To think that bright LED car headlights need banning?

[BurntBroccoli]

Drive home this evening at rush hour and the overly bright LEDs seem even worse than ever! The red brake lights are awful too.

I cleaned my windscreen both inside and out but it's not made much difference. I've had my eyesight checked in preparation for the dark nights and new glasses with anti- glare coating on but I'm still blinded! Even tried looking to the side but the lights dare still blindingly bright. Any slight hill they are there right in your field of vision.

I really don't think I can drive much longer and I'm really worried as I live rurally.

They're awful and I've noticed that so many of the drivers of these dazzling monstrosities seem to drive around permanently on high beam too, amazing how many of them seem to suddenly adjust their lights when I flash them with mine.

I think there needs to be an ad campaign about road safety aimed at all road users such as reminders for pedestrians to cross safely, be safe be seen, etc and for drivers on things like driving in hazardous conditions, right of way, what lights to use and when, etc. We had fog the other day and the amount of idiots driving along at the speed limit with their high beams on was wild.

yes, also the bright flashing LED lights that go on bicycles too, are an absolute pain in the backside too.

Worse still are the cars that have an LED light strip to blind you, like Polestar’s rear lights

I'd take the flashing ones over no lights at all though. I nearly ended a cyclist at the weekend who was pedaling down a country lane in the dark, wearing black with no lights (no helmet either). Came around a bend and had a full on emergency stop "what the FUCK!?" moment, not ashamed to say that I opened the window and gave him a mouthful about being a stupid fucking idiot.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with them before they were at a decent brightness and if you were on a country road you turned on the beam light and when you saw a car coming turned beam off.

It was simple and effective. Some things do not need to be changed.

Not only can you not check your rearview mirror in some case not even the side mirror because it's so blinding.

As for rest lights thays just lazy people not putting on their handbrake and sitting with their brake on.

I agree. I have astigmatism and they flare so bad for me. Think I might get some of those antiglare glasses.

Yanbu. I have an astigmatism wear varifocals which seems to amplify the problem. It's getting to the point where I don't think I can drive at night. I drove down a country lane last week and was literally blinded by LED lights, it's so dangerous. The strobing bike lights are a hazard too.

Hardly. It’s a legal requirement for lights above a certain output. There are some cars with LEDs and manual level control, they have lights below the threshold, something like 1200 lumens.

yes blooy awful it makes me close my eyes it ant be good how were they ever allowed?

In that BBC article the Dept for Transport suggest drivers carry sunglasses in their cars during winter…am I being really thick here (possible!) but surely driving IN THE DARK with sunglasses would be really dangerous??!!

I wear glasses all the time, have astigmatism in both eyes and these lights make me genuinely frightened to drive at night - I avoid it wherever possible but in winter it becomes unavoidable and so stressful and scary.

Not sure what more I can do about it when I am already wearing glasses with anti-glare??!!

And why should it be up to those being blinded - surely the responsibility lies with those driving the offending vehicle!!

IMO there should be a legal maximum brightness limit, (not just a minimum) and this should be checked at every MOT.

Agree they are too bright and a conversation I have had many times, I am young (ish) and do not need glasses. Some push bike lights are so dangerous that I have to come to a near stop as I physically can not see anything in front of me.

Something needs to be done as it will just end in fatal crashes if it isnt monitored.

I find them too bright and annoying.

Another light feature I don’t like are pulsating indicator lights which strobe from one side to the other. Give me on off on off flashing ones any day

Yes I dread them, awful.

@TTPDTS not for me. They're too bright and dazzle/blind me so have the opposite effect.

Yes, I'm dreading driving next week in the dark

I might invest in some wraparounds that are yellow tinted to go over my vari focals

Did you see them? Yes? Then that's entirely the point of them. Flashing lights on bikes make cyclists much more visible.

The issue is not how bright lights are, on bikes or on cars. The issue is that most people don't know how to adjust the angle of them or they don't auto-level properly. I have bright headlamps but with the leveling adjustment set down a couple of notches. More, if I have weight in the back of the car.

What I miss is cats eyes. They were on every road when I passed my test in the late 80s.
They are rare now. On small rural roads they make the road so much safer.

YANBU. Car manufacturers seem like morons to use them in the first place. Awful for wildlife and actually people's physical health, believe it or not.

Awful. Dangerous. Should be banned.

In that BBC article the Dept for Transport suggest drivers carry sunglasses in their cars during winter…am I being really thick here (possible!) but surely driving IN THE DARK with sunglasses would be really dangerous??!!

It said…

”Drivers are also being urged to carry sunglasses throughout winter and ensure their vehicles are in good condition.”

Absolutely no suggestion that sunglasses should be worn in the dark.

I can't stand them and don't see the need for them. You use full beam to see where you are going when no other cars around and that's perfectly good.
Sometimes I have to leave my full beam on just to be able to see where I'm going when confronted with a 4x4 and those stupid headlights!

Auto levelling for THEM, and that's WAY too high for smaller cars coming towards them. Their "level" is RIGHT IN MY EYES. We don't all drive massive prickmobiles, ya know....

Agree, they’re awful. We lived semi rurally last year and I absolutely hated driving “at night” - except it wasn’t at night at all! It was the bloody school run at 7.30 and then 4.30 so it was hardly like I could avoid it.

My parents in their 70s have said they avoid driving on rural roads in the dark because the lights are so dazzling. My mum has a Mini and so she’s low down in comparison to these bright fuckers in their 4x4s.

Oh and the reason you feel like they’re on full beam for longer is the stupid safety things they now have. My car had this - so it “auto” goes from full to low beam except it does it slower than I would do it. So if I was on a country road, and saw the lights shining round a corner (but not the actual car at that point) I would lower the beam in response - but if I left it to my “auto” it would wait until it actually SAW the lights of the car, by which time you’ve blinded the oncoming driver.

These new car “safety” features are so shit for rural drivers. If you’re not blinding people, the car is yanking you back into a cyclist when you come upon one round a corner unexpectedly.

Agree completely. Any dip in the road as they come towards you and it’s like camera flashes in your eyes.

They’re just wholly unnecessary and aren’t needed on unlit or country roads, just use your full beam light and turn it off if there’s an oncoming car.