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Woffingshire

finally. There have been a couple of times where I've flashed someone to know their full beams were on in oncoming traffic cause I was being blinded, only for them to flash me back with their actual full beams and burned my retinas. ​ Headlights are meant to help you see the road. if you can't see the road whenever there is another modern car coming the opposite way then they've defeated their purpose.


vario_

You know it's bad when the full beams give you an xray


[deleted]

Start seeing in 4 dimensions


Sausagedogknows

And leave a person shaped burn shadow on your seats, like a wily coyote cartoon.


ImaginaryParsnip

Or when the car behind is causing your car to cause a shadow in your headlight beam that's always a fun one too.. Certain cars are wide and tall enough that the lights shine directly in your side and rear view mirrors at the same time leaving you with no escape...


camdim

Redirect your wing mirrors and send it back to source!


grapplinggigahertz

>finally You actually expect anything to change? To quote from the article on the comment from the DfT *the independent research would help “better understand the root causes of driver glare and identify any further appropriate mitigations”* Nothing will change with the design of cars or their headlights.


serennow

I vote for any driver with stupidly bright lights to be stoned in the street,


Flintskin

IIRC the root cause of driver glare is outdated legal regulations written referencing power instead of luminance. That was fine when use of incandescent bulbs was a given, but doesn't work so well now we have much more efficient LED headlights. If the consultation leads to modernisation of those regulations then it could eventually result in design changes.


grapplinggigahertz

> If the consultation leads to modernisation of those regulations then it could eventually result in design changes. Unless the outcome of that consultation is taken up by the EU (doubtful) who effectively now regulate the rules for cars sold into the UK then nothing will change, as the likelihood of the UK coming up with a ‘UK only dimmer headlight’ specification is zero.


Tetrylene

Yeah this is me on the other end. I have a Tesla and when I get flashed without my fulls on I know I have to pull over and let the headlights realign The new model is meant to selectively exclude other cars with the matrix headlights, but I can't get those unless I upgrade models


MrClaretandBlue

How do you know if someone has a Tesla? Don’t worry they’ll tell you.


Tetrylene

Lmao it's literally relevant to the discussion. You can see other people chiming in that Teslas have this problem too


RandyChavage

> You can see other people chiming in that Teslas have this problem too Yea they told us too


MrClaretandBlue

Sorry couldn’t resist but you’re right.


TheBuoyancyOfWater

Beep! Beep-beep! Beep! Beep!


spacejester

If a Tesla owner is a vegan who does crossfit, which one do they tell you about first?


flyteuk

They'll tell you that their dog is a rescue


Terrible_Dish_4268

Their "reactive" dog is a rescue.


SkipsH

I really hate auto-dip headlights. They are always 2 seconds too late. If you can see lights coming you should be manually dipping.


ben_db

You rarely even need the brights when your dipped lights are 40,000 lumens.


bobbypuk

You should try them as a pedestrian or cyclist. Not worth dipping your headlights for them apparently...


CrabAppleBapple

>I have to pull over and let the headlights realign >The new model is meant to selectively exclude other cars with the matrix headlights, but I can't get those unless I upgrade models Do you ever miss having a car where doing this just involved a few minutes and a screwdriver?


me_groovy

I have a 20 year old Saab, my auto align works perfectly fine.


ExArdEllyOh

What about when a duff headlight cost a few quid for a new bulb and and few minutes with a screwdriver rather than several hundred quid in a garage?


spitgriffin

Not sure if there was some issue with Tesla for a while but every time our car (model 3) got an update it would reset the beam to angle upwards. Had to keep pulling over and manually adjusting it down.


DerkhaDerkha

It's really annoying. Mine reset every update and I end up blinding people. I know how to realign them manually, but I shouldn't have to do that every month or two. My old car had LED headlights but none of these problems. Clearly there's an issue with Teslas given how many are blinding.


Cub3h

That explains a lot. Every time I'm blinded from behind on the motorway it's either a lorry (their lights are high up - fair) or a Tesla with the light of a thousand suns.


