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America's Drivers Agree: LED Headlights Are Just Too Bright

wsj.com

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Re: America's Drivers Agree: LED Headlights Are Just Too Bright

#21

Post by outop »

Tade0 wrote: post #18
sherr wrote: post #10

In addition to cars, I'm a cyclist and have noticed that LED cycle lights, both front and back, can also be far too bright sometimes. Blinding in fact. A few years ago, I was behind a bike which had such a high powered rear (red) LED light that I had to drop back to get away from it. It reminded me of the sort of powerful red light an airport might have. For bikes, it sometimes felt like an "arms race" in brightness.

On top of that, strobing. I still don't understand the point of having strobe lights on a bicycle. What is that all about?

It was found that drivers unconsciously filtered out a single small light moving like a bicycle does (weaving back and forth slowly, often towards the edge of the driveable area). Flashing lights are somewhat annoying but much safer for cyclists.

Re: America's Drivers Agree: LED Headlights Are Just Too Bright

#22

Post by dgoldstein0 »

Terr_ wrote: post #13
LeoPanthera wrote: post #9

Matrix headlights that automatically notch out oncoming cars have existed for years - but are banned in the USA.

> but are banned in the USA. No, they've been allowed for 2 years now, pursuant to a law passed November 2021. https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/nhtsa-allow-adaptive-dr...

What's allowed is not implemented by any cars yet because the us standard is far more demanding than the European standard

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/15/cars/headlights-tech-adaptabl...

Re: America's Drivers Agree: LED Headlights Are Just Too Bright

#23

Post by ggm »

defrost wrote: post #8
ggm wrote: post #2

I tried complaining to my (Australian) state road authority about this 10 or so years ago. Got no response. Glare is a massive hazard, as is loss of night vision and bright spots in your field of view. It's significantly worse for some people e.g. radial scars from eye surgery.

In other related bad Australian driving condition news .. road signs in the past decade or so have gotten waaaay too reflective. Driving at night in the country is something myself and others have done for decades, it's a common complaint that "regular old non LED headlights" are now reflected back at cars at night so well that they ruin night vision for several seconds and blind the driver to any dangers (kangaroos,…

I've just about given up night driving, it's too stressful. The last time i saw roos on the road was the straight bit with one dogleg from Narromine through Nyngan into Bourke. Silly buggers didn't want to get off the lane, but worked it out eventually.

There's feral deer in Brisbane around Minnipi which are as much of a problem.

Re: America's Drivers Agree: LED Headlights Are Just Too Bright

#24

Post by throwaway11460 »

Hamuko wrote: post #17
LeoPanthera wrote: post #9

Matrix headlights that automatically notch out oncoming cars have existed for years - but are banned in the USA.

I thought that the matrix functionality was only for high beams. Also, they're banned in the US? What the fuck?

Matrix headlights practically don't have separate high and low beams. It's a different setting for the same projectors.

The avoiding functionality works up to a limit even on low beam setting in my car.

Re: America's Drivers Agree: LED Headlights Are Just Too Bright

#25

Post by noughtme »

Tade0 wrote: post #18
sherr wrote: post #10

In addition to cars, I'm a cyclist and have noticed that LED cycle lights, both front and back, can also be far too bright sometimes. Blinding in fact. A few years ago, I was behind a bike which had such a high powered rear (red) LED light that I had to drop back to get away from it. It reminded me of the sort of powerful red light an airport might have. For bikes, it sometimes felt like an "arms race" in brightness.

On top of that, strobing. I still don't understand the point of having strobe lights on a bicycle. What is that all about?

For me it’s mostly battery life. Most bike light batteries are tiny and would require more regular charging if put in solid mode.

Re: America's Drivers Agree: LED Headlights Are Just Too Bright

#26

Post by Lammy »

LED everything is too bright. Headlights, house lights, store lights, street lights. Walking around my neighborhood of San Francisco at midnight feels like walking around a movie set in a bad uncanny way. I can only assume the point is better night vision for machines, because they provide the opposite outcome to me as a human.

Re: America's Drivers Agree: LED Headlights Are Just Too Bright

#27

Post by thinkingemote »

LED street lights have an additional problem. They are bright but outside of where they cast the light they are dark. Previous types of lights would light up the areas around the main lighted area in a diffused way. LED street lights don't.

I've seen many people use their phones as flashlights to navigate while under these worse LED street lights. I never saw this before. Danger has increased and safety decreased.

Re: America's Drivers Agree: LED Headlights Are Just Too Bright

#28

Post by usrusr »

cesnja wrote: post #11
sherr wrote: post #10

In addition to cars, I'm a cyclist and have noticed that LED cycle lights, both front and back, can also be far too bright sometimes. Blinding in fact. A few years ago, I was behind a bike which had such a high powered rear (red) LED light that I had to drop back to get away from it. It reminded me of the sort of powerful red light an airport might have. For bikes, it sometimes felt like an "arms race" in brightness.

This is sometimes the only way to make sure the drivers notice you.

But they wont. They will only be blinded by some surprise entity they can't put anywhere meaningful in their mental model of the traffic situation and pass by blindly.

Re: America's Drivers Agree: LED Headlights Are Just Too Bright

#29

Post by Ekaros »

thinkingemote wrote: post #27

LED street lights have an additional problem. They are bright but outside of where they cast the light they are dark. Previous types of lights would light up the areas around the main lighted area in a diffused way. LED street lights don't. I've seen many people use their phones as flashlights to navigate while under these worse LED street lights. I never saw this before. Danger has increased and safety decreased.

This feels very stupid design failure. Making wider beam should not be impossible. But I wonder how standardised the spacing is for this to work.

Re: America's Drivers Agree: LED Headlights Are Just Too Bright

#30

Post by theyinwhy »

thinkingemote wrote: post #27

LED street lights have an additional problem. They are bright but outside of where they cast the light they are dark. Previous types of lights would light up the areas around the main lighted area in a diffused way. LED street lights don't. I've seen many people use their phones as flashlights to navigate while under these worse LED street lights. I never saw this before. Danger has increased and safety decreased.

I would guess lense design could 100% alleviate this problem.
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