Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think some headlights nowadays are TOO bright?

201 replies

JammyGem · 04/12/2019 18:01

Does anyone else find that a lot of headlights on newer cars are too bright and just blind you? I used to just have a problem with those blue tinged ones that blinded me, but now it's more and more. Driving home tonight both DH and I were having trouble because the cat behind us had such bright lights. It also seems to be more cars have their lights angled right upwards too.

I get it's better for the drivers of those cars, but surely it must cause accidents when others are dazzled by them? Or AIBU and need to get my eyes looked at?

OP posts:
PurpleDaisies · 04/12/2019 18:02

I totally agree. I think there being more SUV type cars on the road doesn’t help. They’re higher so get right in your eyes.

MrsSpenserGregson · 04/12/2019 18:03

Urgh yes I agree. I do everything I can to avoid driving at night (not easy in winter in the UK!) because of the brightness of those newer-style white headlights.

VincentVanGoughandhisear · 04/12/2019 18:03

They are!!! Especially 4x4 type cars that are higher.

DefConOne · 04/12/2019 18:04

YANBU. Painful.

Velveteenfruitbowl · 04/12/2019 18:05

Definitely,

Original poster
JammyGem · 04/12/2019 18:05

Phew! Glad it's not just me! It's so dangerous, how can it be allowed?

OP posts:
Picklypickles · 04/12/2019 18:06

YANBU. I hate driving in the dark because of this, I live rurally too and so many people have huge 4x4's or big high up cars that completely blind me in my little car. I also really, really wish people would stop thanking me when I pull in to let them past on a country lane by flashing their main beams right into my eyeballs.

FailingMeansYouArePlaying · 04/12/2019 18:07

100% agree. It's awful. I got the anti glare glasses and these types of headlights still cut through

TitianaTitsling · 04/12/2019 18:09

I was just going to post this! Drive home tonight was awful due to all the glare and dazzle.

Jaxhog · 04/12/2019 18:12

Absolutely, yes. I've had my little low-slung sportscar for 18 years and have noticed the difference in other car's lights. It's not uncommon to have a high mega 4x4 car behind me who's lights are so high and so bright they actually illuminate the road beyond the beam of my lights. Oncoming cars are sometimes so bright in my car that it impacts my ability to see the road properly. Lack of streetlights and poor road markings only make it worse.

I now avoid driving my car at night because of this. (DH has a 4x4 with BIG lights.

There also seem to many more badly adjusted lights too. I drove home last night with TWO different vans behind me with defective lights - one side full beam, the other side almost non-existent.

It must be equally horrible to be a pedestrian.

Fi1982 · 04/12/2019 18:13

YANBU I had to drive down unfamiliar country roads in the pitch black yesterday, and was regularly blinded by dazzlers driving towards me. I had to drive fairly jerkily as a result, braking a lot more frequently than I would’ve done otherwise, which increased danger as I had impatient locals right on my arse for several miles!

Also, dip your damn lights ffs, I have mine fairly low as I know it improves visibility for other drivers, but I’m starting to wonder why I bother 🤷‍♀️

Redpriestandmozart · 04/12/2019 18:14

I have that funny glass windscreen with the fine wires through it (all cars likely have it now, but it was new to me) that defrost in cold weather. At night headlights appear in a big starburst pattern which combined with brighter lights is blinding. It has put me right off driving in the dark and rain :(

DippyAvocado · 04/12/2019 18:15

Yanbu, they need to bring in some regulations. I drive a small car and am frequently dazzled.

Oldraver · 04/12/2019 18:16

Yes they are bright, we also have a heated windscreen and they light up to filament ? in the window which sometimes splits the light like a prism

Very offputting

Alittleprivacyplease · 04/12/2019 18:17

YANBU. I live in a hilly city, completely blinded at the brow of every hill. I don't know how they're legal. And don't get me started on people who sit with their brake lights on at lights that are obviously going to take a while to change, just put your handbrake on ffs.

PrettyShiningPeople · 04/12/2019 18:17

Yes, I often think it seems as though people are using full beam when they’re not.

Jente · 04/12/2019 18:20

Totally with you on that. It's annoying.

OverByYer · 04/12/2019 18:20

Glad it’s not just me. I keep think people are flashing me but it turns out they are just going Over a bump

onemouseplace · 04/12/2019 18:21

I’m city driver and find them far too bright - they seem to be brighter if the car heading towards be is going uphill, so on a street with speed bumps I often get momentarily blinded by the cars coming towards me going over them, which is rubbish when trying to negotiate parked cars and narrow streets.

missyB1 · 04/12/2019 18:22

It frightens me to death because they literally blind you - so dangerous Angry

Single2catsand1daughter · 04/12/2019 18:23

I'm glad it's not just me.

EL2019 · 04/12/2019 18:24

YANBU. I was blinded by a motorbike driving towards me last night with a really bright front light and almost didn’t see a cyclist on my side of the road (who was wearing black with no lights FFS).

sue51 · 04/12/2019 18:24

Phew. Not just me them. I thought I had developed a problem with my night vision.

Cecilandsnail · 04/12/2019 18:24

Yes! I'm so glad it's not just me. There is a long unlit country road out of my village and I absolutely hate driving it at night. It feels really dangerous as I'm frequently blinded by cars coming the other way, but it's a 40mph speed limit and narrow road lanes so the consequences would be so severe if I veered even a little. Why are manufacturers doing this to the lights of new vehicles?!

MrsSpenserGregson · 04/12/2019 18:25

In towns and cities I think the problem is exacerbated by the fact that streetlights are so much weaker / darker, and there are fewer of them, so the general atmosphere is darker to start with, and so the headlights seem even more dazzling by comparison.