Blinded by the lights - night time driving

[Desperado40]

Is it me or has something happened recently - whenever I drive at night, I am literally blinded by the lights coming from the other drivers cars. I can't figure out if this is because:
A) some newer car models have brighter lights
B) drivers forget to switch the full beam when passing
C) both
Anyone else noticed this?

He won't thinks it's far too small

It's 18 years old

Contact mini they do a green film like tint that stops it. I found my mini was so low to the ground that SUV lights were basically eye level for me. Had a courtesy car with the film and immediately got it fitted to mine. Sadly sold the mini and bought a SUV that doesn't have the same problem. The interior lights can also be dimmed by the switch above the rear view mirror

Good point about cleaning windscreens properly. Also they mist up and demisting takes forever, which doesn't exactly help with your vision! Why do they demist quicker on the passenger side, is it because they are designed for left hand drive?

it's A - lights are now LED bulbs which are brighter

I had heard that

As for accident risk, around 300 accidents occur each year due to headlight glare. 91% of RAC survey responders thought headlights were mostly too bright and 45% had been dazzled by lights in their rear vision mirrors

On the other side the bright lights are a massive improvement for visibility so will also be preventing accidents. We live in a rural area with lots of wildlife who like to lurk in the hedgerows and leap,out into the road and also cyclists who like to cycle around dusk without lights and dressed in dark colours. I can definitely see a lot, lot better with my xenon lights than with my last car which had regular lights, the difference as a driver is remarkable. As I mentioned earlier I have adaptive headlights which automatically turn into corners ahead of me. These also help enormously. They can also be set to dip automatically.

We live in a rural area, winding lanes, hedgerows, swooping owls. In 50 years I've never hit anything, day or night.

I drive to a rural area for work and see fine with normal lights but don't like the bright ones. When I'm only passing one other car every 2-5 minutes my eyes don't have time to adjust to the glare of their headlights after driving in pitch black..

Although your miracle vision will tell you you need to dip lights before the automatic dipping would kick in. Might be better to turn that 'function' off as it may be less blinding for others.

He must’ve been a passenger in your car and noticed others dazzling lights?

Another thing about demisting, actually - if you switch your AC on while demisting, it has a dehumidifying effect at the same time rather than just heating up the cabin (in most modern cars, at least).

Assume that comment is for me. If so, I agree, and have never used that function.

@justasking111 I've also never had an accident in 40 years and I do a lot of driving. I'm not sure what your point is. I've had the bright xenon adaptive lights for a few years now and the increased visibility is a big improvement. I also agree they are too bright though 🤷🏻‍♀️

That’s what motoring groups are asking. That all road users are taken into account.

The glaring of lights and trouble with night vision were the first signs of cararacts for me.

I agree - automatic lights don't react fast enough.

Yes, I think I read that tip on here a few months ago - it does make a difference. Thank you!

I've had this for years, you can get tinted specs for it.

Cataracts?

I'm a community care worker so need to do a lot of night time driving around rural areas. The bright lights are awful, I don't feel safe on the roads like I used to.

It's having a detrimental effect on the sector too - quite a few of my colleagues have changed their work availability to avoid being out in the dark.

Or Bruce Springsteen (the original).

Let's be honest here it's a problem saying people have cataracts, glaucoma whatever is a cop out if you've got these lights on your car you're anti social and sometimes downright dangerous

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/653793 just repeating the petition so we can get it to 100,000. Please share on other social media too as this is a huge problem for everyone.

Thank goodness it's not my eyes. It's horrendous, I'm starting to loose my confidence driving at night.

The other thread has a response from the government.