TEAM Arizona Riding Tip: Overriding Your Headlight
Last Updated: March 4th, 2024
What You’ll Learn
As you read about overriding your headlight, you’ll learn:
- Overriding your headlight is what happens when your stopping distance is greater than the distance you can see with the help of your headlight when riding at night.
- You can use numerous bike riding tips to make sure you don’t end up overriding your headlights, and the key takeaway is to make sure you can stop within your current field of visibility.
- The more bike riding tips and Arizona motorcycle laws you can learn, the safer you will be on your rides.
Overriding the Headlight
With the heat in Arizona this time of year, motorcyclists are more likely to ride at night. Night riding presents its own sets of challenges, and overriding your headlight is one challenge that could result in an unsuccessful ride. This challenge can be reduced by remembering a few key elements, but first, let’s define overriding the headlight.
Definition
What do we mean by overriding your headlight? This occurs when your total stopping distance exceeds your sight distance. Total stopping distance includes the time it takes to perceive a hazard, react to that hazard, and the time it takes the bike to come to a stop. Not being able to see far enough ahead means that hazards can lurk beyond the beam of our headlights. Possibly the best way to understand this situation is through an example.
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation recommends we have a four-second safety margin to perform a hazard avoidance maneuver like stopping. So let’s say you’re traveling at 60 mph or 88 feet per second. At four seconds, you would cover a distance of 352 feet during your stop. To put that in perspective, in the time it would take you to stop at 60 mph; you would cover a distance roughly equal to a FOOTBALL FIELD!
With this information, we need to ask ourselves, can we see an entire FOOTBALL FIELD ahead when riding at night if we’re traveling at 60 mph? If the answer is no, what can we do?
Solutions to Overriding Headlight
There are some simple bike riding tips you can follow when you’re riding at night or in other situations when you might need to use your headlight:
- Slow Down – If you recall our example above, you already know your headlight doesn’t give you enough visibility to let you see your entire stopping distance if you’re traveling at 60 mph. Just slowing down by ten mph can dramatically reduce your stopping distance. Slow down even more if you’re still unable to stop within your viewing distance. Also, if you’re unfamiliar with the area, we recommend slowing to reduce your stopping distance at night.
- Use Your High-Beam – Only do this when there is no oncoming traffic and turn it off as soon as you see another vehicle approaching.
- Seek the Light – If you’re traveling behind another vehicle, you may be able to use its lights to increase your own vision. Better yet, ride in an area with good street lighting.
- Check Your Headlight – Make sure it’s adjusted properly and functioning as it should. Clean it, too, because scratched or dirty headlights are much less effective. If your headlight still isn’t getting the job done, consider adding more lighting to your motorcycle or upgrading to a better headlight. Modern headlights, like LED units, are much better than the standard headlights from even five years ago.
- Clean Your Eye Protection – While you shouldn’t be wearing sunglasses at night, clean the shield of your helmet or any other eye protection.
- Check Your Eyes – If you’re having a hard time seeing at night, maybe it’s time to check with an eye doctor to see if you need glasses or contacts.
- Prepare for Hazards – Since vision is a challenge at night, it becomes even more important to have well-practiced hazard avoidance skills. Consider taking a braking class or other motorcycle rider safety course to sharpen these skills.
Tips for Driving Safely in Weather Conditions
While driving in the dark adds some unique challenges, numerous other conditions can make riding your bike with reduced visibility more difficult. Familiarize yourself with the following motorcycle riding tips to ensure you’re as safe as possible in any conditions:
- Glare – This can be a problem when you’re driving in the sun, but lights from oncoming cars at night can also cause glare. In these cases, look slightly down and to the right of the lights to use roadway marking as a guide.
- Dust Storms – When the monsoons roll in we can be nailed with dust storms. Essentially, we want to avoid riding into or through a dust storm. If you do encounter a dust storm, immediately check traffic 360 degrees around your vehicle and begin slowing down when safe to do so. Completely exit the highway or roadway if you can prevent being caught in a zero-visibility situation.
- Rain – On those few rainy days we get here in Arizona, drive slowly because the roads will be especially slick in the first hour of rainfall. Since rain also reduces visibility, it’s important to have an appropriate helmet with eye protection and increase your following distance. Finally, avoid puddles because they might be hiding potholes.
- Fog – We don’t get too much fog here in Arizona, so it’s best to check the weather report and avoid it if possible. If you can’t, just slow down, increase your following distance, use your headlight, and be patient. Look as far ahead as possible and avoid stopping where other drivers might hit you because they can’t see you.
- Skids – Skidding represents a loss of traction. Our desert roads can be covered with slippery dust or sand which can make securing traction tricky. Braking aggressively or violent steering inputs can cause a skid, so we want to make sure we are gradual and precise with our inputs. If you do start skidding on your bike when braking and it causes a front tire skid, simply release to let the tire roll and gain traction, then reapply. If the rear tire should skid, maintain pressure until stopped or gently release once the front and rear tire are in alignment.
Safe Riding at Night
Following the tips by Team Arizona can go a long way toward making sure you don’t override your headlight. You will also be a lot more confident if you get lots of practice and familiarize yourself with the Arizona motorcycle laws. Contact us to find out how you can become a better rider.
FAQ
What Is the Best Way to Prevent Overdriving Your Headlight?
The best way to make sure you don’t overdrive your headlight is to make sure you will be able to stop within the area your headlight can light. Maintaining great vision is one of the most important bike riding tips, and at night this means making sure will be able to keep your bike within the area you can see.
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Bill Seltzer has been a Motorcycle Safety Foundation RiderCoach since 2003 and a Total Control Advanced Riding Instructor since 2011. He currently serves as the Marketing Director for TEAM Arizona and is a member of the Arizona Strategic Highway Safety Planning committee. Have questions or comments about the article? Email him: Bill@MotorcycleTraining.com
