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.

Completely agree!!

Headlights are ludicrously bright these days and dark clothed pedestrians everywhere without a care in the world!

It's frightening!

I agree. These new style lights are blinding. I find them painful. Also where I live the white lines on the road never seem to be repainted and are difficult to see at the best of times, let alone when someone is coming in the other direction with blinding headlights. We were taught at driving school to focus on the white lines at the edge of the road if we were blinded by oncoming headlights but that doesn't work any more either!
One problem here is that people drive with their full beams on all the time and don't put them down even when flashed at. I don't know if it's people just being selfish twats or if it's people with headlights on automatic and the automatic sensors don't react appropriately to oncoming headlights and dip the full beams.
Something really needs to be done about this because it is very dangerous. I think that automatic headlights should be banned - at the very least for full-beam/dipped, but preferably for all lighting - if people are not capable of operating headlights themselves, eg. switching them on for going through tunnels, at dusk, full-beam/dipped, then they should not be driving at all.

Perfectly reasonable.
Although some genuinely do seem to believe that those with LEDs should embrace being deliberately blinded by actual headlights (which are more potent than running LEDs) as some sort of self flagellation for <checks notes> driving a road legal vehicle that cannot be modified to suit those with more delicate dispositions.

LEDs blind me too, you learn to deal with it.

I really think there needs to be a law restricting headlights because they are becoming so dangerous.

Yellow overglasses go over your prescription glasses.

These modern headlights are so dangerous. There was a debate about it on Jeremy Vine. I agree too about pedestrians and cyclists. I avoid driving at night at all costs.

If they can impound a car because of no tax/MOT/insurance, then bikes/scooters shouldn't be a problem

Bikes, scooters, and motorcycles can be hidden indoors. It's harder to do that with cars.

All cyclists/scooterists/e-cyclists must always wear some form of reflective clothing, either top or bottom half, that is easily visible and not covered up (by a backpack/just eat food-box etc)

When cars are required to be luminous yellow and fitted with back-reflecting panels, I'll accept that argument.

There's a lot of drivers out there who can't even not hit something luminous yellow and shiny, as these bollards found out. It's the driver's responsibility to use their eyes.

All cyclists/scooterists/e-cyclists must have have sufficient lights (both front and back, provide more than adequate light to the direction of travel, and are clearly visible to others) on their bike/scooter/e-bike

This is already law.

All cyclists/scooterists/e-cyclists must always wear a helmet

Helmets don't work properly at typical road cycling speeds, they don't protect the rest of the cyclist, and they don't make the motorist less likely to hit the cyclist.

Totally agree op, I think people should be made today wear something luminous at night and car headlights dimmers.

It's incredible that as soon as you get on a ferry you have to put special stickers on but here any laser like lights are apparently OK

The stickers are to alter the direction of the beam so that youre safe to drive on the opposite side of the road.
The EU also has and runs cars with LED bulbs, so there will be the exact same thing happening over there.

It's not the headlights that are causing daily issues, it's the brightness of the "normal" lights.

HID or led headlights are automatically adjusted by the car, the little thumbwheel that is used to adjust the lights down if you have passengers and/or extra weight in the back is fitted to cars fitted with older halogen type lights.

‘They terrified me’ (of cyclists and scooter-riders) - what does this MEAN??? Obviously you aren’t genuinely afraid of them - they have no way of inflicting hurt on you, while you, safe in your metal box, can kill them.

what you mean is ‘they startled me and reminded me that when Im driving I’m doing something that has the potential to cause tragedy; I don’t like that reminder; I’m going to blame someone else.

I thought it was my eyes that had deteriorated so badly as night driving has become so problematic. And when there's rain and it's dark I go blind. Severos times I've had to stop the car. And I avoid motorway driving in the dark now.

No it terrifies me when i come across people riding their bike/scooter on dark roads dressed all in dark with no lights. My normal headlights only have a normal range of picking things up and the lack of them having lights means that I end up having to drive in a reactive rather than pro active way to miss them.

The idea of what could happen terrifies me, not because of my driving but because of their stupidity but even though I know I am doing everything right I would hate to hit someone.

@VitoCorleoneOfMNMafia

My point was that if the Police identified any of my points not being adhered to, they could immediately impound the bike. How many cyclists have you seen without lights as required? I would say loads. And how many have you seen ever being stopped by the police for not having adequate lights? I would say none. It might be law, but it's not upheld by the Police.

When cycling I would also have a proper fitted helmet than none at all. It provides protection that could save your life. Go and work in an A&E dept and an ITU and see the effects of not wearing helmets has on those injured and their families like I have. You would then understand why I think it should be the law to wear them. The law changed for seat belts in cars and motorcycle helmets to be mandatory for good reason, one day we might do the same for cyclists.

It definitely has got worse (I sure that it's not just me getting older). I miss the cats eyes. The new car headlights are blinding, especially in the rain. My other bug bear is the amount of joggers near us, jogging along on the pavements whilst wearing really bright head torches and red flashing lights on their backs. If the road is on a slight bend, it looks like a bike or a vehicle on the road ahead. And then it transpires that it's a pair of runners jogging along on the pavement! It's just one more distraction that I don't need.

I also hate drivers flashing their lights on full beam to acknowledge/thank you for something. Why is blinding you supposed to be something good? I wish there was a campaign to stop people doing it at night.

I turn my lights to side lights for a second at night to acknowledge people, just as effective but without the danger.

Well I’m glad of this thread as I thought it was me! As others have said, the state of the roads is also a contributor. Where there are newer cats eyes, both central and at the side, it’s very noticeable how much better it is.

We need more and more Street lights and cat eyes too. Some pedestrians have a death wish!!!!!

If the argument us about visibility, what have helmets got to do with it?

Agree. I drove today for longer than I normally do and ended up so stressed and grumpy mainly cuz of the highlights blinding me

Thesnakecharmer, so yes to cars, no to joggers?

Cries in astigmatism too!! I hate driving at night and even more so if it's raining heavily

Sirzy, so like the pp said you're terrified of hurting them, not of them

Also please if you have stopped to wait for someone but aren’t moving. Switch the lights off. Don’t leave them on whilst the car is stopped. It blinds others and it’s really annoying.

Are cats eyes no longer being installed?