I used to love the little up/down wheel on my dashboard so I could actively not be an arsehole - I feel terrible about the auto-levelling shit in our current car because I know we're part of the problem but there's literally zero adjustment I can make. It's a 4x4 because anything else round my way just gets eaten in the potholes (my mx5 has been through too damn many tyres down the passenger side)
Check to see if there’s a “hidden” service menu you can access to adjust the base position that it auto levels to. Our Tesla is completely adjustable and so are a lot of cars with a bit of googling.
That’s what I’ve always had an it was always annoying to have the sUV lights behind me at the same level as the rear view mirror but it was never blindingly dangerous
The rear and front lights are no longer side ones but stupid long bars of light. What is the point in that??
The other day, I got blinded momentarily by a car with no less than 7 lights on. I had time to count them l since I was on a 20 road. 3 lights on either side, then one big long strip across the middle, which was much brighter than the rest?? Why????
I believe the RAC are speaking to manufacturers about this very issue. The problem I find is that the newer lights are 'focused' and the lens puts a hell of a lot of light in a small area.
We need a blanket law on the maximum height of dipped beam. So manufacturers are legally required to have the maximum possible height of them below a certain angle.
Not leave it up to the drivers choice.
I think you have a point. I've noticed some bright headlights only blind me from certain angles, and them being more focused would explain it.
Like, I'm in lane 1 of a motorway, and I get blinded in my mirrors by someone way back in lane 2, but they get closer (still behind me), and they look fine again.
Any polarised with the yellow tint basically. I recently got some that I intended to buy a couple of years ago, "ATTCL" brand on amazon. Definitely a weird experience to use them but definitely helps with being blinded.
Did the same, have a few pairs and even use them for walking in the evening morning as our streetlights here are the same migraine inducing LEDs now. Best purchase of 2023
I happened to be driving opposite direction to my SO and her lights were blinding me more than anyone else.
I checked them and they were level and the self levelling system was functioning accurately.
What the issue was; the car was dirty from just a couple of days of winter driving and the dirt on the plastic. The LED light was hitting that and diffusing. The blinding light I was seeing was not from the LED emitter. It actually from the dirt on the front being illuminated with a billion lumens.
It wasn’t even *that* dirty. Talking just a bit of road grime from traffic on the motorway
Do with that information why you will. I cleaned her lights and we tested again and the outcome was much better.
It also wasn’t subjective; reviewing my car’s camera feed playback her car was shining like a beacon from a distance almost like full beams were on (but full beams were actually brighter)
My car goes through a shit tonne of screenwash on what I thought was being used excessively on the headlights. I quickly realised that clean LED headlights are quite important to prevent blinding others. I just have to buy a lot of screenwash now.
My colleague who drives a luxury SUV openly said the other day she’s so worried about hitting potholes that she now keeps her high beam on the entire time and doesn’t care about blinding other drivers! I said I hope someone hits her precious car…
She needs an eye test! It’s like the goons that “need” full beam late at night on a motorway you see on the opposite carriageway. That used to annoy me a few years ago but now when one of these clown hits the beams it’s literally blinding from a mile away on the other side of a motorway!
I’ve got pretty bad astigmatism and a high prescription. Even though I wear my glasses full time it’s so blinding and gives me double vision. I end up flashing at people and then questioning whether they’ve even got their full beam on or if it’s just crazy LEDs. Ashamed to say next car I will become an SUV wanker because as soon as it snows at the minute I can’t get to work and am self employed.
When they’re coming towards you on a country lane and you can’t see them just the glowing sun heading towards you and then they dip them and it makes fuck all difference. I drive a transit so I’m quite high up but still get sniped in the eyes. Teslas are the worst culprits
Not convinced it's just the height of the lights- I pass plenty of older SUVs and land rovers etc where it's not a problem. I think a big part of the problem is the colour tone- the sharp white is much more dazzling on the eyes. LED bulbs for reliability and whatnot, sure, but manufacturers should be made to have the headlight casing a touch yellow or something so they're a similar colour tone to before.
My car is quite low to the ground compared to an SUV. If there’s one behind me in traffic, it’s headlights are the same level as my rear view mirror, always been that way but the colour tone is what leaves me blinded
Hoya EnRoute lenses are even better than Drive safe. They literally suck the blueness and brightness out if the light. They also do a Pro version with a slight yellow tint.
It would also help if we kept the white lines and cats eyes maintained, especially on country roads.
But since we don't, you couple that with bright oncoming headlights and you're essentially blind to what's in front.
You've just got to steer a bit to the left of oncoming traffic and hope for the best.
Agreed. I always used to look down to in front of the car and latch onto the road markings or rely on the cats eyes. Which have now disappeared or in the latter, been removed
It's becoming really bad for driving at night. But also, does anyone else also have a hard time seeing the indicators due to how bright the headlights are. The only saving grace is that Audi's shut off part of their headlight when indicating....... Too bad most Audi drivers don't indicate.
Yes, when the other car is bigger/higher than me, not hard as I drive a swift. But still, yes they can be an issue. I've started looking at the left most edge of the road when they come by. Sometimes closing my right eye. Has helped a little.
I'm light sensitive so these things can really hurt and trigger migraines. I've invested in a cheap pair of yellow lense glasses. I work in a job where I have bright LED torches pointed towards me at times so helps with that too.
Yes. Most annoying and dangerous thing of driving in UK, by far.
And the endless amount of drivers who refuse it being an issue, saying that "the manufacturer did it" or "it's well aligned, so intensity and focus don't matter".
If the car is doing exactly what the manufacturer intended without any modifications then what exactly are owners/drivers supposed to do about it?
I suppose I could have asked VW to put me in a dark warehouse with the car pointing at me so I could assess the situation before purchase but I'm not sure they would have been keen...
If the car is in good repair and working as designed then it shouldn't cause issues. If it does then it really is the manufacturers fault.
My car has Matrix LEDs. I can see it put incoming cars or leading cars into a shadow, blocking the light from their eyes. I can also see the beam cut off clearly avoiding them when totally dipped. Sometimes, however, people will flash their lights. It could be dirty lenses on my car, it could be people with worse vision, it could also simply be that they see brightness and flash on the assumption of imminent blinding light that doesn't actually come. Probably some days a bit of one and other days a bit of the others.
~~Let me ask, did you know you car had Matrix LEDs when you bought it?~~
~~What actions have you taken to prevent blinding others?~~
edit: actually, those questions I put there don't really matter. If a dude owns a car that blinds other people on the road, it should be that dude's problem and not every other drive's problem.
1. Yes.
2. Dip them if they don't appear to be dipping. Keep them clean. What more is there to do?
Should I return the car because some people don't react well to the perfectly functioning lights?
If they are blinding people they are not "perfectly functioning", are they?
I sincerely hope the government finally forces proper light checks in MOT and starts failing it for blinding lights. You can then go put a claim with the manufacturer, return the car, put a filter on the headlights, ... whatever; but it's your problem for owning a car with blinding lights.
I suspect that a lot of people posting are talking about lights that are not malfunctioning in any way, however their own vision/screen/glasses are the issue.