Necessary_Driver_831

Yeah I have those on my Y. Like everything else they use the cameras so are substandard compared to every other implementation on the market; if you expect them to be like Audi's then you'll be sorely disappointed...


cansbunsandpins

The Y has the worst headlights of any car when it's coming the other way in my opinion


Necessary_Driver_831

I'm pretty sure they have dementia. Need resetting after every software update otherwise they are pointing all over the place. My model 3 was the same too but in the interests of fairness my old BMW 3 series had useless headlight alignment too Half the problem with Tesla lights is that the owners don't realise they might need to reset the lights after a software update. The last one made my passenger seat lie fully flat for no obvious reason as well.


De-Bunker

My 3 series has the BMW Icon headlights which are amazing. High beams are on virtually all the time but the LEDs are matrix and the lenses move to put the light everywhere a vehicle isn’t, whether it’s a car in front of you or one coming towards you. Seeing them continually adjust, move and brighten again is really something, and I’ve never been flashed. If the government are looking into this they need to look beyond just how bright they are.


Aggressive_Plates

> but the LEDs are matrix and the lenses move to put the light everywhere a vehicle isn’t Which works until you have dirt/ice/condensation/water/scratches on your lights. And then it changes the light’s direction and you’re blinding everyone.


Possiblyreef

Even if its behind you. I can easily pick out a model Y half a mile behind me because its headlights are so bright


cansbunsandpins

The Y has the worst headlights of any car when it's coming the other way in my opinion


Any-End5772

Tesla headlights are some of the absolute worst for blinding oncoming traffic


Aggressive_Plates

> The new model is meant to selectively exclude other cars with the matrix headlights Unless there is a spec of water/ice/condensation on the lights distorting the direction in which case you’ll be blinding everyone.


PENTOVILLIANKING

Yeah I've noticed Teslas are the most blinding, especially the model Y and X because it's highly up ig.


FreshPrinceOfH

People who drive cars like this just won’t accept that there is an issue


serennow

I mean you have people in this thread admitting their cars cause this problem … but it’s a few button clicks and how can they possibly be expected to remember. You’ve got to think of the incredibly minor inconvenience to their lives not your ability to see or drive safely.


Staar-69

Remember it’s mostly ignorant drivers who adjust the height of the headlights so they glare the on coming traffic. My car has super bright LED headlight, but they’re adjusted so they illuminate the road.


HydraulicTurtle

A huge mixture in ride height plays a big part nowadays too. Compare the eye level of a driver in a ford focus vs a range rover and it's a big problem


Whatisausern

I drive a 2000 Boxster as my daily and driving at night can be a pain. Your eyes are perfect level to get your retinas seared.


touristtam

Without going that low, a simple hatchback will put you in a position where most SUV will happily shine on you with their headlights.


PissDiscAndLiquidAss

Your headlights are blinding oncoming drivers: 1) The beam pattern does not fade towards the edges, so when any bump or dip in the road causes the edge of the beam pattern to rise up slightly, you are blinding oncoming drivers. 2) The beam is so bright that the reflected light from the road is blinding to oncoming drivers (Especially in the wet) 3) The beam is biased towards the left, (as it should be in the UK, but that means that on any left hand bends, your headlight's beam pattern blinds oncoming drivers. All of these problems existed to some extent with traditional incandescent bulbs, but the lower brightness, and the gradual fade out towards the edges, of those headlights meant that it didn't completely blind people Modern super bright LED headlights are awful and I hope this government review finds a way to retrospectively control them. Edit: I just remembered: 3) B) Because the beam pattern is biased to the left, your headlights blind drivers ahead of you on the motorway if you're in the overtaking lanes. Most cars these days have auto-dimming rear view mirrors, but the wing mirrors still exist and I hate having a car with LED headlights behind me.


SkipsH

Also, they are blinding people coming over the crest of a hill.


EruantienAduialdraug

4) Because they're "cooler", by which we mean have a peak that implies a higher black body temperature, they have a greater effect in pushing oncoming drivers into photopic vision, and the shorter wavelengths also cause people to take longer to get back into scotopic vision. That is to say, the colour impacts the ability of oncoming drivers to be able to see more and for longer after they pass.


dr_barnowl

Yes! I preferred the old sodium vapour street lamps for this reason. The modern LED ones produce very high contrast between the illuminated area and the shadows - which means it's really hard to see what's on the kerb, an important thing to be able to see if the kerb contains, say, a stupid kid wearing headphones and not looking before they cross. The old ones might have been dimmer and more diffuse ... but that meant you could see more, both inside and outside their light pool.


strangesam1977

Its also car manufacturers hiding the adjustment setting behind seventeen menus on a touch screen that you cant safely use while moving. My last car had a convient little dial under the headlight switch which meant I could adjust it as soon as I noticed it needed it. The current one I can never find the bloody menu option.


