Headlights drivers complain of being 'being blinded'

[Police State]

Headlights to be reviewed after drivers complain of being 'blinded' at night

It's about time the legislators addressed this problem, that seems to just get worse as time goes by.

Criticism from drivers over the dazzle from oncoming headlights has prompted the government to take a closer look at the design of cars and headlamps on UK roads.

Drivers say LED headlamps, which are increasingly common in new vehicles, are causing them problems and making it harder to drive at night

Research into the issue on behalf of the Department for Transport (DfT) has still not been published, but the BBC has learned that the government now plans to launch a new assessment of the causes and remedies.

New measures will be included in the government's upcoming Road Safety Strategy, reflecting what is becoming an increasingly fraught issue for road users.

Full news story here.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn971jlpvvro

[ozzuk]

Good, I'm finding it very noticeable, especially if they are coming up slight slope, seems like lots are on full beam when they aren't. Wonder what the accident stats look like as that will be the main 'driver' for change.

[CT05 Nose Cone]

Some new headlights are ridiculous (Teslas being an especially bad offender) but not sure what they can actually do to fix it? Not as if they can make current owners purchase less-blinding headlights.

[Digga]

The LEDs on my Taycan could melt the paint off oncoming vehicles on full-beam.

The trouble is twofold now; old cars with st lights are almost undetectable over a brow if they are not on full beam. Add to that the numbers of drives with clearly shocking eyesight and it is compound.

[Mont Blanc]

I must admit that I find the automatic matrix/pixel/adaptive (whatever you want to call them) LED headlights on our new daily drivers are absolutely fantastic.

They are the one thing that I find to be a real game changer on new cars. Wouldn't want to drive a daily without them now.

[MitchT]

CT05 Nose Cone said:

... but not sure what they can actually do to fix it?

• Order car manufacturers to have come up with an alternative for newly manufacturered cars by a specific deadline.
• Order car manufacturers to have replaced the lights on existing cars with said alternative by a sepecific deadline.
• Order car manufacturers to arrange for existing cars' headlights to have a film applied to the headlights to soften the light in the meantime.

[alangla]

I think the issue is that headlamp brightness is, or was, specified in watts of power consumption and not lumens of output. Obviously over the last 15-20 years or so, cars have tended to have either Xenon discharge or, more recently, LED lamps fitted which produce far more lumens using far fewer watts. There also needs to be a serious discussion about the beam pattern produced by SUVs and vans, obviously these tend to have the light fittings higher up, usually above the eye level of a car driver. While they’re at it, the government should also look at regulating the lumen output from tail lights, some LED based efforts are just far brighter than would ever be needed.

[gotoPzero]

Goes both ways though I have a model 3 and find the headlights to be excellent but I live in a rural area and when you drive at night they really do make a massive difference a couple of times I have spotted badgers and a deer early enough to slow down - without the LEDs I would not have seen them,

The motorway is also another great example of how they help - given most of the network is no unlit. I find the Tesla system where it lights up the signs at the side of the road very good.

Suppose people coming the other way may disagree but tbh I expect most cars will have this technology soon. Didnt we go through this with the high level led brake lights in the early 00s?

[Red9zero]

ozzuk said:

Good, I'm finding it very noticeable, especially if they are coming up slight slope, seems like lots are on full beam when they aren't. Wonder what the accident stats look like as that will be the main 'driver' for change.

Our Mazda CX5 is bad for that. On one particular road home from my Mother's I often resort to sidelights and fog lights, as the road undulates so much I am constantly being flashed by oncoming cars.

[cirian75]

Its beem (sic) a problem for 25 years

2000s higher spec Nissan Primera's had mega powerful lights, but the low spec ones had really poor head lights.

[Police State]

Mont Blanc said:

I must admit that I find the automatic matrix/pixel/adaptive (whatever you want to call them) LED headlights on our new daily drivers are absolutely fantastic.

They are the one thing that I find to be a real game changer on new cars. Wouldn't want to drive a daily without them now.