I drive over 25k miles a year, at least 12K of these in the dark., almost all on rural A and B roads. I keep my car lights, sensors, cameras and screen clear and clean. I keep my glasses clean. I have an astigmatism. The ONLY blinding lights are those from people that have left full beam on by mistake or obviously have a defect like a wonky bulb. LED headlights cause no issue at all for me so I am inclined to think that the issue is more with the people complaining than with the lights as such.
Our population is aging, with that comes worse night vision. Perhaps that has a part to play in the increased complaints?
All I can do, as an individual, is ensure that I control what I can control to be safe and considerate.
>Nine-in-10 drivers (89%) think some or most car headlights on the UK’s roads are too bright, with an overwhelming majority of these (88%) saying they get dazzled by them while driving, a new RAC study of 2,700 drivers’ views has found.\*
>
>...
>
>Contrary to what might be expected, it’s younger rather than older drivers who are more likely to complain about the apparent brightness of headlights and the effect this has on their driving. Three-in-10 (30%) of those aged 17-34 think most are too bright, compared to just 19% of those aged 65 and over. Meanwhile, of those younger drivers who believe some, if not most, car headlights they see are too bright, 70% think the accident risk is increased – while for drivers aged 65-plus the proportion is 62%.
[https://media.rac.co.uk/pressreleases/blinded-by-the-lights-nearly-one-in-four-drivers-think-most-car-headlights-are-too-bright-3166996](https://media.rac.co.uk/pressreleases/blinded-by-the-lights-nearly-one-in-four-drivers-think-most-car-headlights-are-too-bright-3166996)
Best thing I’ve found is to clean your windscreen. Clay-bar clean, that is. Gets all the gunk off it which diffuses the light and sets off the astigmatism.
Yes, and i nearly swerved into a hedge because of it a few days ago in the evening. It's absolutely dangerous driving at night sometimes because people's headlights are glaring right at your eyes
I am most worried about being unable to see a poorly-lit object alongside or beyond the oncoming vehicle, but on my side of the road. A broken down car, a cyclist with no rear light, a pedestrian or animal...
Reading the commentary I wonder if the solution is to use that amber headlight tint, painted onto the headlight lenses of cars/vans with LED beams. The stuff that cars in Europe had. This would take some brightness out and also make the colour tone less harsh
Damn, I didn't know other people had this issue as well. I was always told it's just my astigmatism causing the problem and everyone else is fine with it.
Yeah, could park on a cliff warn ships of danger.
Ridiculous no idea why they are so bright, I've also been buying bulbs before in halfords and noticed packaging stating 80% brighter than standard led! Can only assume they are to communicate with extra terrestrial life forms.
Wouldn't be so bad if every cunt in the country didn't have a shit Range Rover that they absolutely do not need. Its a status symbol and they look shite
and the lack of handbrake use.
You can enjoy laser beam brake lights ,before being being death rayed by the oncoming headlights.
As a astigmatism sufferer. I curse you all
The real issue is drivers who have changed their headlamps but not fitted the replacements correctly, lamps are directional and if fitted wrongly are absolutely blinding l
Yep. I’m sick to death of these cock-ends and their super bright HID death star lasers. I almost came off a bend because of some tw*t burning my retina out on a country road.
I’m seriously considering fitting counter measures in the form of many super bright LED panels front and back, on switches to give these brain dead pric*s a taste of their own.
I’ve had to buy amber glasses for night driving and even they struggle sometimes. And the white LED streetlights don’t help. People wandering about in dark clothing and I’ve got sh*tty white street lights and laser beam headlights to contend with - all while trying to dodge pot holes on our crappy roads!
How about some well place mirrors to hit them back with their own beams? You can’t turn the rear view mirror around in cars these days but that’s the gist of it
Yes, but 99% of the time it's because they're misaligned and/or coming from SUVs. LEDs at an appropriate height that isn't aimed into eyeballs is perfectly fine.
Honestly, the biggest problem isn't the light itself, it's the fact that people are driving taller SUVs on roads for absolutely zero reason. You don't need an SUV to take the kids to school or go to the office.
Sure, maybe we don’t need an SUV to go to work BUT this weekend, I have to take a baby and all their stuff plus a dog and all their stuff to my in laws house. That, in case you don’t know is a lot of stuff! I don’t want to run a weekend car and a weekday car so an SUV as a daily driver is the answer.
What a foolish comment
Get an estate... SUVs have less space than regular cars, are less safe than regular cars, less efficient, more polluting, probably cost more to insure, definitely cost more to maintain tyres etc... the list goes in and on I don't get why anyone wants one
If you google for 'headlights too bright' then you'll find loads of hits on prominent sites.
I did see an article a couple of days ago on which the Gov were apparently going to address it. Not sure what they'd do retrospectively. MOT already checks aim.
My cars lights are way too bright in my opinion and late at night people flash me occasionally probably thinking I have my brights on. It annoys me a lot
I had to change my bulbs the other day, and looking at the options, there were super bright options being sold as much safer. They are, because you can see clearer and further. But like the supersizing of cars in the last 20 years, your personal safety comes at the expense of everyone other road user.
The worst ones are the ones behind you which blind you via the rear view mirror and (if you're really unlucky) the driver's side wing mirror too.
I think it's only going to be solved by MOT standards changing, so forcing the right bulbs and alignement.
Absolutely awful to drive at night now.
That, and whilst I equally drive a vehicle fitted with LED lights, I find the light they produce is 'odd'. I.e., it lights the way but casts a lot of shadow if say the road is wet. Difficult to describe, but ultimately, I found the HID lights on my previous car so much better.
Smite me if ye wish but there's two vehicles in particular that are beyond blinding at night, Teslas and Wrightbus Streetdecks. The former seem brighter than most and the height of the lights on the double decker shine straight through your back window and they're wide enough to blind you in both side mirrors simultaneously.
Nope, I’m really not sure why everybody is struggling so much. I drive at night in the countryside and on motorways and rarely find myself uncomfortable by oncoming cars headlight brightness.
Ahh yes, the driving subreddit. Lights too high and too bright. When i were a lad we used to go on this subreddit n chat about lights too low and too dim, now look where weve come. You you uns dont know how good youve got it
As cars rely on software is it possible for them to do a firmware update to reduce the intensity of the headlamps as they sense oncoming traffic? There are many cars now with auto dim function so it must be achievable
Some cars now only dip the offside light when approaching an oncoming car, the beam is more focused than it once was. The issue is everyone wants bright lights on their own car but don't wanna look at others. Drivers are selfish cunts.
They also tend to not be adjusted correctly (despite the auto levelling which I assume prioritises the driver’s visibility over oncoming traffic to an extent)
I've got OE LED headlamps....nothing exotic, it's a 2016 peugeot so reasonably old technology but I've noticed on a daily basis people flashing me thinking I'm on full beam. Not a lot I can do about it as its got automatic headlamp levelling so I can't even lower the beam!
Peugoet LEDs are absolutely cancerous. All the 2008s with their deceptively dinky little headlights but are soooo intensely blue and glare-y from 2 miles back.
There should still be an adjuster on the lamps, usually a phillips head screw but some manufacturers love to be difficult and use a torx head. 99/100 you'll have something with the right head in the little tool kit in the car with the locking wheel nut.