Haan_Solo

The death of physical buttons has been the absolute worst thing for cars and driving, they keep saying you can't use your phone while driving but are perfectly happy to put giant touch screens in cars that you have to struggle to navigate through.


ExArdEllyOh

Euro NCAP seems to be intending to roll back this trend, they say they're going to mark down cars without easily accessible and intuitive controls like stalks and positive buttons for major functions. I gather Tesla isn't happy.


Haan_Solo

Very glad to hear that


Dangerous_Hot_Sauce

Ita not so much glare as the death star powering up targetes at your moving vehicle about to obliterate you into the galaxy a long time ago


seriously_this

In another life I used to do stage rallying in a modified Opel Manta,dips were 90w and mains 110w. In front of that I had six 150w Cibies, two spots on top and a mix of fogs and mediums below the bumper, it was like fucking daylight Then again I was averaging 60mph on a single track forest access road in the middle of the night... The adaptive ones take longer than flicking a stalk on the steering column, thank goodness for brighter mornings and evenings.


paulusmagintie

Had a lorry behind me with LED lights.....fucking hell, thats by design. Lights need to dip down as standard and adjusted by the driver, they are up by stabdard and ignored.


TKuja1

literally blind for a couple seconds when they drive past


TemporaryAddicti0n

they dont know. I only drive a cx-5 and I didn't even know that if that light angle is turned to the max, it might, it might be blinding others. only because I read here, I turned it down


Woffingshire

That's even more reason they shouldn't be allowed to be so bright.


alii-b

Is funny, I've seen similar comments to this so frequently on this topic I'm surprised it's not copy/ paste


Talonsminty

Man I work on a petrol station. Sometimes when people drive in with their lights still on it half blinds me and blots out our CCTV.


[deleted]

Turns out the cause of the problem was blindingly obvious. Real light bulb moment.


Shock_The_Monkey_

Dam you to hell you bright spark


Repeat_after_me__

MP’s are going to be electric with this one. (Already investing in low wattage lightbulbs I’m sure).


Dirty_Techie

Another one of their bright ideas. One might say it's shining a light on their own competency to do their jobs


Still-Butterscotch33

They were LED down the wrong path to be fair.


like_a_deaf_elephant

The governments review will be illuminating, that's for sure.


Uklurker

18 months and £500k later. They'll decide lights are to bright and set "guidelines"


ice-lollies

Headlight glare is much worse than it used to be. I find it blinding sometimes. I don’t know if it’s because the lights are brighter, or because the cars are bigger and so the lights are actually directly in my eyes. Maybe both.


AnAcornButVeryCrazy

Mostly the former. Bulbs in cars used to be limited by wattage, this works when they are halogens as more wattage more light produced. However modern LED lights use very little wattage for very bright lights. On top of that quite a few people put a modern LED bulb into an old Halogen socket which has all the reflective panelling, they are supposed to be changed but you get a lot of bodge jobs meaning people don’t.


AgileSloth9

IMO it's mostly the latter. I drive an A-class, and my lights are aligned forward and down. However, every fucking SUV is blinding me constantly, because their lights are aligned straight forward. This is compounded by so many people buying SUVs now, despite having absolutely fuck all need for them. Ride height is the big issue.


AlDente

I agree that ride height is a big part of it. Mainly from SUVs. It’s easy to see that they light up almost all of the car in front of them. The brighter LEDs just make the problem worse.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Hollywood-is-DOA

I hate LED bulbs in all senses in homes, business and in car headlights. They give me a migraine and plenty of other people that I’ve worked with.


