Travel abroad - headlight advice appreciated

[Beaver]

I'm going to be driving in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany during April or May.  I note that in the car handbook, it's clearly stated that no adjustment is required to the headlights for continental driving, and no stickers are needed to deflect or block the beam.  The beam appears biased to the left side, as needed for UK roads, so does anyone know how the headlights do their stuff?

On a separate note, I tested the MPH/KPH settings today and also the speed limiting system with KPH selected.  All appears to work perfectly.  Also tested that the navigation accepts european destinations.

[ahavoja]

On my Jazz, the low beams are biased to the right side, meaning that the right side of the beam illuminates higher than the left side. This is good as here in Finland we drive on right side of the road. If I went to drive in UK, on left side of the road, I'd be worried that my low beams would dazzle the oncoming cars. To avoid this, it's possible to turn the headlight height adjustment wheel near your knee to some lower position (1, 2, or 3). But then the problem is that you yourself can't see very far in front of your car in the dark. In the highest position 0, I'm sure the low beams would dazzle the oncoming cars if driving on 'wrong' side of the road, the beam goes so high above horizon.

[Worthingmike]

Hi i have driven in france,  Switzerland and Italy and never had a problem at night. The light cut of is quite flat in front, there is a bit of light esxaping to the left side but i have never foung it a problem with amyone flashing me.  I did fing the the garmin gps did not like the Switzerland motorway and would continuly try to get me of it even when it was the most direct route. 

[Lord Voltermore]

I often drive on the continent  with a UK spec car.   I've not had any problems driving on dipped beam.

 Any inherent bias to the left  might  increase the chance of dazzling on-coming drivers  so its particularly  important to check your beam height.  Check whilst fully loaded  with luggage etc  , and if necessary check again if  driving at your destination without luggage. (then  again for the return trip)  I  stop a few metres behind a parked car and adjust until the fairly obvious beam cut off is just below that cars window line.     This height may not give the optimum dipped beam distance for you, but I  find its still better than many cars without LED lights manage in their home country.  April and May have long daylight hours   

I also wondered if RDMS and other systems  that monitor the verge,  lane markings etc  would behave any differently  . I have not noticed any difference  .

In Germany you may find the Built in Satnav  starts giving traffic information, warning you about delays and hazards ahead,  and possibly diverting you.   Check your satnav settings if you want to avoid tolls,  and  whether it will avoid areas that have restrictions for environmental  reasons.  A UK car may qualify for exemption  but you could still be fined  if its not registered. 

France has some areas  that may require a crit'air  sticker  Obtainable from this site   .
https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/      The mk4 gets a class 1 purple one.            It costs less than 5 euro and lasts the life of the car.

Germany requires an environment  sticker for some places ,including some quite small towns.     There are various  sites that sell them but prices vary  Some charge about  14 Euro  but I got mine  (a class 4) from  the Berlin  city site  who only charge 6 euro  again for the life of the car  (may be some postage)   Its valid  for most other towns as well.  ( a few major city centres may require a stricter  sticker only available to EV's etc) 
https://www.berlin.de/labo/mobilitaet/kfz-zulassung/feinstaubplakette/shop.86595.en.php

Although you dont need the sticker if you only drive on motorways I have quite often found myself in a restricted zone  and at risk of a fine  when booking hotels or leaving the motorway to save up to 10 euro on the cost of petrol. Having the sticker   is  6 euro well spent 
 
You risk a large fine if you use a dashcam in Luxemburg  (or Austria.) 

[coldstart]

Hi i have driven in france,  Switzerland and Italy and never had a problem at night. .... I did fing the the garmin gps did not like the Switzerland motorway and would continuly try to get me of it even when it was the most direct route.

Hi, this is a bug at least in the Garmin 2023.xx maps. The trick is to remove the avoidance setting for car-share lanes.
(Navigation -> Settings -> Navigation -> Avoidances)
The 2023.xx Garmin maps seem to think all of Switzerland's motorways consist only of car-share lanes.
I haven't yet tried with the 2024.11 maps - maybe this was fixed in the meantime.

