Anyone else blinded by these new headlights when driving?

I hate them too. But what I hate even more is when they’re arranged to look like aggressively frowning eyes. It’s bad enough being out in the dark on your own without that behind you.

Oh all the time - I have astigmatism too and I don't like driving after dark any more mainly because of the goddamn lights!

For all those complaining about lights in the rear view mirror - you do know that you can tilt it so it reflects from the glass (and therefore much dimmer) instead of the highly reflective silver background

I have a slight astigmatism, I wasn't aware it made it worse.
I suffer from headlights, it wasn't like this before all these newer models of cars and their LED lights. Sometimes I don't know if cars have their full beam or not, the difference is less apparent.

Yellow tinted glasses at night can help, and if I get a car with bright lights behind me, I press that little switch on the rear view mirror to dim it.

If they come up behind you, angle the lights back to them using your mirror(s). They usually back right off.

Anyone have a link to the petition please?

I had no idea my astigmatism made this worse! But i totally agree

I hate them too. If I absolutely have to drive in the dark I wear prescription sunglasses which helps a tiny bit, but I still would rather not drive in the dark.

I struggle with this as well 😩

Unfortunately, at the moment, it's dark when I am going to work and dark when I am coming home and it's awful.

A non perspective cheap pair of yellow lense glasses helps a lot. Doesn't solve the problem but it's the only thing that has made a difference for me.

I have astigmatism in both eyes, and those new headlights practically blind me. I've taken to flicking my interior mirror into night mode when it's dark so it looks out from the boot of my car instead. It makes it just that little bit more bearable rather than having lights blinding me from both front and behind.

I've kept meaning to start a thread about this. I hate them! Far too dazzling, and dangerous imo. I'm amazed they're allowed.

I had to do a long drive in the dark recently and I was terrified! And driving never normally bothers me but I took a couple of wrong turns and was so on edge, they must cause accidents.

soup I've stumbled twice over a kerb near me. It's making me so angry that our safety is compromised.
Some poor sod at the council is getting an email from me about it soon. They should bring back the orange lights so we can see, and they don't disturb the night wildlife either.

Same here OP its awful

And as a pedestrian walking locally, cant see a thing because street lighting is so poor, it only lights up hte road, not the pavements, most of the pavements are in deep black shadow so you dont know if you're treading in shit or about to break your ankle on broken paving

I was going to start a thread about it! It is so dangerous when you can’t even tell if the car is on the correct side of the road as it’s coming towards you. There is a really narrow route near me which is not really wide enough for two large cars to pass, my car is small so I know I have enough room on my side but have to pray the oncoming cars aren’t overlapping!

Yanbu. I dread driving at night because of them. I think the RAC have flagged it up and there was a discussion in parliament or the Lords.

I've been in a modern car and they do light up the street amazingly well. However, I have a bee in my bonnet about it as our council have turned the streetlights down so pedestrians (me) can't see to walk safely. I'd like to know how many new car drivers responded to the consultation saying they'd happily have the streetlights turned down. Doesn't affect them does it.

See this as an example.

These new bright LED car headlights have been the subject of many threads on Mumsnet, many features on consumer-led radio and TV shows such as Jeremy Vine, and newspaper articles. So Yanbu, there's hundreds of thousands if not millions of people who want something done about them, you're not alone!

Agree.

I also have astigmatism. Mines severe.

I have a pair of cheap glasses with yellow tinted lenses for night driving.

It helps a lot!

Surprised you think you're the only one, given there's been multiple Government petitions, it is the subject of a review and it has been a topic of contention for a long time. But no you're not the only one.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3rlrz7rgw0o

I'm so glad I've seen this thread as thought it was just me! I assumed my eye sight was starting to deteriorate (I recently turned 40)

@Bushmillsbabe its not always that the driver hasn’t adjusted their lights, in my SUV I can’t manually adjust where the light beam shines, the car automatically adjusts the beam for each driver. I assume it does it on weight and seat position but not 100% sure.

Yes. Some lights are absolutely dazzling. I find the taller vehicles like big jeeps the worse. The lights are just shining straight into my face.

I've bought some weird yellow glasses that go over my normal glasses. An Internet purchase. They do actually help a bit even though I look like an idiot wearing sunglasses at night.

I have to do a 2 hour drive at night in a few days. I'm not looking forward to it at all because of the LEDs.

I work in optometry and it’s the number one complaint that people have when they come to clinic.