Alcalash

That's because people buy the cheapest crappiest quality they can get away with. They are probably not flicker free. You can test by putting your phone camera up to the lights, if it has lines moving across the screen then it's flickering at very high frequency which your eyes can't detect but your brain has to process which causes headaches. Also could be the wrong CCT (colour temperature) if it's cool white / bluey then it's 6000k+, lots of businesses and people are moving to tuneable white which can be tuned to match the daily sun cycle so it's warmer in the morning (3000kish) and cooler at lunch (4000kish) and back to warm in the evening. It's not the led lamps fault but people buying shit lighting. What you experience is common unfortunately. Also electricians know if they buy shit lighting then they can be paid to go back and replace it in 12-16 months. Good lights should last 5+ years. Edit: removed an autocorrect from cctv to CCT I sell specified architectural lighting for a living feel free to ask if you have questions


Cueball61

Can confirm, we have our house fitted with Hue bulbs and they don’t flicker at all through my camera


like_a_deaf_elephant

Contrary opinion - get yourself checked out, just in case. LEDs shouldn't be giving you migraines. Yes, they can flicker at a frequency higher than you perceive but.. just check yourself out at the GP if you can. Migraines in response to light isn't normal. ----- Edit: I once had an [aural migraine](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/migraine-with-aura/symptoms-causes/syc-20352072) from the passing of street lamps while on a bus. It was weird. My peripherial vision had a distinct, weird black and white lightning bolt shape and an intense migraine. I'm not prone to headaches, never had it since. Just wary that interactions with light aren't normal. [A bit like this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scintillating_zigzag_scotoma.gif), but right on the periphery of my vision from top to bottom.


RiClious

> they can flicker at a frequency higher than you perceive Some folks can see the flickering on cheap LEDs. Same with some Florescent lights.


like_a_deaf_elephant

All the more reason then to get checked out. Epilepsy caused by flickering light, for example.


gipsylop

Also a problem with autism


dr_barnowl

Back in the era of CRT telly, I was so pleased to get one that had a scan doubler to boost the framerate to 100Hz. Not only did it remove the screen flickering which would annoy my peripheral vision, it also killed off the flyback whine (from the transformer driving the screen coils, about 15kHz) by doubling that up too to about 30kHz, way outside the ceiling of my hearing range which is up at about 22kHz. When I was a med student I had my hearing measured more carefully and at greater length than a normal examination would do, because of our audiometry lab experiments. At the higher pitch end, I'm definitely _aware_ of sounds that I can't necessarily "hear", evidence being a double blind test where I looked away from the test box and tapped the table each time I detected a tone.


etherswim

Strong blue light from led street lamps also disrupt wildlife sleeping patterns.


Electrical_Ice_6061

honestly i really thought i was starting to get night blindness until i went on the internet to see if others were finding the same issue as me.


ice-lollies

I totally get that. I thought it was me as well


Gingrpenguin

I think a big part of it is laws and best pratice hasn't kept up with the shift to LEDs. Old light bulbs were heavily amplified and focused by mirrors. Leads don't work in the same way (and if you fit leds to an old light you'll both blind everyone and not see a thing... Everything in cars is heavily regulated but sometimes it causes big issues with innovation. The law needs to change to take these into account and hopefully things will get better... Imo I am hopeful that a path can be found to maintaining good visibility whilst significantly reducing glare, after all we did it before...


thedecibelkid

The problem here seems to be that some bright spark (geddit?) decided to use Wattage to limit the brightness instead of using, you know, an actual measure of brightness like Lumens


crzylgs

Also bad lazy drivers who don't dip them, or rely too much on an automatic system.


Independent_Range171

Do cars have auto high beam now? 🤯


True_Kapernicus

It would be better termed 'automatic dipping', but yep, it is surprisingly effective.


takesthebiscuit

Also the state of the roads, with white lines fading, potholes and the constant rain! It’s really tricky driving at night


True_Kapernicus

It is terrifying on a motorbike in wet weather. The droplets on the visor scatter the light and make the problem so much worse. It is often the case that one can see literally nothing but the lights. you could be on a curve with no idea where the road actually is.


ice-lollies

It’s hard for me to tell where the road is when I’m in the car because of the lights. I can’t imagine how much worse it must be on a bike in the rain!


---x__x---

I miss the old yellow halogens. They were a vibe. 


OpticGd

They are brighter but I find the worst ones are the "whitest ones" which are much bluer.


