A note on the highbeams:
Have you ever owned/driven a low car, like a mazda 323 or older civic?
It puts you right at eye level with headlights on trucks and motorcycles. I can say from experience that even in day time a highbeam aimed at your face is far more than an annoyance. It is painful if they are right behind me, and I can’t look at them (or what is behind them) when on coming. At my experienced riders course they expressly stated not to run highbeams for exactly that reason.
Similarly, if you ever come up to Canada, you’ll be ticketed since running highbeams during the day is illegal (in Ontario at least).
As you said, best way to stay safe is to build good riding skills, relying on obnoxiously bright and potentially dangerous headlights, not my idea of a good riding skill.
My 2 cents (for what they are worth… I’ve recently noticed 2 cents doesn’t buy very much)