To hate LED headlights!

But then that is likely still not at the right height for lower cars compared to SUVs.

If the colour temperature was different it might help. More yellow instead.

Yes I'm panicking about driving in the dark this winter

Yes, a lot of cars have them come on automatically. In some European countries, you legally have to have some lights on whether it's night or day so it's becoming standard.

They adjust the light level based on load on the car.

@DoctorLove I bet the drivers cloaked in your car's lights don't find that amusing. That bright light is most likely affecting their rear view mirror inside their car and, also, they can't view the road behind them ver well because all they see are some super bright lights.

I agree the technology is very clever and our own cars have these lights but it's a pain in the arse for everyone else.

What do the self levelling lights level too though?
If they're in a suv does he technology take into account the height of lower cars?

In fact I find it quite amusing sometimes following older vehicles down unlit roads that have halogen headlights, the Matrix lights cloak their car and light up the road around them, it's brilliant. It may be amusing for you but it's disconcerting for the driver in front.

There are actually a lot of people driving round who have an astigmatism and aren't wearing their corrective glasses/contacts, these people usually experience the glare/dazzling. I have an astigmatism and still experience dazzling with my up to date corrective prescription. You are lucky not to. Don't be too sniffy, suggesting that it's people who aren't wearing their glasses who have a problem.

No, hatchback. VW Polo GTI.

@DoctorLove do you have a particularly big 4x4? If so your seating position might be high enough that you're outside the worst of the glare.

No, if they’re less than 2000 lumens then they don’t need auto levelling. Every car I’ve owned or driven with LEDs has had it though.

Yanbu. Even DS who has just started driving hates them. He assumes people are driving with full beams. Its not just my old eyes that struggle with them.

LED headlights are auto levelling. It's a mandatory requirement, there is no adjustment.

There are actually a lot of people driving round who have an astigmatism and aren't wearing their corrective glasses/contacts, these people usually experience the glare/dazzling. Or they just don't know there is a problem with their vision.

Personally I don't have any issues with LED headlights, nor does anyone else I know.

The matrix lighting on my car is game changing, lights up every inch of the road and intelligently dips the beam in areas where pedestrians or other vehicles are, amazing technology.

In fact I find it quite amusing sometimes following older vehicles down unlit roads that have halogen headlights, the Matrix lights cloak their car and light up the road around them, it's brilliant.

My latest pair of driving glasses from SpecSavers has a special coating on them to create some protection from glare and the harshness of modern head lights. They gave me a demo of "with" and "without" the coating and there really was a difference, so it might be worth considering if you wear glasses for driving. You'd need to get the lenses of any current glasses changed obviously, as it's part of the manufacturing process.

I can't believe they have been allowed in the first place. It's actually quite staggering how unsafe they are. Hate them.

Completely agree

Hate these bright lights too.
Dangerous and blinding.

@bluecomputerscreen I've switched mine off for that reason. They also wouldn't switch off if a cyclist was coming against me so they would be blinded. I just use them manually now.

Oh - this explains why three cars within 20 minutes dazzled me on dark country roads last week. I didn't know what was happening - why they were leaving their lights on full beam so long when I was dipping mine as soon as I saw the first flicker of their headlights approaching around the bend.

After almost running off the edge of the road the first time it was so dangerous I had to keep slowing to a crawl.

At the time I told my son my eyes must be getting worse because full beam headlights never used to bother me so much. But it sounds like lights are also getting brighter?

@Babyworriesreal I think that’s because all cars have to have daytime running lights now - well, for the last 15 years or so. But again, presumably for cost savings, lots of manufacturers now just use the normal headlight but with either a different bulb or lower output. So it looks like they have their front headlights on.

I have an old car. I commented to my DS recently that everyone else seems to be driving with their lights on all day - is this because of these lights?

Auto levelling / cleaning is only required if the output > 2,000 lumens. Pre LED all xenon’s had outputs higher than that so all had auto levelling and headlight wash. When LEDs came out some manufacturers realised that the different tech enabled them to have bright lights that were < 2,000 lumens, and save some money as a result by not fitting auto levelling. I know because one of our cars (a Mini I think) had LEDs and no auto levelling, and my husband queried it with the dealer. It would have been around 2018.

People who raise this usually see it from drivers' point of view only. It doesn't only affect them, though. Pedestrians get it when cars drive by or sit parked along the street with these piercing lights on, even if they are dipped or not the main lights. Drivers used to turn off their lights when they stopped or parked but now they don't.

And the lights come on in broad daylight if even a hint of grey or a passing small cloud appears in a blue sky so you are faced with a long line of cars all with the lights on as you walk along the street.

Cyclists are just as bad with the same type of bright lights clamped to their head or attached at various points on the bike. Even joggers on pavements have started wearing them on their head or chest. And it doesn't stop there. You get dogs lit up! And this is in an urban well lit area with street lamps and lights from houses, shops, restaurants, pubs etc. Oh, I forgot the security lights at private houses that come on as you walk past. And the building sites. One house being renovated in my street had a string of 11 of these lights on every night. There never used to be any lights on that sort of site.

Actually just checked, LEDs less than 2000 lumen don’t need self levelling so it’s possible. Most cars with LED headlights won’t have level control in the cockpit though.

Hate them. They are so bright it’s a distraction!