Modern Car Lights - Far too bright

Scipri0

I agree with you. While it might be great for the driver behind the wheel, it's a nightmare for other road users. I'm surprised the EU hasn't gotten around to dealing with it. I thought i was being abducted one evening!

Duke of Schomberg

My Octavia has dynamic and self-dipping LEDs - the technology fails when one is approaching an oncoming vehicles round a bend, I can see the beam of the oncoming car and am able to dip the headlights but the automatic sensor won't react until it detects the oncoming car, by which time its will have had to emerge from the bend and is already in the beam.

Up here in the UK LEDs and xenons must be fitted with self-leveling equipment so that they don't dazzle oncoming vehicles when there's more weight in the rear. The problem is that this equipment fails and can be left unaddressed until the next MoT examination.

Then you've got the after-market "xtreme bright/white" bulbs, usually fitted into badly-adjusted reflector headlights - these seem to be the real problem.

Whilst you're at it you can add-in people driving around on one headlight, usually xenons - because they can't afford the £200-plus labour to replace the unit until its MoT comes round. And the clowms with no rear lights because they think their DRLs are their headlights.

Gatling

I usually find it bad when you have a cross over or something like a transit van taxi behind you and your blinded by your mirror, there should be a standard maximum output on led vehicles lights ,

Anaki r2d2

I have a bigger issue with all the people with one headlight out. Seen 4 or 5 this morning.

Galwayguy35

Well whatever about the modern lights I always hate this time of year because there is always some dickhead who floors it until he is about a foot behind me and all I can see in the rear view mirror is lights blinding me.

Its also very dangerous on country roads because with oncoming cars if there is something on the road it makes it very difficult to see it.

Anaki r2d2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121496396#Comment_121496396

Gently slow down. Then move ahead again. Rinse and repeat. Even dickheads get the message

Padraig Mor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058326836/modern-car-lights-far-too-bright

I have a Tesla and have to admit I was getting flashed at least once every dark journey this winter until I manually adjusted the lights down. I've seen other Tesla drivers saying the same. Funnily enough the pattern (which is very defined) 'looks' like it's the same to me but must be a little lower alright.

buried

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121496612#Comment_121496612

What was the level at before you manually had to adjust down P? From what level did you have to go down to?

Padraig Mor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121496629#Comment_121496629

To be honest I don't know. They were at the factory setting and I just put them down a bit - process is a bit confusing but seems to have worked!

Ezeoul

Then there are the eejits who come up right behind you and blind you with their super bright lights in your rear view mirror.

SouthWesterly

Lots of cars with what seems to be light bars across the front. Makes the whole front bright

Potential-Monke

I've had to pull in a few times to let other cars pass me by. 99.9% of the time it's a van or crossover ball of dirt. The headlights are physically higher, so they're basically eye level for me. So blinded by the slow cnut in front who is taking his time to dip his blazar level headlights (down to quasar level "dipped" lights), and quasar dipped lights taking over my 3 rear view mirrors while also lighting up my dash, in case I needed to see it as clear as day.

Unfortunately, as more useless cnuts who couldn't drive standard or small cars are making the change to cross overs because... well, I assume because they're idiots who listened to the man who makes more money selling a crossover, we now have hundreds of thousands of useless cnuts driving larger, taller and inexplicably bright balls of dirt. Not content with making it impossible to see during the night, their size alone makes it harder to see what's ahead during the day. Next up, they'll be complaining the street they're parking on isn't wide enough all of a sudden. I honestly think if you live in a city with no specific parking so you've to park on the street, you shouldn't be allowed anything bigger than a small compact.

I'm seeing it in a local village, cars park on 1 side, you used to be able to drive past oncoming traffic except for buses/trucks, now you've to stop and wait for cars too because half the street/road is taken up with pricks and their crossover balls of dirt. The number of kids and teens getting hit by cars in towns/cities will inevitably rise imo, because these parked prick wagons are too tall (I have an extra special hatred for the absolute knob jockey who has a 221 Volvo XC90 as a solicitor and takes up the entire side of the road when "parked").

If I'm not mistaken, a hape of cars in 'Merica are recalled due to being "too bright". So we badly need some proper legislation to control this before it gets too far.

tikka16751

Between bright lights and internet speeds too fast it’s gone to dairy.

Montage of Feck

Think HIDS and LEDS are eyes searing, just wait until lasers become mainstream! The french had the right idea in requiring yellow bulbs which was sadly done away with by the EU.

nullzero

After the clocks changed at the end of October the evening drive in the dark was noticeably worse than previous years thanks to the increase in newer vehicles with said lights on the road.

The month or so since then has allowed me to adjust to it to an extent but as mentioned by numerous others here, the larger cross over type vehicles with greater ground clearance are the largest group of culprits here.

The clown driving behind you with full headlamps on is a daily occurance, mornings and evenings in December, thankfully we'll be seeing the hours of darkness decrease after next week but we still have a few months of this crap to go.

I've been meaning to go online and get some anti glare glasses for driving to see if they provide any relief from being dazzled by these lights, supposedly the jury is out on their effectiveness but I'd try anything to attempt to deal with it.

