Headlight's too bright

Covieland

With car headlights getting brighter I'm finding it harder to see the road at night as I pass oncoming traffic on rural roads, it's fine if the road is wide and level but that's not the case on a lot of roads. It has come to the point where I have to almost stop as I can't actually see the road ahead. I think maybe limiting the lumens might be a good idea as there is no limit at the minute. The article below is from the UK but I'd say you would get the same result from a similar poll in Ireland

https://news.sky.com/story/headlight-glare-is-getting-worse-drivers-say-as-motoring-groups-call-for-government-action-13045326

...Ghost...

The problem is exacerbated due to the prevalence of SUVs which have a higher headlight position than a typical hatch, or saloon.

JCN12

Older jeeps never were an issue though.

It's the HIDs that have become popular in newer vehicles. They needs to be banned realistically or limited in power.

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058330906/headlights-too-bright

How often do you clean the inside of your windscreen? I've recently had to do a few runs on dark roads and the 1st few times it was OK, last time it was bad as the inside of my windscreen was dirty and I had a lot of issues with dazzle. Are you using AC or the fans to keep the windows clear?

When was your last eye test and have you been tested for astigmatism? Astigmatism causes you to see dazzle

Car lights are getting brighter but people have been complaining about fog lights being terrible for years yet I've never had an issue with fog lights or the current lights on cars.

What is an issue is the amount of people who don't turn off high beams, usually on dual carriageways/motorways, but that's not an issue with the vehicle.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121605003#Comment_121605003

I disagree. My eye sight is spot on the car is kept clean and there's vehicles out there within the last 4 years that their headlights are an actual disgrace.

I think this needs to be looked at at EU level. You can't have a state of play where standards that were developed for halogen beams of the 80s and 90s where the light had a short distance throw. Now apply to units that can project 90 percent of their brightness over 1km. It's bizarre

Even xenons of the 00s didn't have this problem. Might be all gravy for the driver of the vehicle thinking their lights are the best thing since sliced bread but it's extremely bad for other road users. Especially noticed this on M11. Skoda SUVs and Hyundais being stand out.

zell12

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/rac-calls-for-government-action-on-headlight-glare/

UK drivers say the same

KildareP

I've noticed on my own motor (2023 Octavia) that the headlights are pitched way too high on the default setting. I was regularly being flashed by oncoming traffic.

It was great insofar as I could see clearly half a mile ahead of me at night even without full beams on - way beyond most other cars I've driven - but good luck to anyone coming towards me.

From looking around I notice a lot of other recent VAG cars are completely blinding when driving towards them, and oddly it's the saloons that seem to be worse than the crossovers or SUV bodied cars.

I've adjusted the headlight control on mine down to 2 and no more flashing from oncomers, although the dipped headlights now only light about as far ahead as any previous cars I've driven. Frankly I'd rather have the person coming towards me able to see me and the road clearly at all times than me be able to see half a mile down an empty road in the dark.

GPoint

There was nothing wrong with halogen bulbs. Better for human vision too because they have yellow tint. But no, LED are fancy and look shiny in a show room. Perceived distance vision is longer with halogens too because there is no sharp edge where brightly lit area stops and darkness starts, as is the case with LEDs. With LEDs you see very bright area and then it’s pitch black and your eye cannot adapt to recognise any object in darkness.

Think the US never allowed LEDs on the roads?

I used to enjoy driving country side here with so many cars still on halogens because they are older but they are disappearing now with people changing to newer cars.

TheChizler

I think a lot of people put too much faith in the auto dips which can be slow to react to oncoming vehicles.

Alun

I agree with the above poster, it's not just the increase in light intensity in lumens that's the issue it's a combination of that, the colour temperature and the sharp beam cutoff.

I'd say the same for street lighting too. In my mind the old orange sodium lighting was much better.

Baba Yaga

said it before on another thread,some of these newer lights are like looking into the sun,way too much glare/brightness off them and while im simply delighted that the blind-er can see 39.6 miles down the road, me , being the blind-ee nearly have to stop the car until i can see again....and no my windscreen is spotless,im obsessive about it and just had my eyes checked last week,perfect and dont wear glasses and drive a mix of city and country roads alot so well used to the difference

Alun

In my opinion it's the sharp cutoff of the beam pattern that's the main issue, and that was and is an issue with conventional halogens and HIDs that use projector setups instead of the older reflector setups.

With the older reflector headlights the edge of the beam not only faded away gradually for the part of the beam that illuminated the road, but also the upper part that would be visible to an oncoming driver. If the road surface is uneven or the oncoming car is coming up a slope towards you, with conventional lights you'd get some light shining into your eyes, but it would be much less than the full power of the headlight. But with high power LEDs you get the full force if the beam in your eyes.

reubenreuben

Jusw saw above, agree with the lot.The LED lights in new cars are a real problem. It's possibly worse outside the cities on the unlit roads when the glare is more noticeable.

