Ridiculously bright headlights - AIBU or should they be banned!?!

[pooh2]

I drive a lot for work and as the nights have drawn in and I'm driving more in the dark I have noticed an increasing number of really bright headlights. I think they are LED ones? Some of them have a bluey tinge. I cam't understand how they are legal on the roads, they are way too bright for urban areas. Surely it's just not me who thinks this?

I've noticed this a lot. Tho other day I had a big car behind me and it felt like its main beams were on. I was so blinded, it was reflected in my mirror which I dipped but as the car was so wide it also reflected through my wing mirrors. It was horrible. I could barely see a thing. And this was in the middle of Croydon so not rural!

I hate flashing bike lights too. I actually find them less safe than normal ones. Bright fine but flashing distracts me. How can that be safer?

Yes! Bluey tinge xenon ones

Oh god Dh's temporary company car had automatic, very bright lights a few years ago. It was awful - we do a lot of travelling to ILs and in winter it's always dark. There was no way of overriding the sensors, people flashed at us all the time as we drove along cringing.

I thought for a while that they had their main beams on by mistake and used to flash them!

But you're right! They are awful!

WalkWaddleRun I hate the flashy bike lights as well! I think they look like a siren or something and they are waaaaay too bright also!!

Absolutely agree. I am constantly flashing people thinking they are on full. It's really quite frightening at times

Re the bike lights, from previous threads I remember that research shows that they DO make the cyclist visible from further away, BUT they also make it harder for drivers to judge their speed and direction, so even from the point of view of the cyclist themself it is not clear they make you safer.

Glad it not just me. I thought it was my age too but judging from thr comments, it isn't. I drive rurally at night everyday and I hate it. I find it really hard to judge the distance between me, the hedge and another car as I'm constantly blinded.

I only noticed these last week, I wondered what they were! So fucking annoying.

I have been blinded by those high up bright lights even when in traffic jams. They seem to reflect off the wing mirrors on both sides straight at me. Fortunately I have electronic wing mirrors and could sit there with them folded in

I wrote a thread about this in chat last week. Got tips to look at the outer left side (rural, no white lines). Its helped a bit but my god, they are bloody awful.

I'm getting regular headaches. I car share and my colleague said he thinks I have particularly sensitive eyes as it doesn't bother him as much. I literally have to take my foot off the accelerator to feel safe, and am temporarily blinded until just after they pass. It makes driving an already shitty road an utter misery.

How are they legal?? Is there anything we can do?

Also, don't get me started on bloody LED break lights and indicators. Sitting at a junction and the arsehole in front keeps his foot on the break, idiot behind in an SUV with lights beaming in all three mirrors. I don't know where the hell to look!

YANBU, I live in an area with many dark wiggly roads and I hate driving at night because of the dazzle.

I suspect these are DIY changes, putting in non-approved bulbs (which actually is illegal)

Genuine HID lamps are very expensive, so I suppose the idea is to give the impression you have the real thing. The manufacturers lamps are not supposed to cause dazzle. Proper HID is not a DIY job because they need a high-voltage supply, and get very hot.

I don't know that anyone ever gets pulled over for it. It seems to me that the UK has vast numbers of traffic cameras pulling in revenue for speeding tickets, and not many traffic cars.

Sadly, as you get older, your eyes' ability to react to bright lights on a dark night reduces, so even if the lamps were unchanged, you would find it harder.

I drive on rural roads at night too and hate these lights especially as they are often on large cars which means they are higher off the ground and shine straight in my eyes. I'm amazed that they are legal. Are there any petitions/ campaigns to get them phased out I wonder?

There is a campaign against them here.

I really hate them.

Same here. I have to drive regularly in a rural area and I hate it.

Has anyone noticed that sometimes, a car will have one super-bright headlight and one normal one? What's that about? Is it because one has needed repairing and has been replaced with a new version?

I feel so relieved reading this
I drove last night and it was awful. I have a tiny car only 1.1 and I was blinded from in front and behind
Naice town I was driving from on a high accident area single lane A road
Everything that overtook me was a high up SUV
I thought I needed new coating on my glasses the glare was so bad and most had the blue tinge

Yes, yes, yes

They are awful. I had to slow down to a practical stand still last night, because I was driving along a twisty country road with steep drops either side, and was being dazzled so much that i felt that I couldn't judge corners

Awful bloody things