To think night driving is getting more dangerous

[DazzledbyHeadlights]

Since a few years ago - and now that cyclists/pedestrians have more right of way. I agree and think it works well during the day.

However at night? Headlights seem to be more blinding than ever. Spotting a dimly lit cyclist in front of a full dazzling tank of a car is hard.

In addition, many pedestrians seem to have a cavalier ‘my right of way, I’ll step out’ attitude. I was driving along a 40mph stretch this evening and - 3 times - a dark figure suddenly appeared, stepped out onto the road and I needed to break quite abruptly.

How on earth are other drivers "victims?!?!" when it's their lights blinding people?
As the teens say, make it make sense, please

I heard that, and have long felt they are dangerously bright nowadays. I don't get why the car manufacturers didn't recognise that themselves?! Its obvious 🙄 and it's too late for.all those cars already out there isn't it..
I have had a few encounters with poorly behaved pedestrians and it.is scary...the only step you can take is drive more slowly and never take your eyes off the road!!

It seems to be vans, lorries, buses and 'tall cars' that seem to dazzle most. Is it because their headlights are higher up off the floor?

I travel regularly for an hour on unlit country roads and I'm not dazzled by every single vehicle but aren't you supposed to dip headlights before bends? And not several blinding seconds after you've gone round the bend? It's these idiots that are more dangerous. Some people drive around completely oblivious of other road users.

Don't get me started on people who can't be bothered to position themselves correctly to the right of the centre of the junction when making a right turn. I'm often waiting for 3-4 changes of traffic lights because those going straight on or left at a junction can't get passed the plonker in their Chelsea tractor, who thinks that they are entitled to block the whole of the entry of the junction because they can't be bothered to pull a few yards further and to the right. (No diagram necessary.)

Because car manufacturers only focussed on the driver of their vehicle. Instead of looking at (unintended) consequences of dazzling oncoming drivers or pedestrians. Selfish way of selling your product imo.

I sometime drive to Bath from the M4 and the main a road into the city (A46?) is terrifying at night. It's high up and twisty. It's a 50 mph road and there are always queues of cars in both directions.
It's almost impossible to see anything due to oncoming headlights. It's crazy.

I agree with you Op. So many pedestrians and even cyclists just assume they will be seen by the driver. Another problem I have is tailgating. I have to drive dd back from training at 10pm and have to drive on a road which has a 70 mph limit. I drive at that but every time I have some wanker behind me flashing me to get out of the way. Sometimes I can't safely move to the other lane so have the stress of worrying they'll crash into my back, in addition to the distraction of the bright flashing lights. When I do move, they tear off at ridiculous speeds.

So you're making this worse because you can then? If you know they're dazzling anyway and you know that's why you're being flashed you're deliberately making it worse to prove a point, to random people that you pass in the dark, making sure they know that you're not on main beam, just driving a car you know is causing problems for other road users and then choosing to make that worse.
Gotcha 👏👏👏👏👏👏

@Carnewb

I hate people to think I'm driving with main beam on, they will just repeatedly flash me as they are expecting me to turn the main beam off, when it's just my normal headlights.

So to stop them repeatedly flashing me, I have to do one quick flash to show it's not my main beam, other wise they just continue to flash. This is dazzling me.

What else can I do? Just sit there and be dazzled? If I flash quickly once, then they don't flash me again as they realise it's not my main beam.

Well it's your chosen car causing the issue, no you didn't put the lights in but that doesn't absolve you of the responsibility that they're clearly causing an issue.
If other people have to put up with your dazzling headlights as a consequence of the car you choose to drive then you also should put up with the results of that with people flashing you because your lights are causing them a problem, without deliberately making that worse.
As a pp said if multiple people are flashing you multiple times then you are the issue.

I drive a Honda Civic, an ordinary hatchback car. I am always dazzled at night due to most other drivers - usually driving SUV-type cars - because their bonnets are higher and therefore the lights are, too. I often think they are driving with full beams, but they're not.

I wish more people knew that you can adjust your headlight beams, and point them down just a bit more.

If you are regularly flashed for your headlights being too bright - PLEASE ADJUST YOUR HEADLIGHTS. Here are some examples to help you search:

How to adjust headlights Honda CR-V
How to adjust headlights Land Rover Discovery
How to adjust headlights Nissan X-Trail

This is exactly it - the majority of the problem is with the trend for bigger and bigger cars, with headlights higher and higher. Brighter bulbs won't actually contribute as much to the problem, as long as the beam pattern is properly set up.

Combine that with the recent law change to give waiting pedestrians right of way on the road, and it's a recipe for fatalities.

My car is 12 years old and has this, but as it's my first car I didn't realise that it's a standard feature on most cars.

But even being fairly new to cars, I managed to work out that setting them higher may cause a problem to oncoming traffic and have them set lower - I found when I played about with it (in a car park out of the way) that lower means more road illuminated in front of me as well.

Noordinairymorning, I was referring to pedestrians and cyclists

Noordinarymorning, I have a driving licence - why on earth would I be jealous? Very odd

Leighannej- helmets don't make you more visible in the dark

I have astigmatism and have had to completely stop driving at night as the LEF headlights just blind me and it frightens me to death.

I find the cars with lights in a strip across the front and the back the worst! When I am following a car, I try to keep my focus between their break lights as I have an astigmatism which makes the lights horrendous. Those cars now have a bright light across the whole car and I struggle to see.

The standard of driving has got worse over the years. It's not hard to drive safely, people just choose not to.

I do think the old halogens were far less harsh compared to the newer LEDs. I don't think the LEDs are too bright, they are the wrong sort of light to begin with. They mean my eyes take longer to adjust in the dark, ie night vision, so they are a bit blinding.

Even the LED streetlamps just aren't as good as the old orange light streetlamps.

LEDs are said to be more environmentally friendly owing to using less electricity, but at the cost of safety. I think halogens need to make a comeback.

Also lot of young naive kids in high performance cars thinking they are immortal

Needs to be added as a check on the MOT.

I agree about the dazzling lights but blaming pedestrians and cyclists is unfair. Many more cyclists when I was younger and most didn't have lights . Some pedestrians have always been idiots. The real issue is more cars on the roads

I avoid driving in the dark at all costs due to newer cars having LED headlights that cut off your vision, especially on roads with no streetlights.

I bought a pair of the yellow night driving glasses a few years back. They are brilliant if I'm wearing my contacts but I normally wear my specs and they don't fit comfortably over them.

Bumping the petition link.

Because it seriously needs addressing!