I find new suvs such as kia/hyundai/Nissan the worst. Also Teslas are super bright.

They have no loss of lumens on the outer edge of the bulbs as xenon and halogen do. So the cutoff is very severe. I have xenon on my car and if a new car with LED's is behind, they are almost lighting the road for me.

What can be done?

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121605385#Comment_121605385

What can be done?

Complain to MEPs - it is not a problem that can be solved in Ireland, it needs EU wide regs realistically.

Alun

I wonder though, given that LEDs are seemingly here to stay, what CAN be done about it?

Could the shutters that define the beam edges somehow be constructed so that the light intensity fades away instead of dropping off suddenly? Maybe make them out of a transparent plastic instead of metal, and apply a black coating that blends away towards the edges?

Also regulations limiting both intensity and colour temperature would help.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121605556#Comment_121605556

Arguably the max height needs to be changed. The existing height specs seem to have allowed for diminishing throw of halogens that's gone out the window. So the directional of the LED should be lowered.

Would require non led and led testing in the likes of NCT centres to be different.

carveone

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121605239#Comment_121605239

Which might explain the flash effect I see regularly on these cars - on anything less than a perfectly flat road where I'm directly in front, the guy behind me looks like he's flashing his lights at me. It was much much worse when I owned a Starlet a few years back - the low position of those small cars means the SUV lights are level with your eye line.

I thought SI189 specified that headlights be "incapable of dazzling a person who is on the same horizontal plane as the vehicle at a greater distance than 25 feet from the lamp".

Having said that, I've seen cars doing it right where the light is dispersed somehow to reduce the edges, I've just never taken note of the car type.

The Continental Op

I can just about put up with the glare BUT what really p!sses me off is SUV's and vans that light the whole of a normal cars interior up like a solar flare when they come up behind you at night.

thomas 123

Also sick of being blinded.

Can the brightness be manually turned down and the lights controlled manually?

If so i'm sure some rules could be brought in to curb it.

I'm sure someone will come along into the thread here to blame Irish roads shortly but I'm of the opinion if the driver can control these its on them(assuming they can).

Alun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121605745#Comment_121605745

Yes, I remember when I first had a car with LED headlights, I was driving along behind someone I knew, and they actually stopped and got out to ask me what was up, as they assumed I was flashing them! This was on a relatively smooth R road in Wicklow, not some pot holed boreen.

Alun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121605745#Comment_121605745

I wonder if cars that have these fancy new matrix headlights do any kind of dimming of the LEDs on the edges of the beam?

mykrodot

I was blinded by a Tesla jeep driving behind me recently driving round the Ring of Kerry (Killorglin to Cahirciveen). It was pitch dark but the road is too twisty to overtake, so he sat on my bumper for 40 mins. I could barely see as his lights were hitting all my mirrors at just the wrong height! It really was awful. He was so close and the roads are so narrow I couldn't even find somewhere to pull in and let him past.

pajosjunkbox

I am Billy Bright Beams !!!!

I have 2022 Kia Sorento and I always get flashed when I have my dipped lights on. I can't blame people as obviously they think my full lights are on which is annoying.

I'm not sure if I can do anything about it. I know it's really annoying and dangerous when you are dazzled by bright lights. There should be some legislation that limits the brightness of lights on new cars.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121607981#Comment_121607981

You could adjust the dial downwards slightly brings the beam closer towards your car.

denismc

I have LEDs and I noticed that I get flashed on frosty mornings as the frost causes the light to refract and it seems to annoy oncoming drivers.

The older halogen headlights would melt the frost on the lights but that doesn't happen with LEDS as they don't generate enough heat.

kirving

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121607623#Comment_121607623

I find Tesla's in particular are very bad. I think that their strategy is to aim the lights as high as possible so as to help out their camera systems, as they have no radar.

As for having 20:20 vision and still being blinded, your eyes can be perfectly in focus, but still suffer from glare at night, it's not necessarily the same issue. Also, do the following.

1. Make sure the inside of your windscreen is clean
2. Use A/C to prevent even light fogging in winter
3. Make sure your wipers are good and use good screenwash

Carlito Brigantes Tale

As a motorcycle rider I've given in riding the bike at night at all now tbh due to this issue. When you see some of the mickey mouse stuff the NCT will fail you for (no number plate light as an example) and yet these things are allowed pass NCT's with blinding lights it makes a farce of the whole safety first RSA stuff.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121608044#Comment_121608044

All unreasonable things to expect from every vehicle at all times on the road.

Reasonable would be EU legislation to Combat the source of the issue. Poor design manufacture and implementation of lights.

GPoint

Speaking of motorcycles, they are on top of the list of blinders too! Most of them have shaky lights that blind you right in the eyes.

reubenreuben

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121608726#Comment_121608726

and tractors, full beam specialists that shower

listermint

Just passed a 2023 range rover. Lights were unreal in terms of there throw ahead on the road for visibility.

And absolutely zero dazzle I'm rear view or oncoming. How can they get it so well and others can't.