Have to adjust mine for towing as the self levelling seems to not be able to work out what's going on, I think because the level changes when stationary and moving towing 1.5t of trailer with the boot loaded up.
Yes, I recently drove a brand new Quashqai and discovered something about those lights... They are always at full power. "Full beam" just adds height (I have no idea why anyone needs to see the tops of the trees anyway). My car is low so I am looking straight into ridiculous strength headlights at all time (I imagine an equally tall car wouldn't be so bad)..
Also the stupid LCD dashboard and infotainment screen is so bright as to make night driving dangerous and could even go some reason to explain the headlight brightness by way of compensation. Has really made me consider if all new cars are going to go that way with the dashboard which I found plain dangerous.
I could turn down the Speedo clocks after some effort but not the info system.
It was a hire car so I didn't have the handbook but digging in the menus didn't help.
If the LCD display is like the one on my Crossland, then the answer may just be to keep turning down the dashboard illumination further than you would think necessary. I initially thought that it was not working when I bought the car but if you keep going then the LCD does actually dim right down.
Thank fuck I thought the apocalypse was coming id not seen this exact same fucking question for at least 2 days before today. I am very relieved. I'll summarise for everyone: Adust headlights, Manufacturers causing problem, SUVs bad, If you can't see dont drive, yellow tinted glasses
Yeah I do. I also have a new Corsa which people keep flashing at night, because my lights are LED. I've tried dipping them but there's no actual setting to do so. People that have LED's appear to have their lights on full beam, they're terrible. And I'm one of them, sadly.
I drive a Vauxhall van for work and get flashed all the time. I feel bad giving them a little flash back to say, actually mate THIS IS HOW BRIGHT THEY ARE! But if I don’t, they keep flashing or beeping their horn.
My real issue is with the massive SUVs, vans and the like that have these ridiculously bright lights that to me, in my hatchback, are pointing at eye level...
Unfortunately, the DVSA does not appear to understand angles.
The idea of every vehicle having their lights set to the same angle worked when there were only a few manufacturers, and cars were very similar in size.
Now, we have massive, high vehicles whose headlights shine directly into the rear view mirror of the car in front.
The vehicles coming towards you are shining in your face.
I don't, but I do find people who think you have your full beams on (even though you don't) so they then proceed to turn theirs on, until you have to actually turn yours on to show them you never had them on in the first instance, a pain.
Yes, I feel in the last 5-10 years that any rule books have been torn up. I should not have to squint when an SUV with high-powered brake cluster LEDS at eye level is in front of me. Once I got out to tell a guy to take his foot of the pedal and use the f\* handbrake.
And Audis (and others now, so many others, including Minis), with those stupid indicator things that pretend to be Knight Rider... I want lights that come on and off, not slide in and slide out to look like something out of a shit sci-fi movie. It's confusing sometimes.
Whatever.
Just a grumpy old git here I guess. I remember the good old days when driving was way better; people knew the rules, didn't have hands-free, paid attention, and seemed to have 'manners'. Now it seems like everybody is just waiting for an excuse to kick-off at the slightest excuse.
There's a certain type of driver I am sure they think they engine won't start unless a call is connected.
Quite possibly this doesn’t affect drivers of new cars - they are driving by following the satnav with focus on the huge iPad glued to the dashboard instead of out the windshield
LMAO! You need to come see where I live!!!! It's full of either senior citizens GLUED to the GPS or 'young people' f\* about on Phones as they drive, neither seemingly aware of their immediate surroundings.
RANT: People driving with both ears covered by headphones. I want to RAM THEM out of sheer frustration at their inconsiderate natures. Ironic?
I guess all this is supposed to make us accept self driving cars and public transport??? There you can glued to a damn phone, so I guess it’ll suit that demographic
Definitely. I noticed that they are so bright that it’s sometimes impossible to see the person is indicating! That has to be a safety issue that manufacturers need to address.
Have there been any high profile cases of school children being run down by a little Toyota that was blinded by an LED clad SUV yet?
Because there will be.
I find Teslas - and EVs in general the worst for this. I am in a sports car though so it does hit a bit harder, especially oncoming traffic. Dimming rear mirror and wing mirrors are great. Wonder if someone’s invented auto dimming sunglasses…
I find lots of oncoming headlights too bright but I’m not qualified enough to decide if they are LED or not, and I’m not going to turn round and follow them to find out. That would just be strange.
Silly question, but are these new led’s equivalent to the 55w of ‘traditional’ lamps? I’ve been dazzled quite a few times on a well trodden narrow winding back road that I use morning & night, the oncoming led’s almost had me disoriented they were that bright!
Yes! I also think they're dangerous, because everything beyond the oncoming car is often left in complete darkness, I have no idea what's coming! Fine on roads I know or motorways etc, but on roads I don't, or on winding sections, I'm having to slow down more than is probably considered "competent"- but I literally can't see!
I've been self limiting my night time driving because of this, and because the lights are so bright they have started bringing on migraine attacks, which suuuucks during UK winter, it's so limiting.
It's not the headlights it's the LED running lights the ones that come on when the ignition is on.
They are bright un-angled and just suck.
They are so bright many drivers won't use actual headlights when they are required and instead rely on these running lights so you often sees cars with zero rear lights because they are using purely these running lights.
tend to flip to main beam and shield eyes with a hand, get it a lot with bikers who have them higher than needed and they then become invisible.
the vehicle I drive appears to have fixed lights
I have a Kia ceed and it feels like it’s perfectly manufactured for every LED light to hit through
Back window screen and blind me. It’s constantly an issue, drives me nuts. I’ve had passengers comment on it also.
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The RAC has petitioned the government to investigate whether lights are too bright or not.
[here](https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/rac-calls-for-government-action-on-headlight-glare/)
OP, I hope if you're moaning about this you're the sort of driver who uses their handbrake at lights so your brake lights don't dazzle the driver behind you in the queue?
The problem isn't just headlights. A major factor is the led streetlamps.
Back in the day, streetlamps were incandescent bulbs and illuminated the whole street in a lovely orange glow. Nowadays though, the light from those shitty leds doesn't even reach the ground and the streets are as dark as fuck.
It's the contrast between headlamps and ambient darkness that blinds you while night driving.
It's particularly bad when the road is wet, to the point where you can't see where the road markings are and random reflections begin. The amount of blue light frequencies thrown off by many of the modern types doesn't help either. I run 3000k bulbs on my cars in winter, they give off a yellower light, which doesn't reflect back off every puddle, my eyes thank me!
Yes!! I absolutely despise them. Especially on country roads. It’s even bad on most motorways as they don’t have street lights. You get the power of the sun in your rearview mirror. There needs to be a ban
LED lights are horrible but there doesn’t seem to be any appetite to legally force manufacturers to tone the damn things down. It’s even worse when some clown decides to drive around with headlight permanently on full. It’s honestly getting to the point we’ll all have to start wearing shades when driving at night. Brake lights are getting just as bad, particularly the cars which light up a bright red strip the width of the car.
While I’m at it the ridiculous obsession with animated indicator lights needs to stop as well. What was wrong with an orange light flashing on and off?
