Review the brightness of car headlights for safety

[Garlickit]

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/653793

Inspired by AIBU thread, "To think night driving is getting more dangerous"

The Government should launch a review into the problem of some headlights causing oncoming traffic drivers to be unable to see clearly and safely. The review should be conducted with car manufacturers to find solutions.

The RAC raised this issue as far back as 2018 and its recent study showed that nine-in-10 drivers think some or most car headlights on the UK’s roads are too bright. Government data shows that there are around 300 collisions every year where dazzling headlights are a factor.

The RAC has often written about this: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/rac-calls-for-government-action-on-headlight-glare/

I thought of this thread as I was sitting in traffic in town on my way home. Of the cars coming the other way, about 1 in 6 or 7 had incredibly bright lights, to the point where they were uncomfortable, distracting or even blinding. Later I had a narrow section of road to negotiate, with bollards, pedestrians and cyclists, and just at the worst point a car coming the other way momentarily blinded me. It's horrendously dangerous.

It shows how many people just don't care about the risk to other road users. Maybe the marketing is to blame? Halfords have bulbs labeled 'brightest and safest' (for who?) and 'whitest'. I just get standard bulbs as I don't want someone driving into a tree because of me.

I’ve also seen extra bright! Made me quite angry!

i think it’s marketing and manufacturers. If I got a new car now I’d have no choice but to have those stupid bright led headlights. What I would do though as a result of this thread is not drive so close to a car in front.

How would you not drive at oncoming traffic or would you just not drive at night so as not to blind others?

Have any of the dipped mirror drivers noticed how so many other drivers have a misaligned headlight meaning they have one side constantly on full beam?

Bump for the bedazzled.

@chaosmaker obviously I couldn’t. But at least it’s better than nothing! I’m laying blame on regulation setters who don’t understand the science and impact as well as manufacturers who are only focussing on driver safety.

my car is over ten years old I was just wondering what I’d do if I had the money for a new car. It’s done almost 150000 miles and I do a lot of motorway driving so I’m hoping it’ll be sorted over the next few years.
Still gutted that Ford got rid of the fiesta. Hate the fashion for SUVs.

Wow an extra 1,500 signatures in 24 hours!

come on mumsnet!

Actually more like 1,400 … but still pretty good considering where it started. Keep sharing!

can mumsnet HQ help at all??

The other thing with LED lights is when someone is on their brakes when stopped regardless of whether or not they need to be and ignoring the fact that the handbrake wouldn't blind those behind them.

Someone must have shared the petition on Twitter or something, because signatures are going up quite quickly now!

Aha - the petition has been covered by the Express and GB News today so that explains the surge in signatures!

Oh, 3,467! It was eight hundred and something when I first posted 🤗 My replies on Facebook are 80/20 in favour of better controls. Do keep sharing, please!

I’ve just been watching @Garlickit and at least one person is signing per minute- I don’t think I’ve spoken to a single person who doesn’t think it’s a growing problem- just need some good publicity.

Well done for bringing this to everyone’s attention.

Done.

I drive on small, winding country roads- I regularly have to reduce speed to crawling, because I get blinded and can't see the flow of the road!
And that's without the dath wish cyclists!

I've signed. It's dangerous out there now.

Signed.

I’m glad I’m not the only one watching the petition! It’s great to see the numbers going up and increasing publicity.

Signed. Thanks for keeping posting so it popped up again. I saw it at 2am when I had a nighttime wee and then lost it again 🤣

Signed ✅

Let's face it, you had your priorities right! Glad you found us again ⚡

Signed. It’s awful

I’m another rural road driver and the dazzling lights of modern cars are just dangerous. I try not to go out at night. I’m only in my early 40s, not scared, comfortable and confident driver. But this is a big safety issue.

Signed. I really dislike driving at night due to this, it's awful.

Spoke to a optician about this. Said something along the lines of You're not allowed tinted glasses for driving and it's against the dvla laws 😩

Signed