To be happy about this...re headlight glare..link attached

I hope action is taken, but I also hope it extends to cyclists who have excessively bright lights on their bikes/helmets - and a complete ban on the flashing front lights too!

I have to say this isn't a problem for me, I've never been dazzled by oncoming vehicles since the days when dipping headlights was done manually and people forgot. And my rear view mirror automatically dims when there are headlights behind. I'm middle aged, so maybe it will become more of a problem as I become older.

I have matrix headlights on a small car. Pretty sure I'm still dazzling most other drivers though if this thread's anything to go by 😬

Finally. My car filled up with white light to the point I could see nothing when I passed a bus on a country lane that had it's high beams on.

It's all and good for a driver to be able to see more clearly at night, but not at the expense of other road users.

This is exactly the problem: so many higher vehicles with dipped headlights that are as dazzling as a main beam.

It isn’t just you, this is the problem being finally addressed.

I sometimes flash my beam at vehicles like yours as long as there is no one else in the vicinity. I know I shouldn’t do this, but I am saying ‘your lights are a problem’, I KNOW you have them on dipped, I don’t need you to shine an even brighter light to reassure me that you have them dipped!

I hope a garage can assist, and good for you for acknowledging that your car is part of the problem.

I have a RAV4 and that came with the automatic beams. I’ve turned it off as I found it slow to respond to cars and was worse than useless when there were pedestrians/cyclists about.

I was driving on the A19 recently and the car behind has such bright headlights they were making a shadow in front of my car. It was very weird and very difficult to gauge distances.

Ive recently bought a new car and discovered that the blinding (from ours at least) is because the auto dip function just switches off the led lights that are directly hitting the car coming towards me. So the drivers side light creates a dark patch whilst the passenger side just dips a little but still lights up the verge.

Needless to say that I don't use the auto dip function and just use main beam when theres nothing in sight. Chances are half the people doing the blinding don't even realise they're doing it. All this cars thinking for themselves is ridiculous and bloody dangerous, common sense and courtesy has disappeared.

This is good news, yeah
I had given up thinking they were going to do anything about it

I don't actually drive anymore, though - but as a pedestrian, it's awful too!

nobody seems to understand how to dip them. I've never had them as I had an old car. But yeah, nobody understands how to use them so I've been puzzled by the number of posts here saying that will solve the problem.

If you KNOW your car is a problem and you cannot remedy it yourself you really should take it to a garage

It's not just headlights either. Years ago cars had lights, stop lights and indicators. Now every car has a different set up of lights. Strips where lights move along, whole panels of lights down and across the back of the car, lights in the top and bottom of the back window.

Nothing is standard. What with that and the multicoloured road work barriers, multiple signs and road furniture everywhere it's so confusing. At a red light on an A road last week I counted 11 written signs all within a few metres of the car. How are you meant to take all this in?

To me driving has become like falling into a computer game and the way and speed some people drive make me feel that everyone feels the same way.

There's something which people need to admit or acknowledge but I doubt many will...

The "four headlights" craze which has been going on for a few years now.

You know the one - where you see headlights, as normal, but then the fog lights on underneath, so that four bulbs are lit up.

I see it every single day at night in the South East and in the North East where I travel to.

It's not only "scene lads" doing it either - I saw a middle aged woman with a Kia Picanto with fog lights on, at 16:30 when it is broad daylight.

And the thing is, before anyone blames "automatic headlights", I have had auto headlights for a decade and they have never, ever turned on fog lights. You have to wilfully do it to get that effect.

Seriously, if anyone is reading this and has this setup on their car? Please stop.

Will be pleased if there is a change in their design/brightness. I struggle with night driving as a result of the glare, especially on busy dual carriage ways - and if it is raining (ie light is refracting through water on the windscreen) it is awful. I’ve now stopped night driving unless I can find a longer/slow route to where I need to go.

Like many posters here I thought it was maybe due to aging but I’m only in my fifties!!