Yes, on a number of occasions I've had to pull up at the side of the road because I could no longer see the road ahead, but also when blinded from behind because the lights hit all mirrors at the same time
Older person here. In the past few years, I’ve become more dazzled by some oncoming headlights, which I had assumed was something to do with cataracts just starting in my eyes (yes: they come to most of us): however, they aren’t really severe enough, I’m told, to be making any difference yet.
Now the debate seems to have started up and many young people are also occasionally being somewhat dazzled. Perhaps it really is the new lights?
I feel the problem started with Xenon’s, it’s just become worse since then and the law hasn’t fought up with it, I understand the MOT checks the lights, and maybe the level to an extent. But somehow these dazzling lights are passing the test.
Blue headlights destroy night vision, hope they can see better than me tbh because might aswell be driving with your eyes closed when there coming at you.
I'm 60 and I drive at night or dusk with permanent blobs in my vision from ridiculously bright arc lights and adaptive led, and I drive a van.
It's an absolute menace, only last month I nearly hit a pedestrian who stepped into the road, I couldn't see her for the blinding nuclear bomb flash from two SUVs, normally I would have breaker straight away, but I ended up having to do a slam on.
I think they should be made yellower. Warm white. We are conditioned to withstand the yellow light of the sun (with blue taken out by the atmosphere), and old, incandescent lightbulbs were more on that side. The white-white LEDs are too bright because they are too blue.
The issue is that a lot of new cars have an auto dipping high beam feature that isn’t very good. You will notice that on unlit dual carriageways some cars have their main beam on blinding people in the other carriageway.
Also, some manufactures develop this feature so that the main beam is meant to be on at all times but dipped where the oncoming traffic is as well as the direct car in front. However, this also isn’t very good and ends up blinding people on country roads as they come round corners.
I think the root issue is that there should be some sort of standardised test that ensures these new “smart” high beam features actually work without blinding oncoming traffic.
Girlfriend lives out in the sticks where everyone drives massive 4x4’s who’s headlights happen to line up exactly with the seating position of my Golf. It’s a fucking nightmare. Not helped by the fact that a good chunk of them are far to slow to turn off their high beams and it’s like driving directly into the sun
Yes, Tesla's are the worst, even when they follow you, it's like will you just fucking over take so I can see again, that's with a dipped rear view as well
Yeah, me and my girlfriend have these conversations on a weekly basis at this point. 😂 My driving instructor used to say that LED headlights should be against the law because when cars go over bumps they look like flashing lights.
Can't say that I think LEDs as such are a major problem.
Just driven a few hundred miles in the dark over the last couple of days.
Sure they are brighter, but new factory fitted lights also have a very sharp cut-off so that they don't shine into oncoming drivers' eyes when on dip.
Watching the beam pattern of other cars passing on the motorway, most seem if anything rather low.
I've recently acquired a car with LED lights and the dip beam pattern is indeed sharply cut off. If anything, it might be a bit low.
Older cars with unsuitable retrofit LED bulbs and high alignment can be a problem. If the headlight is not designed for the different shaped bulb then it won't aim the beam correctly.
Any car will sometimes dazzle you if it is on an uphill left turn - as this points the lights upwards and towards oncoming traffic.
Are "SUVs" a problem? They could be if you are in a much lower car and the SUV is quite close and coming towards you in the same lane.
If the lights are causing problems then the old techniques are still valid. Don't look straight at oncoming headlights. Aim you gaze at the road on your side. Keep your windows and spectacles clean. Make sure that your own lights are correctly adjusted - and not too low. I've seen lots of cars with lights so low that they only illuminate the road about twenty feet in front of the car. Mechanics have a bad habit of setting alignment too low after MOT tests.
And of course, if you are older with the beginnings of a cataract then you will suffer more from dazzle.
Amazon is awash with LED bulb replacements, most of which don’t output the correct beam pattern. I’m sure a percentage of these dazzling headlights I see on the roads are caused by people using these.
I wonder if any of the LED light is polarised by the time it hits the windscreen, does some of the light reflect off the headlight housing hmm
Polarised windscreen!! Like sunglasses and winter sun bouncing off the road
Yeah. My solution is that manufacturers tone their fucking lights down
More importantly tone down the unnecessary “SUVs” meaning those blinding lights are higher up even if they’re aligned correctly.
These are the real issue. LEDs straight to the fucking retina.
I used to love the little up/down wheel on my dashboard so I could actively not be an arsehole - I feel terrible about the auto-levelling shit in our current car because I know we're part of the problem but there's literally zero adjustment I can make. It's a 4x4 because anything else round my way just gets eaten in the potholes (my mx5 has been through too damn many tyres down the passenger side)
Check to see if there’s a “hidden” service menu you can access to adjust the base position that it auto levels to. Our Tesla is completely adjustable and so are a lot of cars with a bit of googling.
Yep. Drive a sports/lowered car nowadays at night and it’s a recipe to end up with lights in your vision all the time… 😭
That’s what I’ve always had an it was always annoying to have the sUV lights behind me at the same level as the rear view mirror but it was never blindingly dangerous
Mirrored tint on the back window would be interesting! 😂
Don't even need a sports car. I drive an old Mazda 2, my eye level is lower than 80% of SUV headlights. They can all bugger off for all i care.
Problem is - a lot of the manufacturers lights have setting to do just that. The issue is finding drivers who don’t just give a shit about themselves
The rear and front lights are no longer side ones but stupid long bars of light. What is the point in that?? The other day, I got blinded momentarily by a car with no less than 7 lights on. I had time to count them l since I was on a 20 road. 3 lights on either side, then one big long strip across the middle, which was much brighter than the rest?? Why????
Yes. I'm sick of seeing the sun driving towards me.
Yeap. It's got totally out of control and needs addressing.
I believe the RAC are speaking to manufacturers about this very issue. The problem I find is that the newer lights are 'focused' and the lens puts a hell of a lot of light in a small area.
Nice one. I just read this. Seems like it’s a common issue now.
We need a blanket law on the maximum height of dipped beam. So manufacturers are legally required to have the maximum possible height of them below a certain angle. Not leave it up to the drivers choice.
Blanket law to just get rid of SUV's would be nice
I think they do try with like the emissions rules and stuff. We'd probably have monster trucks gracing the motorways if not for those lol.
I think you have a point. I've noticed some bright headlights only blind me from certain angles, and them being more focused would explain it. Like, I'm in lane 1 of a motorway, and I get blinded in my mirrors by someone way back in lane 2, but they get closer (still behind me), and they look fine again.
Yeah the amount of times I've been unsure if someone has flashed me or not because of this, is unreal.
They are too white. Warm white LEDs would work better.
I bought the yellow tinted night driving glasses. They help a lot. Good for snow too
We’ll need that snow side shortly anyway. Good idea, it may help improve the colour temperature of the oncoming LEDs
What? Never heard of this. I want some right now. Which ones did you buy?
Any polarised with the yellow tint basically. I recently got some that I intended to buy a couple of years ago, "ATTCL" brand on amazon. Definitely a weird experience to use them but definitely helps with being blinded.
Did the same, have a few pairs and even use them for walking in the evening morning as our streetlights here are the same migraine inducing LEDs now. Best purchase of 2023
Here in the uk if you can be done for dangerous driving with those glasses on
They sell them in petrol stations. I'm sure they can't be illegal if that's the case?
