To be happy about this...re headlight glare..link attached

[Ihateboris]

Finally something is (hopefully) going to be done about these bloody awful and dangerous headlights. I hate driving at night as these lights literally blind me for a few seconds.

BBC link here:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn971jlpvvro

Absolutely does not sound silly. I feel the same in my old/small car. It's very intimidating and dangerous.

Our car (a Hyundai) has a switch to adjust (level) the headlight beam level according to the number of the passengers and loading weight in the luggage area. The higher the number of the switch position, the lower the headlight beam level - and there is a reminder in the user manual to always keep the head light beam at the proper levelling position, or headlights may dazzle other road users. It's not a very visible switch, to me when I'm actually sitting in the car, although you can see it clearly before getting in .

I assume most cars have them but could be wrong? I do wonder if people either don't know they have one or have incorrectly adjusted it so that the main beam goes further forward ( because the angle is more up the way, than level - or have correctly adjusted it and then forgotten to put it back?

About bloody time. Let´s hope this is the beginning of the end of those headlights that can compete with Wembley Stadium lights. I was driving behing someone (in a traffic jam) at night and his rear lights were blinding me! I think he had the rear fog lights on and that exacerbated the problem!

Unfair you are having a pop at @OhDear111

They didnt make the lights or legislate that car makers had to make them that way.

@OhDear111 purchased a car with them as standard - like many people do with many cars. Your anger is sorely misplaced.

Also, to claim "everyone" is blinded is factually flat out wrong. Sure, some/few/majority of people could be affected, but not "everyone". 🙄

I should add that my current car switch will only go one way - i.e. make it less further forward if car has a heavy load - but my old car's one could go in either direction, so assume some out there still do?

Or perhaps people don't know it exists and don't adjust it for passengers and load weight in the boot etc? So it's too high?

They are also catastrophic for the environment. LED headlights have a real world lifespan of around 10 years. At that point it will either be impossible to source replacments, or they will cost ao much that the car is a write off. The auto industry are already preparing for a "LED storm" around 2030, when literally millions of cars will have their headlights fail around the same time. It is already acknowledged and accepted by the auto industry that spare parts will not be made available in sufficient numbers to save the premature scrapping of these cars.

This includes your "green" EV. People only talk about the battery. The reality is, it's the headlights will be the catastrophic failure that will cause your EV to be scrapped, not the battery.

All new cars have a life span dictated policy makers abject stupidity. They insisted on sealed headlights, they never gave a thought to what happens when they fail.

And no, you can't fit secondhand hand units, you can't get them from other scrapped cars either, they all have to be coded by the main dealers. They won't do this for parts that they haven't fitted themselves.

This is the real story that should be front page news.

I feel so angry when in winter I am blinded by the lights on these lumbering SUVs etc. There have been so many times on smaller roads when I have had to slow to a crawl - dangerous in itself in traffic- because they mean I just cannot see the road ahead.

It feels like arrogant bullying of smaller vehicles, so has been really interesting reading this- seemingly many drivers of higher vehicles genuinely do not realise the problems they’re causing for smaller cars, & the danger this poses, or even if they do are unable to change the set up. It’s not - as I previously suspected - that they just are arrogant ——- who don’t give a ——— about other road users.

I have reached the stage of considering switching on my full beam lights next time one of these behemoths blinds me. Just to see if that helps me see the road ahead. I don’t know if it would, though, or if it would just create more glare - which is really not what I want.

Exactly, this is never ever talked about.

@Chiseltip is absolutely spot on. The units are often sealed and have to be replaced in their entirety at ludicrous costs, some we’ve had at work are over £1000.
This has also driven the rise in headlight thefts, with cars being opened like can openers to have them stolen.

Welcome news indeed. Can we ban SUVs as well as bright white lights?

Yes it's also positioning. Very few people seem to know they should adjust their headlights depending on their load, or they do and just don't bother.
I live in a hilly city, when you meet these lights at the brow of a hill I might as well have a blindfold on for all I can see!

LED streetlights are affecting wildlife too.
I appreciate the councils have to save money but the old sodium orange lights were better for walking and driving (more contrast) and wildlife. I've never cycled at night but guess the orange lights were nicer to cycle under.

We also live in a hilly country. One of our worst junctions sits on a slope in all directions and it's awful.

@Xiaoxiong I hear what you're saying but there's no point in you flashing back at people just to prove a point. You'll be dazzling them more!

@SodOffbacktoaibu but if I don't, then they drive towards me flashing furiously over and over...which dazzles me too and everyone behind me! I do it once to acknowledge their flash so they don't flash again, and also so they can see I am in fact driving on dipped beams and there's not much else I can do about it in the moment.

It hasn't happened in quite a while, now that I think about it - not since it was last serviced - so maybe DH asked the garage to sort the lights last time it was in. But it is due its MOT so I will ask them to sort.

I now have glasses for driving, even though I don't really need them much - the opticians coated them with a glare reducer and it helps.

I hate these LED high intensity lights. So many drivers round here have Teslas , SUVs etc but it's also the work vans , motorbikes (those are really bad) and loads of lorry drivers bedeck their lorries with them, even though they must have had a good view of the road before. I find ne minis bad as well. It's not just big cars - it's a design trend. My poor little 65 plate C1 gets caught in the glare.

I think many drivers know they have them and there's a bit of a macho culture attached to it.

The dazzle from headlights scares me as it is a migraine trigger for me.

and yes, why are so many people driving so close. It is appalling. I’m sure it wasn’t so bad a couple of decades ago. It’s so unnecessarily dangerous.

Yes, been shocked this week following clock changes

was driving at 30 this evening and some
fucker was up close behind. Headlights dazzled me wveytime i looked in mirror

i hate driving in the dark

Cant abide when they flash to say thanks

arghhh

Thank goodness, these bloody LEDs are dangerous and unnecessary

Headlights and bad driving are 2 different issues.

Bad driving also happens in broad daylight and is not connected with headlights etc.

i hate it, after last winter i was desperate to change my hours so i finish at 3

@Rpop I find it is worse since I got a smaller car. Some men have a weird entitlement and like to bully women in small cars out of the way. I have also seen a lot of younger women driving aggressively like this too though.

I find it very stressful and frustrating. I'm not dawdler. Tailgating people so they break the speed limit is really bad. Sadly we have no enforcement for driving like this. I would love to see more traffic police.

@HelplessSoul you're correct but the headlights and tail gaters are an awful combination.

@SodOffbacktoaibu

Bad driving etc at any time of day, I feel, is far worse than powerful LED/Laser headlights.

As for the Police - meh - they couldnt care less about safer driving - all they want to do is monetise people who drive at 31mph in a 30mph zone. Attempting to deal with more serious motoring crimes isnt monetised so the fuckers arent interested.

And then they wonder why people think the cops are cunts.....

@OverlyFragrant That's not the case. I don’t blind everyone. My headlights are adjusted properly and shine in front of MY car and the roadside - as they should. It’s about time everyone got the direction of their lights checked. I’m never flashed by oncoming cars. I also have a 35 year old Merc and that has adjustable headlights. Plus they are fairly glow-worm but I don’t have any issues driving it. Because it has well adjusted lights!

I've just driven at night for the first time in about six months and I could honestly cry.

The stupid LED streetlights that don't light the streets or paths and the modern car LEDs that light up everything and dazzle me made it so stressful. We had a RR Defender behind and even with my rear view mirror tilted it was distractingly bright.