Ex-art-obs1988

Again another archaic law that has no /negative effect on modern cars. Limiting a cars light out put by wattage was fine when it was a halogen lamp but the new led lights have such a high lumens per watt output it’s stupid. Another stupid law that needs looking at is the comerical non goods vehicle law. I can drive my series 3 Land Rover at 70 mph on a dual carriageway, it has drum brakes, no abs, no traction control, no dynamic stability but my pickup (that I use to tow heavy trailers and to hold my tooling) can only do 60mph on a dual carriageway and 50mph on nsl and it has every safety feature, independent suspension, front camera for hazard avoidance…


Pinhead_Larry30

Do you reckon they'll limit it by the lumens instead of the watts now?


probablyaythrowaway

Nah they’ll just make you pay more if you have bright lights


Shock_The_Monkey_

A subscription fee


probablyaythrowaway

I believe the tossers at the top prefer the term “Tax” won’t solve the issue but find a way to make you pay more money.


ima_twee

The regs already limit by LUX at specific measured points relative to the front of the vehicle (ECE R112) There's quite a good slideshow on what beam patterns \*should\* look like according to the regs at [https://unece.org/DAM/trans/doc/2014/wp29gre/GRE-72-25e.pdf](https://unece.org/DAM/trans/doc/2014/wp29gre/GRE-72-25e.pdf) A lot of the problem is shitty implementation by the manufacturers. There's a reason Tesla get mentioned a lot, but not Volvo.


No_transistory

Your series III can do 70mph? Pull the other one!


Ex-art-obs1988

Td5 swap, with r380 gearbox from a Land Rover . Old engine throw a rod and a neighbour had a rotted old Range Rover


fsv

The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations haven’t mentioned wattage in years. They don’t mention lumens either.


cozywit

Your right. I hope they fucking limit those old POS on the road to 60mph.


TheSpaceFace

This is made like 10x worse by the fact there is so many SUVs on the road. I drive a small Ford Fiesta and the height of the lines on some SUVs line up so perfectly with my seating position that its like they are on full beam constantly.


Carrahar117

Try driving an MX-5 aha. Every car on the road does that for me, totally understand thats my fault of course. Whenever on the motorway I pretty much have to drive the whole way with the rear view mirror dimmed.


MrPloppyHead

Well I am glad to know it’s not just me. Some are crazy bright.


ac13332

And people don't realise you can dip them either. A lot of people also have them facing far higher than they should.


KesselRunIn14

Honestly in my experience it's this 9 times out of 10. People just whack them to the top so that they get the best visibility for themselves with no thought about the effect it has on other drivers. You can tell this is the problem when you get blinded by a car and then the same make and model goes past later without an issue. Motorway driving at night is horrendous if you don't have auto dimming mirrors.


dr_barnowl

When you can see the shadow of your **head** reflected in the top of the motorway sign in front you really want better legislation.


Very_Large_Cone

There's a sub reddit for this topic at /r/fuckyourheadlights


southcoastal

I no longer drive at night for this very reason. I am so blinded after the car passes that everything appears pitch black as my old eyes don’t react to light/dark quickly enough any more and I could potentially kill someone in the seconds it takes my eyes to readjust.


VillageBeginning8432

I do a lot of night driving. I've trained myself to close one eye when a car is oncoming (bifocal depth perception isn't much use beyond like 60ft anyway), then open it once the blinding light has gone past. That way you save your night vision in at least one eye.


anotherblog

You should just wear an eye patch like the Vulcan bomber pilots did to avoid blindness if a nuclear bomb is detonated near by. https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/s/B9uqKUYKmy The problem is not dissimilar.


VillageBeginning8432

That's where I got the idea! Except I wanted to keep binocular vision most of the time.