Addendum:  Just checked with the 2024.11 maps: The car-share lane-bug for Switzerland's motorways seems to be fixed 

[embee]

On the topic .....
Just a heads up to anyone planning trips onto the Continent, you can get motorway vignettes online for Switzerland and Austria, the number plates are recognised so no need for physical stickers any more. Switzerland is annual running Jan-Dec, Austria has a variety of periods from a few days for tourists to annual.

My first reaction to the topic was toll avoidance, but later posts seem to answer the issue (confusion with car sharing lanes etc ...)

[Beaver]

@ahavoja
@Worthingmike
@Lord Voltermore
@coldstart
@embee

Thank you for your very interesting and informative replies.  For the lighting, I'll be doing minimum pure night driving, but will have headlights on for many or most daylight trips.  I think if I'm in any doubt, lowering the beam is the answer.  I'll take a look at the SatNav issues described and alter settings accordingly.

The advice about the environmental stickers is sound.  I had one for my Mercedes 190E just before the Covid lockdowns hit us and it proved useful.  I'll do the same for the Jazz, and buy the German and French versions.

Any other hints, tips or advice will be very welcomed.  Thank you.

[Beaver]

A further question related to topics already mentioned above, although not about headlights.

When I go to the official French government site to order a Crit'air environmental sticker, there are two fields to be completed that confuse me.

The form asks for "SERIAL NUMBER" - I'm assuming this is the VIN number, as the registration mark already features on the form.

The one I'm stuck on is the next field, "MARK".   I don't have a clue what to input for this - could anyone advise please?

[embee]

On the French language website pages there is a click-on which explains the terms for different countries. Serie is indeed the VIN ,  mark is a mis-translation of Marque,  I.e. the make or brand of vehicle, Honda etc.
Be sure you are on the official site (scam sites exist), certificat-air.gouvre.fr
 click on the "vehicle registered abroad" , there is the "access to explanatory models" selector.

[Lord Voltermore]

For the lighting, I'll be doing minimum pure night driving, but will have headlights on for many or most daylight trips.

Why?   The DRL (daylight running lights) are quite bright on the Jazz and should be all you need in daylight.  They are not affected by which side of the road you are on.  But headlights may come on automatically in low light or in tunnels so  there is still a need to check beam height.

On the topic .....
Just a heads up to anyone planning trips onto the Continent, you can get motorway vignettes online for Switzerland and Austria, the number plates are recognised so no need for physical stickers any more. Switzerland is annual running Jan-Dec, Austria has a variety of periods from a few days for tourists to annual.

Last time I checked  an on-line Vignette for  Austria has to be bought at least 28 days in advance.   I think its because Austrian law gives an absolute right to a refund within this time.  They fear you will make use of it then claim a refund.  Easy enough to detect I would have thought.   We  just buy a physical sticker  from a filling station  just prior to the border.    We get E vignettes for other countries.

The swiss one can be a bit expensive for a single visit .   Here is a paste from the offical site
Each Swiss motorway vignette costs CHF 40.
The sticker 2024 is valid from 1 December 2023 to 31 January 2025.
There are no daily, weekly or monthly vignettes.
Please note: If you are driving without a vignette, you will be fined (CHF 200) and will also have to buy the vignette itself (CHF 40).
   So if you bought one on 31 October 2023 it would only be valid until 31 January 2024  =   2 months  (40 swiss franks is about 42 euro. )  I once managed to get the full 14 months and used it  that  winter and  again the following summer.  Otherwise I tend to avoid transiting through  Switzerland .

[Beaver]

For the lighting, I'll be doing minimum pure night driving, but will have headlights on for many or most daylight trips.

Why?   The DRL (daylight running lights) are quite bright on the Jazz and should be all you need in daylight.  They are not affected by which side of the road you are on.  But headlights may come on automatically in low light or in tunnels so  there is still a need to check beam height.

I prefer to be well lit, and the DRL's only illuminate the front, not the rear.  Having previously lived in (West)  Germany for five years, the speed of some drivers on motorways (whether speed limited or not) can be quite impressivly high.  I don't wait for the automatic lighting to activate when I enter or leave tunnels!