Anyone else blinded by these new headlights when driving?

[Totallybannanas]

Am I the only one struggling with how bright car headlights have become? I’ve been avoiding driving at night for a while now because of it, but I don’t remember them being this intense in the past. Every car I pass feels like it’s on full beams, and I end up feeling completely blinded. I know my astigmatism makes it worse, but I recently had an eye test and wear corrective glasses. Tonight, I had to make a journey I couldn’t avoid, and I found myself driving at 40mph in a 60mph zone because the car behind me was tailgating and their lights were so dazzling. I eventually pulled over to let them pass. Does anyone else deal with this?

Thanks for the link, have signed.

Here's a petition about it!

www.mumsnet.com/talk/petitions_noticeboard/5224147-5224147-dangerous-car-headlights-please-sign

^ oh, I see it's been shared.

Great people are aware of this

I struggle with this too and have for some years now. I now actively avoid driving at night. I just end up dazzled and feel blinded.

This. I have to more or less come to a standstill as I can't see a darned thing.

Not since I had my cataracts done. Made such a difference.

Unfortunately there isn't a cure for being dazzled from the wing mirrors unlike the dimmable rear view.

Yellow over-glasses help with the worst of it.

It's bloody annoying having to regularly divert focus to the left kerb to avoid being blinded for the next 2½ mins.

Nothing wrong with my eyesight other than a mild astigmatism. (They cause light to splay out like sun beams)

Yep. I've taken to putting my hand up when appropriate to show that the lights are too bright. I get very anxious about driving in the dark.

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/tech/uk-government-commissioning-research-headlight-glare

Study next year

It is so scary. I can't see a thing on our rural lanes and roads - it is pitch dark, then blindingly light - no middle way; it is either/or. I only drive short distances on known roads after dark, but that is hugely limiting at this time of year. I always set the mirror so that there is less dazzle from lights behind, and I wear pale yellow tinted overglasses - I still I have to slow right down every time a car approaches on the opposite side.

It blows my mind that these dangerous lights are legal.

Completely agree, glad I'm not the only one ! Twice this week I've found it really different I almost missed a hazard,as I couldn't see as I was dazzled by the brightest headlights

Yes it's awful. So dangerous

Yes! All of the above.

It's horrendous and unsafe and I get the total rage when cars come up with their too bright white and too highly positioned lights.

They should be outlawed.

I want so much more regulation and legislation around cars and driving, but most of it will never happen and if it does it will be slow and not applied retrospectively, so the millions of blinding cars on the roads will take decades to die out.

My new car has clever head lights that automatically dim. They are also fantastic for night driving. When another car is coming towards me they dim the lights selectively so the passenger side and hedge or curb is still well light but the drivers side is dimmed. They also dim when following someone.
As an astigmatism sufferer I can still follow the road using the passenger side when oncoming traffic doesn’t dip.

I live rurally so we have no street lights and good headlights are esssential. When I drive on roads with street lights the full beam is automatically switched off. Also when you turn into a side road it auto dips incase there is a car approaching on the side road.

I used to hate driving at night, the new headlights are a game changer. I’ve also noticed that oncoming cars with the same system improve vision of the whole road. They act like spot lights on the verges but dim straight ahead.

Maybe they should be a standard feature on all new cars. I agree that simple, single beam LEDs are too bright if not dipped.

Yes, me too, mid forties, astigmatism. I'm actually going to make an optician appointment and ask about this and also that I'm struggling to read in poor light fairly suddenly. Not looking forward to lots of driving over Christmas, though luckily mostly on dual carriageways which are at least a bit easier in terms of dazzling oncoming lights than rural single carriageway roads

I do agree it’s hard to see though I would say to PP who mentioned people not adjusting with my past 2 (relatively) new cars (Audi and BMW) they “automatically adjust” and can’t be changed, you can change the colour of the inside lights and the brightness on your dash but not your headlights x

Apparently other more civilised countries have legislation that prevents car manufacturers form selling vehicles with these dangerously positioned blinding white lights.

I am considering giving up night driving because of it.
Same, Im glad to see I'm not the only one. It's insane. So many idiotic things we have to put up with. Why? ? ?

Oh 100%!!! At first I just thought everyone had full beam on then I realised it was just the newer cars. I heard there is a consultation on it atm so hopefully changes happen.

in the olden days (70s?) all car headlights were at the same height from the ground. There were 2 exceptions: Rolls Royce and the Mini. It was much much better then.

I'm over from Germany at the mo and i have those stickers on my headlights so i don't blind other drivers. I have a good mind to take them off because I'm getting dazzled all the freaking time now.

I think it’s more that newer cars have better features to manage LED glare. The mirrors that automatically dim, the sensors, etc. I’ve even noticed a huge difference between my 2022 Defender and my 2025 CX-90. In spite of being a less expensive car, the newer tech in the CX-90 is much nicer. The sensors can detect cars really far away and dim the lights accordingly, and it adjusts the mirrors even when someone is still far behind me so that their lights never bother me.

I definitely recommend getting something taller too. The biggest difference is just not sitting down near the ground where the lights are directly in your eyes.

Unfortunately my husbands car has these new wanky dazzling lights, we were flashed on 3 separate occasions this evening. I actually googled how to adjust them and lower them down, my old car had a switch that adjusted the height of the lights. But you cannot adjust the lights in his new car, next time it goes in for a service he will ask if anything can be done, but he is finding it embarrassing how bright they are. We had no idea how bright the lights were when we bought the car.

It baffles me.
Manufacturers spent millions on making cars safer with all the whistles and bells, then they go a put in lights that literally make driving much more dangerous.

I live rurally, I can't not drive at night on unlit small roads (often with poor road markings, few cats eyes and many potholes).

More cars have automatic dimming as well, so instead of seeing the lights of an oncoming car around a corner and then dipping your full beams, they are not dipped until they actually 'see' the car. It's only a second of dazzle but I don't think auto-dip is an improvement.

don't get me started on supermarkets spending a fortune on marketing and then making the store so chuffing cold you can't wait to get out of the place

Oh and I have my rear view mirror permanently on tilt to avoid the glare from the rear.