This is what my sister told me last night when she was driving in her Jeep patriot and I was following her in the Jag. She said that if I was close enough, about a car length, my car can't be seen by the driver in front.

It is possible that my headlights need to be adjusted as they could be too low. How do I do this?

If that doesn't solve it, a word of caution would be to drive a fair amount further behind to avoid any accidents.

 

I was following some friends of mine while driving Kitty (black with black wheels) on an overcast afternoon and almost got clobbered at an intersection by a car that began to pull out right after they had passed. The driver obviously didn't see me at all. Even my friends said they had trouble seeing me in the mirror. They said I should string some LEDs across the front of my car.

Yeh, .... as if THAT would happen in my life time - lol

 

Is this more likely to happen with black cars?

 

I did my wife's GT6 (Triumph) years ago a silver charcoal and she said no one could see her and was slamming on brakes on a daily basics. Long story short, painted it red and no more trouble with visibility.
I having a bit of trouble with my titanium one also.


Wayne

 

Interesting discussion. The Jag is actually a very big car for me. Lotus Europa... you want to talk about not being seen. Almost the same with the Miata.


Makes you a very, very defensive driver. If you are in someone's blindspot, they do not see you.


Because of the sort of car I tend to drive, I have always taken a "motorcyclist" mentality and attitude. The other guy will not mean it, but he will kill you.


The Jag is better than these other cars. But...


Jack

 

Hey Wayne!

Wow, ... someone else who knows what a GT6 is. I'm almost finished modifying and restoring one that I've owned since '75(!). It'll be a 5-speed, triple carb, convertible (of course? - lol).

All I can say is that there is some supernatural pleasure in driving the damn thing. Hell, every time it successfully starts it a thrill!

A funny comparison I'm enjoying right now is the GT's refinished twig of a steering column against a replacement column for the XKR (which weighs as much as a GT6 wheel!).

;-)

Enjoy - Jim

 

I'm not sure. It certainly could be a possible explanation. Your comment reminded me to right-up a post in regard to our potential invisibility to Laser guns. Shhhhh....... ;-)

 

This is why I have my driving/ fog lights wired to be on all the time on both my XK8 and MX5. That and as BlkCat said I also ride a motorcycle and ALLWAYS drive defensively!

 

Maybe you should get a Mercedes - they think of everything

 

Too funny!

 

Since I cannot make my Miata any bigger or brighter (I don't wish to change the lovely Titanium Grey color) I did the next best thing for self-defence: I added a loud air horn to awaken those F-150 drivers before they crush me. The Jag seems loud enough, and I have not yet had any close calls.

 

Yeah. I was driving my RED Miata in the second lane from the left on Interstate. Weird place where vehicles enters from the left. 18 wheeler enters and is driving in Left (fast) lane. I did not know he was going to immediately move into my lane. He did not know I was there. Thankfully he was changing lanes slowly. I had time to take evasive actions. Scared the **** out of me.


I learned that some 18 wheelers do not have mirrors on their right fenders. Those guys can not see anything over there.


He did not mean me any harm. I would have been squashed all the same.


I learned the easy way. Experience is a good thing.


Jack

 

I too got into the habit or running with lights all the time as I have a dark blue MGB:- I know it's a lot smaller, but it might as well be coated in invisible paint.

I believe that yellow is statistically one of the safest colours, so perhaps one of these:





will do the trick. Or a Ronald McDonald.


Mike

 

I have never 'not been seen' hehe

 

I rest my case m'lud...

 

Makes you wonder why Jaguar offer so many variants of grey/ silver on their latest models ?

 

I used to have to cross the interstate on my morning commute. The curvature of the particular bridge where I crossed coupled with the angle of the off ramp and high guardrails meant that someone pulled in front of me almost daily. I got used to slowing to a near stop every morning, which didn't make the people behind me all that happy, but they weren't the ones almost plowing into cars who couldn't see them.

 

I wound up putting a piece of masking tape over the headlight sensor in my rear view mirror for this very same reason. This forces the auto headlights on at all times, but you do have to adjust the dimming control for night and day use. A small price to pay to be seen in an asphault colored titanium grey car.

 

http://www.truckblog.com/ai/2008/3791.jpg

 

That's a great fix. Thinking of finding a broken XK8 and doing that to it. Years ago I had a volvo p1800 and was stopped at a red light. As soon as the light changed to green I was hit in the rear and pushed way out into the intersection totaling the car. The driver of the F150 said he spilled his coffee, bent over to pick it up and when he looked up the light was green and the intersection clear so he stepped on the gas. I had just liability insurance because car had 375k on it and he had no insurance.