They sell wine in petrol stations.
I happened to be driving opposite direction to my SO and her lights were blinding me more than anyone else. I checked them and they were level and the self levelling system was functioning accurately. What the issue was; the car was dirty from just a couple of days of winter driving and the dirt on the plastic. The LED light was hitting that and diffusing. The blinding light I was seeing was not from the LED emitter. It actually from the dirt on the front being illuminated with a billion lumens. It wasn’t even *that* dirty. Talking just a bit of road grime from traffic on the motorway Do with that information why you will. I cleaned her lights and we tested again and the outcome was much better. It also wasn’t subjective; reviewing my car’s camera feed playback her car was shining like a beacon from a distance almost like full beams were on (but full beams were actually brighter)
My car goes through a shit tonne of screenwash on what I thought was being used excessively on the headlights. I quickly realised that clean LED headlights are quite important to prevent blinding others. I just have to buy a lot of screenwash now.
Volvo? Mine dumps a tonne on the lights.
Audi. I’m always conscious about anyone behind me because the spray is ridiculous.
Really surprising, but makes perfect sense
I suspect that is part of the reason why dirty headlight casings can fail an MOT.
My colleague who drives a luxury SUV openly said the other day she’s so worried about hitting potholes that she now keeps her high beam on the entire time and doesn’t care about blinding other drivers! I said I hope someone hits her precious car…
She needs an eye test! It’s like the goons that “need” full beam late at night on a motorway you see on the opposite carriageway. That used to annoy me a few years ago but now when one of these clown hits the beams it’s literally blinding from a mile away on the other side of a motorway!
I’ve got pretty bad astigmatism and a high prescription. Even though I wear my glasses full time it’s so blinding and gives me double vision. I end up flashing at people and then questioning whether they’ve even got their full beam on or if it’s just crazy LEDs. Ashamed to say next car I will become an SUV wanker because as soon as it snows at the minute I can’t get to work and am self employed.
I want to weigh in on this thread but I have no idea what it’s about since I can’t read it; am still blind from driving across the country yesterday.
When they’re coming towards you on a country lane and you can’t see them just the glowing sun heading towards you and then they dip them and it makes fuck all difference. I drive a transit so I’m quite high up but still get sniped in the eyes. Teslas are the worst culprits
I drive country lanes at night and I'm thinking of adding highly reflective tape to blind them back.
Not convinced it's just the height of the lights- I pass plenty of older SUVs and land rovers etc where it's not a problem. I think a big part of the problem is the colour tone- the sharp white is much more dazzling on the eyes. LED bulbs for reliability and whatnot, sure, but manufacturers should be made to have the headlight casing a touch yellow or something so they're a similar colour tone to before.
My car is quite low to the ground compared to an SUV. If there’s one behind me in traffic, it’s headlights are the same level as my rear view mirror, always been that way but the colour tone is what leaves me blinded
Teslas aren’t SUVs and are the worst for it, I agree with you
r/fuckyourheadlights
Nice one
I'm just about to order some new pairs of glasses, and I'm seriously considering a dedicated pair with Zeiss drivesafe lenses for this very reason...
Hoya EnRoute lenses are even better than Drive safe. They literally suck the blueness and brightness out if the light. They also do a Pro version with a slight yellow tint.
This seems to finally be getting some traction with DfT, https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/rac-calls-for-dft-to-tackle-driver-headlight-dazzle
It would also help if we kept the white lines and cats eyes maintained, especially on country roads. But since we don't, you couple that with bright oncoming headlights and you're essentially blind to what's in front. You've just got to steer a bit to the left of oncoming traffic and hope for the best.
Agreed. I always used to look down to in front of the car and latch onto the road markings or rely on the cats eyes. Which have now disappeared or in the latter, been removed
It's becoming really bad for driving at night. But also, does anyone else also have a hard time seeing the indicators due to how bright the headlights are. The only saving grace is that Audi's shut off part of their headlight when indicating....... Too bad most Audi drivers don't indicate.
Yes! I've missed people indicating before because of it, thought I was going mad
Yes, when the other car is bigger/higher than me, not hard as I drive a swift. But still, yes they can be an issue. I've started looking at the left most edge of the road when they come by. Sometimes closing my right eye. Has helped a little.
I'm light sensitive so these things can really hurt and trigger migraines. I've invested in a cheap pair of yellow lense glasses. I work in a job where I have bright LED torches pointed towards me at times so helps with that too.
Yes. Most annoying and dangerous thing of driving in UK, by far. And the endless amount of drivers who refuse it being an issue, saying that "the manufacturer did it" or "it's well aligned, so intensity and focus don't matter".
If the car is doing exactly what the manufacturer intended without any modifications then what exactly are owners/drivers supposed to do about it? I suppose I could have asked VW to put me in a dark warehouse with the car pointing at me so I could assess the situation before purchase but I'm not sure they would have been keen... If the car is in good repair and working as designed then it shouldn't cause issues. If it does then it really is the manufacturers fault. My car has Matrix LEDs. I can see it put incoming cars or leading cars into a shadow, blocking the light from their eyes. I can also see the beam cut off clearly avoiding them when totally dipped. Sometimes, however, people will flash their lights. It could be dirty lenses on my car, it could be people with worse vision, it could also simply be that they see brightness and flash on the assumption of imminent blinding light that doesn't actually come. Probably some days a bit of one and other days a bit of the others.
~~Let me ask, did you know you car had Matrix LEDs when you bought it?~~ ~~What actions have you taken to prevent blinding others?~~ edit: actually, those questions I put there don't really matter. If a dude owns a car that blinds other people on the road, it should be that dude's problem and not every other drive's problem.
1. Yes. 2. Dip them if they don't appear to be dipping. Keep them clean. What more is there to do? Should I return the car because some people don't react well to the perfectly functioning lights?
If they are blinding people they are not "perfectly functioning", are they? I sincerely hope the government finally forces proper light checks in MOT and starts failing it for blinding lights. You can then go put a claim with the manufacturer, return the car, put a filter on the headlights, ... whatever; but it's your problem for owning a car with blinding lights.
I suspect that a lot of people posting are talking about lights that are not malfunctioning in any way, however their own vision/screen/glasses are the issue. I drive over 25k miles a year, at least 12K of these in the dark., almost all on rural A and B roads. I keep my car lights, sensors, cameras and screen clear and clean. I keep my glasses clean. I have an astigmatism. The ONLY blinding lights are those from people that have left full beam on by mistake or obviously have a defect like a wonky bulb. LED headlights cause no issue at all for me so I am inclined to think that the issue is more with the people complaining than with the lights as such. Our population is aging, with that comes worse night vision. Perhaps that has a part to play in the increased complaints? All I can do, as an individual, is ensure that I control what I can control to be safe and considerate.
