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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think headlights are too dazzling?

192 replies

IdiotsIdiotsEverywhere · 14/11/2018 20:42

I hate driving at night and it seems to be worse when other cars are coming in the opposite direction. Driving on a single carriageway this evening on a 60 MPH road and once a few cars pass together I lose complete sight of the road in front of ME!

I've tried switching between contact lenses and glasses & glasses with anti glare but no difference. It's not even the windscreen as using different cars.

OP posts:
PorkusPius · 15/11/2018 03:57

I'm one of the few who like them. I drive on a lot of twisty country roads and it seems to me as if brighter lights scare animals away more effectively and from a greater distance - when I had crappy headlights years ago it was a frequent occurrence tinhave muntjac deer dart in front of my car almost causing an accident.

They're certainly dazzling but if you're looking a faur distance ahead as you should be you still have plenty of time to slow down without having to guess where the road is. It's only their right up my bumper that it really hacks me off and I think that's just as symptomatic of the type of people that drive these cars as it is the actual beams - i.e. impatient people in powerful cars who are frustrated you're 'slowing them down'.

SemperIdem · 15/11/2018 04:05

Yanbu.

I’m currently in the US and have noticed how much brighter their headlights are, I think driving with full beams on is normal. Conversely I’ve noticed that most cars have red, rather than orange or yellow, indicators. So I spend most night driving either blind or momentarily confused.

AntiBi · 15/11/2018 04:09

Has anyone got a link to the night glasses they bought online by any chance? There's a difference in price on Amazon and just wondering if this means a difference in quality?

Puggles123 · 15/11/2018 05:17

LEDs are terrible, and also a lot of people don’t adjust their headlights so they are just full on glaring directly into drivers’ coming the other ways vision. People seem to put full beams on when quite close behind as well in the dark, and just dip them when something is coming in the opposite direction- eurgh!

DuchessMinnie · 15/11/2018 06:45

That would explain why I get flashed so often when I'm driving DP's new VW van- it is so annoying being flashed when you don't have your full beam on. I never get flashed in my own car which is old and cheap with non-fancy lights.

It is taught in advanced driving lessons that you should keep lights on all the time, even in daylight, so that is exactly what I do in my car. Not in DP's though, get flashed enough as it is.

Coffeeandcrochet · 15/11/2018 07:11

YANBU - I often cycle rather than drive, and I find it extremely dangerous. Yesterday I had to slam my brakes on and wait until an oncoming car had passed because I simply couldn’t see well enough to keep going safely - it’s perhaps even more critical for cyclists to be able to see potholes etc as we are more vulnerable to them.

SlinkyAndSilky · 15/11/2018 07:11

@AlpacaLypse

Even if night driving glasses work for OP and some pps, what about those of us who have to wear spectacles full stop? I've already coughed up for prescription day specs and prescription sunglasses, that was about £600. And that was with NHS vouchers.

I think you can get clip on overglasses which are yellow/orange and have the anti glare but no prescription.

Your teens will slink down low in the seat to avoid being seen in the car with you wearing them.

SlinkyAndSilky · 15/11/2018 07:16

Here are the two types

To think headlights are too dazzling?
To think headlights are too dazzling?
MaxTeyon · 15/11/2018 07:35

i cannot see how it is allowed?

Because the EU say it is.

calpop · 15/11/2018 07:37

Are there any for people who dont already wear glasses? I suffer from this terribly but, apparently, still have near perfect vision. It is just glare that bothers me.

Cuttingthegrass · 15/11/2018 07:54

I bought yellow tinted glasses after seeing someone post on MN about them. Under £20. Have made an enormous difference. Apparently good for foggy mornings as well.

JasperRising · 15/11/2018 08:54

Thanks for the tips about yellow tints! I really struggle with this.

