Anyone else get blinded by the rear door handle LEDs when looking over your shoulder at night?

[fishrising]

Anyone else get blinded by the rear door LEDs in the door handles when looking over your shoulder at night? Like when checking the lane next to you on the highway to move over a lane to the left? It’s quite blinding to me. And also lights up my a pillar on the interior quite annoyingly when it’s dark out. Need to figure out a way to dim or block this light a bit.

Maybe it’s a tall guy issue, as I am 6’7”.

Example looking at me looking over my shoulder:



Example of where my line of sight is, from where my eye would be, when looking over my left shoulder:

 

[Deadman]

Change the color to a softer color. That took care of mine. I had my wife mess with that one night on a longer drive and she adjusted them to be much more tolerable. They were REALLY annoying tho like you say.

 

[fishrising]

Change the color to a softer color. That took care of mine. I had my wife mess with that one night on a longer drive and she adjusted them to be much more tolerable. They were REALLY annoying tho like you say.

Unfortunately even the softer colors seem laser focused right at my eyeballs...

When I get a free chance, I’m going to see if I can mount some sort of “eyelid” on top of it. Maybe that will block the direct line of sight to my eyeballs.

 

[Matthew Hoover]

I’ve though the same thing. I’m a tall guy too and have noticed how it seems to be pointed right up at my face when I look over my shoulder.
I have tried dimming the light, but it does not solve the problem.
I’ve thought about coating it with a dab of the wife’s nail polish to try and tint it.

 

[nate6966]

I have the same thing - blinded by the light. I'm 6'5".
It'll be interesting to follow the ideas and suggestions.

 

[Plati]

There was recently another post about looking over your left shoulder for a lane change. That surprised me as I never do that. I use the rear view mirror and lean forward to scan the area completely. Am I the only one? By doing it that way I can keep more focus on straight ahead. For a change to the right I do turn my head back.

I'm surprised to hear those door handles are lit up like that while driving. That sounds crazy, why would Ford light up door handles while you are driving? Actually why light them up period?

 

[Wayne Decker]

Yes, it's pretty bright. But when I went to change the color the other day, I noticed the icon is a slider. I think that may be a brightness control. I slid it down, but haven't driven at night yet to see if it's dimmer.

 

[Gumby]

Yes! I thought this was a pretty big oversight in the testing phase...Maybe they will switch to LED strips instead of a point of light. I like the strips in the armrests and dash area.

 

[fishrising]

Looks like I can’t do an “eye lid” over the LED, as the door latch would end up striking it and breaking it off. Unless it were flexible (hhhmmm). Time to think of what else. I’d like to keep the light functioning, just not blinding me from the front seat.

 

[Deadman]

There was recently another post about looking over your left shoulder for a lane change. That surprised me as I never do that. I use the rear view mirror and lean forward to scan the area completely. Am I the only one? By doing it that way I can keep more focus on straight ahead. For a change to the right I do turn my head back.

I'm surprised to hear those door handles are lit up like that while driving. That sounds crazy, why would Ford light up door handles while you are driving? Actually why light them up period?

You're looking to side swipe someone sooner or later by not looking over shoulder....

 

[Plati]

You're looking to side swipe someone sooner or later by not looking over shoulder....

No way.

I've owned 2 cargo vans. You have to use the rear view mirror, no rear passenger window to look out.

I'm not an owl, an eagle, or Linda Blair so turning my head that far around is a no go without rotating shoulders. Besides .. That column is in the way.

Its definitely safer the way I do it. I lean forward and move my head a bit left & right and scan the area carefully. The mirror is adjusted to correct position maximizing the important view. The eyes are like a foot or two away from mirror so you see everything. You can sort of take your time and double check while watching the road in front of you.

That would not work with passenger side mirror which is too far away. For that side I use mirror and also turn head to look back.

I'm driving across country and did that numerous times today.

 

[Deadman]

My neighbor failed his WI drivers test because he didn't look over his shoulder before changing lanes and making turns.....They failed him just for this as he did it multiple times on his road test.

 

[Plati]

My neighbor failed his WI drivers test because he didn't look over his shoulder before changing lanes and making turns.....They failed him just for this as he did it multiple times on his road test.

I don't know if this explains it or not but I know what works for me. I'm a very cautious driver.

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~gdguo/driving/BlindSpot.htm

I'm also an Engineer type and I do a lot if stuff you never see anyone else do. I don't think I've ever seen anyone else use the method I described. I swear it works great. I'm 63 years old and never had any issues changing lanes. Cargo van example. I've never driven a truck but it would be the same right?

http://drivinginstructorblog.com/q-do-i-need-to-do-left-shoulder-checks-for-left-turns/

Also ... Might be slight misunderstanding here. I also glance over my left shoulder for cars right next to me. The mirror is for cars farther back, anything farther back than front of car even with my door handle

 

[fishrising]

Can we get back to the original topic?

 

[Chris Haraway]

I am with MrSticker, Deadman. I don't look over my shoulder. All I see is B-pillar anyway. I have my side mirrors set to pick up where the rear mirror stops, and I have convex in the corner. Zero blind spots. Plus I have the blind spot detection. It all works great together. Pretty sure I learned about the mirror set up on this site.

That said, yeah the light control dimmers worked fine for me.

This is super super close to the original topic.

 

[fishrising]

Yes, it's pretty bright. But when I went to change the color the other day, I noticed the icon is a slider. I think that may be a brightness control. I slid it down, but haven't driven at night yet to see if it's dimmer.

Seems you are correct sir. I slid it, but it went from full blast to off. So I upped it a little, but...it wasn’t dark enough out to see the end result. I’ll check it out tonight.

 

[aporthole]

Here’s the article I’ve shared previously on positioning your mirrors to avoid blind spots and the need for a rearward head check.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15131074/how-to-adjust-your-mirrors-to-avoid-blind-spots/

 

[Wayne Decker]

Can we get back to the original topic?

Since this is so far off topic anyway: Fishrising? Fly or spin cast? My wife is a fly fishing guide on the Upper Delaware.

 

[fishrising]

Since this is so far off topic anyway: Fishrising? Fly or spin cast? My wife is a fly fishing guide on the Upper Delaware.

Ha! But fly, both fresh and salt. I actually haven’t fished the Delaware yet. I’m in CT, so do need to make that trip soon. I’ve trout fished across this continent and have gone after saltwater species from the Bahamas/Keys/Florida up through CT, Cape Cod and Maine. And many places in between...one of my favorite pastimes.

 

[taaangy234]

I'm 5'7, drove the car last night notice this blinding light when looking back on my left shoulder.