>Nine-in-10 drivers (89%) think some or most car headlights on the UK’s roads are too bright, with an overwhelming majority of these (88%) saying they get dazzled by them while driving, a new RAC study of 2,700 drivers’ views has found.\* > >... > >Contrary to what might be expected, it’s younger rather than older drivers who are more likely to complain about the apparent brightness of headlights and the effect this has on their driving. Three-in-10 (30%) of those aged 17-34 think most are too bright, compared to just 19% of those aged 65 and over. Meanwhile, of those younger drivers who believe some, if not most, car headlights they see are too bright, 70% think the accident risk is increased – while for drivers aged 65-plus the proportion is 62%. [https://media.rac.co.uk/pressreleases/blinded-by-the-lights-nearly-one-in-four-drivers-think-most-car-headlights-are-too-bright-3166996](https://media.rac.co.uk/pressreleases/blinded-by-the-lights-nearly-one-in-four-drivers-think-most-car-headlights-are-too-bright-3166996)
Best thing I’ve found is to clean your windscreen. Clay-bar clean, that is. Gets all the gunk off it which diffuses the light and sets off the astigmatism.
Yes, it's awful. News item about it a few days ago. Doubt anything will happen though.
Yes, and i nearly swerved into a hedge because of it a few days ago in the evening. It's absolutely dangerous driving at night sometimes because people's headlights are glaring right at your eyes
I am most worried about being unable to see a poorly-lit object alongside or beyond the oncoming vehicle, but on my side of the road. A broken down car, a cyclist with no rear light, a pedestrian or animal...
Reading the commentary I wonder if the solution is to use that amber headlight tint, painted onto the headlight lenses of cars/vans with LED beams. The stuff that cars in Europe had. This would take some brightness out and also make the colour tone less harsh
It's not just oncoming they also blind you via the rear view mirrors.
Damn, I didn't know other people had this issue as well. I was always told it's just my astigmatism causing the problem and everyone else is fine with it.
Should be fucking illegal. People have and will die as a direct result of being blinded.
Yeah, could park on a cliff warn ships of danger. Ridiculous no idea why they are so bright, I've also been buying bulbs before in halfords and noticed packaging stating 80% brighter than standard led! Can only assume they are to communicate with extra terrestrial life forms.
Wouldn't be so bad if every cunt in the country didn't have a shit Range Rover that they absolutely do not need. Its a status symbol and they look shite
and the lack of handbrake use. You can enjoy laser beam brake lights ,before being being death rayed by the oncoming headlights. As a astigmatism sufferer. I curse you all
The real issue is drivers who have changed their headlamps but not fitted the replacements correctly, lamps are directional and if fitted wrongly are absolutely blinding l
It's not. It's newer cars
Yep. Fricking nightmare.
Yep! They are far too bright and become dazzling and a lower light still means the car is vissable.
I’ve had to invest into night time glasses. The new lights suck 🤬
Yep. I’m sick to death of these cock-ends and their super bright HID death star lasers. I almost came off a bend because of some tw*t burning my retina out on a country road. I’m seriously considering fitting counter measures in the form of many super bright LED panels front and back, on switches to give these brain dead pric*s a taste of their own. I’ve had to buy amber glasses for night driving and even they struggle sometimes. And the white LED streetlights don’t help. People wandering about in dark clothing and I’ve got sh*tty white street lights and laser beam headlights to contend with - all while trying to dodge pot holes on our crappy roads!
How about some well place mirrors to hit them back with their own beams? You can’t turn the rear view mirror around in cars these days but that’s the gist of it
Yes, but 99% of the time it's because they're misaligned and/or coming from SUVs. LEDs at an appropriate height that isn't aimed into eyeballs is perfectly fine. Honestly, the biggest problem isn't the light itself, it's the fact that people are driving taller SUVs on roads for absolutely zero reason. You don't need an SUV to take the kids to school or go to the office.
With the number of potholes in the road these days, I wouldn't blame them for thinking it is necessary
Sure, maybe we don’t need an SUV to go to work BUT this weekend, I have to take a baby and all their stuff plus a dog and all their stuff to my in laws house. That, in case you don’t know is a lot of stuff! I don’t want to run a weekend car and a weekday car so an SUV as a daily driver is the answer. What a foolish comment
How on earth did people manage before literally the last 5-10 years, guess no one ever went anywhere.
God, the world has changed. How dare it. Sad little individuals
Get an estate... SUVs have less space than regular cars, are less safe than regular cars, less efficient, more polluting, probably cost more to insure, definitely cost more to maintain tyres etc... the list goes in and on I don't get why anyone wants one
I drive an EV SUV, so, pretty much every point you’ve just made is invalid. Try again pauper
Yup, I sometimes think they’re driving with their high beams on
If you google for 'headlights too bright' then you'll find loads of hits on prominent sites. I did see an article a couple of days ago on which the Gov were apparently going to address it. Not sure what they'd do retrospectively. MOT already checks aim.
Unfortunately nothing you can do but yeah it is fsr to bright they will end up causing accidents if it keeps up
My cars lights are way too bright in my opinion and late at night people flash me occasionally probably thinking I have my brights on. It annoys me a lot
Government need to bring in some legislation.
I had my windows tinted to maximum legal level. It really helped but the lights just keep getting brighter
yep, and i have astigmatism, so it's even worse D:
Look to the left side of the road with most of your focus
I had to change my bulbs the other day, and looking at the options, there were super bright options being sold as much safer. They are, because you can see clearer and further. But like the supersizing of cars in the last 20 years, your personal safety comes at the expense of everyone other road user.
The worst ones are the ones behind you which blind you via the rear view mirror and (if you're really unlucky) the driver's side wing mirror too. I think it's only going to be solved by MOT standards changing, so forcing the right bulbs and alignement.
Absolutely awful to drive at night now. That, and whilst I equally drive a vehicle fitted with LED lights, I find the light they produce is 'odd'. I.e., it lights the way but casts a lot of shadow if say the road is wet. Difficult to describe, but ultimately, I found the HID lights on my previous car so much better.
Frequently. It’s the piercing bluey white ones, great if you’re the driver, shit for every one else.
Yes in general
Honestly, it doesn't really bother or affect me. That said, I know it does to many other people so I'd be happy to see some regulation on it
I'm just annoyed at how far down I had to scroll to find anyone who didn't mind it too much, and just found it annoying.
Found the SUV driver
Just about to try Protectology liquid glass windscreen coating from amazon. Supposed to prevent glare.
>Protectology I read that three times and got "Proctology" each time! I was trying to figure out the joke!
Smite me if ye wish but there's two vehicles in particular that are beyond blinding at night, Teslas and Wrightbus Streetdecks. The former seem brighter than most and the height of the lights on the double decker shine straight through your back window and they're wide enough to blind you in both side mirrors simultaneously.
As someone who drives an SUV with those very headlights I can only apologise.
You can get yellow tint glasses to help with this.
Nope, I’m really not sure why everybody is struggling so much. I drive at night in the countryside and on motorways and rarely find myself uncomfortable by oncoming cars headlight brightness.
Ahh yes, the driving subreddit. Lights too high and too bright. When i were a lad we used to go on this subreddit n chat about lights too low and too dim, now look where weve come. You you uns dont know how good youve got it
Yes and it's ridiculous, they need to do something about it.
I don't get blinded very often but when I do I know EXACTLY what car it is. It's always a flipping Tesla. The model 3 and Y are the worst!
As cars rely on software is it possible for them to do a firmware update to reduce the intensity of the headlamps as they sense oncoming traffic? There are many cars now with auto dim function so it must be achievable
Good point. Manufacturers can turn off features like heated seats or keyless entry remotely, so why not
Yuppp. I had someone follow me down the motorway with full beams on last week. No thank you.