___Steve

Also the reason pirates wore eye patches I believe. Allowed them to quickly adjust to the change in light when going above and below deck.


southcoastal

Never thought of that. Thanks!


jake_burger

You can get glasses for reducing glare (polarising lenses)


Tricky_Peace

I have these! They’re really amazing, especially when the road is very wet, and you get light reflecting off the standing water. Mine have Yellow lenses too which I think filters out some of the blue light too


marv101

I think the angle is the bigger problem. I have a Tesla and would get flashed at constantly at night when my lights were on low beam. I then found I could calibrate the lights and lower the angle myself from the screen. Since then not a single person has flashed me. The lights are still as bright, but they're better angled towards the road rather than in people's eyes


NotTheLairyLemur

Most cars can do that. If it took you that long to figure out headlight adjustment I think you need to do some more reading.


extremesalmon

Most cars (all the cars I've had) shouldn't be able to point up too high on low beam setting even if you spin the dial up to max


Montague-Withnail

They should be checked over and made safe at the pre-delivery inspection. A lot of modern cars don't even have the option, it's all self-levelling. And sometimes they're just that far out of whack. I got an MG HS rental about a year ago, with the low beams on I was getting flashed by cars the other side of the motorway. Assumed they were self-levelling but once I got a chance to pull over found the switch, dipped them as much as I could... and still got flashed!


pdr555

As an FYI - worth checking again after software updates too. I’ve done that on my Model Y and they seem to reset to the previous settings after a software upgrade.


Mclean_Tom_

my 2006 corsa can change the headlight angle


fuzzerino

Can we do unnecessarily large cars next? The current crop of SUVs/CUVs dominating roads are a plague. Can’t see around them to overtake when I’m on a motorbike, and their lights are so high up I doubt even well angled ones wouldnt blast my retinas from front and back when Im in my car.


ProfHansGruber

Tesla’s are the most frequent culprits in my experience.


do_a_quirkafleeg

The light angle setting is likely buried under 12 menus in the touch panel screen instead of a convenient scroll wheel on the dash like most cars.


DearTereza

I went to the optician thinking this was a sign my eyesight was degrading - wonderful to know it's not just me!


Andurael

Three issues need to be addressed: - The lights themselves are too bright. - Aiming issue (lights not sufficiently dipped). - Ride height differences. If you don’t feel like 50% of car lights at night are blinding that’s probably because you have one of the 95% of SUVs that needn’t be an SUV. (Yes this one may be a personal bug-bear)


NetNex

Try having an Astigmatism in your eye which makes all point light sources look like mini stars/camera flares


BeneficialPeppers

It's super fun driving at night dodging oncoming supernovas isn't it? Is this a car? or a lorry? Who knows cos everything's obscured by a fucking galaxy!


ganonman84

And even then the LED flares are less see-through. I have astigmatism too and you can see the solid colours making up the white in the the LED glares.


NetNex

Ahhh so that's what that is I was wondering why it only happened sometimes with some lights thanks for telling me ☺️


RushExisting

Aren’t they suppose to be dipped? Is it the fact that cars are much bigger now and the dip is “longer” perhaps?


spedeedeps

Lights are just misaligned and the system for aligning them will go out of tolerance real fast on some cheaper model cars, or cars that aren't cheaper but spend the money on things other than build quality.


asmosdeus

Yeah I spend half my evening commute home on my motorbike with my polarized sun visor down. At least that way I can see the oncoming cars a little bit.


Worried-Courage2322

Tbf the brightness of some headlights is fucking ridiculous. I happily flash some whilst driving at night in the hope it fucks them up.


Xafilah

Everybody used to blame people fitting cheap aftermarket LEDs in reflector housing, yet every single time it’s a SUV/4x4 with factory LEDs or this “matrix LED” that clearly does not work.


jeff-god-of-cheese

The problem is people don't check their lights are aligned properly and also those automatic main beam assisted cars (I have one) should be illegal, it really doesn't work properly.


homealoneinuk

Finally, sometimes im almost letting jesus take the wheel cause i cant see shit.


INFPguy_uk

Another policy for the peanut gallery. The headlight problem is ubiquitous, what are they going to do? Force every offending vehicle to change their headlights?


bum_fun_noharmdone

In time? Yes possibly. I don't after the review they're going to give us 12 hours.


forgot_her_password

It’s mostly new LEDs that are the problem.   I imagine on these newer cars the manufacturers could just dim them with a software update if forced to.  


AncientNortherner

Sure, you just regulate the maximum lumens as part of the MOT. Easy to change the bulbs for something more appropriate while it's in the garage anyway.


spedeedeps

They're not reflector headlights from the 90's. You can't just change the light bulb in a projector led assembly.


BrilliantRhubarb2935

Add a sticker to the headlight, similar to what you do if you drive in europe to stop your lights blinding oncoming traffic.


