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Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

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Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#191

Post by graemep »

barbazoo wrote: post #110
delaminator wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Out in the country, you still don't really need brighter headlights. I guess you don't actually drive at night in the countryside then. You need lights to see where the road is, not where pedestrians might be - on none existent footpaths

I just realized I bet it’s sometimes a speed issue. I don’t need bright lights, maybe because I’m a slow driver. Drive faster and you have to have brighter lights shining farther into the distance to be able to see at least a couple seconds ahead.

I think part of the problem is people drive at the speed limit regardless of conditions. If its dark and wet you really should not drive at the same speed as when its sunny and dry. If you are unfamiliar with a twisty road you need to slow down. If there are more pedestrians around than usual you need to slow down.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#192

Post by Aurornis »

alistairSH wrote: post #42
Taek wrote: post #2

I feel the same way in America, I think there should be stricter regulations on how bright a car's headlights are allowed to be for it to be street legal. Wouldn't mind having a cap on blue-light levels in addition.

There are a two things contributing to "headlights too bright" in the US... First, SUVs are really tall... If you're in a sedan (or worse, a Miata) and get close enough to an oncoming SUV, even well-aimed, legal lights are going to feel bright because they're pointed down at you. Second, there's a decent sized market for cheap, unapproved HID/LED kits for older cars. They're often not aimed correctly.

> Second, there's a decent sized market for cheap, unapproved HID/LED kits for older cars. They're often not aimed correctly.

This is the biggest problem. Even talk SUV headlights from the factory must meet standards for masking off light and the angles at which they can illuminate.

But when people buy LED retrofit kits and jam them into reflectors not designed for those bulbs, the reflectors don’t mask properly. Light spills everywhere.

I would bet that nearly all of the “headlights are too bright” complaints are coming from people seeing LED retrofit kits.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#193

Post by kubanczyk »

Lalabadie wrote: post #31
Taek wrote: post #2

I feel the same way in America, I think there should be stricter regulations on how bright a car's headlights are allowed to be for it to be street legal. Wouldn't mind having a cap on blue-light levels in addition.

The rising height of headlights in North America is compounding the issue as well. At this point a good proportion of vehicles have headlights even or higher than the roof on a sedan.

I'd go as far as to say that the height is the issue, and it's becoming global (although, yes, US is the leader).

It's ridiculous that an average SUV has headlights higher than an average semi (my own experience) given the latter's breaking distance is much greater.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#194

Post by teslabox »

Years ago I read a comment here sharing how they'd taken to wearing amber glasses when walking at night, so they could be protected against the excessively-blue LED streetlights in their neighborhood. I bought amber safety glasses. They magically took the shock out of the bad headlights, but I also noticed that I wasn't seeing pedestrians until it was too late.

My local sunglass shop had some yellow fit-over safety glasses. I found they cut out enough of the blue from the bad headlights to take the shock out of the experience of driving at night. https://cocoons.com/shop/safety/lightguard-medium-fitovers-l...

Harbor Freight's $2 yellow safety glasses are almost as good. I intend to stock up the next time I notice they're on sale for $1: https://www.harborfreight.com/yellow-lens-safety-glasses-668...

4 years ago I asked HN why the automotive industry wasn't using safe LEDs: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27334405

The activists at /r/fuckyourheadlights figured out that the weaponized headlights put a little dim spot at the center of their headlight beams, exactly where the regulators measure the light intensity.

2nd picture clearly shows the dim spot: https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckyourheadlights/comments/1hefn86...

Summary of research: https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckyourheadlights/comments/18lrf3d...

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#195

Post by Cthulhu_ »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #141
everdrive wrote: post #10

I understand that currently this is sort of a collective action problem, but I'm a bit baffled why people ever thought they needed brighter headlights in the first place. In the city, it's so bright that you don't even need headlights to see whatsoever. When cars started automatically dimming the dash via a light sensor, there was actually a period of time where I totally forgot to turn on my headlights because thing…

> Out in the country, you still don't really need brighter headlights. Other cars' headlights will always be visible and they have reflectors, so it's not as if you'll struggle to spot other cars. The road lines are actually reflective, so it's not as if you'll struggle to see the road lines. And generally speaking out in the country, there won't be pedestrian foot traffic, so it's not as if you need the bright light…

But for the truly dark areas, you can turn on your high beams - which you aren't allowed to have on when there's oncoming traffic. Smart / adaptive lighting is another option, lower / yellower light in well lit spaces.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#196

Post by Workaccount2 »

okdood64 wrote: post #176
ghusto wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like driving behind a truck or van, you can't see past the (tinted) car in front. The solution would be to overtake people with tinted windows. Unfortunately, the type of people with tinted windows are exactly the type you shouldn't overtake.

> Unfortunately, the type of people with tinted windows are exactly the type you shouldn't overtake. So every soccer mom SUV?

Factory tints are generally mild and never on the windshield.

Aftermarket tints are dark and people get both the rear window and windshield tinted.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#197

Post by Aurornis »

mapt wrote: post #76
bayindirh wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The maximum brightness is already regulated in US and Europe. US allows a lower brightness level. Some car manufacturer (Ford?) recalled their cars to fix their cars' headlight settings to match US regulations in the last 6-8 months IIRC. Also, light temperature has limits. I believe >4000K lights are already road illegal in UK and EU. They are also recently outlawed in my country, but there are many cars with after…

Do we enforce it? At all? It isn't just retrofits that are a problem, it's brand new cars. It's not just about not wanting to be uncomfortably blinded by lasers shooting into your eyes at night. (Lasers well under 3000 lumens!). It's that this kills people. Frequently. It's a form of assault with hundreds of dead victims and thousands of injured victims a year.

The regulations for manufacturers are enforced. There have even been recalls for it.

LED retrofit regulations are not enforced. We should equip safety inspection stations with ways to measure this, but it’s an expensive change to demand they do safety inspections in a dark room when most safety inspection businesses are small shops that don’t have the room or buildings to do it.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#198

Post by icetank »

helle253 wrote: post #177

For the longest time, i thought random drivers were flashing their brights at me all over chicago only recently did i realize, it was the regular headlight LEDs being shined directly at me as they went over a speedbump

Have to remind myself every time that the bright headlights would actually make me blind instead of flashing for a second.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#199

Post by 1718627440 »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #141
everdrive wrote: post #10

I understand that currently this is sort of a collective action problem, but I'm a bit baffled why people ever thought they needed brighter headlights in the first place. In the city, it's so bright that you don't even need headlights to see whatsoever. When cars started automatically dimming the dash via a light sensor, there was actually a period of time where I totally forgot to turn on my headlights because thing…

> Out in the country, you still don't really need brighter headlights. Other cars' headlights will always be visible and they have reflectors, so it's not as if you'll struggle to spot other cars. The road lines are actually reflective, so it's not as if you'll struggle to see the road lines. And generally speaking out in the country, there won't be pedestrian foot traffic, so it's not as if you need the bright light…

This is also true for Germany, but your ability to see in the dark decreases at some point with increasing brightness, since you don't allow your eyes to get used to the darkness.

Re: Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright

#200

Post by TZubiri »

I think I've been using headlights wrong.

My car has 3 headlight settings, low, mid, hi.

Hi is when you are alone at night and want to see farther.

I used to use low in the daytime (to signal other drivers the car is on), and mid at night (to signal other drivers and gain some visibility.

But maybe the opposite is sensible, using mid lights in daytime (so they are more discernible from the daylight), and using low lights in nighttime (if you are in an already illuminated city, you don't need to light up the road, and since it's night, any small headlight will have enough contrast with the darkness)

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