Potential-Monke

The problem with the modern lights is you need polarised lenses, and they be too dark for driving at night. We need legislation to prevent it from getting worse, which it will as the people of Ireland seem to think they're American and bigger = better...

Packrat

I was driving a brand new Merc V Class with the dynamic self dimmers for 5 hours in the dark this morning. They are really great, - i didn't get flashed once, I noticed that they drop out the sides or the middle depending on where the car ahead or oncoming is.

It's fantastic to still have light along the hedges where the blasted 🦌 lurk. I saw 3 dead this morning. 3 peoples Christmas ruined.

InAtFullBack

Don't see any issues with oncoming car lights in general. An odd one out of focus perhaps, but it's not a widespread problem. I cannot understand why other drivers have to 'look' at the headlights of oncoming traffic - you should be focussing on your own tract of road ahead, not what is in the other lane/side of the road. A huge bug-bear of mine is the idiot who drops speed by 25+% everytime they encounter an oncoming car. There should be night driving tests and your licence marked as passed for night time driving if passed, otherwise get the hell off the road and let real drivers get on with it.

Potential-Monke

I do watch the road, problem is these modern car lights are so bright, even when dipped, that they take up my whole view. Everything else is too dark to have proper visibility. It's an unnatural brightness. We have blue light filters for phones, tablets, tvs, but we decide that superbright blue tinged headlights directly into peoples eyes is not an issue. So when one of these cars passes me, it's extremely hard to see my side of the road, depending on the road. The best I can do in these cases is to watch the side of the road about 10ft in front of my car... I don't usually brake, unless it's bad enough, but I'm already well aware that other people do so I keep a good distance, something else other drivers seem incapable of. A crossover behind me lights up my side mirrors and is even too bright in my dipped rear view mirror. Blinded from both directions now. And the pricks who decide to leave their front LED fogs on with no fog out... I could go on...

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121507769#Comment_121507769

Yeah, it appears some people ought not to drive at night. Everything stops them from being safe and in control of their vehicle. It's obviously an eyesight issue.

There should be separate licenses really...

Big Gerry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121501369#Comment_121501369

How would that work for people who are colour blind ?

Big Gerry

I can't stand LED lights that's why I don't have them in my home.

I had them for a while but they would literally make me feel sick when I turned them on in the morning.

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121508441#Comment_121508441

And here, ladies and gentlemen, is the perfect example of "fuk everyone else im grand" ignorant greed. I bet you drive with your fog lights on all the time, ya cool dude ya.

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121511079#Comment_121511079

Not at all. Just trying to keep everyone safe.

Over 30 years ago when I began driving, two people in my circle couldn't drive at night. Neither was a glasses wearer, nor are now. There were no halogens, zenons, leds nor self dimmers then. They just got blinded by every oncoming light.

Neither drives by night to this day.

Now how in hell is it "I'm alright Jack tp point out that there's variation in eyesight and that perhaps night driving ought to be required to pass a test ?

Now, was there really a need to abuse me and make up baseless silly fantasies?

Simon201

I'm probably an unintentional culprit... sorry people! I have a bog standard brand new Volkswagon Caddy in my job and since the dark nights seem to often get flashed when my lights on dipped and set at the lowest angle. I'm going to mention it when it goes in for it's first check. So it does seem to be an issue with some of the latest vehicles...

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121494007#Comment_121494007

This post is early in the thread but I'm pretry sure you're missing the point. The complaint is not about taking personal responsibility. It's about wanting other people to take personal responsibility.

I wear glasses and I notice dirty glasses and windscreens. Some windscreens are filthy. Never actually cleaned on the inside.

Lights are brighter these days. The tall tales about having retinas burnt out are just histrionics.

jmayo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121493621#Comment_121493621

Well maybe your lights are wrong if people think they are on full beam.

Ever consider that?

It is not people who are used to street lighting, it is people who are used to driving in countryside with no street lighting who are now greeted with fookers in cars who have either too strong dimmed lights or are waiting for an automated system, that is ever so cool, to do a normal basic driving task for them.

Some of the Hyundais are now a real pain in the fooking ar**, what with their lights on the fonrt with all the plastic horizontal strips on the front and a big light bar across the ar** of the car.

Lewis_Benson

Stupid young lads shoving LEDs into old Passats.

Gobshytes

Big_Evil

What some people tend to miss is the shite road surface quality in Ireland. Once off the motorways, its uneven, undulating up and down and thats even without the usual potholes

Regardless of bulb alignment, LED, Halogen or whatever, this I believe contributes greatly to the blinding of oncoming cars: you are chugging along is a dip on the road with brings the dip lights of the car coming towards you directly in line with your face even momentarily. Worse again if they have LEDs or Xeons.

The Matrix LEDs are not really designed to deal with that level of complexity - fine on generally smooth roads but unable to keep up when the car is bouncing all over the place and the cars coming towards you are not on the same 'level' as you for as long

Big_Evil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121519992#Comment_121519992

Wet roads are a curse with LEDs - the reflection off a puddle is savage.

Dirty or wet lenses scatter the light even further. LED upgrades are good but most of the upgrades seem to be cheapo crap bought from Alibaba or the line which goes for pure light output rather than a sharper replication of what the halogens where producing.