'd be surprised how often it doesn't. These are the people who need to stop complaining about fancy-schmancy tech that's "just one more thing that can break" and leave those lights (and probably all the other stuff) in the auto position.

 

[XirallicBolts]

I really just get my gears ground a little with how much some people will push back against "nanny systems". Often they're the same type of people who end up in the ditch on the first snowfall because their ABS has been faulted out since 2007.


Nobody is perfect. You WILL be distracted at some point. If you're checking your blind spot like a proper driver, you're no longer looking ahead. A lot can happen in that short time period.
If you see a reckless/questionable driver on the road, how much time are you spending, watching them in your mirror to prepare for any defensive maneuvers?
When you hear sirens approaching, how many different directions are you looking to locate where the emergency vehicle is approaching from? Are you able to keep tabs on what every vehicle around you is doing in response to the sirens, simultaneously?


Last week I was driving on the interstate. Backed up exit, semi was behind/next to me also wanting to take the same exit. I was momentarily watching him in my mirror to ensure he had enough room to merge behind me. In that brief moment, traffic ahead of me slowed dramatically. If it weren't for AEB/Collision warning, I'd likely have hit the car in front of me while I was focused on avoiding being rear-ended myself.

I added rain sensing to my Bronco and there was a surprising amount of negativity about how "is it really that hard to just turn the control?" No, it isn't. But it's also unnecessary if we have a well-designed system that can do it automatically. I'd rather pay attention to the road than constantly adjust the control based on how hard it's raining / how close I am to another vehicle kicking up water. When you're passing a semi in the rain, you usually need to turn the wipers up faster. Why not let the computer do it automatically so you can keep both hands on the wheel?

As long as it's a well-designed system and you understand it's limitations, convenience features are, well, convenient. Of course, AHBC isn't a nanny system, isn't legally mandated, and can be turned off by pressing a button, but it's whatever


Can you tell I'm avoiding doing my job today?

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