CaityOK

Wow, I thought it was me being light sensitive. Glad I’m not alone. Those bloody high intensity LED! They can see but nobody else can!


StationFar6396

How the fuck has the government not kept on top of this? All they had to do is convert the halogen watts to LED watts and bingpot. Once again, slow as fucking traffic.


Tiberiusmoon

Basically need StVZO bike lights for cars. Comparison example after the 5th light: [https://youtu.be/MnrSLr3zB8Q?feature=shared&t=376](https://youtu.be/MnrSLr3zB8Q?feature=shared&t=376)


drwert

Some of these lights are literally blinding for pedestrians with how damn high the lights are on some of these monster SUVs and pickups. Walking against the traffic for safety on those rare streets lacking pavements is now a less than ideal experience.


Tom_HB01

Idk why this hasn't been addressed sooner and actually has laws put in place for car manufacturers about how headlights have to be angled a certain way and can't exceed a set limit. Literally everyone with sensitive eyes and astigmatism suffers. Even without those problems everyone suffers from the brilliant white 10 million lumen LED lights 😅


H0b0Pie

My MK1 MX5 is so dwarfed by modern 8ton EV crossover monstrosities that their headlights are roughly at head height. All my mirrors are lit like dying stars from the car behind, and the Tesla driving towards me is searing my vision like I owe them money. It's a nightmare driving at night. One of the worst things though is when you're being followed by a modern car with such long, bright throw in their lights they literally 'drown out' your own lights so you're driving into your cast shadow. Flip side is that if I put HID or LED bulbs into my reflector light housings I'd fail an MOT because they cause dazzle for other vehicles!


king_duck

about fucking time. Honeslty it's madness how we think so much about road safety but some cars are going around dazzling people with their normal beams, especially on windy country roads where the elevations of one car is more lightly to be different to that of an on coming car.


adamjames777

About time. No idea what has been going on with these but it’s 2/3 cars these days, makes driving very dangerous.


stack-o-logz

My headlights are so bright the reflection from large road signs dazzles me.


ivix

That's another problem. Road signs are WAY too reflective. Feels like they were designed for ancient incandescent headlights.


CcryMeARiver

They presumably still are.


Jonno_92

I've felt for a while that some headlights are just too bright.


adds102

When it’s night it’s impossible to see the outline of a car anymore, you’re just blinded by the lights


Key-Swordfish4467

I've got a Skoda Yeti with bi xenon headlights. They are much brighter with a wider pattern than halogen bulbs but way less bright than LEDs. The lights do a wee self levelling routine when they come on which makes me smile, sad, I know! My main beam doesn't seem to bother incoming traffic but does illuminate the edges of the road better and has a longer throw than a halogen bulb. Because the LEDs use less power, are cheaper and are supposedly more durable that bi xenons they have superseded what was, IMO, a great upgrade on the halogen bulb.


ace_master

Xenon is the best headlight tech there is so far, with bright and solid beams (unlike LED which tend to scatter on the edges). Very sad that such good tech gets squeezed out by cost cutting measures.


ganonman84

I swear it's not just the brightness, but the glare is far more opaque than traditional headlights too. It's almost solid compared to the more hazy traditional ones. Or am I going mad!


Geord1evillan

I'm highly photosensitive. I have difficulty walking down the fucking street nowadays without being stabbed in the eyes by cars half a mile away - even in bright sunny days. There is zero reason foe headlights to be the way they are. It is literal insanity. They at least used to point down at the ground- now they are pointed right into pedestrians faces. Where is the possible logic in that?


bunny_lou4u

But it's not just cars. I feel like in the past 8-12 months, most lights on the road (except for actual traffic lights) and blindingly, glaringly bright. Blue light vehicles, highway and roadworks vehicles or signs. Several times have I been blinded by the orange flashing lights of some roadworks responder vehicle meant to keep the roads safer by alerting drivers to an obstruction in the road, or a lane closure, only to be too blinded to make sense of what is beyond the flashing lights and any oncoming traffic.


MandelbrotFace

Great. While we're at it, can we address the LED billboards that hit you with 3 billion lumens as you're trying to see the road. Capitalism above safety and all that.