Woohooo, I wrote to government a few years ago about this assault on our eyes.
Hopefully something will be done now, go Baroness Hayter 👏

Try riding a bicycle home and being blinded whilst actively being overtaken.
Absolutely dangerous.
I have had to avert my eyes away from the road with alarming frequency.

And yes I absolutely agree that my headlights shouldn't be aimed at cars coming towards me but this is the whole point of the thread, that the headlights on newer cars are far too bright even on the dipped setting!!

I have a proviz hat which helps. I've been toying with another proviz item to be honest,
Uniqlo should make their moon bags reflective 🤔. I'd buy another one for winter.

Hm I'll have to take it to the garage then. I have investigated this before and there is a little dial to adjust the headlight height, but it's already set to the lowest setting (which paradoxically is the highest number on the dial, according to the manual).

This is a good thing however poorly lit roads are a big factor. I don’t necessarily mean streetlights but cats eyes and decent road markings would help visibility (and give my eyes somewhere to focus instead of oncoming headlights).
I have no idea how bright my own lights are though, I don’t think the visual check making sure all bulbs are working gives the same effect as approaching lights burning into my retina.

@Xiaoxiong The beam is probably set too high. Good cars have adjustment but your garage could sort it out if you cannot. You need to see a clear pool of light in front of you with a very obvious edge - leading them to darkness. The dipped light should be in front of your car, and pointing towards the kerb. The lights should not be aimed at cars coming towards you so adjustment is badly needed. It is your fault if you don’t do it!

I think this is two issues. Astigmatism causes a flare of light. So makes the light appear like a star around it (I have this).

The glare of the lights is simply because the lights are far too bright and at the wrong angle.

I do live in the sticks and often drive many miles on country roads at night. I find if I look to the left of the middle line on the road and NOT at the cars coming towards me, it really helps.

I have a car where people sometimes think my dipped headlights are full beam. I've been flashed before by oncoming cars, and I have to flash back so people realise I'm genuinely not driving with my full beams on. I've looked into stickers to try and reduce the glare but haven't found any yet that seem to do the trick. It's frustrating as I think it's because they're LED and the car sits up quite high (Hyundai Kona). I bought it second hand so didn't have a choice of headlights, I didn't choose it on purpose!

I find night driving more stressful anyway (age) so these make it even worse.
I can’t drive on unlit roads/roads without good cats’ eyes/markings at night any more. So it’s just as well we don’t live out in the sticks…

Thought it was just me and my menopausal eyes.. I drive a 2 seater low to the ground car and I’m completely dazzled from all directions.

Even went to the optician about it but they said my eyes were all good. (and don’t tell me to give up my car - I love it too much )

My new job which I start in two weeks time I will be driving home 16-17 miles in the dark for the first 4 months. I was ok with driving 1.5 miles for my previous job. Not looking forward to the night driving. Before anyone asks there are no jobs on my side of the county! Plus unemployed for over a year,

I have a visual condition called Keratoconus which my corneas are coned shaped so more of the cornea exposed, more intolerant to glare.

Bought some night driving glasses which go over my glasses. This has helped with the glare. Also when it has rained heavily past few hours. As for me it’s like driving on a mirror- esp with sun bouncing on it!

Some headlights are too bright and some drivers drive on full beams. Should only drive on full beams on unlit roads and put back to normal when oncoming traffic or go through villages.

One thing I've noticed with a newer car is that if you put on full beam, the default setting (in mine anyway) is "automatic" so it dips the headlights for you....but even as a middle age woman I dont think its responsive enough. If you're on the brow of a hill or a bend, for example, if you're doing manually, you can see the first bit of light coming and dip before the other car is directly in view but I feel the auto setting does it a few nano seconds slower than i generally would.i notice it in my own car but also with cars coming towards me, that they are slow to turn off full beam (i rarely drive anywhere especially poorly lit, that i need them, but going to read the manual to see how(if) i turn off the auto setting.