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/

Bumping for everyone who's just made it home after being half-blinded by ridiculous headlights ⚡ Sign & share, please!

I posted the link on a couple of old discussions from the list of threads at the bottom that had similar (maybe) chats on there. :)

Cheers, @chaosmaker!

thank god it’s not just me

it’s terrible

The map is my favourite thing. 9 people signed in warrington north, 0 in Darwen.

Up to 8775 in total. Almost triple wfat it started as.

No definitely not. It’s blinding at times. Dangerous.

We're up to 8,776 signatures, not too far from the 10,000 which requires a gov response!

Come on, everyone, share this on your social media! Let's get some more signatures.

Signed and shared. I spent a lot of time driving on rural roads, I've now taken to doing a lot of overnight stays for work so I don't have to drive in the dark.

Thanks, @Toomuchgoingon79. It's absolutely bonkers that headlights have made night driving so dangerous or unpleasant that you've had to change your lifestyle and spend a lot more money to avoid it! They're supposed to be a safety feature!

I'm sometimes also dazzled by them in the daytime.....

The newest Stagecoach buses have been fitted with them too. And some HGVs. Nightmare.

I’ve started putting my hazards on when Hgvs are right up behind me with their too bright lights. They probably can’t see my puny effort lights though.

The petition's made it over 9,000 signatures 🥳 Great work, dazzled drivers! Please keep signing and sharing.

Oh it's so close now!

Bump

Bump 😎

So close

I am sorry I will not be signing. It is the law of unintended consequences in play, better headlights enable those driving, especially in dark, rural, single tracked roads, to have a better view of the road and surrounding areas. It gives split second extra visibility to stop or divert around such things as sheep on the road.

The other side of that is as people have detailed here, for some the headlights cause problems when they are driving.

I can remember during the many years I have driven, headlights have continued to improve as new cars have been released, and I can remember being dazzled by the new lights, but you get used to them. I also remember a question during my driving test - the examiner asked "if you are dazzled by oncoming headlights what should you do?", so it is a known issue for many years.

I am not a believer in banning something where one side benefits and the others do not. Who is right? Someone may have an accident if dazzled, someone can also have an accident due to inferior lights not allowing them to see the road ahead. It is never black and white.

Well if drivers slow down they would have the extra second to avoid a sheep.

Its due to the technology changing. LED is brighter and more dazzling for the same power. The unintended consequence of that is that other road users are dangerously blinded.

Pupils enlarge in the darkness to let in more light for vision. Simple science to see how that is a problem when driving at night and cars have over bright lights.

@schloss, the campaign's about making bright headlights safer. Something like 60% of lights are misaligned, even including some straight out of the factory. Auto-dimming, which is increasingly common and should make night driving safer, is too slow.

The request is for a governmental review in collaboration with manufacturers, ideally leading to regulatory enforcement of proper alignment and higher-spec sensors with immediate dip response.

It's really not as simple a divide as you make it schloss. Presumably large numbers of the people driving the dazzling cars are also themselves bedazzled by other road users. Having the bright sheep preserving headlights does not make one immune from others' merciful sheep saving headlights.

Bumping. I can't drive at night anymore due to these

Bumping, as I'm another whose life has actually been really restricted due to this. I now dread autumn/winter and the darker evenings and mornings. I used to love driving especially at night.

Bump