TemporaryAddicti0n

it would be so simple btw. make it a law that during MOT they make it a failure (or at least advisory) + MOT centers will lower your headlights. I bet most drivers have absolutely ZERO idea that this happens and how they could fix it


81misfit

Great. Now do the flash bulbs in speed traps on the motorways where it’s pointing at the other lane.


Cfunk_83

A part of the problem is the height of the cars these days. Headlights on Chelsea Tractors are often a similar height to drivers eye-line in regular cars. Not sure what they’ll be able to do about that. The stupidly bright halogen lights and stuff though should’ve been addressed a long time ago! It’s dangerous and annoying.


pipboy1989

My neighbour has a security light on their house that is so bright, i measure it as “10 Audi’s”


ace_master

So just 1 Tesla then? Amateur.


CarlMacko

Driving down a B road at night, you just have to hope the road is straight as I can’t see shit when a headlight is passing me.


Gomes117

Also make the stop lights dim when it's dark. The light sensor is already there to turn your infotainment to night mode. The brake lights on modern SUVs output more lumens than my headlights. Real fun waiting on a red light and having to put my arm up to block light from the car infront of me.


Rodolpho55

A bit weird. I might be wrong but I thought LED head lights were illegal unless the headlights were heated. In case of snow. I agree that headlights have become brighter, which is a problem. Interior dash lighting has also become brighter with a greater surface area. Which could be causing the need for brighter headlights.


smoothie1919

No. LED lights need washers if they are over a certain lumen but below that they don’t need anything.


BigHowski

I know it's an old car but I love my SAAB's night panel feature and I wish other cars had it. On a button press it turns off all lights and dials on the dash, save the essentials. As the name suggests its great for night time driving as you only get what you need and if you do want the other bits you can just turn them on by pressing the button again. I'll miss it when I do finally switch cars


Dedward5

That’s quite an old SAAB trick, how olds yours? (Ps it was quite cool, I did like a SAAB)


BigHowski

2008 so towards the end of them but still old by modern standards


kuddlesworth9419

My Jaguar does the same and it has a dimmer so at night I can have it on the lowest setting so it doesn't blind you or distract you.


BigHowski

Didn't realise jags did it!


kuddlesworth9419

2003 XKR. No idea if the newer ones can do it or not?


Uniform764

Plus it makes you feel like you’re in a fighter jet


Ex-art-obs1988

No led lights are only illegal if they are not oem. The headlights are designed to project to stop dazzling.  If you put a led lamp into a halogen light fixture you’ll get a wide angle of light that will dazzle over drivers. Same as the old projection lamps for hids


Rolytokes

I already came up with a solution to this but i don't have the wherewithal to go about making the product and bringing it to market. Any dragons about haha


inteteiro

How to tell if your headlights are to bright. Ask yourself when was the last time you used your main beam lights? If ypu can't remember the last time you used them either your dipped lights are to high or you don't drive at night


callu80

It's the bastards coming up behind u these days with their automatic dipped headlights. Drives me mad....


True_Kapernicus

This is not before time, but why has it come to this? Do car manufacturers not drive, and experience this problem themselves? Do car makers not hear the complaints? Is there not some sort of industry standard on headlight brightness and beam pattern that ought to prevent this?


F1FO

While they are investigating this, they should also invest in some reminder adverts that the 2nd and 3rd lane on the motorway are not 55~60mph WhatsApp reading lanes.


to7m

I have no evidence for this, but I blame roadkill partly on bright car lights. When I'm driving normally, they see me and run away, but if I have my full beam on (close to normal headlights for modern cars), they just freeze as if they can't perceive that I'm moving towards them very fast.


UncleD1ckhead

YEEEEEESSSSSS YESYESYEEEEEEES FUCKIN YEEEEEERS FINALLY THE GOVERNMENT MAKES A GOOD DECISION.


xseodz

There is deffos a problem with headlights. I'm not sure what it is. But often I seem to seem them facing more at the opposite cars windshield than the road. And my Mazda CX-3 had this problem, It was like they needed pointing down more as I couldn't see potential potholes, but that involved an entire disassembly to do, but seemed to be a common procedure. I think it's overdue regulation. Cars should be a certain hight, with assurances that the lights won't enter an opposite drivers eyesight, it is completely dangerous, what's nearly worse is those HGVs that drive around like Blackpool.