Hate driving by night - New lights brutal

theguzman

Am I the only one here who wishes that modern LED, Laser and Xenon bulbs would be banned, they are far too bright and coupled with automatic dimming means I am absolutely blinded every night I drive. SUV's and older cars who have had these installed by clowns who have no idea what they are at are by far the worst. There badly needs to be proper automotive lighting regulation based on lumens emitted and ban after market upgrade kits. It is gone so bad where I live that I have resorted to wearing sunglasses by night so as of not to get my retinas scorched out of me. Hyundai Tucson's are one of the worst offenders, I just refuse to dim when I meet one of those as they have two setting's fox dazzler mode or temporary blindness.

mikeecho

Factory fitted.. generally they're ok for me in 95% of situations, some larger yokes with higher than normal headlight height can be a pain.

But after market suff should be banned

theguzman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120775675#Comment_120775675

Most new VW's are far too bright also, the white colour is painful. Could you sue a vehicle manufacturer if their ultra bright lights caused you to crash? Auto dimming should also be banned as it dims far far too late.

Juwwi

Sounds very dangerous to me wearing sunglasses at night a cyclist or pedestrian will be much harder to see .

theguzman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120775685#Comment_120775685

I had a dangerous situation where I didn't see a pedestrian in dark clothes until late on due to the full beams barreling down ontop of me coming out of a SUV who refused to dim (or on Autodim) until the last moment, absolutely dazzling me. My eyesight is perfect but these modern lights are extremely dangerous.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

The whole idea of automatic lights should be banned. On my old car I always drove with lights on even during the day. I'm fairly sure there was some kind of law or guidance recommending that. On my new car I put them on automatic and 9 times out of 10 they're not on during the day. So I end up having to just put them on manually anyway.

The dipping thing is awful too. I was abroad last year and rented a car. Was driving late at night on a particularly windy stretch of road and everytime the lights hit one of the reflective barrier/signs on a bend, the stupid car dipped the lights and I could barely see. Then on other corners, even though I could see there was something coming, the car wouldn't dip until we were basically on top of the other car coming around the corner.

PsychoPete

Modern lights aren't that bad at all, don't look directly at them and you'll be grand

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120775694#Comment_120775694

My eyesight is perfect but these modern lights are extremely dangerous

When was the last time you had an eye test to know that your eyesight is perfect? Because you shouldn't need sunglasses at night if your eyesight is perfect, yes the lights are annoying but not sunglasses at night annoying and not extremely dangerous.

Why Do I See Starbursts Around Lights? - All About Vision

Buffman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058302708/hate-driving-by-night-new-lights-brutal

Most OEM stuff is fine I find, it's the clowns who DIY LEDs and HIDs into headlights designed for Halogen bulbs who cause the majority of problems.

Ditch the sunglasses and get a pair of proper night driving anti-glare glasses if you're having issues. Wearing sunglasses at night and refusing to dip your lights isn't exactly the safest way to be doing things yourself.

Any chance you've had your eyes lasered OP?

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058302708/hate-driving-by-night-new-lights-brutal

Refusing to dim is remarkably stupid. You end up with two blind drivers on the road instead of one.

Maybe you should give up driving in the dark.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058302708/hate-driving-by-night-new-lights-brutal

While I haven't resorted to driving with sunglasses at night, I agree with the point about lights being too bright.

I've also experienced being practically blinded by oncoming headlights, and don't talk to me about the fools who come up right behind you with full beams blazing.

blackbox

I don't know why so many manufacturers are adopting auto dipping lights. An inconistent solution to a "problem" that didn't need to be solved.

Automatic lights would be ok if the dipped beams and tail lamps were always on, but they didn't get that right either.

You shouldn't be able to turn on the parking lights except with the ignition off and/or key removed.

creedp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120781498#Comment_120781498

Thats the way car design is going, most people don't want to manually operate basic car functions anymore, whether it be turning on/off or dimming lights or operating wipers or changing gear or maintaining their speed or staying within the road markings or even steering. I'm eagerly waiting for automatic indicators linked to the sat nav as at least then maybe a decent % of cars might indicate properly on a roundabout (not just Audi & BMWs 😅)

At this stage we're probably into the transition phase for full autonomous driving and for most drivers the sooner the better.

A glass half full way of looking at this phase might be that at least with automation a higher % of these basic functions are being operated correctly. IMO a higher % of lights are being dimmed correctly now than when the driver was relied upon to operate this basic function. Same with variable cruise control, it's less common to see cars driving erratically on motorways these days as the car is far better than most drivers at maintaining a steady speed. It's not all bad.......