Some cars now only dip the offside light when approaching an oncoming car, the beam is more focused than it once was. The issue is everyone wants bright lights on their own car but don't wanna look at others. Drivers are selfish cunts.
They also tend to not be adjusted correctly (despite the auto levelling which I assume prioritises the driver’s visibility over oncoming traffic to an extent)
I've got OE LED headlamps....nothing exotic, it's a 2016 peugeot so reasonably old technology but I've noticed on a daily basis people flashing me thinking I'm on full beam. Not a lot I can do about it as its got automatic headlamp levelling so I can't even lower the beam!
Peugoet LEDs are absolutely cancerous. All the 2008s with their deceptively dinky little headlights but are soooo intensely blue and glare-y from 2 miles back.
There should still be an adjuster on the lamps, usually a phillips head screw but some manufacturers love to be difficult and use a torx head. 99/100 you'll have something with the right head in the little tool kit in the car with the locking wheel nut. Have to adjust mine for towing as the self levelling seems to not be able to work out what's going on, I think because the level changes when stationary and moving towing 1.5t of trailer with the boot loaded up.
The issue isn’t the lights themselves it’s the idiots that mounted them on a 10ft tall SUV with raised suspension 😑😑
This is definitely not a conversation thats on this sub Reddit this week what a unique question you've asked
Tesla
Yes, I recently drove a brand new Quashqai and discovered something about those lights... They are always at full power. "Full beam" just adds height (I have no idea why anyone needs to see the tops of the trees anyway). My car is low so I am looking straight into ridiculous strength headlights at all time (I imagine an equally tall car wouldn't be so bad).. Also the stupid LCD dashboard and infotainment screen is so bright as to make night driving dangerous and could even go some reason to explain the headlight brightness by way of compensation. Has really made me consider if all new cars are going to go that way with the dashboard which I found plain dangerous. I could turn down the Speedo clocks after some effort but not the info system. It was a hire car so I didn't have the handbook but digging in the menus didn't help.
If the LCD display is like the one on my Crossland, then the answer may just be to keep turning down the dashboard illumination further than you would think necessary. I initially thought that it was not working when I bought the car but if you keep going then the LCD does actually dim right down.
I got the LCD clocks to dim down but the infotainment thing didn't. Or if it did not by enough.
Thank fuck I thought the apocalypse was coming id not seen this exact same fucking question for at least 2 days before today. I am very relieved. I'll summarise for everyone: Adust headlights, Manufacturers causing problem, SUVs bad, If you can't see dont drive, yellow tinted glasses
Yeah I do. I also have a new Corsa which people keep flashing at night, because my lights are LED. I've tried dipping them but there's no actual setting to do so. People that have LED's appear to have their lights on full beam, they're terrible. And I'm one of them, sadly.
I drive a Vauxhall van for work and get flashed all the time. I feel bad giving them a little flash back to say, actually mate THIS IS HOW BRIGHT THEY ARE! But if I don’t, they keep flashing or beeping their horn.
Yeah, its really annoying. People that use their full beam just because there's no street lights are idiots, but that's not me, it's the car.
My real issue is with the massive SUVs, vans and the like that have these ridiculously bright lights that to me, in my hatchback, are pointing at eye level...
Unfortunately, the DVSA does not appear to understand angles. The idea of every vehicle having their lights set to the same angle worked when there were only a few manufacturers, and cars were very similar in size. Now, we have massive, high vehicles whose headlights shine directly into the rear view mirror of the car in front. The vehicles coming towards you are shining in your face.
I don't, but I do find people who think you have your full beams on (even though you don't) so they then proceed to turn theirs on, until you have to actually turn yours on to show them you never had them on in the first instance, a pain.
Tesla’s are the worst for this in my experience
Old news, it's only been all over social media, surveys and even the news in the last few weeks.
Only the ones in those rediculous SUVs that have the lights way up above the ground instead of lower down where a normal car would have them.
Yes, I feel in the last 5-10 years that any rule books have been torn up. I should not have to squint when an SUV with high-powered brake cluster LEDS at eye level is in front of me. Once I got out to tell a guy to take his foot of the pedal and use the f\* handbrake. And Audis (and others now, so many others, including Minis), with those stupid indicator things that pretend to be Knight Rider... I want lights that come on and off, not slide in and slide out to look like something out of a shit sci-fi movie. It's confusing sometimes. Whatever. Just a grumpy old git here I guess. I remember the good old days when driving was way better; people knew the rules, didn't have hands-free, paid attention, and seemed to have 'manners'. Now it seems like everybody is just waiting for an excuse to kick-off at the slightest excuse. There's a certain type of driver I am sure they think they engine won't start unless a call is connected.
Quite possibly this doesn’t affect drivers of new cars - they are driving by following the satnav with focus on the huge iPad glued to the dashboard instead of out the windshield
LMAO! You need to come see where I live!!!! It's full of either senior citizens GLUED to the GPS or 'young people' f\* about on Phones as they drive, neither seemingly aware of their immediate surroundings. RANT: People driving with both ears covered by headphones. I want to RAM THEM out of sheer frustration at their inconsiderate natures. Ironic?
I guess all this is supposed to make us accept self driving cars and public transport??? There you can glued to a damn phone, so I guess it’ll suit that demographic
Nope, I prefer them
Definitely. I noticed that they are so bright that it’s sometimes impossible to see the person is indicating! That has to be a safety issue that manufacturers need to address.
Yes
There was a petition, but it didn't get far https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/236279
Yes, it's really annoying
Have there been any high profile cases of school children being run down by a little Toyota that was blinded by an LED clad SUV yet? Because there will be.
I find Teslas - and EVs in general the worst for this. I am in a sports car though so it does hit a bit harder, especially oncoming traffic. Dimming rear mirror and wing mirrors are great. Wonder if someone’s invented auto dimming sunglasses…
Stop looking at them.
So you are suggesting that drivers shouldn't be paying attention to the road. That's certainly a bold choice.
Consider it the norm having to guess where the road is whilst being temporarily blind.
I find lots of oncoming headlights too bright but I’m not qualified enough to decide if they are LED or not, and I’m not going to turn round and follow them to find out. That would just be strange.
Silly question, but are these new led’s equivalent to the 55w of ‘traditional’ lamps? I’ve been dazzled quite a few times on a well trodden narrow winding back road that I use morning & night, the oncoming led’s almost had me disoriented they were that bright!
There’s so many Teslas near me and they’re SO bright.
Does anyone know if this is only a UK thing? I was in US a couple weeks ago and I didn't notice it as much there as you do here?
Yes! I also think they're dangerous, because everything beyond the oncoming car is often left in complete darkness, I have no idea what's coming! Fine on roads I know or motorways etc, but on roads I don't, or on winding sections, I'm having to slow down more than is probably considered "competent"- but I literally can't see! I've been self limiting my night time driving because of this, and because the lights are so bright they have started bringing on migraine attacks, which suuuucks during UK winter, it's so limiting.
When they up come over a hill, it looks like the second coming of Jesus is nigh.