If they're the kind that blind me in my mirrors or light my car's interior up like I'm in a scence from 'Close Encounters' then I don't find your automatic matrix/pixel/adaptive lights absolutely fantastic.

[Biker 1]

My previous motor was a 15 year old Volvo with lights no better than candles. My current Skoda has all LED lighting & finally I see in the dark!
Agree that much work is required in this area: better design of light beams, diffusers, colour temperature etc.
However, asking car manufacturers to swap out LED headlights on existing cars would be cripplingly expensive.
£500 for an after market BMW unit anybody?

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/car-parts/headlight-inse...

[bobbo89]

Night driving in the rain is hard work these days and on occasion can feel dangerous. Also cars following you hitting dips on the road can sometimes give the impression they're flashing their lights at you.

Wow I feel like an old man!

[Lotobear]

The sooner we can level up and get everyone onto these matrix LED's the better - that way everyone can get blinded.

[Mont Blanc]

Police State said:

Mont Blanc said:

I must admit that I find the automatic matrix/pixel/adaptive (whatever you want to call them) LED headlights on our new daily drivers are absolutely fantastic.

They are the one thing that I find to be a real game changer on new cars. Wouldn't want to drive a daily without them now.

If they're the kind that blind me in my mirrors or light my car's interior up like I'm in a scence from 'Close Encounters' then I don't find your automatic matrix/pixel/adaptive lights absolutely fantastic.

They offer several advantages:

Completely automatic in every respect. I never have to touch anything to do with lighting. They turn on/off and dip/high/adapt fully automatically as required.

The matrix system is brilliant. It avoids other vehicles whilst lighting up as much of the road as possible. I can be following a car on an unlit A Road, and it shines my full beam past the car in front, whilst leaving a cut out in the beam where their car is. The road ahead of them is often lit up far better by my lights than their lights, despite them being the ones in front. These systems are so good now that you have to try them to understand.

And lastly, they are extremely bright. You get much better visibility, and longer range visibility, than previously.

As said, I woluldn't want a daily driver without them now.

[carreauchompeur]

Im glad it is being recognised as a problem, it is getting bad. I have reasonable eyesight but an astigmatism so they do affect me a great deal.

On long shifts with a lot of miles this increases fatigue immensely.

[bigglesA110]

I'm amused by the comments about this and how 'regulators should do something about it'. You don't have to go too far to find plenty of comments bemoaning the pesky interference of Governments and regulators on what we can and can't have. For clarity, I think it's a great example of why controls and regulations are generally a good thing - to implement and enforce minimum standards and curb the tendency for companies and products to get into an arms race over this stuff. Having said that, the LED lights on our current cars and active dimming (don't know what its called, but our Merc basically blocks out areas when it sees cars coming so as not to blind them, but all other areas are effectively still on high beam....) is a remarkable change for the better since the days of halogen!

Edited by bigglesA110 on Tuesday 28th October 13:00

[alangla]

bigglesA110 said:

I'm amused by the comments about this and how 'regulators should do something about it'. You don't have to go too far to find plenty of comments bemoaning the pesky interference of Governments and regulators on what we can and can't have. For clarity, I think it's a great example of why controls and regulations are generally a good thing - to implement and enforce minimum standards and curb the tendency for companies and products to get into an arms race over this stuff.

I think the key issue is that Construction and Use regulations haven’t kept up with the advances in lighting technology over the last few years. One wonders what other areas of the regulations could possibly be in need of a review and update .

[vixen1700]

I find it horrendous now, especially in the wet with these ridiculously bright headlamps. I find driving with my prescription shades at night brings it down to levels of normality.

[Sporky]

Mont Blanc said:

I can be following a car on an unlit A Road, and it shines my full beam past the car in front, whilst leaving a cut out in the beam where their car is. The road ahead of them is often lit up far better by my lights than their lights, despite them being the ones in front.

Surely then it's the road either side of them that's lit brighter than the road in front of them? Your headlights can't light up the road in front of them, because their car is in the way.

So you seem to be saying that your headlights make it harder for the car in front to see the road in front of them.

Edited by Sporky on Tuesday 28th October 13:21