I mentioned it at my last check up because I was concerned that there might be something up with my prescription as I get so dazzled and other family members seem less affected. Straight away the optician said that a) it's the new headlights and they get loads of people mentioning it and b) those with light coloured eyes are often affected more.

cushioncovers · 15/11/2018 08:55

Slinky thanks for the tip I have ordered a pair from amazon only just over £10.

calpop · 15/11/2018 09:43

It makes sense becuse you wear yellow tinted ski goggles when visibikity is pior, it does sharpen the terrain. Maybe I will just drive in my ski goggles - the teens woukd love that! 😁

NoPhelange · 15/11/2018 09:54

Was only talking about this topic this morning with DP, picked him up from work last night and motorways are horrendous. Pitch black and all I could see in my mirrors were huge brilliant white lights, makes it so hard to judge distances when needing to overtake as they often look closer than they are. Ended up chugging along in the slow lane for most of the journey unless very obviously clear. Rain makes it so much worse. There is a setting in your main mirror to dim the lights from behind you through that but it's still awful in wing mirrors and head on. Fucking LED lights are the worst.

Juanbablo · 15/11/2018 09:56

I've just passed my test and trying to get used to driving at night and I hate it. I can't work out how close the cars on the other side of the road are to me. When I first started learning it took me a while to sort out my spacial awareness. Now I'm fine during the day but struggling at night. The other cars lights seem to throw my sense of where they are in relation to me off balance.

LittleCandle · 15/11/2018 10:32

Well, I'm glad its not just me. I do, by choice, drive along a country lane because otherwise it means a 45 minute wait at a set of traffic lights, but it can be difficult to judge the width of the road, because my own dipped headlights are crap and most of the bigger cars tend to drive in the middle of the road. (They do this in the daylight on this road, too).

SlowlyShrinking · 15/11/2018 11:15

Ive just ordered some night driving glasses. Will report back when I’ve had chance to try them

jellyfrizz · 15/11/2018 11:22

Yes! I was putting this down to my eyesight starting to go. Phew.

Basecamp65 · 15/11/2018 11:37

I drive a lot a night for work and have done for 30 odd years and this is definitely a relatively new problem - modern lights are just too bright. The other night is was a car behind me that was totally dazzling me through my rear view mirror - I ended up driving at about 25 miles per hr.

I have found that keeping your eyesight on the outside edge of the road far enough ahead so you can see where you need to steer helps a lot but it is no where near perfect and does not help on bends.

I'm normally someone who steers away from increased legislation on anything on this is something I feel does need to be looked at.

MummaMinnie · 15/11/2018 11:50

I'm so glad I found this thread as I've been thinking it's my eyesight that's going. I'm in my early 50s and have low strength reading glasses but apart from that my eyesight seems fine. However I've been finding night driving more difficult and had put it down to me being less confident with my vision. Like the OP I lose about a second as I pass someone on the narrow country road that I drive home on. And I sometimes feel dazzled by cars behind me so flick the mirror to diffuse their lights. I'll look into getting some night driving glasses. Thanks to the poster that suggested that - it hadn't occurred to me to get them.

abacucat · 15/11/2018 11:55

Interesting to know others have found this. Got my eye sight tested a month ago because of this. My eye sight is fine and no early signs of cataracts. So totally wrong for those assuming it is to do with our eyes.

abacucat · 15/11/2018 11:56

Although I am in my 50s' It sounds like there does need to be a change in legislation.

Ninoo25 · 15/11/2018 12:01

YANBU it’s particularly bad if you drive a ‘normal’ car and a 4x4 drives up behind you. It means their headlights are perfectly aligned with your rear view window and the light reflects off the mirrors too making it worse. It also seems particularly bad on country lanes where there are no street lights, as going from so dark to so bright and in your face driving at 60mph on a narrow road is really dangerous!

DollyTots · 15/11/2018 12:11

yanbu

My (thankfully temporary) commute to work came to an end last night. It's been monumentally crap. I'm travelling in the dark usually and along country lanes where headlights are just so disorienting now.

What surprised me more was the number of cars with their lights fully on in broad daylight?! I get the sensors on newer cars may be a bit off but the sheer amount just staggered me. To give perspective the sun was so bright I had my visor down at the time, yet 90% of cars had lights on. It's so distracting.