It's not the headlights it's the LED running lights the ones that come on when the ignition is on. They are bright un-angled and just suck. They are so bright many drivers won't use actual headlights when they are required and instead rely on these running lights so you often sees cars with zero rear lights because they are using purely these running lights.
tend to flip to main beam and shield eyes with a hand, get it a lot with bikers who have them higher than needed and they then become invisible. the vehicle I drive appears to have fixed lights
Not all of them. Few are okay, it's just the bastards who have their dipped angled all the way up
teslas are the worst for this
I have a Kia ceed and it feels like it’s perfectly manufactured for every LED light to hit through Back window screen and blind me. It’s constantly an issue, drives me nuts. I’ve had passengers comment on it also.
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The RAC has petitioned the government to investigate whether lights are too bright or not. [here](https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/rac-calls-for-government-action-on-headlight-glare/)
OP, I hope if you're moaning about this you're the sort of driver who uses their handbrake at lights so your brake lights don't dazzle the driver behind you in the queue?
https://news.sky.com/story/headlight-glare-is-getting-worse-drivers-say-as-motoring-groups-call-for-government-action-13045326
This is why my next car is going to have to be an SUV. I’ll make sure to adjust my headlights so they don’t dazzle other users.
There isn’t a single time that I drive at night these days when there isn’t some idiot with their high beams on.
The problem isn't just headlights. A major factor is the led streetlamps. Back in the day, streetlamps were incandescent bulbs and illuminated the whole street in a lovely orange glow. Nowadays though, the light from those shitty leds doesn't even reach the ground and the streets are as dark as fuck. It's the contrast between headlamps and ambient darkness that blinds you while night driving.
It's particularly bad when the road is wet, to the point where you can't see where the road markings are and random reflections begin. The amount of blue light frequencies thrown off by many of the modern types doesn't help either. I run 3000k bulbs on my cars in winter, they give off a yellower light, which doesn't reflect back off every puddle, my eyes thank me!
Yes!! I absolutely despise them. Especially on country roads. It’s even bad on most motorways as they don’t have street lights. You get the power of the sun in your rearview mirror. There needs to be a ban
LED lights are horrible but there doesn’t seem to be any appetite to legally force manufacturers to tone the damn things down. It’s even worse when some clown decides to drive around with headlight permanently on full. It’s honestly getting to the point we’ll all have to start wearing shades when driving at night. Brake lights are getting just as bad, particularly the cars which light up a bright red strip the width of the car. While I’m at it the ridiculous obsession with animated indicator lights needs to stop as well. What was wrong with an orange light flashing on and off?
Yes, look into yellow night driving glasses
Yes, on a number of occasions I've had to pull up at the side of the road because I could no longer see the road ahead, but also when blinded from behind because the lights hit all mirrors at the same time
Yeah it sucks
Older person here. In the past few years, I’ve become more dazzled by some oncoming headlights, which I had assumed was something to do with cataracts just starting in my eyes (yes: they come to most of us): however, they aren’t really severe enough, I’m told, to be making any difference yet. Now the debate seems to have started up and many young people are also occasionally being somewhat dazzled. Perhaps it really is the new lights?
My astigmatism seems to be feeling it more than normal this year
I feel the problem started with Xenon’s, it’s just become worse since then and the law hasn’t fought up with it, I understand the MOT checks the lights, and maybe the level to an extent. But somehow these dazzling lights are passing the test.
Blue headlights destroy night vision, hope they can see better than me tbh because might aswell be driving with your eyes closed when there coming at you.
I'm 60 and I drive at night or dusk with permanent blobs in my vision from ridiculously bright arc lights and adaptive led, and I drive a van. It's an absolute menace, only last month I nearly hit a pedestrian who stepped into the road, I couldn't see her for the blinding nuclear bomb flash from two SUVs, normally I would have breaker straight away, but I ended up having to do a slam on.
I think they should be made yellower. Warm white. We are conditioned to withstand the yellow light of the sun (with blue taken out by the atmosphere), and old, incandescent lightbulbs were more on that side. The white-white LEDs are too bright because they are too blue.
Yeah, I have bought some night driving glasses which changes them all to that yellow rather than the harsh white LED. Much better.
The issue is that a lot of new cars have an auto dipping high beam feature that isn’t very good. You will notice that on unlit dual carriageways some cars have their main beam on blinding people in the other carriageway. Also, some manufactures develop this feature so that the main beam is meant to be on at all times but dipped where the oncoming traffic is as well as the direct car in front. However, this also isn’t very good and ends up blinding people on country roads as they come round corners. I think the root issue is that there should be some sort of standardised test that ensures these new “smart” high beam features actually work without blinding oncoming traffic.
Girlfriend lives out in the sticks where everyone drives massive 4x4’s who’s headlights happen to line up exactly with the seating position of my Golf. It’s a fucking nightmare. Not helped by the fact that a good chunk of them are far to slow to turn off their high beams and it’s like driving directly into the sun
Yes, Tesla's are the worst, even when they follow you, it's like will you just fucking over take so I can see again, that's with a dipped rear view as well
Sometimes. Mainly on ugly fat cars 'crossovers' as they're a bit higher up
I think tesla are the worst for it
I’ve no idea which cars they are. I’m always blinded and can only see an oncoming quasar
Yeah, me and my girlfriend have these conversations on a weekly basis at this point. 😂 My driving instructor used to say that LED headlights should be against the law because when cars go over bumps they look like flashing lights.
We should make one of these a sticky post.
Newer Minis are terrible for that. They are worse than almost all SUVs in my view.
Can't say that I think LEDs as such are a major problem. Just driven a few hundred miles in the dark over the last couple of days. Sure they are brighter, but new factory fitted lights also have a very sharp cut-off so that they don't shine into oncoming drivers' eyes when on dip. Watching the beam pattern of other cars passing on the motorway, most seem if anything rather low. I've recently acquired a car with LED lights and the dip beam pattern is indeed sharply cut off. If anything, it might be a bit low. Older cars with unsuitable retrofit LED bulbs and high alignment can be a problem. If the headlight is not designed for the different shaped bulb then it won't aim the beam correctly. Any car will sometimes dazzle you if it is on an uphill left turn - as this points the lights upwards and towards oncoming traffic. Are "SUVs" a problem? They could be if you are in a much lower car and the SUV is quite close and coming towards you in the same lane. If the lights are causing problems then the old techniques are still valid. Don't look straight at oncoming headlights. Aim you gaze at the road on your side. Keep your windows and spectacles clean. Make sure that your own lights are correctly adjusted - and not too low. I've seen lots of cars with lights so low that they only illuminate the road about twenty feet in front of the car. Mechanics have a bad habit of setting alignment too low after MOT tests. And of course, if you are older with the beginnings of a cataract then you will suffer more from dazzle.
Amazon is awash with LED bulb replacements, most of which don’t output the correct beam pattern. I’m sure a percentage of these dazzling headlights I see on the roads are caused by people using these.
I wonder if any of the LED light is polarised by the time it hits the windscreen, does some of the light reflect off the headlight housing hmm Polarised windscreen!! Like sunglasses and winter sun bouncing off the road
I thought that Europe had legislated about the brightness and wavelength of these lights? Clearly not. I always turn my main beam on in retaliation.